The sources said Riyad would seek to maintain projects meant to
modernize the Saudi Arabian National Guard, commanded by King Abdullah.
SANG, with nearly 100,000 members, was designed to ensure internal and
border security, and was being transformed into a full-fledged military
loyal to the king.
Saudi Arabia was expected to make development projects and the oil
industry top priorities in 2009. The sources said Riyad would seek to
stabilize its financial system while dipping into the kingdom's reserves for
projects deemed strategic.
"We intend to make sure that these developmental projects go ahead and
get adequate financing as it is an opportunity to implement more projects
while there is less pressure on resources as the global economy slows down,"
Saudi Central Bank Gov. Hamad Al Sayyari told the Middle East Economic
Digest.
Kuwaiti sources said the Oil Ministry has determined that plans to build
a refinery with a capacity of 615,000 barrels per day were unfeasible.
The sources said the ministry has been under pressure from parliament to
formally end the Al Zour refinery program.
"A government figure revealed what he called a government plan to cancel
the fourth refinery project and replace it with another which includes a
revamping of the Shueiba and [Mina] Al Ahmadi refineries," the Kuwaiti daily
A-Siyassa said. "The Audit Bureau confirmed that the new refinery was not
feasible from the economic and technical points of view."
The sources said the cancellation of Al Zour would result in
compensation to those already awarded contracts. In 2008, Kuwait awarded
$8.4 billion in contracts -- mostly to Japan and South Korea -- to establish
Al Zour.
