Saudi Arabia's oil demand growth at six-year low as economy sputters

Doha

OIL consumption in Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, is expanding at the slowest pace in at least six years as low energy prices hurt economic growth.

The kingdom's demand for oil increased by an average of 24,000 barrels a day in the first five months of 2016, the slowest growth rate for that period since at least 2010, the first year for which data are available from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi) in Riyadh. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is now looking for a drop in demand in Saudi Arabia for all of 2016, after forecasting an increase earlier this year.