Local scientists and engineers working in Saudi Arabia’s laboratories and on its test rigs have been making significant research and development (R&D) gains in the energy technology sector in recent years. In 2014, Saudi Aramco set a new record for inventiveness and innovation – 99 patents were granted to the company in the US, while an additional 154 applications were filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office for consideration during that year. The total number of patents granted to the company in the US marked a significant increase over the 57 granted in 2013 and 58 in 2012. Saudi Aramco operated 11 international research

When OPEC’s member states announced that their crude oil production target would remain at 30m barrels per day (bpd) at a meeting in Vienna on November 28, 2014, Saudi Arabia was accused of waging a price war to preserve market share. The implication was that the country wanted to see the price of Brent crude fall so low that drillers in the US shale boom would no longer be able to break even. The OPEC decision sent the price of US crude tumbling by 10% on that Friday’s trading, its steepest one-day fall in five years. Brent crude prices, which had hit $114 a barrel

Utility plants that produce power alongside desalinated water or steam allow Saudi Arabia to optimise the use of its hydrocarbons resources to support communities living in the country’s hot, arid conditions. Cogeneration facilities have been operating for many years, but the country is trying to press home the advantage by making use of new technologies. Cogeneration Efficiency Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) is aiming to lead by example with the construction of three new cogeneration facilities as part of a wider energy-efficiency drive across the company. In the firm’s 2013 annual report, which was published in 2014, Khalid Al Falih, the company’s chairman, said,

Production from Saudi Arabia’s oilfields will remain at near-record levels in the short to medium term, with Riyadh looking to maintain above-average output despite low prices. At its June 2015 meeting, OPEC decided to keep the bloc’s production at 30m barrels per day (bpd), the level that had been agreed the previous November. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), combined output from the 12 member states for May 2015 was 31.3m bpd, with Saudi Arabia remaining by far the largest single contributor to production. Saudi Arabia pumped a record 10.3m bpd in May and flagged the possibility in June of raising output even further.

Although gas production increased by more than 70% between 2003 and 2013 according to BP figures, harnessing its potential presents a number of challenges. Saudi Arabia has no plans to export gas, seeing it as feedstock for local power, desalination and petrochemical plants in order to free up more oil for export. Gas Production Saudi Aramco’s 2013 annual report, published in April 2014, revealed that its raw gas output for such plants was 4.02trn standard cu feet, the most in a single year in the company’s history. The firm also produced 455.9m barrels of natural gas liquids (NGLs), including 86.8m barrels of condensate. The report

The Kingdom leads the world in the production and consumption of desalinated water, and with an estimated SR91bn ($24.3bn) of expansion plans in the pipeline until 2020, as well as privatisation in the offing, the sector offers opportunities for a range of investors. Floatation The notion of privatising the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has been debated for several years and the state-owned company, which is responsible for almost 60% of desalination in the Kingdom, has been making changes to its structure and operations to facilitate the move for some time. According to a Reuters report in January 2015, the proposal reportedly being studied involves