Is KSA's oil reserves dwindling?
4 April 2013, 18:00 PM
UPDATED
4 April 2013, 21:21 PM
Professor M Zahidul Haque, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka
AFP/GETTY IMAGES/FILE
For the last few months I have been reading news in different publications that oil resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is depleting. The country may turn into an oil importing country from an oil exporting one in the near future. In order to divert KSA's heavy dependence on its oil resources for power generation, the Kingdom is planning to install 40 gigawatts solar energy plant and 60 nuclear reactors.
Recently Saudi Arabia's oil minister told reporters that Saudi Aramco is set to begin exploration of the country's shale resources (shales are fine grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas). But it requires enough water resources to fully exploit shale and unfortunately, KSA doesn't have that much water resources. In fact, the country spends billions of dollars for desalination and water sanitation system. Many energy and investment analysts have predicted that with the decline in oil resource the Kingdom's economy may face a total meltdown!
Well, in my opinion, the KSA should take urgent steps to cope with the situation.
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