Introduction

Saudi Arabia, one of the leading producers of crude oil in the world, is a founding  member of OPEC, Organization of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries. OPEC is an organization consisting of twelve of the world’s major oil producing companies, which mostly consist of companies in the Middle East. All of Saudi Arabia revolves around their ability to produce and sell oil. Consequently, they have always centered their economy around their oil production and sales. According to Ivana Kottasova at CNN, oil makes up 87% of all Saudi Arabia’s revenues; therefore, Saudi “want[s] to boost non-oil revenues six-fold to 266 billion dollars by 2030.”

Recently with oil prices plummeting, Saudi’s economy has suffered tremendously. Just from 2014 to 2015, the GDP, Gross Domestic Product, decreased by about 100 billion dollars, and it continues to decrease every year. Their economy is expected to slightly bounce back in 2018; however, Saudi Arabia wants more than just a slight increase. Therefore, they are trying to make some changes, and their main plan is Vision 2030. Vision 2030 is a program that plans to break Saudi Arabia’s dangerous addiction to oil and try to change their economy into a more diverse system in the way it makes money. The main three strategies of Vision 2030 are raising energy prices, using alternative energy sources, and tourism. (Alkahalisi)

 

Kottasova, Ivana. “Saudi Arabia Tries to Break ‘Dangerous’ Addiction to Oil.” CNN Money. 25 April 2017. Web. 14 October 2017.

This article was written April 25, 2017. This article is not brand new, but the article is about events that were happening at that time. The author, Ivana Kottasova, graduated from London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a full-time reporter for CNN Money, a very high quality, national company. There are also several reference from other article and references to similar article. Therefore, this article passes the test.

Alkhalisi, Zahraa. “Saudi Arabia wants foreign help in its massive economic overhaul.” CNN Money. 23 October 2017. Web. 3 November 2017.

This article was written extremely recently, which is very important for this topic. The author is Zahraa Alkhalisi, graduate of Western University, is a producer and reporter for CNN. She is also from the United Arab Emirates, right next to Saudi Arabia, and writes alot of articles about the region. The purpose of this website is to provide facts about Saudi Arabia’s economy. Overall, this article passes the test.