Highlights Saudi Arabia to hold production steady in May, June Crude burn set to increase to 491,000 b/d in July, on A/C use Iraq, Kuwait also will consume more crude for power generation Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s seasonal spike in domestic oil consumption to fuel power plants comes at an inconvenient time for the OPEC kingpin, which is under increasing US pressure to keep the lid on prices but also wants to rein in production to drain global inventories. Diversifying the sources of its electricity generation would be an easy way to gain even more clout in the oil market. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience. Register Now The kingdom is the largest user of crude oil in the Middle East for generating electricity, potentially reducing its spare capacity during the summer when demand for air conditioning and seawater desalination peaks. The region’s […]