Strong oil prices will ally with a sharp rise in Saudi Arabia's crude output to expand its foreign assets by nearly $98 billion through 2011 although the world's dominant oil exporter is spending much higher than it had projected this year, according to a key Western financial institution.
From around $445 billion at the end of 2010, the Gulf Kingdom's foreign assets are expected to hit an all time high of nearly $543 billion at the end of 2011 and continue their rise to reach $591 billion at the end of 2012, the Washington-based Institute for International Finance (IIF) said in its latest report.
The assets, controlled by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), have already swelled by nearly $80 billion in the first nine months of 2011 as a result of a surge in crude prices and a decision by the Kingdom to raise its oil output to more than nine million bpd to offset disruption of Libya's supplies.