“They have been growing their Nat Gas production and power generations somewhat. But Saudi Arabia does not have a surplus of Nat Gas.”
They sure are slow about it. I recall my brother being in Aramco in 1979 and worked Safaniyah(at the time the largest offshore oilfield in the world and producing 3 mmbod) commented to me that 100% of the natural gas was flared.
The only processing they had was some huge GOSPs onshore that separated oil and gas. Zero water was produced. Instead of treating the water to remove it, they simply shutin the offending well.
There was no testing of wells either. His whole charge was to determine via pressure measurements downhole and on the lines how much each well was making. Aramco did not know if a couple of wells were making all that oil.
In the 70’s, that excess flaring was done in a lot places.