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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (87961)	3/30/2003 1:23:06 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 281500

The first is the reference to a 60-year lease. This is news to me. Me too. But I do know no foreign oil company has any upstream assets in SA as of now. And that's been true since 1980. The second is reference to "nationalization" of oil (also in your post). As I have understood the Saudi regime, the concept of "nation" is a rather odd way of describing them. More accurately the country is run as private enterprise of the House of Saud. Well, SA is a nation even if it's government is run by (and largely for) the royal family. So I think nationalization is an appropriate term to use.

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (87961)	3/30/2003 1:46:56 PM
From: arun gera	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Saudi Arabia and US signed an Oil-Security deal in 1945. If it is a 60 year agreement it should be coming to an end in 2005. Here is a link form the PBS site: pbs.org Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil sign concession agreement King Abdel Aziz granted a concession to the U.S. company, Standard Oil, which allowed them to explore for oil in the country's Eastern Province. The joint enterprise eventually became known as the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). The company granted a loan of £50,000 to the Saudi government and paid it other assorted rental fees and royalty payments. In exchange, Aramco received exclusive rights to mine, produce and export oil from the eastern part of the country, free of Saudi taxes and duties. In 1938, efforts were rewarded with the first discovery of commercial quantities of oil at Dammam Well Number 7, located near Dhahran. The agreement was modified several times over the years. In 1950, Saudi Arabia and Aramco agreed to a 50-50 profit-sharing arrangement, and a series of agreements between 1973 and 1980 resulted in the Saudis' regaining full control of the company. In 1988, King Fahd issued a royal decree establishing the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, known as Saudi Aramco, to replace Aramco. 1940- 1945 Saudi Arabia gains strategic importance during World War II Although Saudi Arabia officially maintained neutrality through most of the war, the U.S. began to court the kingdom as it realized the strategic importance of Saudi oil reserves. In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt made Saudi Arabia eligible for Lend-Lease assistance by declaring the defense of Saudi Arabia of vital interest to the U.S. In 1945, King Abdel Aziz and President Roosevelt cemented the tacit oil-for-security relationship when they met aboard the USS Quincy in the Suez Cana