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- Matar, Walid
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About
Walid Matar is a Principal Fellow in the Oil and Gas Program at KAPSARC, specializing in energy systems modeling. His work focuses on the KAPSARC Energy Model and related projects, including modeling residential electricity use and the distribution of refined products in Saudi Arabia. He has developed components covering electric power generation, oil refining, petrochemicals, cement production, and iron and steel industries. Walid holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Portsmouth, an M.Sc. in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University, and a B.Sc. in the same field from the University of South Carolina. His research bridges technical and economic perspectives, with interests in optimization, energy efficiency, and integrated energy systems.
Education
01-01-2021 - 11-01-2021
University of Portsmouth
PhD - Economics
24-08-2008 - 06-01-2010
North Carolina State University
Master - Mechanical Engineering
24-08-2004 - 06-01-2008
North Carolina State University
Bachelor - Mechanical Engineering
Publications
03 November 2024
The Impact of Displacing Fuel Oil on Saudi RefineriesSaudi Arabia aims to displace fuel oil in its electricity system and industry. Such a move will impact the operation of its oil refineries, and this commentary explores these potential effects.
10 September 2024
An Exposition of Bilinear “Implicit” Subsidy EquationsThe price-gap method is popularly applied to estimate energy subsidies, and it simply involves calculating the difference between the market and domestic prices of a good multiplied by the quantity consumed. In the case where subsidies impose foregone revenue rather than direct costs...
18 September 2023
A Decomposition Approach to Energy Policy AnalysisIndex decomposition analysis (IDA) has been used to study energy use movements since the 1980s. Methods at that time consisted primarily of multiplying factors that ultimately yielded the aggregate quantity, such as energy use. IDA is a straightforward way for researchers to examine ...
13 January 2020
Natural Gas Strategies for the Saudi Energy SystemFuel prices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have historically been below international market values. This has stimulated rapid growth in primary energy demand. The Kingdom’s natural gas demand has now outstripped its domestic production, forcing the government to impose rations on co...
01 September 2019
KAPSARC’s Contribution to Evaluating the Impact of Price Controlshas just published a paper, “Measuring the effects of price controls using mixed complementarity models” (2019). It detailed a series of innovative modeling approaches developed by KAPSARC researchers over the last six years. The models were used to study the effects of administered...
28 October 2025
Renewable Energy Certificates in the Saudi Electricity System
A renewable energy certificate (REC) is a tradable instrument that represents 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated from renewable sources. In addition to the electricity itself, a REC embodies the non-energy attributes of that generation, such as reductions in greenhouse gas...
20 May 2025
Inexpensive Renewable Electricity Enables Saudi Arabia’s Fuel Price ReformsSaudi Arabia is currently implementing fuel price reforms. The reforms are being executed in phases, where the ultimate goal is to have fuel prices approach their market equivalent values. Using the KAPSARC Energy Model, this analysis shows that such reforms would have been more cost...
25 March 2025
Does integrating oil refining with petrochemicals provide long-term benefits for Saudi Arabia?To integrate or not to integrate petrochemicals – that is the question posed by this paper for Saudi Arabian oil refineries. The viability of combining domestic oil refining and petrochemical activities is investigated using an energy system model for Saudi Arabia. Two scenarios are ...
11 February 2025
Alternative Fuels and Processes for Saudi Construction Materials Companies
Producing construction materials requires a great amount of energy, and in Saudi Arabia, this production currently entails the use of substantial amounts of liquid fuels. Liquid fuels are mostly sold at below-market prices domestically, and thus result in large opportunity costs for...
30 October 2024
Using Satellite Technology to Measure Methane Emissions in Arabian Gulf CountriesDecision makers need high-quality information on the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to take effective climate actions. Of the GHGs, methane can be particularly difficult to measure. Huge discrepancies exist in methane emission estimates at the global, national, and corporate...
07 December 2023
Using Satellite Technology to Measure Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi ArabiaMeasuring and monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are crucial to address climate change and fulfill Paris Agreement objectives. This paper explores the potential of satellite technology in measuring and tracking CH4, CO2, and N2O emissions in Saudi Arabia, collaborating with en...
13 November 2023
Energy Policy Pathways to Inform Climate Policy in Saudi Arabiae). In this regard, this paper contributes a modeling view of the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. The baseline entails the continued progression of current domestic policies ...2 emissions equal to those displayed in the announced policies.
17 January 2023
Alternative Fuels for Saudi Cement Manufacturing with Time-varying Carbon Pricing
After cement production in Saudi Arabia surged in the first half of the 2010s due to the country’s rapid economic development, it has slowed measurably in recent years as economic growth has declined. This is shown in Figure 1, along with the evolution of the Kingdom’s real gross do...
22 March 2021
Long-run Effects of Real-time Electricity Pricing in the Saudi Power SectorThis study explores the potential effects of real-time electricity pricing on the operations of Saudi Arabia’s power generation sector. The Kingdom currently sets fuel prices for power utilities at levels that suppress the costs of power generation. However, this analysis prov...
06 January 2021
Can Oil Refiners Adjust to a Greater Supply of Shale Oil?The advent of American shale oil and its prospects for continued production growth have raised concerns about whether oil refineries can handle the increasingly lighter crude oil supply. To provide a perspective on this issue, we run a global oil refining model for the years from 201...
14 September 2020
On the Incremental Investment in Residential Energy Efficiency: A Saudi Perspective
It has been shown in the literature that, in aggregate, actual household energy efficiency adoption is less than would be expected economically. Energy economists and policy analysts have described this phenomenon as the ‘energy efficiency gap.’ There could be myriad reasons for this...
24 March 2020
Residential Energy Efficiency Investment and Demand Response Under Different Electricity Pricing Schemes: A Physical- Microeconomic ApproachThis paper expands on a previously-presented methodology that merges the physical properties of energy with microeconomic principles: The physical side of the model informs how much electricity is used to satisfy services that people desire, while the microeconomic side imposes a uti...
08 December 2019
Viability of Seasonal Natural Gas Storage in the Saudi Energy SystemSaudi Arabia expects to double its natural gas production within the next decade. This increased domestic supply is expected to meet the demand for gas from Saudi Arabia’s industrial development and, most importantly, to displace liquid fuels in its electricity sector. Given the stro...
14 February 2019
Households’ Demand Response to Changes in Electricity Prices: A Microeconomic-Physical Approach
The study calibrates the physical component for a dwelling in Saudi Arabia. Domestic electricity tariffs in the – tiered – progressive pricing structure were partially raised in 2018. In addition to those increases, the response to other electricity pricing schemes is analyzed: time-...
29 July 2017
Reforming Industrial Fuel and Residential Electricity Prices in Saudi ArabiaThe Saudi electricity sector buys fuel and sells electricity at prices administered by the government. In this analysis, we assume that fuel prices are deregulated — priced at their marginal values or international equivalents — and use a long-term static version of the KAPSARC Energ...
28 November 2016
Adding Photovoltaics to the Saudi Power System: What are the Costs of Intermittency?Intermittent generation from wind or photovoltaics (PV) imposes a cost on the power systems in which they are deployed. These costs vary regionally due to different fuel costs and ramping flexibility of existing grid capacities. With 2015 as a reference year, we examine the costs of ...
26 July 2016
The Responsiveness of Fuel Demand to Gasoline Price in Passenger TransportEmpirical estimates of fuel demand changes to price variation are based on historical consumption and prices, and can be applied as a single point estimate to a wide range of price movements. However, if fuel prices are set outside the boundaries of historical changes, policymakers m...
24 December 2015
The Prospects for Coal-fired Power Generation in Saudi ArabiaAlmost all of Saudi Arabia’s electric power generation is fueled by oil and gas. Plans for future capacity envisage nuclear and renewables supplementing this mix and freeing up oil for other revenue-generating opportunities. Coal-fired generation has been promoted in some Gulf Cooper...
07 June 2015
Efficient Industrial Energy Use: The First Step in Transitioning Saudi Arabia’s Energy MixExternal observers worry about whether Saudi domestic consumption of oil will crowd out exports. This is based on simple extrapolations which suggest that in a little more than 20 years Saudi Arabia may become a net importer of hydrocarbon fuels. However, our research does not suppor...
06 March 2015
Modeling residential electricity consumption and efficiency within an economic frameworkMany countries have promoted energy efficiency and conservation in the residential sector due to its significant contribution to total demand. This paper discusses some of the wider implications of more efficient households on the overall energy system. Various efficiency options, su...
07 March 2014
Lowering Saudi Arabia’s fuel consumption and energy system costs without increasing end consumer pricesSaudi Arabia aims to reduce the growth of its energy demand. This paper outlines an approach that could help the country to reduce substantively its current fuel consumption and could result in a net economic gain without increasing current end consumer prices and while maintaining p...
30 September 2024
Web-Based User Interfaces for Mathematical Models to Support Decisions: The Fuel Distribution Network OptimizerMathematical models provide quantitative analyses that can inform policy decisions. We argue that two attributes can support models’ adoption by policymakers: an intuitive graphical interface and active engagement between modelers and policymakers.
11 May 2023
Modeling the Distribution and Transshipment of Refined Oil Products
KAPSARC has developed an optimization model to characterize the distribution of oil products after the refining stage. The model ensures that the demand for any group of refined oil products is simultaneously met while minimizing the social costs associated with the distribution syst...
05 November 2017
Electricity Transmission Formulations in Multi-Sector National Planning Models: An illustration using the KAPSARC Energy ModelThe purpose of this study is to assess policy-relevant effects of incorporating a more proper representation of electricity transmission in multi-sector national policy models. This goal is achieved by employing the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM), which is the first publicly available la...
18 January 2021
On the Incremental Investment in Residential Energy Efficiency: A Saudi PerspectiveThis paper examines the marginal welfare gain of adopting higher energy efficiency after another efficiency measure has already been installed. For example, how does installing stringent thermal insulation influence energy efficiency investment decisions thereafter? A mathematical mo...
25 June 2020
Residential Energy Efficiency Investment and Behavioural Response Under Different Electricity Pricing Schemes: A Physical-microeconomic ApproachThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of electricity price changes and energy efficiency subsidy on household energy efficiency purchase and/or behavioural adjustment decisions. The analysis adds energy efficiency investment to a methodology that merges the physics of e...
01 November 2019
A Household’s Power Load Response to a Change in the Electricity Pricing Scheme: An Expanded Microeconomic-physical ApproachEnergy economists are interested in how changes in electricity prices prompt a response in end-user electricity demand. If historical prices are low or seldom change, it becomes difficult to estimate price elasticities statistically , especially in the short-run. Thus, a framework th...
01 June 2018
Households’ response to changes in electricity pricing schemes: Bridging microeconomic and engineering principlesThis paper presents a computational take on households’ response to price changes. Many studies use assumptions (i.e., price elasticities) that were estimated using historical information; however, if a price change has not been experienced in the past, the response may not be statis...
01 June 2018
Electricity transmission formulations in multi-sector national planning models: An illustration using the KAPSARC energy modelThe purpose of this study is to assess the policy-relevant effects of incorporating a more proper representation of electricity transmission in multi-sector national policy models. This goal is achieved by employing the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM), which is the first publicly availabl...
01 July 2017
Striking a balance between profit and carbon dioxide emissions in the Saudi cement industryCement manufacturing is a major industry in Saudi Arabia. As a highly polluting sector, it may be part of CO2 abatement policy for the country. This paper presents a multi-criteria analysis to examine how two competing objectives affect the performance of the cement industry in Saudi...
01 June 2017
A look at the response of households to time-of-use electricity pricing in Saudi Arabia and its impact on the wider economyHouseholds in Saudi Arabia account for about half of domestic electricity demand. This high level of consumption is partly due to historically low prices. These prices have also been flat throughout the day. Policymakers are exploring different pricing policies to help reduce this sh...
01 May 2017
Jointly reforming the prices of industrial fuels and residential electricity in Saudi ArabiaThe Saudi electricity sector currently buys fuel and sells electricity at prices administered by the government. In this analysis, we illustratively explore combining the reform of the fuel prices used in power plants with the implementation of alternative electricity pricing schemes...
01 April 2017
Efficient industrial energy use: The first step in transitioning Saudi Arabia’s energy mixIn Saudi Arabia, industrial fuel prices are administered below international prices and firms make decisions based on low energy prices, increasing domestic energy demand. This analysis explores alternative policies designed to induce a transition to a more efficient energy system by...
19 October 2016
The prospects for coal-fired power generation in Saudi ArabiaAlmost all of Saudi Arabia’s electric power generation is fueled by oil and gas. Plans for future capacity envisage nuclear and renewables supplementing this mix and thereby freeing up oil for other revenue-generating opportunities. Coal-fired generation has been promoted in some Gul...
01 June 2016
Beyond the end-consumer: how would improvements in residential energy efficiency affect the power sector in Saudi Arabia?Energy efficiency in buildings has garnered significant attention in Saudi Arabia. This paper outlines the potential effects of higher residential efficiency on electricity load profiles in the Kingdom. It further presents the associated benefits that could have been realized by the ...
01 May 2015
Lowering Saudi Arabia’s fuel consumption and energy system costs without increasing end consumer pricesUsing a multi-sector equilibrium model of the Saudi energy system that handles administered prices in a mixed-complementarity formulation, we present results from a set of policy scenarios that lower oil consumption in the country. Some of these scenarios are the solutions to Mathema...
01 April 2014
The impact of oil price volatility on welfare in the kingdom of saudi arabia: Implications for public investment decision-makingSince real oil price is positively correlated with real consumption and domesticincome in Saudi Arabia, a risk premium needs to be considered when assessingthe net present value of oil-related public investment projects. For projects generatingadditional oil exports, this risk premiu...
28 April 2024
Satellite-Assisted Methane Emissions Intensity from Saudi Oil and Gas Production in 2023In its latest release of the Global Methane Tracker, the International Energy Agency (IEA) imputes methane intensity for each oil and gas producer for 2023.
19 April 2020
A Look Back on Saudi Fossil Fuel Incentives in the Last DecadeThe Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) have just released energy use data for 2019. This insight provides an up-to-date estimation of how fossil fuel incentives have changed in 2019 compared with 2009.
04 April 2023
Real Gross Domestic Income for Saudi Arabia From 1986 to 2021
A country’s national income is defined as the total market value of its output. The most used measure for national income is gross domestic product (GDP). One way to estimate GDP for a country is to sum its government consumption, private consumption, investment, and exports minus i...
27 December 2020
Real Gross Domestic Income for Saudi Arabia: A Measure of National Income“A country’s national income is defined as the total market value of its output. The most used measure for national income is gross domestic product (GDP). One way to estimate GDP for a country is to sum its government consumption, private consumption, investment, and e...
17 October 2018
The Economics of Renewable Energy in the GulfGhada Abdulla, Hisham Akhonbay, Abdullah Al-Badi, Walid Ali, Odeh Al-Jayyousi, Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Maha Alsabbagh, Omar Al-Ubaydli, Moiz Bohra, Sylvain Cote, Nasreddine El-Dehaibi, Amro Elshurafa, Bassam Fattouh, Stephen Gitonga, Steve Griffiths, Marwan Khraisheh, Walid...
16 April 2025
Lower-cost Pathways To Achieve Saudi Arabia’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction TargetsA market-wide cap on carbon emissions instead of a prescriptive energy transition could achieve the same reductions at much lower cost to industry and consumers.
26 February 2025
Decoding Implicit Energy SubsidiesA new set of equations could help estimate the indirect economic effects of subsidizing energy prices in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
02 December 2024
Sensors In The Sky: Satellite Technology Is A Promising Tool To Measure EmissionsA recent study explores how new satellite technology can measure methane emissions and help explain the highly divergent estimates for Saudi Arabia.