The USD is backed by crude oil (from saudi arabia). It is the one thing that absolutely needed USD to buy. See what happned to Saddam Hussein when he began accepting Euro for his oil. If there is no need for crude oil in the future, instead of asking what would happened to the big oil companies, ask what would happen to the USD... Crude oil is here to stay until there is no more oil. The whole system is tied to it...
Abu dhabi and Dubai has been transformed into a tourist hub. They have some of the most expensive real estates and hotels in the world. The Islamic leaders knew they will run-out of oil sometime in future so they have converted the "oil money" into tourist real estate. Somebody from Saudi Arabia said to me that real estates in Saudi Arabia are better than Dubai.
Abu dhabi and Dubai us-to be thriving , no longer :eek: <embed width="452" height="361" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" name="main" id="main" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://www.arabiatube.com/player/vPlayer.swf?f=http://www.arabiatube.com/player/vConfig_embed.php?vkey=c724aad5ebf158d63df4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /> <object width="414" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://tv.muxlim.com/embed/VIRzSDYJYQe"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://tv.muxlim.com/embed/VIRzSDYJYQe" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="414" height="350" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="all" wmode="transparent"></embed></object>
The Saudis are pretty smart, so the real reasons probably are: 1. When you realize that you have less and less unproven and undiscovered reserves, by stopping exploration you still maintain the idea of "plenty of undiscovered oil left" in the ground. Publishing the exploration data every year would prove the exact opposite, so it is better just not to explore/publish. 2. Even if there are more undiscovered fields to bring online, that would increase supply, which is against their best interest, what is maintaining as high oilprice as the market still can stand. 3. It is actually not a lie that those possible undiscovered field can be used by future generations. But that means Saudi generations, not necessery oil exports. As time goes by, oilexporters will become net importers, just like England.
Dubai real estates are having serious financial problems. There was news reports that the world islands project was bankrupt. My friend in Dubai said to me that all the rich and high-profile real estates in Dubai were abondoned/empty.
Great point. Commodities priced in dollars gives the US huge leverage in currency markets to print, spend, make war and buy influence without f*ing the dollar. It's really a devastating political weapon buried as an economic sidenote. I think non-US global oil consumption is something like 70 million barrels per day. At 70 bucks a shot, that's 5 Billion a day in straight-up printing without devaluation. 150 Billion a month, 1.7 Trillion a year. That's a lot of Iraqs/Irans/etc. Big Oil won't have it. Big Government won't have it. Big Defense won't have it. They'd have to invent some new scam like carbon credits, fresh water futures, or some other bullshit to offset a free energy discovery.
Worse yet, new generations will have no power in a new regime. Over the centuries, all kings get overthrown soon or late.
I've heard it said there is an Arabian proverb that goes: "My Father road a Camel; I drove a Mercedes; My son flies in a jet; My grandson will ride a Camel."