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Succession at House of Saud: The men who would be king
Anne Penketh, Independent
King Abdullah created a council to choose his successor and avoid a bloody feud. But will the Saudi princes allow it to?
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When King Abdullah invites foreign leaders into his office in his opulent Jeddah palace, he sits by a painting which shows a supplicant presenting a petition to the elderly monarch’s father – the man who gave his name to modern Saudi Arabia.
As the dignitaries glance from father to son, their gaze comes to rest on the 84-year-old ruler seated before them in the wood-panelled and marble room, wrapped in his chestnut robe. They can be forgiven for thinking: who’s next? Because uncertainty is looming over the literally tottering House of Saud.
(17 June 2008)
Saudis playing ‘high stakes game’ ahead of oil summit
Peter Ryan, ABC News (Australia)
Oil has been on another roller-coaster ride overnight after Saudi Arabia signalled it would boost production to its highest level in 25 years.
The price of crude surged close to almost $US140 a barrel, but pulled back amid scepticism that the expected Saudi intervention would have any meaningful impact.
Traders doubt the action will do much to rein in speculators who have been driving the price higher and say while the increased supply is a welcome gesture, it is not the type of oil the world needs.
The world’s top oil producing and consuming nations meet in Saudi Arabia this weekend at the personal request of King Abdullah.
(17 June 2008)
Rise in oil price: Fact and fiction
Editorial, Arab News
FOLLOWING fast on the decision to boost oil production this month by 300,000 b/d, the Kingdom is to increase this by a further 200,000 b/d next month in the hope of bringing some sanity to an out-of-control market. Given that supply already exceeds demand, this should push down the price. We say, “should”.
The fact is that no one knows if it will. The 300,000 b/d rise initially seemed to have stabilized the market but it was hoped it would do more and yesterday, despite the further announcement, prices hit fresh highs. The fact is that with speculators forcing up the price ever higher in order to scoop up profits, production increases are going to have limited effect. Producers no longer have the wherewithal to end this irresponsible destabilization of the market.
No one, however, can say that Saudi Arabia is not acting responsibly or decisively – although that is precisely what the media in some countries has been trying to claim in the past few weeks. The way Saudi oil policy has been presented in the US media in particular has been little short of dishonest. The Kingdom was accused of refusing President Bush’s requests to pump more oil, the inference being that it is happy with sky- high prices. The 300,000 b/d increase was ignored and the explanation that demand for extra oil is not there was clearly considered a feeble excuse.
Quite clearly the Saudi-bashers thought that the Kingdom should flood the market. But Saudi Arabia cannot go overboard. It wants the price down, but equally it cannot go for overkill. A sudden massive hike – say, by million barrels a day – would have seen prices going through the floor. That would be just as destabilizing as the present situation.
Saudi Arabia is not alone as the target of consumer nations’ anger and frustration; all the oil producers, or at least all the oil producers in OPEC, have come under attack. But that anger is misdirected.
(17 June 2008)
Arab News is “The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily”.
Saudi King: ‘We will pump more oil’
Anne Penketh, The Independent
Saudi Arabia will raise oil production to record levels within weeks in an attempt to avert an escalation of social and political unrest around the world. King Abdullah signalled the commitment to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, at the weekend after the impact of skyrocketing oil prices on food sparked protests and riots from Spain to South Korea.
Next month, the Saudis will be pumping an extra half-a-million barrels of oil a day compared to last month, bringing total Saudi production to 9.7 million barrels a day, their highest ever level. But the world’s biggest oil exporters are coupling the increase with an appeal to western Europe to cut fuel taxes to lower the price of petrol to consumers.
Saudi Arabia, which has called an emergency meeting of oil producers and consumers in the port city Jeddah next Sunday, says the energy crisis has not been caused purely by market pressures but by a speculative bubble. Saudi Arabia and Opec believe there are no shortages to justify the sudden surge in prices.
(16 June 2008)
Related at the Independent: The oil era reaches its desperate endgame.
