But Pat is wrong here: “Are the Saudis thinking of doing to the new oil-producing champion, USA, what we are doing to Venezuela, Russia and Iran? “
It’s the Saudis who are ‘doing it’ to Venezuela, Russia and Iran (and Nigeria, Ecuador, Libya and US)!
It’s mercantilism at it’s finest: drive down the value of oil production assets and purchase them. They’ve wisely saved the money to do this- we certainly haven’t.
Purchasing anything in Venezuela, Russia, or Iran is a bad choice. It will be nationalized at the convenience of the current dictator.