Why Does America Still Want Saudi Oil?

President Biden's recent trip to the Middle East provoked controversy for his decision to meet with leadership from oil-exporting powerhouse Saudi Arabia, notably Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. intelligence has determined was responsible for the violent murder of a Washington Post journalist. Especially in light of the climate crisis, and America's own energy resources, why is access to Saudi oil still often considered an important goal in U.S. diplomacy in the region? Why does the United States still prioritize the need to secure the flows of oil out of the region? Dr. Alexis Crow, who leads the Geopolitical Investing practice at PwC, argues, "Even in the event of the energy transition, I would still say that this part of the world remains a linchpin to the future of growth."

This interview was recorded in 2020.

[bhangrafan]

People have many confused ideas about the US and Saudi oil. There are different aspects to this. 1) The cash stream generated from Saudi oil, which was dealt with through the "petrodollar recycling scheme", is a source of wealth and power. It is also potentially a source of such to a rival power if not diverted to the west. Meanwhile Saudi is a captive market for all sorts of US exports from arms to luxuries, to food. 2) The influence of energy companies on politicians at the heart of government and their long standing intimate association with the 'permanent state' (the intelligence community, state department civil servants, etc.) means that their interests in Saudi, and more widely in the neighbourhood of Saudi, are catered for by the US government. 3) Geostrategic position. Saudi like the other relatively small Gulf autocracies has traditionally been a dependency, depending on the US for technology, international diplomatic support and help with internal and external security. Dependent allies are always the best, because they are the most loyal. Recently this aspect of the relationship has been transforming. Decades of treating Saudi like a giant dumping ground for the produce of the west's arms manufacturers has resulted in Saudi becoming a simply massive military power, when not so long ago it was a military pip squeak. Saudi has thus become a bit of a "Frankenstein's Monster" created by the US but not fully under its control anymore. It is potentially a dangerous loose cannon. Nearly everything bad that we hear about Saudi now, we would not be hearing about if not for the rivalry which erupted between Qatar (+ its Turkish ally) and Saudi. Since the 1995 coup Qatar has been trying to displace Saudi as the west's most important Gulf ally. Saudi suspects Qatar of seeking to overthrow the house of Saud, particularly through using the Muslim Brotherhood, which Doha has cultivated as an instrument of foreign policy and regional political change, with mixed results. The west was happy to turn a blind eye to the murder of Khashoggi and to pretend the Yemen war was not happening, until the Turkey-Qatar alliance used its power and influence to rub the west's nose in the dirty underwear of Saudi Arabia. For years Qatar has been beating Saudi in the battle for buying influence in the west. It was no longer possible to pretend that all was well with Saudi and some lip service has had to be paid to these issues, whilst really trying to get business back to normal once the dust has settled.

[shakeelmohideen]

So what happened to America's so called advertising that they sitting with oil.. Texas...all a bluff..

[deanayer]

When they all run out we'll still have some LOL.