The Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center hosted a roundtable with Dr. Jean-François Seznec to discuss his new report, Saudi Energy Changes: The End of the Rentier State? The effects of a low-price global oil market have the potential to reshape the fundamental governance systems of Saudi Arabia. Dr. Seznec, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and a renowned expert on Gulf energy markets, explained: as a result of shrinking income from oil, “It seems, therefore, that the country is moving away from being the epitome of a rentier state to resembling more closely the economies of the more developed nations of the G20, of which Saudi Arabia is a member.”
In his report and during the discussion, Dr. Seznec examined the impact of altered dynamics within the Saudi energy industry, given systematic changes within the monarchy, low oil prices, changed global markets, and Saudi foreign policy in the region. Saudi Aramco is the largest oil company in the world, and Saudi dependence upon it has become strained. Dr. Seznec provided a comprehensive examination of Saudi energy assets and the potential diversification and reform measures the monarchy could take to stabilize their economy.