10.12.2014 - For Saudi Arabia, plunging oil prices are a political weapon
As the price of oil plummets to a five-year low, Saudi Arabia – owner of the world’s largest proven crude reserves – is behaving with almost preternatural calm. So much so that Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, the kingdom’s highest-profile investor, a few weeks ago professed himself astonished by official complacency in the face of this “catastrophe” – and that was when the price was still above $90 a barrel. Now, there are doubtless technical reasons why the Saudis remain sanguine as the price dips well below $70, and the kingdom’s oil technocracy has been prodigal in providing them. This is no different, they say, from any other commodities cycle, in which the market sets prices...............................................Full Article: Source
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