“GDP growth in Saudi Arabia is projected to see an upturn in 2020,” said Kholifey. “Monetary, fiscal and structural policies in my country are all geared towards an expansion of the private non-oil sector GDP over the medium term,” he said.

Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund said on Wednesday that Russian and Saudi companies have held discussions on possible joint projects as well as potential investment worth more than $10 billion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz "thoroughly discussed" the current oil market conditions as prices have fallen by more than 20% in the past three weeks amid global oil demand concerns, a Kremlin statement said late Monday.

Saudi Arabia over-complied with its quota of 10.31 million b/d last year under the old agreement with the 23-member OPEC/non-OPEC coalition, collectively known as OPEC+, as the country made up for laggards Iraq and Nigeria, which flouted their quotas for most of last year.

The crude stocks held by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi were 1.41 million kiloliters, or 8.87 million barrels, at the end of November, equating to four days of Japanese oil consumption, up from 1.1 million kiloliters a month earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Saudi Arabia is about to launch four giant projects to produce solar photovoltaic systems within a national renewable energy program.

The company, which builds power and desalinated water plants and has 50% of its portfolio in Saudi Arabia, plans to expand into new markets, Paddy Padmanthan told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy event in Abu Dhabi.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Ali Asadov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan; Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy; Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power, and Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer of ACWA Power.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement Tuesday to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement, officials said.

Nuclear power provides 11 percent of the world’s electricity, with 454 nuclear reactors operating in 30 countries and 54 plants under construction — including 11 in China, seven in India, and six in Russia.