"Saudi Oil Production to be Lowered?" - Workers in Saudi Arabia will not be working from noon to 3 PM until after August.

"Saudi Oil Production to be Lowered?" - Workers in Saudi Arabia will not be working from noon to 3 PM until after August.(BM).Cairo: In a move aimed at helping workers avoid the midday heat in Saudi Arabia, a government law was to be enforced beginning Sunday barring work to be done outside during the hottest part of the day. From July 1 through August 31, workers will be getting relief from being outside in the sun from noon until 3 PM, the Saudi Arabian Labor Ministry established last year and went into force again this year. However local daily Arab News reported that human right groups have complained that the ban is not being enforced everywhere. “We have had many cases and complaints about companies forcing their employees to work in the sun during the banned hours,” said Mufleh al-Qahtani, president of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) to Arab News. The complaints have prompted NSHR to file a petition with the Ministry of Labor and as a result the ministry has vowed to crack down on firms that do not enforce the ban this summer. “This, year we will send out inspection teams to construction sites to enforce the ban and protect the kingdom’s outdoor workers,” said ministry spokesman Hattab al-Anizi. In May 2012, fellow Gulf state Oman decided to also enforce a midday work ban as the temperatures soar in June, July and August. The United Arab Emirates has been enforcing the ban for several years and companies this year face a fine of 15,000 dirhams ($4,084) if they violate the rule.Hmmmm....."There's more than one way to 'skin a cat'.Read the full story here.

Update:
Flashback April 2012 - Saudi Arabia Builds Up Crude Inventories: Goldman. Saudi Arabia appears to have been building crude oil inventories in lower domestic demand months in a scramble to offset the risks of “limited” effective spare production capacity, Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday.The reason the increased production was not pooled into exports, Goldman Sachs analysts argue, is grounded in an anticipation of “a substantial increase” in demand that cannot be covered by “simply raising production levels”.

The logic behind the build-up in stocks, which amount to 390,000 barrels per day (bpd) in that period, is not the possibility of shortages resulting from escalating tensions with Iran. Rather, it is primarily in preparation for the strains of peak domestic demand that the summer heat brings to the Kingdom.Read the full story here.