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US buys more Saudi Oil

A bit of history: Two major tribes were at war and the desolate stretch of land where oil was first discovered in SA (by an American oil company) was the agreed upon DMZ. The oil companies were handing out cash waterfalls to whomever would say they owned the land and would sign an agreement. One of the leaders of the warring tribes decided to claim the DMZ, broke the treaty and won the war taking the territory. This, after more war and expansion became the House of Saud, nearly 100% financed by oil contracts with the West.

So, it was oil companies, looking to contract for the extraction of resources, that funded the rise of Saudi Arabia.

As for oil imports here in the US. As mentioned we have the refineries, but not only that, we have the different types of refining capacity that no one else has. We can refine heavy crude to light sweet (most of the world's other refineries can do only light sweet). We're one of the only ones who can do heavy crude - that's why we're so important to Venezuela and why they established Citgo here.

We are in the business of refining oil and distributing the products to the world. We make a ton of money doing that. However, the problem is twofold:
1) we now have some competition and supply is dwindling (not rapidly, but still).
2) we've allowed the oil companies and the suppliers to structure and control the market. Of course they do this with profit being the ultimate consideration. This has also had the effect of discouraging our legislators from taking the proper cut from the sales for use by the people of the US.

Globalization has had the effect of taking the control of the oil market even farther from our grasp.
 
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A bit of history: Two major tribes were at war and the desolate stretch of land where oil was first discovered in SA (by an American oil company) was the agreed upon DMZ. The oil companies were handing out cash waterfalls to whomever would say they owned the land and would sign an agreement. One of the leaders of the warring tribes decided to claim the DMZ, broke the treaty and won the war taking the territory. This, after more war and expansion became the House of Saud, nearly 100% financed by oil contracts with the West.

So, it was oil companies, looking to contract for the extraction of resources, that funded the rise of Saudi Arabia.

As for oil imports here in the US. As mentioned we have the refineries, but not only that, we have the different types of refining capacity that no one else has. We can refine heavy crude to light sweet (most of the world's other refineries can do only light sweet). We're one of the only ones who can do heavy crude - that's why we're so important to Venezuela and why they established Citgo here.

We are in the business of refining oil and distributing the products to the world. We make a ton of money doing that. However, the problem is twofold:
1) we now have some competition and supply is dwindling (not rapidly, but still).
2) we've allowed the oil companies and the suppliers to structure and control the market. Of course they do this with profit being the ultimate consideration. This has also had the effect of discouraging our legislators from taking the proper cut from the sales for use by the people of the US.

Globalization has had the effect of taking the control of the oil market even farther from our grasp.

That isn't how that happened. The al-Saud and the Rashidi which is what it seems like you are talking about were enemies dating back to the 17th Century and the incarnation of the 1st Saudi State. There was constant internecine warfare and tribal raids until the 3rd and final Saudi State was founded by Abdulaziz after recrossing from Kuwait and reclaiming territory around Riyadh. The forces under al-Saud defeated the Rashidi, and then later moved and annexed al-Hasa which is the area that is today known as the Eastern Province. This was completed by around 1912 or 1913 depending on how you term the conquest completed. This formed the bulk of the Saudi state until the al-Saud backed by their religious Ikhwan militia stormed the Hijaz and toppled Hashemite rule. This more or less completed Saudi unification, except for some fighting in the Southwest that led Saudi Arabia to acquire Najran and Asir from Yemen. King Abdulaziz's coffers were mostly fueled by pilgrimage revenue, local tithes, banditry, and of course the British subsidy which was implemented to buy Saudi tribal complicity and regional security.

This process ended in 1932. The first oil exploration licenses were granted in 1932 and 1933, and the first real Saudi wells were discovered in 1938.
 
Right from the wiki:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (known for most of his career as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as Al Saud.

The first 'Saudi State' established in 1744 in the area around Riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia,[26] but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha.[27] A much smaller second ‘Saudi state’, located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al Rashid. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile.[19

In 1902, Abdul-Aziz bin Saud, leader of the House of Saud, had seized Riyadh in Nejd from the Al Rashid – the first of a series of conquests ultimately leading to the creation of the modern state of Saudi Arabia in 1932.[19] The main weapon for achieving these conquests was the Ikhwan, the Wahhabist-Bedouin tribal army led by Sultan ibn Bijad and Faisal Al-Dawish.[33] From the Saudi core in Nejd, and aided by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the Ikhwan had completed the conquest of the territory that was to become Saudi Arabia by the end of 1925.[34] On 10 January 1926 Abdul-Aziz declared himself King of the Hejaz and, then, on 27 January 1927 he took the title of King of Nejd (his previous title having been 'Sultan').[19] After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. Abdul-Aziz, however, refused to agree to this, recognizing the danger of a direct conflict with the British. The Ikhwan therefore revolted but were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla in 1930, where the Ikhwan leadership were massacred.[35]

In 1932, the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[19]
 
Right from the wiki:

Right, and I'm not sure where you're getting the oil company DMZ thing. Saudi unification occurred before the discovery of oil in the Arabian Peninsula. It was not spurred on by Western oil companies. Actually your link is more or less exactly what I said.
 
Right, and I'm not sure where you're getting the oil company DMZ thing. Saudi unification occurred before the discovery of oil in the Arabian Peninsula. It was not spurred on by Western oil companies. Actually your link is more or less exactly what I said.

The unification happened the same time as oil was first discovered (by SoCal - Standard Oil of California), 1932. That began a year long negotiation for contract, SoCal got preference and beat out the other competitors, chief among them the Iraq Petroleum Company.
 
The unification happened the same time as oil was first discovered (by SoCal - Standard Oil of California), 1932. That began a year long negotiation for contract, SoCal got preference and beat out the other competitors, chief among them the Iraq Petroleum Company.

Saudi unification was largely completed by the 1920's. The final area that was taken was the Asir and Najran provinces near Yemen in 1934. The region known today as the Eastern Province which contains almost all of Saudi Arabia's hydrocarbons was conquered by 1913, with the Rashidi's finally capitulating with what was left of their territory in 1921. More than a decade before oil was even discovered in Saudi territory. Furthermore the primary point I was disputing was that oil companies facilitated Saudi unification. This is untrue and makes no sense with the chronology. Saudi finances for decades relied almost exclusively on British subsidies of 5,000 pounds a month, and pilgrimage revenues.
 
Again, the same quote from the wiki:

On 10 January 1926 Abdul-Aziz declared himself King of the Hejaz and, then, on 27 January 1927 he took the title of King of Nejd (his previous title having been 'Sultan').[19] After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. Abdul-Aziz, however, refused to agree to this, recognizing the danger of a direct conflict with the British. The Ikhwan therefore revolted but were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla in 1930, where the Ikhwan leadership were massacred.[35]

In 1932, the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[19]
 
Again, the same quote from the wiki:

I don't understand what your point is. As the article demonstrates, and again as I had said, the Hijaz was conquered after World War I and the Hashemite dominion was overthrown. Official unification occurred several years after the regions were conquered. Also there was no oil or gas discovered in the Hijaz which in case you were not aware refers to the West Coast of Saudi Arabia primarily around Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. The Hail refers to the Eastern Coast of Saudi Arabia and is where oil was discovered. The Hail was conquered in 1914, with the final remnants of the Rashidi clan surrendered in the early 1920's as they gave up the pieces of southern Jemash they still retained.

You keep going round and round the fact that the country and region was united before oil became a factor, you have made no effort to link or demonstrate how oil fueled Saudi and tribal coffers during the unification wars.

I study and work with the Persian Gulf and specifically Saudi Arabia for a living, originally I was just trying to explain that you had confused the chronology. Oil played a role in the development of the Saudi state, not in its unification. But now I'm not sure why you are being so stubborn about it. It is an objective fact that oil revenues did not play a role in unification and came after Saudi dominion had been established over the majority of its territory minus the Asir and Najran provinces in the Yemenite wars with the Zaydi Imamate.
 
Yeah, there is no way. The peak exporters are Saudi Arabia and Russia which can put out around 7-12 mmbd and 7-9 mmbd respectively. I think we are something like 1.8mmbd.

The US produces around 9 million barrels a day
 
The US is a net importer of oil

According to the World Bank the US exports around 1.9 mmbd https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2176rank.html. This is explained by the export of NGL, petroleum byproducts, diesel, and other associated products that are counted under exports. In fact at times it has resulted on a 'net' US export: U.S. Was Net Oil-Product Exporter for First Time Since 1949 - Bloomberg. Additionally you can be a net importer of petroleum and still export, the energy market operates as a global basket and the hydrocarbon market is more complex than just net crude import/export.
 
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As you might expect, just to add, most of our exports come from refined products and fuels. I can dig up the EIA chart breaking it down if you give me a little time.
 
I don't understand what your point is. As the article demonstrates, and again as I had said, the Hijaz was conquered after World War I and the Hashemite dominion was overthrown. Official unification occurred several years after the regions were conquered. Also there was no oil or gas discovered in the Hijaz which in case you were not aware refers to the West Coast of Saudi Arabia primarily around Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. The Hail refers to the Eastern Coast of Saudi Arabia and is where oil was discovered. The Hail was conquered in 1914, with the final remnants of the Rashidi clan surrendered in the early 1920's as they gave up the pieces of southern Jemash they still retained.

You keep going round and round the fact that the country and region was united before oil became a factor, you have made no effort to link or demonstrate how oil fueled Saudi and tribal coffers during the unification wars.

I study and work with the Persian Gulf and specifically Saudi Arabia for a living, originally I was just trying to explain that you had confused the chronology. Oil played a role in the development of the Saudi state, not in its unification. But now I'm not sure why you are being so stubborn about it. It is an objective fact that oil revenues did not play a role in unification and came after Saudi dominion had been established over the majority of its territory minus the Asir and Najran provinces in the Yemenite wars with the Zaydi Imamate.

I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject. However, the country wasn't united until 1932, the same year the first oil exploration contracts were penned (because large deposits were discovered in nearby Bahrain). As you stated, the main source of income for the kingdom before 1932 was not oil. But they started building and extracting in Dhahran and by 1939 they were able to begin exportation. To say that they got no income from SoCal during that time, received nothing from those contracts, is a bit odd.
 
I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject. However, the country wasn't united until 1932, the same year the first oil exploration contracts were penned (because large deposits were discovered in nearby Bahrain). As you stated, the main source of income for the kingdom before 1932 was not oil. But they started building and extracting in Dhahran and by 1939 they were able to begin exportation. To say that they got no income from SoCal during that time, received nothing from those contracts, is a bit odd.

The unification of Saudi Arabia began in 1902...... and that was completed in 1924-1925.. It was named Saudi Arabia in 1932.

Sherman knows his history.
 
The unification happened the same time as oil was first discovered (by SoCal - Standard Oil of California), 1932. That began a year long negotiation for contract, SoCal got preference and beat out the other competitors, chief among them the Iraq Petroleum Company.

No, it didn't... unification was complete by 1925.. The first oil concession was in 1938.. See Dammam Dome and Dammam # 7.

Oil
 
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