The Real Reason the Saudis Won't Provide More Oil

The media is up in arms over the fact that Saudi Arabia has told the United States that it won't be increasing its supplies of oil into the market. Talk show hosts have been up in arms, arguing that the Arab nation is gouging the US and other Western countries with high prices. Why don't they just provide more oil? Why be so greedy? Don't the Saudis know what we have done for them? It appears the situation may not be that simple.

According to energy economists, the Saudis are suppose to double its output over the next ten years. However, it is being reported by the New York Times that "capacity will probably stall near current levels, potentially creating a significant gap in the global energy supply" according to government officials and energy executives in both the US and Saudi Arabia. Just recently a friend of mine told me that the stock market advise newsletters were about to release this story. But it is really old news because the article is over four years old.

So over four years this story was out there, but little has been done about it. This is just among a long list of reasons why we have needed a national energy policy. Four years ago gas was a little more than half the price it is today. That was the time to take advantage of important information such as this, but I am sure the politicians didn't want us to be alarmed. Maybe if we ignored it, the problem would some how go away.

The United States is sitting on approximately 200 years worth of oil based on current consumption levels according to most analysts in the energy industry. It is at places we may not like to explore -- Alaska, the coast of California, and the coast of Florida. But our technological abilities to pursue such in a manner that is environmentally sound and with minimum impact is better now than ever and our freedom, economy, security, and future hang in the balance. We should have taken action four years ago. We should have taken action four decades ago. We certainly better take action today.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.