Actual and planned oil production Saudi Arabia 2020

Saudi Arabia had an oil production volume of 12 million barrels per day in April 2020. However, the country planned to reduce its production to about eight million barrels per day following the COVID-19 pandemic in May and June of 2020.

Saudi oil industry

Saudi Arabia’s oil industry entails 17 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves. Their oil reserves increased from 35 billion metric tons in 1990 to more than 40 billion metric tons in 2019. In 2018, its oil industry accounted for about half of the country’s GDP, at approximately 987 billion Saudi riyal, and about 70 percent of its export income. Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves are the second largest in the world. Furthermore, the country is the world’s leading petroleum exporter. Being close to the Earth’s surface, petroleum in Saudi Arabia is often easier and cheaper to extract than it is in other countries throughout the world. Petroleum is managed and largely handled by Saudi Aramco, which is a state-owned company and one of the most profitable in the world. As of 2019, it was valued at more than 294 billion U.S. dollars.

Saudi economy

The economy of Saudi Arabia has a total worth of 33.5 trillion U.S. dollars, placing it in the leading 20 economies in the world, and the largest economy in the Arab world and the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is the world’s leader in petroleum exportation and contains the second largest petroleum reserve. It also had the fifth largest natural gas reserve of about six trillion cubic meters in 2019. Having those valuable resources in hand, the country is considered an energy superpower. However, its substantial dependence on these valuable natural resources, mostly the oil industry, pressured the government to launch its Saudi Vision 2030. This focuses on diversifying its resources and not being heavily dependent on the oil industry. As a result, in the first quarter of 2019, Saudi Arabia's budget accomplished its first surplus since 2014 of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars. Non-oil revenues accounted for about 38 percent of the country’s revenue in 2019, with the most revenue being from taxes on goods and services in 2020.