130SHIFTING GEARS IN SAUDI ARABIASaudi consumers to change their behavior. Gasoline demand in the
first quarter of 2018 dropped by 7 percent over the same period in 2017.
Overall, Saudi oil consumption grew by just 1.6 percent in 2016, a
fraction of the 5.7 percent average for the decade. In 2017, oil demand
actually shifted into reverse, dropping by just over half a percent— the
first drop in yearly demand since the mid- 90s.^35
The reforms under King Salman went beyond price changes. The king
also decreed a long- overdue rearranging of the institutions of energy
governance, starting with the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals under
its long- serving leader Ali Naimi. Naimi is one of the more colorful char-
acters in the kingdom; his life is emblematic of the transformation of
the kingdom from a hermetic backwater to global powerhouse. Naimi
was raised in a Bedouin family that grazed livestock in the desert around
20,000
22,000
24,000
26,000
28,000
30,000
32,000
34,000
36,000
38,000
1990199119921993
1994199519961997
199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012
2013201420152016FIGURE 8.1 Saudi electricity demand: kWh/customer.
Saudi power demand per customer shows a decline in 2016,
with the first decline in peak load since 1991.
Source: Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, “Electricity
and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) Data and Statistics,” regulatory report
( R i y a d h : E C R A , 2 0 1 7 ) , h t t p : / / w w w. e c r a. g o v. s a / e n - u s / D a t a A n d S t a t i s t i c s / N a t i o n a l R e c o r d
/ H i s t o r i c a l D a t a / P a g e s / H o m e. a s p x.