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As I read it, his point at the time was:

We (Saudi Arabia) get paid $9 per barrel for light, sweet crude.

Petrol (and other fractions) sell at a price of $144 a barrel.

Thus, we're missing out on $135 per barrel.

Now, in part this is intentional neglecting of the hard work that the people who turn oil into petrol do. But, at the same time, it's a classical indictment of the colonial system that pays peanuts for raw materials and then reaps huge profits from finished goods, supported by restrictions on knowledge, capital and technology transfers that the colonial system implies.

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 06:35:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, they just need to get their own refining industry, then.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 06:37:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well... sure... but I think that was Bin Laden's point, that the leaders in various parts of Arabia had collaborated with the US to enrich themselves and the US to the cost of the Arab peoples.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 07:21:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
They have invested significant amounts in petro-chemical complexes at Yanbu and around Damam.  The fact that they are using so much oil as feedstock for their own petrochemical industries is one of the reasons they have less to export.  Some of their export is of higher value refined product, such as gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel and some is as plastic products.  I would expect this to be an increasing portion of their production over the next 10-20 years.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 01:38:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I see you had already made basically the same point I just did (though without mentioning the role of taxes explicitly). Did the professional Bin Laden watchers really all get this wrong, and what does that say about the trustworthiness of anything else they say about him?
by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 07:13:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Ah, right, I skipped right over the word retail.
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 08:04:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
In which case, the consulted quoted above is misquoting Bin Laden.  Or is there a different $144 reference?
by the stormy present (stormypresent aaaaaaat gmail etc) on Thu Jul 3rd, 2008 at 08:06:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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