Sheikhs on barrels: what Saudi Arabians think about energy security

Abstract

The concept of energy security as understood by a sample of Saudi Arabian residents representing different demographic and occupational characteristics is explored. Based on a review of the academic literature concerning energy security for Saudi Arabia, a working set of eight testable hypotheses, related to (1) energy trade, (2) centralization and participation in energy decisions, (3) pricing of energy products, (4) research and development in new energy technologies, (5) security of supply and domestic resource depletion, (6) affordability of energy, (7) energy efficiency, and (8) water availability, is created. These hypotheses are then compared with the results of a survey instrument completed by 298 Saudi respondents, before the article concludes with implications for policy‐makers and energy analysts.

Keywords:

• Saudi Arabia
• energy security
• security of supply

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Centre on Asia and Globalisation for some of the financial assistance needed to conduct the surveys for this project. They are also appreciative to the MacArthur Foundation's Asia Security Initiative for Grant 08‐92777‐000‐GSS which has supported elements of the work reported here, as well as National University of Singapore Faculty Start‐up Grant 09‐273. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation, MacArthur Foundation, National University of Singapore, or the respondents and participants.