Saudis offer Russia secret oil deal if it drops Syria

The Telegraph ^ | 26 Aug 2013 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

[CMB_polarization]

Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russian a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia’s gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria.

[thackney]

Exporting low priced natural gas while importing high priced crude oil.

Please explain how high oil prices would help the US in that situation.

[PGR88]

Here we are ready to hand another nation to the Muslim brotherhood with US force

Are the rebels in Syria MB? Sounds like the Saudis are pretty comfortable with them, and they sure as heck want them to take over Syria, so Syrian opposition is more likely Al Qaeda and some "moderate" off-shoots controlled by the Saudis

[Chad_the_Impaler]

North America leads shift in global energy balance, IEA says in latest World Energy Outlook

North America emerges as a net oil exporter, accelerating the switch in direction of international oil trade, with almost 90% of Middle Eastern oil exports being drawn to Asia by 2035.

[thackney]

Yes, Canada and Mexico are still oil exporters. Combined with the oil imports of the US, they would balance out by 2035.

[RedMDer]

Five Days to September.

Please donate today.

[cherokee1]

The Ruskies controlling interest in Syria is the naval base they’ve built there. They will not go for any deal that does not guarantee the continued access to that port. There is no way the Soddies could guarantee the Russians a controlling piece of the world oil market beyond what the Russians drill for themselves. Besides the Russians are tired of not getting paid back for the weapons they sell to the ME. As I recall Saddam left them on the hook for about 9 bil$. Kdaffy too. And the plan is “secret”, right? I’m throwing the BS flag on the whole story.

[COBOL2Java]

They are offering to bribe them with even more artificially inflated oil prices -— for us, I can only presume.

For them it's the cost of doing business. They've been bribing the Wahabbists since the 19th century - it's like the Cosa Nostra writ large.

[thouworm]

dup thread comment:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3059397/posts?page=25#25

Very strange. Evans-Pritchard seems to have lifted entire paragraphs from the lastest report on conspiracy website WhatDoesItMean.com.

[CMB_polarization]

Followup from Zero Hedge:

Meet Saudi Arabia's Bandar bin Sultan: The Puppetmaster Behind The Syrian War

[CMB_polarization]

The conclusion of the article linked to in the previous post:

...It is good of the Saudis to admit they control a terrorist organization that "threatens the security" of the Sochi 2014 Olympic games, and that house of Saud uses "in the face of the Syrian regime." Perhaps the next time there is a bombing in Boston by some Chechen-related terrorists, someone can inquire Saudi Arabia what, if anything, they knew about that.

But the piece de resistance is what happened at the end of the dialogue between the two leaders. It was, in not so many words, a threat by Saudi Arabia aimed squarely at Russia:

As soon as Putin finished his speech, Prince Bandar warned that in light of the course of the talks, things were likely to intensify, especially in the Syrian arena, although he appreciated the Russians’ understanding of Saudi Arabia’s position on Egypt and their readiness to support the Egyptian army despite their fears for Egypt's future.

The head of the Saudi intelligence services said that the dispute over the approach to the Syrian issue leads to the conclusion that “there is no escape from the military option, because it is the only currently available choice given that the political settlement ended in stalemate. We believe that the Geneva II Conference will be very difficult in light of this raging situation.”

At the end of the meeting, the Russian and Saudi sides agreed to continue talks, provided that the current meeting remained under wraps. This was before one of the two sides leaked it via the Russian press.

Since we know all about this, it means no more talks, an implicit warning that the Chechens operating in proximity to Sochi may just become a loose cannon (with Saudi's blessing of course), and that about a month ago "there is no escape from the military option, because it is the only currently available choice given that the political settlement ended in stalemate." Four weeks later, we are on the edge of all out war, which may involve not only the US and Europe, but most certainly Saudi Arabia and Russia which automatically means China as well. Or, as some may call it, the world.

And all of it as preordained by a Saudi prince, and all in the name of perpetuating the hegemony of the petrodollar.

[ek_hornbeck]

“I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us,”

I've often wondered why Russia, which faces Islamist rebels within its own borders, is often so friendly to Muslim countries in the Middle East. This is a likely answer: Arab countries tell Russia "support us at the UN security council and we'll cut the Chechen and Dagestani rebels loose."

[BuckeyeTexan]

Indeed.

[matthewrobertolson]

This is an interesting story. Putin apparently rejected the offer, which is not terribly surprising, because his interests are in protecting what few solid allies he has.