edmontonian

Thanks DogOnPorch. Yeah, I read something about that but nontheless they are still probably the largest oil producers now. Their production capacity is ~ 12 million bbl/day. What is really interesting is even with these large estimates, nothing will be left down there after 70-80 years in most of the world oil fields if no new ones are descovered.

Unfortunately nowadays it seems a certain country's affairs is everybody's business. Take shia in Sauid Arabia for example. They are sitting on the world largest oil reserves (~260 billion barrels) and any unstability in that region can send the oil prices sky-high. Remember the Abqaiq terrorist attempt in 2006 for instance. Saudi Arabia's current production rate is over 9 million bb/day mostly from the eastern region of this country. The whole world cannot tolerate any uncertainty in oil supply. The US in particular have made strong relations with the house of Saud: keep the oil flowing and we'll keep you in position despite their courptness and hypocrisy.

I've been to the eastern part of Saudi Arabia and many of their claims are acually true. Here is the letter: Mr. President Barack Obama We send you warm greetings from the Persian Gulf which used to be called the in the 1600 Century as (Mare El Catif), Qatif Sea. We send you greetings from the land of the Phoenicians where their ships touched the land of Sour and Carthage. We send you greetings from a nation that believed and continued to believe in heavenly religions when the rest of Arabia believed in heathenism and paganism. Mr. President The free world jumped in joy when you were elected and we had a dream that you will be a president who will be pictured in history as a symbol of humanity, justice and equality. A president who will, with his wisdom and humanity, cleanse his soul from drifting in the waves of superficial politics and suppressing humanity. Mr. President We are a peaceful nation that embrace freedom and repel fanaticism. With British aide, Ibn Saud took over our land after signing a treaty of understanding with our ancestors to preserve our religious and civil rights, but he broke the treaty when he stood strong later on. We live under tyranny and apartheid that resembles the situation of our brothers in South Africa during the apartheid regime. I don’t think that I need to say more as you have in your hands the intelligence and human rights reports as well as the reports of previous administrations who knew what Saudi Shia are facing in the world’s richest oil field. Previous administrations looked the other away of the dictatorial regime violations against humanity. A regime that provided safe heaven to terrorism with oil money that brought destruction and pains to the United States people during the 9/11 tragedy. Mr. President We are not regarded as citizens in our land as Fatwas of violent provocations from clerics supported by the Saudi regime are published and distributed in the governmental media. Our testimonies are inadmissible in court of law, and we suffer from hideous harassment yet we cannot sue them in a court of law. We had our houses of worship demolished and we are prevented from building new ones to practice our religious ceremonies. We cannot print books of our own and we cannot bring them from abroad and anyone who dares to do so will be severely punished. We have reached a state in which lies are forged against us in the absence of justice to the extent that our lives and the lives of our beloved ones are endangered. And as an evidence, here you are six children (age 10 to 13) are detained and taken away from their schools in a complete silence of the free world. We face a sectarian war in college admission, taking up high rank positions in the state to the extent that there are no female Shia school principals in the country, or a single mayor. Our towns and villages are under siege and people are detained without trials or accusations. The Saudi government cuts off power and water from besieged towns. Shootings on women and children are common. Pressure is applied on innocent people in an attempt to bring escaped relatives. But do you hear anything in the media, No sir. May be they are waiting till it becomes another Darfur. But when it becomes another Darfur, the world economy will be hit badly as world’s largest oil reservoir will be destroyed. Mr. President We did not ask and we are not asking for a state of our own. All we ask for is to be treated as citizens with equality and justice. Yet we are forced aside. We are a nation that lived for years in peace with neighbours and with our fellow Americans who worked in the region. The Americans were and are moving in our land without fear because they know the kindness and peaceful nature of the people. We do not carry Wahhabi culture and thoughts which strongly supported by the government. The Wahhabi culture that brought pain and destruction in all over the world, a culture that believes in killing and elimination of anybody who is not in agreement with their thoughts and beliefs. It is a culture that has killed thousands of civilians in United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Saudi Arabia itself. All the killing, pain and destruction were catered by oil money. Mr. President In your inauguration speech you stated: « To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society"s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. ». We know that mutual benefits dictate the politics between countries but tyrannies cannot force their well on the wise even if they have the entire world’s oil. We demand justice, freedom and protection for our beloved ones. We fear that Wahhabis will ignite the first spark of war and destruction in the region which may take the region and the world to a never ending and dark tunnel. People of Qatif and Al Hassa Qatif , Eastern State Arabia --------------------------------- Everybody is looking up at preisdent Obama but he's drowned to his ears with the US economic problems besides the Saudis are thier allies and don't think they want to do anything about changing their strong relations.