Skepticism appears ruling the sentiments. Pundits continue churning out various, cooked and semi-cooked, theories about the Saudi capacity to sustain and increase its production from the current levels. Matthew Simmons and his disciples term the Saudi announcement to take production to 12.5 million bpd by next year, and 15 million bpd, if and when required as “a bunch of empty boasts.”


Confusion about the sustainability of some of the major Saudi oil continues to haunt. Debate about the super, giant Saudi fields, so essential for meeting the global energy needs, abound.

And this is confusing the entire world — somewhat unnecessarily — many here in Dhahran, the virtual global energy capital, strongly believe. And it would have serious consequences for the entire world, most agree. Every one including Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah also wants and emphasizes on the need of lower oil prices.

It was perhaps in this perspective that the Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Abdallah Al-Badri, recently denounced the “myth” of an oil shortage and blamed the crisis on speculation sparked by the subprime lending crisis in the United States. “Seventy percent of crude contracts on the Nymex are held by speculators... Some form of regulation is needed,” he emphasized, adding, “The market has no shortage of physical crude.”