oped: rofl Obama is the only idiot lost in this new scenario...he is too busy having a party at Middle Americas expense...yeppers Royal Welfare vacations makes one oblivious to world events!
As the fracking revolution eases demand for the kingdom's oil and gas, a billionaire prince warns his nation to find new income.
via: Sky News HD
A Saudi prince has warned that his oil-reliant nation
is under threat because of fracking technology being developed elsewhere
around the world.
Billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said the Gulf Arab kingdom needed
to reduce its reliance on crude oil and diversify its revenues.
His warning comes as rising shale energy supplies in the United States cut global demand for Saudi oil.
In an open letter to his country's oil minister Ali al Naimi and other
government heads, published on Sunday via his Twitter account, Prince
Alwaleed said demand for oil from Organisation of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (Opec) member states was "in continuous decline". State-owned Saudi Aramco was hit by a huge cyberattack last year
He said Saudi Arabia's heavy dependence on oil was "a truth that has really become a source of worry for many".
He added that the world's biggest crude oil exporter should implement "swift measures" to diversify its economy.
Prince Alwaleed, owner of international investment firm Kingdom Holding, is unusually outspoken for a top Saudi businessman.
But his warning reflects growing concern in private among many Saudis about the long-term impact of shale technology.
It is allowing the US and Canada to tap unconventional oil deposits which they could not reach just a few years ago.
Small towns, like Carroll County in Ohio, have been boosted by fracking
Chancellor George Osborne has also announced support for fracking in
Britain and in offshore waters, to ease a reliance on foreign oil and
gas.
Some analysts think this may push demand for Saudi oil, as well as global oil prices, down sharply over the next decade.
Over the past couple of years the Saudi government has taken some initial steps to develop the economy beyond oil.
It has sought to liberalise the aviation sector and provided finance to
small, entrepreneurial firms in the services and technology sectors. Cuadrilla has been exploring for gas in Britain, despite public protests
Mr Naimi said publicly in May that he was not concerned about rising US shale oil supplies.
Prince Alwaleed told Mr Naimi in his open letter, which was dated May 13 this year, that he disagreed with him.
The prince said: "Our country is facing a threat with the continuation
of its near-complete reliance on oil, especially as 92% of the budget
for this year depends on oil.
"It is necessary to diversify sources of revenue, establish a clear vision for that and start implementing it immediately."
The prince said Saudi Arabia should move ahead with plans for nuclear
and solar energy production to cut local consumption of oil.
The shale oil threat means Saudi Arabia will not be able to raise its
production capacity to 15 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd), Prince
Alwaleed argued. George Osborne reveals tax breaks to spur fracking investment
Current capacity is about 12.5mbpd; a few years ago the country planned
to increase capacity to 15mbpd, but then put the plan on hold after the
global financial crisis.
While most Saudi officials have in public insisted they are not worried
by the shale threat, Opec has recognised that it needs to address the
issue.
In a report earlier this month, Opec forecast demand for its oil in
2014 would average 29.61mbpd, down 250,000bpd from 2013. It cited rising
non-Opec supply, especially from the US. Riyadh has announced a metro system to ease car usage:: The fracking warning comes as Saudi Arabia
announced three foreign consortiums - led by US, Spanish and Italian
firms - have won a $22.5bn contract to build Riyadh's 110-mile, six-line
metro train network.
No comments:
Post a Comment