Man and petroleum have a long history together. We have records from the fifth century BC of man’s association with the sticky black fluid, when Herodotus described the Ardericcan oil pits (located near the ruins of Babylon). He also talks about a pitch spring that he saw at Zacynthus (one of the Ionian Islands). Petroleum’s…
The tenuous OPEC agreement to cut oil production over a six-month period, has always been fraught with concern that countries would violate the agreement in order to further their own self-interest. Saudi Arabia is definitely keeping tabs on any such violations, offering a veiled threat of increasing their own production if they continue to detect…
When it comes to nasty campaigns, politicians are usually the main sources. In theory, such tactics shouldn’t work, especially if they’re outrageous in nature, yet many end up doing just that. Using that philosophy as a cornerstone, an advocacy group for Canada’s oil sands offered up a crude marketing attempt that sought to drastically contrast…
One of the more unforeseen circumstances of the Brexit vote last June appears to be on the verge of affecting the production of oil in Saudi Arabia. The primary issue deals with the fact that a good portion of the hi-tech equipment that’s used for production purposes is being depleted due to the drop in…
Inany area of business, an insidious arrogance about a company’s approach toward maintaining market supremacy. That mentality usually trickles down to the marketing of whatever product is being sold. When it comes to oil, Saudi Arabia and its state-run oil company, Saudi Aramco, have been the world’s leader in supplying customers across the globe. Beginning…
What had been a warming of relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt has apparently frozen over after news of the Saudis suspending shipments of oil supplies to their Middle Eastern neighbor. Though no specific reason for the October 10 decision was publicly noted, diplomatic experts feel that the political machinations dealing with the ongoing civil…
With no apparent end in sight to the stagnant oil market, Saudi Arabia has been forced to make what’s undoubtedly a distasteful gesture in an effort to boost oil prices. That action involves making the effort to cut its production of the commodity if its Middle East rival, Iran, also follows suit. This decision is…
The new economic bond between Saudi Arabia and Egypt in which petroleum is a key aspect marks a sharp contrast to the previous rivalry between the two countries. Those conflicts over generations were most recently on display during the Arab Spring revolt in 2011 that toppled Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. However, the two countries have…
The three-year slide of oil prices has delivered a major hit to the financial stature of Saudi Arabia, primarily because of their status as the world’s top oil producer. While that title has seemingly fluctuated in the past year with Russia, the economic punch that those two nations provide has the ability to provide an…
During an economic forum in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the West African nation of Equatorial Guinea came to an agreement on May 11 that brings the two countries together on a variety of business projects. One of those is an agreement that will help finance what will be the region’s largest terminal for oil storage….
Though the impact of Saudi Arabia within the American oil market has been diminished over time, their ability to maintain a very clear presence once again came into focus on May 1. That was when Saudi Aramco, the Kingdom’s state-run oil company, finalized an agreement to take complete control of the largest oil refinery in…
