Thanks for the good and detailed information! I’m a little surprised that they didn’t progress further than that with refining before the recent crude moves.
For anyone who hasn’t already seen it, here’s a link to other, more general recent news about Saudi economics.
Saudi Arabia could be bankrupt within five years, IMF predicts
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-could-be-bankrupt-within-five-years-imf-predicts-a6706821.html
And yes, there’s some sensationalism to filter from popular news publications. The Saudis would be expected to avoid default before long with changing market conditions.
The IMF report
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2015/mcd/eng/pdf/menap1015.pdf
That claim, is also based upon predicting the price of oil to remain unchanged for 5 years.
I think the chances of that are nearly the same as an asteroid destroying all life on the planet in the same time frame.