Saudi Arabia rebuffs Bush on oil production

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: AP

The White House said Friday that Saudi Arabia's leaders are making clear they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it.

President Bush was in the oil-rich country to appeal to King Abdullah for greater production to help halt rising gas prices in the United States.

But his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Saudi officials stuck to their position that they already are meeting demand.

Hadley told reporters, "What they're saying to us is ... Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to satisfy."

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Saudi_Arabia_rebuffs_Bush_on_oil_0516.html

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[no_hypocrisy]

1. The jawboning obviously didn't open up those spighets.

[Javaman]

16. I think when he said jawbone...

he* really meant blowjobs.

I guess he* has lost his touch.

[calimary]

22. Yeah, well, remember, for those who study the Bible, it's jawbone OF AN ASS.

So thereya go.

But there are some other points to consider here, that shouldn't surprise anybody (even outside DU. WE certainly wouldn't be surprised).

First: it puts the Grande Auld Kibosh to the sales pitch that - hey - oil men in the White House! Great! They know how to deal with those Ay-rabbs. They speak the language. THEY'LL get through to 'em. Yeah. SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE. How's that workin' out for ya with the four-dollars plus a gallon some of us are paying now, and oil pushing a 130-dollars/barrel price now? Yeah, that turned out utterly splendid for everybody, didn't it?

Second: it shows something distressing for the bushies, which I'm sure might be lost on a few of his supporters: EVEN THE SAUDIS know bush is nothing. NOTHING. That's why nobody's bothering to do business with his girlfriend contradicta, that's why he can't twist anybody's arms in the Saudi royal family, that's why he won't get anything. They're DONE with him. They've BEEN done with him for awhile. They see the news. They're not stupid. They know what's going on over here, what an abject failure he's been, how unpopular he is and his war is, and how he's running out of time and won't even be around a few months from now. He's less than worthless to them now. They're probably wishing they could just cut to the chase and start talking business with either Hillary or Barack now and not waset any more time with the dying administration that's still in the way for the time being. You can't get any business done if your presumed business partner is in ICU, on life support, and not even breathing on his own - and thus certainly not able to take any calls. You send a nice card and move on and find whoever else it is with whom you CAN do business. And they know this. The entire WORLD knows this. They've already written him off. He won't get ANYTHING from them.

NOW he's trying to burnish his "legacy." HAH!!!!

george, NOBODY gives a flying fuck about your "legacy." We all know painfully well what your fucking "legacy" is. We don't want any part of it, and there's NOTHING you can do to fix it or rehabilitate it. The historians have already been weighing in, george. It's THAT obvious, and THAT BAD. They don't have to wait til your ass is outta here. They know the score NOW. Hell, Helen Thomas knew it YEARS ago and said so: "Worst President Ever." WE knew it, too, even as far as back then, during the early years of this plague. And since then, more and more Americans AND observers overseas have come to that same conclusion.

The bad part is that we still have to suffer him for months.

:puke:

[ckramer]

2. Solution: Invade them!

Take over the oil fields!

[Doctor_J]

11. Invading Saudi Arabia would inconvenience and endanger alot of the BFEE

that will never happen.

[Virginia Dare]

18. They would if they could..

but the clever Saudis have booby-trapped their oil fields. They'll blow the entire Kingdom away if they try.

[truthisfreedom]

3. "Saudi Arabia does not have customers that are making requests for oil that they are not able to

satisfy."

Well, there you have it. The problem is that we're not BUYING enough oil. I'm filling up today. I'm doing my part... who's with me?

[ToughLuck]

7. LOL, me too, I am going to empty out my bank account and buy oil.

More stupid posturing from Bush. I can hear him now, "I tried, they won't listen to me!"

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. No soup for you!

Our Dimson needs to learn about failure, wait, he is a master of FAIL.
What the hell did he expect? Oil just went up on the markets with
this announcement. Thanks for driving up prices with your failure
Chimpy.

[Highway61]

8. good one

:rofl:

[FraDon]

5. The King (sic) is just reading his script.

Why are those men smiling? The cartel's plans could hardly be going better.
I bought MY first $4.00/gallon gas today. Oil just hit another high ($127
a barrel). Though I'm not sure why, I haven't picked up "a brick, a gun
or a stone" yet. From their point of view: Mission Accomplished.

[Virginia Dare]

19. It's been determined..

that Americans will not change their habits until gas hits $5.65 a gallon. So there you have it, we'll be seeing $5+ prices in the very near future.

[calimary]

23. Welcome to DU! You guys hit the four-bucks mark, too, 'eh?

I'm in L.A. Four dollars plus a gallon is routine around here now. It depends on where you are, but mostly, we're lucky to see it drop into the high three's.

My son and I were driving south from Camarillo, north of L.A., and saw one station in Malibu on Coast Highway where super was selling for FIVE dollars per (4.99 - and that ever-popular 99/100ths). My husband says he expects to see six dollars a gallon around here before the end of the year. Which could happen everywhere if bush tries one last gasp at imperial aggression in the Middle East before he leaves.

[blondie58]

6. they don't need to-

they are selling a lot of their oil to China and India.

[uppityperson]

9. Another story with a bit of calling "bs" on bushites

My take: oil was record low for papabush, record high for babybush. Numbers administration gives are suspect. bushites say "no more weapons for you saudis unless you do what we say". US invetories are higher than average. mrbush is posturing since if he really expected to do this it wouldn't have been public since saudis have face saving issues. OK.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004418263_saudi16.html

In April 1986, Vice President George H.W. Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia with a stern warning. Record low oil prices of $10 a barrel threatened the U.S. oil industry and U.S. national security. If prices don't rise, he warned, perhaps a U.S. tariff on imported oil would do the job. More than 22 years later, his son George W. Bush is on a similar mission, but with the opposite goal in mind. President Bush meets today with Saudi King Abdullah and will lobby for help in bringing down world oil prices, which have raced past $125 a barrel.

(clip)

His numbers are somewhat squishy; actual production numbers are hard to verify. Some critics believe the Saudi government has increased capacity but actually dropped output by 1 million bpd over the past two years. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said that in 2006 — the last full year for which it has data — the Saudis produced 10.7 million bpd. That's why some Democrats in Congress, including New York Sen. Charles Schumer, are threatening to hold up a $1 billion-plus arms deal for the Saudis, a crucial ally in the global war on terror, unless the kingdom puts more oil on international markets.

(clip)

The Saudis are said to be reluctant to pump much more oil since U.S. oil inventories of late have been higher than five-year averages. That suggests that oil isn't in short supply here, and that other factors, such as the weakening U.S. dollar and speculation in commodities markets, are driving up prices. "I think the president has no intention whatsoever of having the Saudis put more oil in the market," said Fadel Gheit, an industry analyst for Oppenheimer & Co. in New York. "If the president wanted the Saudis to do that, he would not have asked them publicly."...(more)

[liberal N proud]

10. The price of gas has nothing to do with supply and demand

It is strictly driven by the commodities market. Oil is a commodity and all the hedge fund investors put their money in commodities.

If there were a supply/demand issue, we would see some serious conservations programs and there would lines at the pumps or at least rationing.

We have seen none of that.

[KeepItReal]

12. Yep, remember the 2 traders that sold the 1st barrel of oil for $100 just to prove they could

The only supply and demand involved was their own egos.

[uppityperson]

13. Yup. I am glad that media is presenting another side of this bs now.

[eringer]

14. Yeah, And what drives the commodities market? Thats right, fear.

GWB has done a great job threatening Iran and Venezuela raising the fear level. That, on top of the Iraqi invasion and the uncertainty he created there, gives you $4 plus gas.

[Joanne98]

15. yeah right

[Virginia Dare]

17. Didn't he say pretty please with a cherry on top?

open your wallets you stupid Americans.

[Winterblues]

20. Oil production from Arab nations is controlled by OPEC

One country can not arbitrarily increase production without undermining OPEC..I know America does not like the oil cartel but it is there.

[Supersedeas]

21. as the photo-op of incompetency throught the ME continues--thanks for the memories Condi

[Roland99]

24. Bush's Saudi masters tell the Frat Boy to fuck off

Heckuva job, George.

[NickB79]

25. Two words: Peak Oil

We've reached Peak, and the Saudis know it. Either they can't pump more because they have also peaked, or they are holding on to what they have left because they know the price will only go up as other oil-producing nations falter.

Either way, it's only going to get worse.

[Vinca]

26. If Shrub had anything resembling testosterone in his body

he'd tell them to go to hell the next time they want military equipment.

[cureautismnow]

27. At least he got a kiss before he was screwed. n/t

[smoogatz]

28. Bush fails to win Saudi help on gas prices

Source: AP

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - President Bush failed to win the help he sought from Saudi Arabia to relieve skyrocketing American gas prices Friday, a setback for the former Texas oilman who took office predicting he would jawbone oil-producing nations to help the U.S.

Bush got a red-carpet welcome to this desert kingdom, home to the world's largest oil reserves, and promised to ask King Abdullah to increase production to reduce pressure on prices, which soared past $127 for the first time Friday. But Saudi officials said they already were meeting the needs of their customers worldwide and there was no need to pump more.

Their answer recalled Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia in January when he urged an increase in production but was rebuffed.

<snip>

"Supply and demand are in balance today," al-Naimi told a news conference, bristling at criticism from the U.S. Congress. "How much does Saudi Arabia need to do to satisfy people who are questioning our oil practices and policies?"

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_mideast

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The usual fail, as the kids would say.

[SpiralHawk]

29. "Failure. Our republicon speciality. Smirk." - Commander AWOL

[Doctor_J]

30. George W. Bush - complete, utter failure

The man is such a loser, so weak, such a failure that's it's hard to describe it in words. Everything in his miserable life has been unmitigated disaster. He has made less out of more than anyone in history.