Posted on 05/30/2012 11:12:38 PM PDT by jwsea55
Barton Biggs, the storied hedge fund manager who runs Traxis Partners, recently had an interesting encounter recently over lunch with a Saudi businessman who explained to him the real motivations behind Saudi Arabia's ramp up in oil production and why oil prices will likely continue to fall as a result for an extended period of time.
It's all part of a plan hatched by the Saudi royal family, according to Biggs, who relays this conversation in a note just published by Itaú BBA. Biggs says he asked the man what his outlook for Saudi Arabia was in the medium and long term, and the man was particularly negative about this, even given the vast riches of Saudi Arabian oil wealth.
Here is what Biggs writes about his conversation with the Saudi man:
"You have to understand our geo-political equation and vulnerability,” he said calmly but intensely. “Our two most dangerous enemies are Iraq and Iran. Both are Shia, and both are trying to destabilize the Arab world and our Sunni kingdom by funding terrorism. Our only weapons against them are our wealth and our oil...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
It sounds like a very reasonable plan to me.
Some people wonder about the timing of the ‘08 financial collapse. Did it happen when it did accidentally or was it intentionally triggered?
I think you are dead on. Our Muslim-in-Chief is their puppet; they still want $300 a barrel oil... after the election.
The answer is intentionally.
That was my immediate thought—it’s to help reelect the Muslim.
The answer is intentionally.
Oil at 70 would bankrupt Russia.
yitbos
If they are so worried about Iran, they would have already done it. My guess is they’re trading a short term lowering of the price of oil in return for some action on our part.
My guess is they want us to take action against Syria. As long as people in this country get their low priced gasoline, they’ll turn a blind eye to going after Syria.
On the advice of Condi Rice, Reagan and the Saudis brought oil to about $12/barrel and broke the Soviet Union. SDI helped, but their only source of hard currency was oil.
yitbos
US asks Saudis to raise oil output amid Obama approval ratings hit
The Obama administration is pressing Saudi Arabia to boost its oil output in order to fill a supply gap arising from economic sanctions on Iran,
US President Barack Obama’s approval rating now stands at 41%, a nine-point drop from his position just one month ago, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Monday. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll put Obama’s job approval at 46%, down four points from last month.
See The Prize, by Daniel Yergin for a complete summary of all the smoke and mirrors of the 19th and 20th Century.
As someone once said, Countries never have "friends and enemies," just temporal interests which shift and change over time.
I'm jumping on the cart with people who say this is all about getting Obama re-elected. I think they want the Caliphate to come back, and they see Obama as a key enabler of that event.
Mike
In my opinion one of the most important books of our time. If you want to understand the modern world and how it works read this book.
Forget the old saying about the Golden Rule, “Those that have the gold get to to make the rules”. It should read, “those that have the oil RULE”.
I respectfully disagree, I don’t see the Saudi’s interested in anything but preserving their own hide. They may be nuts but the hatred between them and Iran is very real.
The Saudi’s have plenty of capacity to drive down the price of oil, (2MM/BBL/D) but Iran has the ability to disrupt that flow, I’m really not sure how this will turn out.
The only safe course of action that I see is to destroy Iran and effect a regime change.
No, because that would clear the way for a Sunni Caliphate, controlled by the Saudis, stretching from North Africa to Indonesia.
It's better to let Iran and the Saudis fight it out and weaken each other.
“It’s better to let Iran and the Saudis fight it out and weaken each other.”
Do you think BHO will let that happen? I don’t.
Yeah, he'll use his formidible personality, reasoning power, and force of character to swoop in and perform a series of diplomatic miracles that will diffuse the situation.
Like he did in Iran in 2009, Egypt (Arab Spring), and Libya (Khadaffi's public proctotomy).
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