, Columnist
Saudi Arabia Is Losing Its Appetite for Oil
The world’s biggest net exporter of crude is using renewables to reduce its petroleum consumption.
The Saudi government wants to wean the economy off crude in favor of renewables.
Photographer: NurPhoto/Getty Images
You know that horror movie trope where the babysitter gradually realizes the crazed killer is phoning, not from some distant location, but from inside the house? Something similar is happening in the oil market.
That’s because Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest net exporter of crude, is using renewables to drastically reduce its petroleum consumption. The threat to the kingdom’s producers isn’t coming from the heartlands of electric vehicle adoption in Shenzhen, Oslo, or San Francisco — it’s right inside the house.