Saudi Arabia

[winston]

Saudi Arabia

On CNBC:-

1) The crowd is voicing discontentment but they are not asking for regime change

2) Saudi Arabia has a US$450b fund to tackle Social issues. This new program cost US$36b.

3) Saudia Arabia can increase the flow of oil by 3m barrels and that would take care of the temporary reduction from Libya and Algeria


So do you know why you are selling ?

[winston]

Your Preview to Next Week’s Saudi ‘Day of Rage’ By Downtown Josh Brown

All eyes are on Saudi Arabia right now, especially on Wall Street, as an upcoming planned protest there could send shockwaves through global markets. Here are some items for investors to be aware of:

1. There are actually two planned protests being organized on Facebook in Saudi Arabia – one on March 11th followed by one on March 20th

2. Unlike what we’ve seen in Libya and in Egypt, the demands of the protesters are not quite so ambitious as to call for an overthrow of the ruling royal family. Rather, the 17,000 or so members of the Facebook group would like to see free elections for some of the higher government positions and more representation of the people.

3. The Saudi ruling class has just committed to a $37 billion bribe for their subjects and is expected to announce a cabinet shuffle – both ploys aimed at calming the populace down ahead of any protests. They have also offered a 15 percent salary hike for public employees to “offset inflation” and to release scores of people from their state-run debtors’ prison.

4. 60% of Saudi Arabia’s population of 18 million people is under 30. The official statistics say that Saudi Arabia has an 11% unemployment rate, critics scoff at the legitimacy of those numbers.

5. The two possible hotspots for democratic protest are Riyadh (4 million people) and Jeddah (2 million people). The Shia underclass, inhabitants of the oil rich Eastern Province, are also expected to hold their own demonstration.

6. King Abdullah is said to have a personal net worth of $21 billion. He is 86 years old and his successor is 82 years old.

7. Saudi Arabia produces 8 million barrels of crude oil a day, roughly 10 percent of the world’s daily consumption. One fifth of the world’s known oil reserves sit beneath Saudi Arabian soil.

8. Crude oil futures are now trading above $100 a barrel for the first time in almost 3 years ahead of next Friday’s Day of Rage.

9. While the protests are meant to be peaceful, organizers are alleging that Faisal Ahmed Abdul-Ahadwashas already been shot. He was 27 years old and one of the administrators of the Facebook group, his fellow activists say that his body has been hidden by state security.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/03/yo ... y-of-rage/

[winston]

I dont think Saudi will fall but who am I to argue with a Middle-East expert ...


SAUDI ARABIA'S REGIME WILL FALL, Says Analyst

As Libya descends into full-on civil war and protests spread across the rest of the Middle East, all eyes are focused on Saudi Arabia, which produces more than 10% of the world's oil.

So far, protests in Saudi Arabia have been limited. But our guest, Fadel Gheit, a managing director at Oppenheimer & Co., thinks that may soon change.

The root cause of the Middle East unrest, Gheit says, is inequality. Decades of autocratic rule have increased frustration that the vast wealth of the oil-producing countries in the region is in the hands of a small privileged few, and this frustration is finally boiling over.

Although governments are making small concessions designed to quell this frustration, Gheit believes the yearning for freedom and democracy is unstoppable.

He says it is hard to predict whether the violence that consumed Libya will spread to Saudi Arabia and other countries, but he believes the protests will. And, eventually, he believes, the regime will fall.

Here's the video:

http://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-ar ... sts-2011-3

[winston]

Ok, Saudi Arabia has now been upgraded to have it's own thread as well ...

Saudi Arabia sees no outflows from regional strife

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's economy is reasonably insulated from the regional turmoil and the central bank has seen no abnormal capital outflows, its governor Muhammad al-Jasser said on Sunday.

Revolts have been sweeping through the Arab world since December, shaking the world's top oil exporter's neighbors Bahrain, Oman and Yemen, while raising debt insurance costs and pressuring markets across the Gulf.

When asked about the impact of the regional turmoil on the economy and capital flows, the Saudi central bank governor told reporters: "I think very little because simply, economically you have to look at what you are exporting and importing."

"I have checked all the numbers and there has not been any noticeable outflows or abnormal outflows in Saudi Arabia during the past few weeks so it has been normal business," he said on the sidelines of a financial conference.

With investors worried by the regional unrest, Saudi one-year currency forwards held near their highest levels since January 2009 over past weeks, pointing to a weakening in the riyal, which is pegged to the dollar, over the next 12 months.

Saudi five-year credit default swaps have eased from February highs, but still remain some 74 percent above levels seen in January before protests began in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and top Arab economy, has escaped the mass uprisings but some dissent has built up in the kingdom, whose economy expanded by 3.8 percent in real terms last year.

On Sunday, dozens of Saudi men gathered outside the interior ministry in Riyadh undeterred by a heavy police presence, to demand the release of jailed relatives.

However, Saudi stocks gained as much as 5.7 percent on Sunday, boosted by new social spending worth $93 billion, offered by King Abdullah to ease tensions in the desert kingdom, where more than 10 percent of Saudis are without a job.

The overall social package amounts to nearly 30 percent of economic output when combined with an estimated $37 billion worth of handouts announced last month.

Analysts polled by Reuters before the latest spending plan was released had expected the Saudi economy to expand by 4.5 percent this year.

Source: Reuters US Online Report Business News

[winston]

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan dies by Angus McDowall

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud died at dawn on Saturday, the country's royal court said in a statement carried by state media.

Sultan, who was thought to be aged about 86, had been heir to the throne of the world's top oil exporter since 2005 but was a central figure in Saudi decision making since becoming defense minister in 1962.

King Abdullah is now expected to call to session an untested "Allegiance Council" to appoint his new heir, widely expected to be Prince Nayef, the veteran interior minister.

Set up in 2006 soon after Abdullah became king, the Allegiance Council is tasked with voting to approve the monarch's choice of crown prince or nominating its own choice instead.

The Allegiance Council consists of a representative from each of the 34 branches of the al-Saud ruling family who were born to Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud.

Previously, the succession was decided only by the king and a small coterie of top princes.

Prince Nayef has been interior minister since 1975 and was appointed second deputy prime minister in 2009, a position usually given to the man considered third in line to rule.

Thought to be more conservative than either King Abdullah or Prince Sultan, Prince Nayef is in his late 70s and has managed the kingdom's day-to-day affairs, during absences of both the king and crown prince.

The king was absent for three months late in 2010 while he underwent treatment for a herniated disc that caused blood to accumulate around his spine.

Unlike in European monarchies, the line of succession does not move directly from father to eldest son, but has moved down a line of brothers born to the kingdom's founder Ibn Saud, who died in 1953.


Source: Reuters US Online Report World News

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

Saudi Arabia And China Team Up To Build A Gigantic New Oil Refinery - Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Petrodollar?

The largest oil exporter in the Middle East has teamed up with the second largest consumer of oil in the world (China) to build a gigantic new oil refinery and the mainstream media in the United States has barely even noticed it.

This mammoth new refinery is scheduled to be fully operational in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu by 2014.


http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch ... etrodollar

[winston]

Why an Islamic Revolution in Saudi Arabia Is a Surefire Way to Send Oil to $300 a Barrel by Marin Katusa

There is little that would rock the oil world more than a revolution in Saudi Arabia.

But with a coming leadership crisis, it is becoming all too likely.

Saudi is facing major economic challenges as dramatic increases in social spending and domestic fuel consumption eat through the kingdom's all-important oil revenues.

Saudi Arabia is smack in the middle of the Middle East, an ever-tumultuous region currently rocking and rolling more than usual as the Arab Spring challenges longstanding autocratic assumptions, while war-torn Syria and defiant Iran tip the delicate Sunni-Shia religious balance in the world's most important oil region.

While the House of Saud might present itself as a stable, strong, and cohesive royal family, in truth the king and his successors are growing old and incapacitated in a throne room full of competing contenders. Meanwhile, the only other organized social group in the country – the Islamists – are waiting just outside the door.

http://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/w ... 417ED0912A

[winston]

Saudis Arrest 41 Christians Celebrating Christmas by Stuart Wilde

In the world of the bent sheiks, you are not allowed have a Christmas, and the Hindus are not allowed their religious festivals either.

41 Christians were arrested in Saudi Arabia for the high crime of, “plotting to celebrate Christmas” with a tree and few presents for the kiddies.

In the end ALL these cruel demonic rulers fall, a great force will come and take all their money away, and they will be deposed, but in the meantime you’d better hide your Christmas tree in the garden shed.

http://www.stuartwilde.com/2012/12/saud ... christmas/

[behappyalways]

Islamic State sets sights on Saudi Arabia
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30061109

[behappyalways]

(how can one fight against technology? exploration of shale oil will get cheaper and cheaper with technology. As for China, no matter how expensive exploration of shale oil is, China would also want to develop their own supply for security reasons.....just like Singapore with Newater)

Saudi Arabia bets its future on 'Berlin or Bust' oil strategy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... ategy.html