Confectioners in the Kingdom have sparked controversy with their new sweet-sounding deal: a free liter of petrol for every customer who buys a chocolate bar. Promotional posters throughout the capital are touting the special fuel-with-snack offers from Snickers and several other chocolate brands, Al-Iqtsadiya reported Monday. But the promotions have spurred an outcry from Saudi economists who claim the giveaways exemplify a wasteful attitude. Local analysts have warned of economic disaster if Saudi Arabia continues its current high rate of energy consumption. Chocolate bars typically cost about SR1-2 in the Kingdom, while a liter of petrol retails for half a riyal. “When companies grant free petrol for buying chocolate, it paints a powerful image of the waste of energy in the Saudi market,” said Rashed Abanmy, the head of the country's oil policies and strategic expectations center. “The use of gasoline as a free gift in shopping malls or for buying marginal products shows we are now dealing with energy in an irrational way,” he added. Chocolate promotions are only the latest attempt by Saudi companies to boost sales of their low-price products by offering petroleum-related gifts. Saudi Arabia uses the equivalent of 347,100 barrels of motor fuel a day. The largest oil-consuming nation in the Middle East, the Kingdom burns through more than two million barrels of crude per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
