I don't know where our star poster John Whitley has been but he linked in a higher oil price perspective over on the oil foum that's been predominately overlooked by the mainstream media and eveyone else..

The End of the King Fahd Era in Saudi Arabia means the end of their pro-US low oil price policy

Everyone always focuses on OPEC, which is an illegal cartel based on US anti-trust laws. But they key OPEC successes and failures in the past lies with their 800 pound gorilla-Saudi Arabia who owns as much as 25% of the world's proven oil reserves . Y2k aside for a moment- A key question should be why is Saudi Arabia, all of the sudden, comfortable with upper $20 crude economics now when they've always ramped up production or vetoed OPEC deals (and even non-OPEC offers) in the past when oil economics surged to this level in the past?

The answer lies in a string of covert US Saudi deals (or even more accurately King Fahd & Reagan/Bush/Casey deals) that manipulated oil prices for US/Saudi political reasons. I can't do this subject justice in this brief context but let me wet your appetite with a few proven facts and pledge I get my whole 8 page multi-year researched newsletter electornically published over on my oil forum. (Request for help here. Whats the best way to get a physical newsletter scanned and posted over there?)

Here's a few snippets:

~ Direct quote from Cap Weinberger, " One of the reasons we were selling all those arms to the Saudis was for lower oil prices"

~Direct 1983 quote from Bill Casey, " The only way the...mafia style economy of the Soviet Union...can generate hard currency is by exporting oil and gas at high prices...This thing is so haywire, if we play our cards right, its (Soviet economy) is going to implode. Subsequently the Saudis opened the oil spigots and oil prices went from $35 down to $10. The Saudi windfall in turn went predominately to US weapons purchases.

~From Peter Schweizer's Book The Secret Strategy that Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union , " Lower oil prices became a key (Reagan) Administration objective in '85...Casey was keeping an eye on oil prices almost daily....It was against this backdrop that unusual import was given to an officialstate visit in early '85...One of the first foriegn heads of State to visit Reagan at the start of his 2nd term was King Fahd...The King would be getting a one on one visit with the President...No aides were present, no notes were taken...but the message to Fahd was unambigious...The President who had demonstrated his committment to Saudi Arabia wanted oil prices down for the benefit of both countries and the detriment of their common enemy."

~In 1988, it was quite evident the Saudi wanted to lend a little assistance to their VP buddy George Bush, then running for President...In April the Saudis vetoed an unpresidented offer from 6 independent oil producers to establish the first production accord with non-OPEC producers (Something we've just seen consumated in early '99). Two days later, Reagan ordered the US Navy to defend all Neutral (Kuwaiti) in the Persian Gulf...Oil prices slid to $13 in Nov which coincided with the Presidential election. By the following April NYMEX crude prices were back up over $20...

~Again in April and May of '92 the Saudis were the lone dissentersin an otherwise cohesive OPEC session...

~From Bob Woodward's book, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, "King Fahd stepped in with $1 million /month and several one time contributions as high as $24 million to keep the (Nicaraguan) Contra program going after US Congress pulled the plug..."

So Fahd, Reagan and the old Bush are now history, with the first two mentioned now of the same mental capacity. Makes you wonder about George W doesn't it? Not this time. Fahd's half brother Abdullah, and now his new council that seem to be running things, are more pious and are NOT as pro-US. But it is interesting that none of these enormous changes in Saudi government that have been so instrumental to low oil prices and, in turn, our economic strength are even being mentioned by all the economic commentators out there.

I'll post another thread over here when I get my Saudi newsletter posted on line on the other oil market forum. I also have a couple from my Russian oil industry travels, or more acurrately travails, that are educational and very entertaining.

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), January 15, 2000

back to "normal"
The problem with "secret" or even "economic" wars is the tit - for - tat that always comes later...

-- Possible Impact (posim@hotmail.com), January 15, 2000.

Great post Streamer, thanks.

Does make you wonder just how lame our foreign policy is nowadays when you hold it up to something as beautiful as the Casey moves. I used to pass by Bill Casey's house on Long Island every day on my way to work.

It always warmed my heart to know that he'd lived that close, the devious bastard.

Klintoon and Richardson are amateurs next to these guys.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), January 15, 2000.