Saudi Arabia to run out of cash within 5 years.

[Turbineguy]

How long can the Middle East survive cheap oil?
Matt Egan

If oil stays around $50 a barrel, most countries in the region will run out of cash in five years or less, warned a dire report from the International Monetary Fund this week. That includes OPEC leader Saudi Arabia as well as Oman and Bahrain.

Low oil prices will wipe out an estimated $360 billion from the region this year alone, the IMF said.

Huge budget surpluses are quickly swinging to massive deficits as oil prices have crashed to around $45 currently from over $100 last year. Many of these countries are being forced to tap into rainy day funds to weather the storm.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/25/investing/oil-prices-saudi-arabia-cash-opec-middle-east/index.html

Sounds like they need some republicans in charge. That way they can run out of money in 3 years!

[onehandle]

1. Good News!

The financiers of 9/11 are getting slightly less ridiculously rich.

yay

[Turbineguy]

5. I don't actually think this is good news

There are enough young men with too much time on their hands. Maybe they'll start looking for glory.

[closeupready]

22. Or maybe now they'll have to actually earn a living honestly,

like most of us in reality. No time for pipe dreams anymore; nose to the grindstone.

[smirkymonkey]

38. Or maybe they will finally turn on their government/royal family.

Direct the anger where it really belongs.

[sharp_stick]

2. It won't take long

they have a single industry economy and their hope to destroy Western drilling companies by lowering the price of oil is going to hurt them a lot more than I think they anticipated.

Western economies aren't as stapled to oil prices as they used to be.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. My heart bleeds for the House of Saud!

They won't be able to rent out entire hotels, or race overpriced cars through the streets of American neighbourhoods anymore, or sexually molest the housecleaning staff? Those poor, poor, princes among men!

[Warpy]

4. Yes, please. Best thing in the world is for them to run out of cash

There are already rumblings of a coup within the family. Once they deplete the treasury by buying all the overpriced military crap this country will sell them (and China will if we won't) to throw at Yemen, they'll have little left to float their lavish lifestyle, pay the religious police, export their toxic brand of Islam worldwide, or even share crumbs with their people. I just hope their people are starting to consider what they'd want to replace that hopelessly corrupt family.

I don't harbor any illusion that the worst people won't rush into the power vacuum at first or that they'll suddenly decide that a secular government without all those horrible laws against women will serve them. I just think the House of Saud has had about the longest run it can expect in a country of hungry people it hasn't shared much of its wealth with.

Yeah, the Republicans would send all the money to the Caymans and bankrupt the country a lot sooner. However, those gold bathroom fittings don't pay for themselves and I remain convinced in the royal family's ability to piss away money almost as fast, especially since they're fighting one of their own wars for a change.

[davidn3600]

9. And what happens when ISIS takes over there?

Im not any fan of the Saudi royal family. But like Saddam did in Iraq, they are keeping things relatively stable by keeping radicals suppressed in a area of the world that can turn into a gigantic mess very quickly.

[hifiguy]

10. Ummm.

The Saudis ARE reactionary medieval radicals of the worst possible kind. You cannot get a nanoparticle between the ass-backwards worldviews of the Saudi "royal" family and ISIS. Same barbaric shit, just different labels.

[Warpy]

11. That family bears the brunt of responsibility for creating ISIS

by exporting their intolerant brand of Islam across the world for decades. The US coming in and destabilizing the region just allowed them to flourish.

Whatever arises in the short term is something we won't like.

A lot of the reason for anti Americanism in the region is our support of vicious strongmen who kept order and the oil flowing.

[closeupready]

21. Do you REALLY think they would be permitted to take over?

So unlikely. SO.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

40. Gosh, ISIS might start beheading and crucifying people if they take over.

We wouldn't want that to happen to our best ally in the region, nope.

[House of Roberts]

6. No worries.

What the ME oil economies need is a good proxy war with Iran spread over about six countries. That's what the Neocons prescribe for us when our economy sags. Then they won't run out of money in three years, they will owe billions for decades.

[hifiguy]

7. Let those barbaric medieval shitweasels

try to eat and drink their oil.

Fuck the KSA, the anus mundi.

[Lyric]

55. [phone] nt

[LuvNewcastle]

65. Well said!

[donco]

8. I guess they'll

have to do what they did before they depended on oil then.

[smirkymonkey]

41. What was that? Herd sheep?

Honestly, I am curious. What will they do when the oil runs out? They are not a nation of educated, well trained people. They are too ass backward to become another Dubai.

[hifiguy]

47. Pointlessly chasing each other across the desert, I suppose

which was what they did for hundreds of years, often because someone from down the pike got intimate with their goats.

But with Land Rovers and machine guns this time instead of camels and scimitars.

And don't forget the traditional sideshows of religulous blood feuds/massacres and medieval executions for their version of fun.

[smirkymonkey]

49. God, it will be like a medieval shooting gallery.

Where is all that pent up aggression going to go once the money runs out to fund terrorist operations abroad?

[hifiguy]

58. A supremely well-armed madhouse

jacked to the gills on batshit religion. May they all butcher each other as quickly as is possible. The world will applaud, then breathe a huge sigh of relief.

[jaysunb]

12. Any body remember the oil embargo back in the 70's ?

I put nothing past our frienemy, Saudi Arabia.

[Travis_0004]

13. We have 18 trillion in debt

I'm sure Saudi Arabia can survive if their surplus hit 0.

[edhopper]

14. nobody is buying

Saudi dollars,

[trumad]

18. +1

[notadmblnd]

27. Can you tell me who's talking point is that?

Did you hear it from FOX or maybe read it some where? If so, where did you read it?

[Travis_0004]

31. Treasury.gov, is where I pulled up the US government debt

[notadmblnd]

34. do you by any chance have the exact link?

[Travis_0004]

35. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/debt/current

[Skittles]

52. they never chalk it up to repuke tax cuts and senseless wars

they always scream ENTITLEMENTS!!!

[notadmblnd]

53. Yeah, I know. But I asked because I heard someone else make that very same comment today

She was one of the talking heads on "The View." She made that comment to Senator Sanders to which he replied "it isn't true." He wasn't given the opportunity to elaborate on that particular talking point in regards to why it isn't true- but I just thought it was odd to hear the same exact statement twice in one day.

[Logical]

57. Lol, use fucking Google! What is the debt in your opinion??? nt

[notadmblnd]

61. whats your problem?

I asked a sincere question, I got a sincere answer. It's quite common for people to provide links when making an assertion. I don't understand why it bothered you to the point that you felt you needed to post your rude response? I didn't dispute it. I mean really? What's it to you?

[Logical]

62. "Did you hear it from fox"?? And you ask what my problem is?? Nt

[notadmblnd]

63. Or maybe read it somewhere?

I honestly didn't know where. As I said down thread he wasn't the only person who made that statement today and someone else disputed it. If the person I asked didn't take offense, why are you jumping in and attacking me?

[Skittles]

51. LOL

I need my x-ray glasses - NOT

[edhopper]

15. If the Saudi royal family is deposed

Last edited Mon Oct 26, 2015, 09:40 PM - Edit history (1)

A government that subjegates women and crucified blasphemers would come in.

Oh wait.....

[hifiguy]

45. "Derposed"

Indeed.

[edhopper]

54. Glad typos

make you laugh.

Thanks for contributing.

[hifiguy]

59. I laugh because the use of the word

DERP in that context is both funny and on point. It makes a good point. No typo policing from me, of all people.

[edhopper]

67. Okay

glad you explained. That is pretty funny.

[Skittles]

16. ahhh to live long enough to see the demise of Walmart, Facebook and Saudi Arabia

yes INDEED

[MissB]

25. Facebook?

not sure why that hits my funny bone. I get the other two.

[Skittles]

26. I very much admire people who have never been sucked into the FB borg

yes indeed

[MissB]

28. Ah

guess that leaves me out then. Though in my (feeble) defense, I only use it to keep track of family. I was never much of a diarist or an exhibitionist.

[Skittles]

36. ...

I just think it is sad when people tell me they would not even have known about their new grandchild were it not for a freaking website

[MissB]

37. Yeah.

I totally get that- that is sad.

My brother travels extensively for work- multi week trips in far flung locales. He posts pics while on location so I get to see them. He lives 10 minutes away from us, but he may only be home a couple of days a month. And when he is in town, we have wonderful family dinners with my other brother and his family.

It used to be that my brother would mail off postcards to everyone from whatever location he was in- and there is a certain nostalgia to looking thru those postcards. But it's way cooler to see 20-30 pictures a day (and far cheaper/faster to share with everyone.) I get a great window into the world thru his eyes. I can't afford to travel yet but someday...

On the other hand, I get tired of the 31 party invites (think: bag selling pyramid scheme like company) from another relative on FB. Love her dearly tho, so I just ignore it.

It's good and bad.

[Skittles]

39. my brother just uses photobucket links and emails me

no need for that piece of shit FB site

[smirkymonkey]

42. Me too. I tried it for a little while when I first found out about it and then I was

like "eff this". I couldn't understand the appeal. I can barely keep up with the people who are actually in my daily life, let alone 1000 of my closest friends and associates from days gone by. Plus all the humble brags just really turned me off. I didn't want to play that game.

[Skittles]

46. yup

even pictures have lost their meaning - there's so freaking MANY of them, and don't even get me started on selfies

[smirkymonkey]

48. Ugh! Selfies! Just that word. I think I am the only person in the world

who has never taken a "selfie". The whole thing just seems so narcissistic!

[Skittles]

50. I have never done it, never will

the narcissism of the chronic-selfies is astounding

[LuvNewcastle]

66. I've never taken one, either.

I was on FB for about a year or two, until I realized how much I dreaded logging into the site and seeing all of the garbage people had posted. I had one friend who took several selfies a day, and some of his friends would post how handsome he looked and blah. I found it nauseating, so I decided to just leave FB without saying anything to anyone rather than shit on people there. My stomach couldn't handle reading the trash without telling anybody how tacky they were.

[raouldukelives]

17. Most of the value oil corporations have is in the ground anyway.

A value that if fulfilled to its shareholders would more than assure cataclysmic climate change.
The same climate change that is fueling the current humanitarian crisis in the ME. The same climate change that assuredly will get a lot worse before it can start to get better.

Couple that with the worlds necessary switch to more renewable energy, along with the ever growing refugees and immigrants the current changes to our weather systems CC has already created in the world, and, well, it ain't purty. IMHO, it is downright frightening.

[Javaman]

19. Translation:

the price of oil is going to sky rocket soon.

right now, the price of land and anything for that matter in Wyoming tar sands area is cheap due to the recent collapse of the price of oil.

buy now.

in a couple of years it will be worth a small fortune.

[smirkymonkey]

44. Which means the price of EVERYTHING is going to skyrocket soon.

Most of us will get screwed along with the Saudis unless we come up with some alternatives soon.

[Javaman]

56. Yup.

might as well, go up there and sell 50 dollar ham sandwiches.

[Xolodno]

20. Shouldn't be too much longer before we see prices creep up.

There goals were multi faceted.

1. Discourage US and Canadian Oil Production (from what I read, lot of oil developers won't be able to survive much longer).

2. Increase US consumption of oil (so when prices do rise, there will be less of it to export).

3. Hurt Russia economically so it would seem to costly to intervene in Syria, topple the government and build a pipeline to Europe (that has obviously backfired).

4. Discourage Russia and China cooperation on energy (which realistically only delayed projects)

5. Hurt Iran economically so it can only financially support so much in their proxy wars. Obviously, jury is still out on this one.

[LittleBlue]

23. Clueless. They're going to go bankrupt faster than Russia or the shale oil industry

They're blowing hundreds of billions in reserves subsidizing low oil prices

[KamaAina]

24. One, two, three, AWWWWWWW!

[valerief]

29. The loss of Saudi power? Gosh, what a shame. nt

[Renew Deal]

30. Aren't the Saudi's the ones that drove down prices?

[Bucky]

32. Well, shit, *NOW* who's gonna serve as our model for income distribution?

[Recursion]

64. Piketty estimates Saudi Arabia's GINI to be in the high 30s

Which is better than the US and comparable to Western Europe.

[Victor_c3]

33. I believe the current cheep oil trend is being masterminded by oil execs for a reason

When oil prices creep up, the focus shifts towards other energy sources that become cost effective and competitive with oil. Trying to restrain growth of renewable energy alternatives for as long as possible is vital to big oil continuing to have a place of relevance in world politics and the world economy.

Once renewable energy infrastructures are in place and technologies decreasing their costs become more available, there is no undoing that progress. Oil will forever lose its influence.

[truebrit71]

43. Good.

....

[IDemo]

60. "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes,

-- my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel."

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum's famous quote about the rise and fall of Middle Eastern oil wealth.

[sub.theory]

68. Good

That Wahhabbist hate machine of a country can cease to be the number one backer of Islamic terrorism. The world will be a better place.