Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Saudi Oil Output Hits Record High


Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco reported record production level last year as global demand surged and international sanctions sharply trimmed output from Iran. Saudi Aramco said oil production rose to 3.479 billion barrels in 2012, compared with 3.310 billion barrels in 2011, the highest production in Saudi history. Exports reached 2.521bn barrels last year, up from 2.421bn barrels in 2011. (Gulf Daily News, 29 May)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exports or US oil rip-off may be up, but poverty and unemployment are at all time high too. Detailed reports in Guardian and this week's TIME magazine. The corrupt Saudi pimpdom is unraveling as the US/Zionists bled them dry by selling them JUNK WEAPONS, ripping off their oil wealth and left the Bedouins illiterate and on the streets. And now the whole al-saud clan from Abdullah down is braindead and in coma.
The Bedouins are still only 4 million numbers and half of them are in poverty, the rest of the populations is Asians, particularly Pakis-Indians, Egyptians and other Africans.

Saudi Arabia's riches conceal a growing problem of poverty

In a country with vast oil wealth and lavish royalty, an estimated quarter of Saudis live below the poverty line.

Millions of Saudis struggle on the fringes of one of the world's most powerful economies, where jobs and welfare programmes have failed to keep pace with a population that has soared from 6 million in 1970 to 28 million today.

Under King Abdullah, the Saudi government has spent billions to help the growing numbers of poor, estimated to be as much as a quarter of the native Saudi population. But critics complain that those programmes are inadequate, and that some royals seem more concerned with the country's image than with helping the needy. In 2011, for example, three Saudi video bloggers were jailed for two weeks after they made an online film about poverty in Saudi Arabia.

"The state hides the poor very well," said Rosie Bsheer, a Saudi scholar who has written extensively on development and poverty. "The elite don't see the suffering of the poor. People are hungry."

The Saudi government discloses little official data about its poorest citizens. But press reports and private estimates suggest that between 2 million and 4 million of the country's native Saudis live on less than about $530 a month – about $17 a day – considered the poverty line in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/01/saudi-arabia-riyadh-poverty-inequality

Nader Uskowi said...

While your anger might be understandable, and I hope you can publish your comments in Saudi-related blogs, but you didn’t say much about the subject of this post: that Saudi oil output in 2012 hit record high, highest in history. Is this level of production sustainable? Not technically, as the Saudi Aramco is arguably the most technically advanced oil company in the world. But market wise. Can they sustain it? If they do, it would be very significant, affecting not only Iran, but also causing a realignment within the OPEC.

Anonymous said...

3 million plus is hardly a great export as ARAMCO has been ripping off Saudis since 1930's and their economy is a one trick pony that can't produce a screw driver so I don't see anything "technical" about is as an engineer. BTW, the article is on Saudi Arabia and you posted it bud, so know learn to live with FACTS.

Anonymous said...

Saudi Arabia’s ticking time bombs

Is Saudi Arabia about to implode? This is not an allegation hurled by some anti-Saudi radical although it would be pretty close to the truth. This charge has been made by a leading Saudi prince, Waleed bin Talal who warned in a twitter message that high unemployment rate and poverty were two of the five ticking bombs threatening the kingdom. While awash in oil wealth, the grossly unequal distribution of wealth has created a sea of poverty in the kingdom. The bulk of the country’s $300 billion in annual oil revenues are usurped by members of the ruling family and their hangers-on.

Even the kingdom’s own English-language daily, the Saudi Gazette, reported last December that as many as 3,500 men and women with doctorate and master’s degrees from prestigious European and US universities are reportedly unemployed in Saudi Arabia. Highly educated Saudis say that they have had no response from any of the universities in the kingdom where they applied for jobs despite several vacancies advertised there. While not stated in the Gazette story, the lack of response from universities appears to be based on the fact that such positions are filled on the advice of the ruling family that rewards the children of their tribal allies. The other reason could be that Saudi universities do not have much faith in their own citizens’ abilities, preferring instead foreigners who are more willing to work and put in long hours.

Whatever the reason, the high unemployment rate among educated Saudis is causing resentment. There have been demands for reforms and even protests against the regime’s practices. Last January, Western media reports said that Saudi Arabia’s welfare programs were failing to keep up with its booming population. The reports also criticized the Saudi regime for its unequal distribution of wealth that has caused mass unemployment. This has resulted in huge poverty that currently stands at 60 percent of the population. Those unfamiliar with the internal affairs of the kingdom may find this startling. The reality is that the wave of Islamic awakenings sweeping the region has focused attention on the insular kingdom as well. The other reason is spread of the Internet. Information about the kingdom’s real situation has started to emerge from its dark crevices.

Prince Waleed has shown rare courage in speaking out about these issues. While it should be borne in mind that he is not doing this because he cares much for the unemployed or poverty-stricken Saudis; his real concern is the danger such indicators pose to the family’s survival in power. He has said the other ticking bombs are the rapid population growth in Saudi Arabia, indiscriminate use of fuel and reliance on a single source of income.

The indiscriminate use of fuel by the kingdom and being the only source of income is also not a great revelation. To please its American masters, the regime pumps an estimated 8 million barrels per day. This results in keeping the price of oil low and means billions of dollars in income transferred to the west, mainly the US. This policy also deprives other oil producers of increased income from oil. And it is a no brainer that oil is the single earning source for the kingdom. In the 80 years of its existence, it has not developed anything. Most menial and clerical jobs are done by foreign workers from places like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Higher end jobs are taken up by the British and Americans that command top salaries.

http://www.crescent-online.net/2013/05/saudi-arabias-ticking-time-bombs-wwwcrescent-onlinenet-3790-articles.html.


Anonymous said...

The faster they suck it out the sooner they will run out,but then they do have to pay for all those toys they bought from the west recently,several billion dollars worth at last count, tho` whether they can actually use them is another question entirely

Nader Uskowi said...

The discussion here is not on the history and the nature of the House of Saud, and you make interesting comments in that regard, but on Aramco’s record high production. You are saying this is not a significant development. Why not? On screwdriver analogy, I assume you believe some other company is producing those billions of barrels of oil, not Aramco. Right?

Anonymous said...

Nader, Saudi oil production has always been in ARAMCO hands since Abdul Aziz handed over the keys of Hejaz to Roosevelt. From a technical point of view the Saudis have huge problems both pumping out oil and getting enough revenues to keep the totally subsidized population calm as "Arab Spring" approaches. The al-Saud clan of pimps is aging rapidly and there is infighting amongst the younger aspiring crown-pimps. On top, the US and EU has "sold" them over $150 billion dollars of worthless weapons since 1950, that the uneducated population can neither use or has the capacity to maintain. Most weapons sold to them are rotting in warehouses or used a US strategic reserve. For example the 35 year old F-15E have not been upgraded or even have laser designated bomb racks or 750 gallon drop tanks for extended range. Same sorry story in all technical areas. Only foreigners maintain whatever infrastructure there is, including oil resources.

I remember reading a US DOE (department of energy) report back in 2001 projecting that domestic fiscal demands, rising Asian consumption and sheer increase in American demand would force the Saudis to double their production capacity between 2002-2020. However, there are technical constraints and the Saudis simply have not been able to increase production by quantum levels as they will run foul of OPEC and other global producers like Russia. And since Saudi oil is the monopoly of Americans and ARAMCO since 1930's their capacity to increase production via new technologies and investment is entirely dependent on US. Saudi oil has fueled the US middle-east lost wars and military machine from Iraq to Af-pak since the last decade.

Micheal Klare accurately describes the pathetic Saudi oil dilemma in his definitive book BLOOD & OIL.

Anonymous said...

All the countries in ME are in deep trouble with sectarian violence, corruption and social and economic problems. The root cause is the backward religion that need reforming like the Christianity during Luter's time. Until that happens they keep killing each other.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous May 30, 2013 at 4:26 AM
Actually the root cause is the west,specifically america,and its policies in the region compared to that islam plays a very minor role indeed,tho` it doesnt help that the saudis,americas ally,export their toxic brand of wahabist islam thru out the region