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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
Total refining capacity in the kingdom grew from fewer than
700,000 bpd in 1980 to roughly 1.9 million bpd in 1990. The
significant capacity expansions during the 1980s were associated
with the construction of three refineries: the Petromin/Mobil
plant at Yanbu, which added 250,000 bpd; the 250,000 bpd
Petromin/Shell plant at Al Jubayl; and the 325,000 bpd refinery
at Rabigh. An 80,000-bpd increase to Saudi Arabia's largest
refinery at Eas Tanura (530,000-bpd capacity after the increase),
completed by 1987, also contributed to the overall increase.
Damage to Saudi Arabia's refineries during the Persian Gulf War
reduced capacity at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery and at the
AOC and Getty refineries in the Divided Zone. Total refining
capacity during 1991 averaged 1.6 million bpd, but repairs during
1992 helped restore overall refinery capacity to 1.8 million bpd.
Domestic refined output grew steadily with the capacity
expansions during the 1980s and early 1990s. Total production of
refined petroleum averaged 1.2 million bpd in 1985, growing to
more than 1.7 million bpd by 1990, representing an average
capacity use of 84 percent in 1985 and 93 percent in 1990. The
bulk of refined product output was naphtha and diesel oil;
however, output of gasoline and lighter product grades grew more
rapidly during the 1980s. This trend indicated both the
construction of more sophisticated refineries and the upgrade of
existing plants. Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia's refining capacity
was of fairly low quality.
Domestic consumption of refined products grew rapidly in the
first half of the 1980s. With economic retrenchment, however,
consumption growth slowed markedly in the latter half of the
1980s. From 460,000 bpd in 1980, domestic consumption rose to
630,000 bpd by 1985 and stagnated at that level until military
consumption during the Persian Gulf War boosted domestic demand
to 840,000 bpd during 1991. A fall in consumption to 700,000 bpd
was anticipated in 1992. Saudi Arabia became a major exporter of
refined products after 1985. From a modest level of exports of
290,000 bpd in 1985, refined product sales reached 734,000 bpd in
1990 before falling to 610,000 bpd as a result of output retained
domestically to fuel the foreign forces in the kingdom. A large
proportion of exports have been directed to Asian markets, of
which Japan alone accounted for one-third of Samarec's overseas
sales.
Data as of December 1992
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