2024-07-13 23:27:34
Saudi Arabia has raised its purchases of “dirty oil” fuel oil to their highest level in more than three years, to help meet energy demand during the hot summer, according to Bloomberg.
Saudi Arabia is the region’s largest buyer of fuel oil, a type of “dirty” product that remains after refineries produce transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel. It is cheaper than crude oil but emits more polluting emissions when burned, the agency said.
Fuel oil shipments to Saudi Arabia rose in June to their highest level since at least the end of 2020 and are expected to remain elevated this month, according to data from market researchers Kpler and Vortexa compiled by Bloomberg.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia’s purchases of fuel oil, which usually jump during the hottest months with the operation of air conditioners, rose between March and June by four times, to about 350 thousand barrels per day, according to what the agency quoted from “Vortexa”.
Saudi Arabia buys most of the fuel oil produced by Iraq and Bahrain, and also imports shipments from the UAE, according to Bloomberg, which also indicated that Riyadh resumed purchasing fuel oil from Russia last April, after a 5-month hiatus.
Temperatures in Riyadh reached 45 degrees Celsius this week, according to AccuWeather data, and could exceed 50 degrees Celsius this summer, as the heat drives up demand for electricity to power air conditioners, forcing the kingdom to burn more oil, according to Bloomberg.
Saudi Aramco, which oversees oil shipments, declined to comment to the agency on fuel oil imports.
However, Saudi Arabia aims to stop using fuel oil for power generation this decade, targeting net zero emissions by 2060, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledging to increase solar and wind power generation.
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2024-07-13 23:27:34