Questions Congress Needs to Ask Before Authorizing Bush’s Saudi Arms Deal

…Early in 2007 with the price of oil hovering about $50/bbl, Saudi Arabia as the leader of OPEC, organized a production cut of 1.7 million barrels a day from OPEC’s production quotas. Since then the price of oil has escalated by 100% touching $100/bbl just some two weeks ago. Such an increase in price is virtually unprecedented and is beginning to wreck havoc on world economies, especially the poorer nations. Obviously the 500,000 barrels production a day that were reinstated in November are a far cry from what is needed. Why, in spite of this dramatic price escalation has Saudi Arabia not mandated OPEC to reinstate, at the very least, the full 1.7 million barrels of production?


Our Energy Department is confused. They know so little about Saudi Arabia’s true production capabilities. Saudi Arabia had let it be known for many years that it holds 260 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. Yet in March of last year the head of reservoir management at Saudi Aramco, estimated the kingdom’s reserves were almost three times greater, being closer to 716 billion barrels and possibly as great as a trillion (1,000,000,000,000) barrels. “Lack of transparency in oil markets and poor quality of information contribute to volatility and uncertainties,” so the International Monetary Fund’s truism seconded by the Group of Seven (G-7) urging producing countries to lift the veil of secrecy and share data on output and reserves — Saudi Arabia has steadfastly refused to do so. Not an idle nor in the least unreasonable request given that so much of the world’s economy, as its economic forward planning, is dependent on this data. Will Saudi Arabia recognize its responsibility and provide this data henceforward?

Huffington Post