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Soaring Mideast Heat May Roil Oil Market as Demand Surges

  • Kuwait’s power consumption surpassed previous peak this week
  • Saudis burn up to 1 million barrels a day for summer cooling
   

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Soaring temperatures in one of the world’s top energy-producing regions could drive fuel prices higher as countries there burn more oil and natural gas to keep homes cool.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are all experiencing weather that’s hotter than normal. That has coincided with a tightened crude market, with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies continuing to hold back millions of barrels of supply.