The Nuclear Energy Industry in Saudi Arabia Term Paper

The Nuclear Energy Industry in Saudi Arabia - Term Paper Example Saudi Arabia has 16 percent of the oil reserves proven in the world, ranks highest in the exportation of petroleum liquids and has the largest capacity to export crude oil in the entire world (Independent statistics and analysis, Para 2). The nuclear energy industry in Saudi follows Canada as the second largest exporter of petroleum in the ranking for petroleum exporters to the United States. It takes the fifth position in the world’s largest reserve for natural gas through its production is limited. The industry has plans for increasing the capacity to produce electricity to 120GW to meet the growing electricity demand in the country. The major areas of the industry are the refining of natural gas, petrochemicals, crude oil, petroleum and mineral resources. (Independent statistics and analysis, Para 4). The industry has huge oil reserves for oil with Ghawar field being the largest oil field in the world. Saudi Arabia has the highest rate of oil consumption in the world and holds the highest position for crude oil production in the world. Saudi Aramco has an oil processing facility that is the greatest in the entire world and eight domestic refineries for crude oil. It has the fifth largest reserves for natural gas though it does not export any of its production. The natural gas produced therefore is used for domestic consumption. The increased demand for electricity has pushed the need for the industry to increase electricity generation. This will be necessitated by an increase in nuclear power, solar power and other renewable sources and reducing the overall amount of crude oil burning. The Saudi Electric company is the main electricity generator in Saudi Arabia, followed by the Saline Water conversion corporation. Saudi Aramco has its own power plants that generate power for its o wn use in the oil facilities (Banks 120). There was an announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council in December 2006 that it was conducting a study on a peaceful use  of nuclear energy.