Why did Bush fail to persuade the Saudis to pump a lot more oil?

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Why did Bush fail to persuade the Saudis to pump a lot more oil?

1. Saudi Arabia may simply be trying to protect its own interests.

"In the 1990s the OPEC cartel was eager to pump more oil in a grab for cash as prices - like today - were going up, passing what then was viewed as a healthy sum in the $20-plus range. But then the Asia economic crisis struck and oil prices plummeted to below $10 a barrel.

"Saudi Arabia and other producers got burned." - Analysis: Saudis protect own interests in oil production - News

2. Saudi Arabia may not like Bush foreign policy.

"A continuing war in Iraq in which American policy has placed the despised Shia in control of the country is not among the things the Saudis would have hoped for.

"An unremitting hostility towards Iran which demands Saudi acquiescence in a policy likely to involve Saudi Arabia in war with Iran is not among the things the Saudis would have hoped for.

"The Saudis believe in dealing with problems like Iranian expansiveness with; some subtlety of negotiation, minimal but effective violence, and strategically useful bribery." - Pat Lang’s explanation

3. Saudi Arabia may have less oil than the world thinks.

"Saudi Arabia is having to work harder than the country’s engineers and geologists expected in 2004 to squeeze more out of the northern part of the ageing Ghawar field." - Financial Times

4. Bush may actually want higher oil prices.

Halliburton is in the oil business.

"Cheney's former company's main business is 'oil services.' And, as one oilman complained to me, Cheney's former company has captured a big hunk of the rise in oil prices by jacking up the charges for Halliburton drilling and piping equipment." - Greg Palast » It’s STILL The Oil:Secret Condi Meeting on Oil ...

"It has been a very good war for Big Oil -- courtesy of OPEC price hikes. The five oil giants saw profits rise from $34 billion in 2002 to $81 billion in 2004, year two of Iraq's 'transition to democracy.'

"But this tsunami of black ink was nothing compared to the wave of $113 billion in profits to come in 2005: $13.6 billion for Conoco, $14.1 billion for Chevron and the Mother of All Earnings, Exxon's $36.1 billion." - Greg Palast » Big Oil and the Trillion-Dollar War Bonus

$200 Dollar a Barrel Oil Is Bilderberg Plan To Destroy Middle Class

Real Truth Online: Goldman Sachs: Bilderberg Target Of $200 Dollar ...

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