Saudis facing 50°C days burn more oil as Covid-19 keeps them home for summer
Each August, Saudi Arabia uses 726,000 barrels of oil daily for power generation — more than double the amount for the months of January and February
Dubai — As the Middle East enters the hottest days of summer, Saudi Arabia is set to burn potentially record amounts of crude oil to run its power plants and keep its citizens comfortably air-conditioned.
Electricity consumption always soars in July and August, when temperatures in the country can rise above 50°C. That compels the government to use crude or fuel oil in addition to the much cleaner natural gas that normally fires the plants. But this year the urge to drain oil is even stronger because of higher demand, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing many Saudis to cancel their summer holidays abroad...
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