OREANDA-NEWS.  In the Middle East, oil consumption is expected to grow steadily, rising by 0.31 mb/d y-o-y in 2014. In Saudi Arabia, the largest consumer and contributor to oil demand growth in the region, April 2014 showed substantially higher growth than the same period of 2013. Fuel oil and direct crude burning increased, possibly as a result of fuel burning for newly commissioned desalination projects requiring additional power. Demand for the two products increased by 181 tb/d and 105 tb/d, respectively. Additionally, jet/kerosene increased y-o-y by more than 25%, possibly due to inventory builds ahead of the holy month of Ramadan. LPG and gasoline growth, on the other hand, declined compared with the same period one year earlier. Total oil consumption in the Kingdom reached 2.35 mb/d in April 2014, compared with 2.06 mb/d in April 2013. In 2013, Middle East oil demand grew by 0.23 mb/d; while oil demand during 2014 is expected to rise by around 0.30 mb/d.