Saudi Arabia using more crude oil than ever

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia aims to use more renewable energy, but for now it burns more crude oil directly than any other nation in the Middle East, a Wednesday report found.

By 2023, Saudi Arabia plans to have 120 gigawatts of solar and nuclear power available, more than twice what's installed currently.

Saudi Arabia has few alternative options for power generation, with no domestic coal reserves and a natural gas sector stymied by a lack of foreign investments.

As a result, it's one of only a few nations in the world that utilizes crude oil directly for power generation.

A report for the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a branch of the Energy Department, found Saudi Arabia burned 900,000 barrels of oil per day in July, the highest ever recorded for that month.

"Saudi Arabia used an average of 700,000 bpd of crude oil for power generation during the summers from 2009 to 2013," EIA said. "During that same period, Iraq and Kuwait, the next two largest users of crude oil for power generation in the Middle East, each averaged roughly 80,000 bpd of crude burn."

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's economy continues to expand. Growth in gross domestic product in the first quarter was 4.7 percent, compared with 3.8 percent growth during first quarter 2013.