Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia plans to invest $40 billion a year in the kingdom’s energy sector over the next decade.

The state-owned monopoly Saudi Aramco said the money would help develop energy resources in the Gulf Cooperation Council state. A senior official said the investment sought to double natural gas production by 2024.

“Although our investments will span the value chain, the bulk will be in upstream, and increasingly from offshore, with the aim of maintaining our maximum sustained oil production capacity at 12 million barrels per day,
while also doubling our gas production,” Armaco chief executive officer Khalid Al Falih said.

In late August, Al Falih told an energy conference in Norway that Riyad must increase capacity by 40 million barrels per day over the next 20 years.

He said a major obstacle was the shortage in skilled labor, including engineers and scientists.

  Aramco, doubling natural gas production, Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi announces $40 billion investment plan for its energy sector