Saudi Arabia’s prince Turki al-Faisal is not impressed by talk of energy independence in the US.
Reuters, via Yahoo, quotes an article Prince Turki wrote for Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which the newswire says was translated into Italian (and then, presumably translated into English by Reuters).
Anyhow, here is their grab:
“There is no technology on the horizon which can replace oil to satisfy colossal needs of U.S. industry, transport and armed forces. Any future scenario will be characterised by mix of renewable and non-renewable energies whether you like it or not,” Turki said.
Ouch.
Update: As commenter -jhl- points out, it is quite similar to Prince Turki’s much longer article in Foreign Policy’s oil edition published two weeks ago. In it, he points out that the US and Saudi Arabia are interdependent, and says Saudi Arabia has made great efforts to keep oil supplies adequate and affordable:
This realization need not strike fear into the hearts and pocketbooks of Americans. Saudi Arabia has a long record of specific actions that prove its strong commitment to providing the world with stable energy supplies. We have consistently pushed for lower prices than any other OPEC members have, and we sharply increased supplies after the Iranian Revolution, during the first Gulf War to replace the loss of Iraqi production, and immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – all in order to calm jittery global markets.
Related links:
Does Saudi Arabia still matter? (Foreign Affairs, 2002)
