Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi attends Mining & Minerals Exhibition & Conference in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia is considering raising its heavily subsidized domestic energy prices, said Ali Al-Naimi, minister of petroleum and natural resources, Tuesday.

“All prices eventually rise,” Al-Naimi said on the sidelines of a mining conference. “Is it under study? The answer is ‘Yes,’” he told reporters.

Fuel consumption in Saudi Arabia has risen nine-fold since 1971, making the country one of the largest consumers per capita in the world, according to one study.

Saudi petrol prices are the cheapest in the Gulf and among the lowest on the planet. Motorists in the Kingdom can fill their tanks for around SR23 for a sedan or SR67 for an SUV.

Electricity and water are also heavily subsidized.

Last year, a senior World Bank official said the Gulf states spend more than $160 billion on energy subsidies annually. Saudi Arabia accounted for about half that figure.

At the conference, Al-Naimi denied that falling oil revenues have given an urgency to develop the Kingdom’s other resources, saying there were already significant efforts underway to do so. “Every wise country diversifies its economy,” Al-Naimi said.

Oil makes up roughly 90 percent of government revenue.

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