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The Oil Kingdom: Part One

December 7, 2008 4:00 PM

Lesley Stahl meets with officials in Saudi Arabia and takes a tour of its vast petroleum facilities, which are gearing up to produce even more oil.

Saudi Arabia Bullish On Oil's Future
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by johnm23357 December 10, 2008 2:09 PM EST
Oh those wonderful Saudis who were also the biggest financial supporters of Al Qaeda before and after 911. If there ever was a reason to stop reliance on foreign oil, they are it!
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by ajbuzz December 9, 2008 3:41 AM EST
I just paid $1.67 per gallon for gas. The Republicans told us this would only happen if we drilled in Alaska and off our shores...NOT TRUE. We need to reduce our demand. Go Green. Let the Saudis eat their oil. We are not afraid.

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by adouso December 8, 2008 7:48 PM EST
they gone to use 84millons gallons of sea water par day is it gone to change the sea lavel or are they gone to have the biggist reserve of water in 30 years ah aha !!
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by thebuckheel December 8, 2008 5:10 PM EST
As a high school social studies teacher, I had the opportunity to be a member of an American education delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in November 2007. This trip happens annually; it is the Educators to Saudi Arabia Program which is sponsored by the Institute of International Education and Saudi Aramco. Saudi Arabia is a beautiful country, and the people I met were very friendly.

While we were shown the refineries and oil and gas lines, the Saudis told us how they were working on alternative energy. Some people may rant about getting our alternative energy from other countries, but I think they need to rethink their position. When the oil finally runs out, what will happen to the Saudi economy? If there is no alternative energy, the money will run out. If the money runs out, how many people will become disillusioned? How many could be swayed by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Do we need to add fuel to the terrorism fire by being angry about the Saudis developing alternative energy and selling it? And who says that precludes Americans from developing their own alternative energy?
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by bcmarshall2 December 8, 2008 3:57 AM EST
I watched the broadcast with great fascination, but the part that truly caught my attention came almost at the end.

It was a statement by Oil Minister Al-Naimi that, "Our vision is that we will be exporters of gigawatts of electricity. We will be exporting both: barrels of oil and gigawatts of power."

Saudi Arabia sits right next to the most powerful untapped green resource on earth. Running through the middle of the Red Sea are hydrothermal vents, deep-ocean geysers of superheated fluid that are even more powerful than nuclear energy.

I have patented the first practical system for their utilization, a system that is both simple and logical.

I ask readers in general and Saudis in particular to review my website to see an animation and complete details of the system operation.

This is the first completely new source of energy since the dawn of the nuclear age, and KSA is sitting right next to it, just a few miles offshore.

Bruce Marshall
www.marshallsystem.com
info@marshallsystem.com
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by f8killer December 8, 2008 3:36 AM EST
I would highly recommend a gas floor price of at least $3.00 to $3.50 in America. There will always be people who will be willing to pay the money. Also, it will reduce America''s deficit and hopefully create alternative fuels faster and cheaper. Anyone willing to make it higher?
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by f8killer December 8, 2008 3:31 AM EST
More than 260 mil barrels probably includes unconventional oil. Probably tar sands. Which will create humungous amounts of CO2 and stuff. The higher the gas price, the faster we will move toward alternative fuels.
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by rkerr6 December 8, 2008 2:53 AM EST
The Saudies have been saying for the last 25 years that they have 260 billion barrels in reserve, that just isn''t true, if they are so sure of those numbers then why are we not allowed to conduct are own reserve evaluations, after all we discovered the fields, And are the #1 customers of the product. The truth is the large fields they have are depleting, and the huge construction projects are built to pump millions of barrels of sea water in the formation to maintain pressures, and seperate oil and water at the surface. The Saudies treat us like mushrooms, keep us in the dark, and feed us bull s**t. You want to do a story on the impending oil crisis come to Oklahoma and I will show you our outdated production facilities, are run down outdated lifting equipment. Then you can see how the small independant operates at $30.00 per barrel,it would scare you to death. 80% of domestic production is produced by small independant oil and gas producers like me, we cannot make it at the current prices. The bust of the 80''s had such a huge impact on domestic production, from plugging uneconomical wells, to rigs and equipment being sold to other countries like the Saudies, and loosing the skilled professionals that get the oil out of the ground. If it happens again, it will make the current economic crisis look like a walk in the park.
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by rayseverini December 8, 2008 1:14 AM EST
Hi to all there at CBS
Thank you for allowing for me to be able to communicate with you.I have known all along about the crisis throut the world and all and also I have always been curious and wanting to know on how to go about in going over to this beautiful country in saudi arabia to offer my professional services for I have a great education and very professional in every way to offer my expertise and to go about in going over and working with this oil industry for on things are right now in the american economy.Woud you please assist me here for I would really welcome this idea very much and really entertain it as well for I know all is very much possible indeed,please.Given the real opporunity I know that I can and will excell over there for I am willing to have anew great beautiful chnage in my life and career as well indeed and for there is much more where this comes from.please do let em know at your earleist convience a soon as possible,please.I thank you so very much and as I look very much forward in hearing from you soon.
Sincerley
Ray Severini
P.S.Before I do forget you can please reach me on my personal e-mail address anytime
E-Mail:rayseverini@yahoo.com
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by suavesoft-2009 December 7, 2008 11:44 PM EST
We have known for several years now that the world is running out of oil, and at an alarming rate too. The only reason oil is now going down is because China is not using what they were before the olympics. Regardless of what the Kingdom tells us, if the have to pump sea water underground to have sufficent pressure to retrieve their treasure, then what oil is still down there is no where close to the numbers they are spewing. And what is this missing sea water doing to global warming too? We have got to become energy independent using alternative fuels, and we have got to do it quickly. A Manhattan project for energy approach is what is needed. Also, I bet the listening public doesn''t know that only 20 gallons of gasoline comes from one barrel of oil. This fossil fuel is not only in limited supply, it''s also very energy insuffiecent.
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