The Swamp
Gas: 46 cents/gallon, welcome to Riyadh
by Mark Silva and updated
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - President Bush will be drinking a lot of tea here.
Tea at the arrival ceremony at King Khalid International Airport, tea before lunch with King Abdullah at his palatial Al Jamadriyah Ranch, and tea before dinner with the king at the horse farm that is home to 150 Arabian thoroughbreds.
But Bush will have "Texas T'' on his mind, oil, black gold.
The world price of oil has risen by one-third since the last time the president of the United States met with the king of Saudi Arabia at the desert ranch that houses the world's largest collection of Arabian stallions in air-conditioned stables. That was in January.
A gallon of regular gas in Riyadh goes for 45.5 cents.
That's 12 cents a liter for the regular, 90 octane. The "super,'' 95, costs a little more.
(There was some disagreement among drivers here this morning, but the consensus appears to be 45 halala per liter for regular, or 12 cents at the current conversion rate, and there are 3.785 liters in a gallon.)
With "super'' already surpassing $4 per gallon in the United States and the average price of regular headed North, Bush has been making a case since his last visit to Riyadh that the impact of $120-per-barrel oil on the economy of the world's largest consumer, the U.S., is not good, in the long run, for the health of the world's largest producer, Saudi Arabia.
But, as the Bush administration has pressed for increased oil production to ease the pressure on world prices, the Saudis have been making another case: Production will be governed by world demand, not the bidding of one customer.
So, with little expectation that Bush will leave Saudi Arabia with any news of relief for the American consumer, the administration instead is touting the strengthening of U.S. relations with the Saudis, ties now 75 years old.
Better yet, it's not self-service here in Riyadh. See more photos below. Photos by Mark Silva
We were well-guarded at our hotel in Riyadh, perhaps part of that mutual understanding we've developed over 75 years.
Indeed the Bush family and Abdullah go way back.
The 84-year-old ruler made his first official visit to the U.S. as a prince in 1976. He met with President Ford. He returned in 1987, as crown prince, and met with President George H.W. Bush. The crown prince met with President Clinton in 1998 and 2000, and was received by President George W. Bush in 2002 and then again in 2005, at the president's ranch outside Crawford, Texas.
So these two ranchers have taken the measure of each other's homesteads.
Abdullah's horse farm sits on "thousands of hectares.'' And the home, constructed as a tent with a permanent roof and tent poles made of ebony, ivory and precious stones, is divided into two chambers - one a throne room with space for 200, the other a dining room with a capacity of 300. Like many Americans, the king has a TV at his table, an 80-inch flat screen.
Between lunch and dinner with the king at his ranch, where Bush will spend the night, the president and the king will hold a private meeting. Tomorrow morning, Bush will be gone.
Today, the White House is celebrating all they have to celebrate at this point - a new, four-part agreement between the two nations.
The two trace formal relations to 1933. During the final months of World War II, King Abdullah's father - King Abd al-Aziz - met with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt aboard the U.S.S. Quincy in the Red Sea, the White House notes, "and the two leaders chose to deepen the strategic relationship between the two countries. The president's visit today builds on this tradition of friendship and close cooperation.
A house on a side-street in Riyadh.
"It is in the spirit of that meeting that the United States and Saudi Arabia have completed four critical agreements to strengthen the protection of energy resources, enhance peaceful nuclear cooperation, broaden the fight against global terrorism, and bolster nonproliferation,'' the White House announced today. "These agreements further cement the longstanding U.S.-Saudi friendship and close cooperation to help bring peace and stability to the region and its people.''
This is the gist of it, from the White House:
The United States And Saudi Arabia Will Work Together To Further Our Relationship
The Saudis bear a special responsibility for protecting key energy facilities of global importance and the world benefits from their abundant energy supplies. Our global economy depends greatly on Saudi Arabian energy. The U.S. has a keen interest in helping the Saudis protect their energy infrastructure against terrorism, as demonstrated by the unsuccessful terrorist attack against the Kingdom's Abqaiq Plants in February 2006.
To this end, the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to cooperate in safeguarding the Kingdom's energy resources by protecting key infrastructure, enhancing Saudi border security, and meeting Saudi Arabia's expanding energy needs in an environmentally responsible manner.
1. Saudi Arabia will join the 70 partner nations of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. As a partner in this multilateral initiative, Saudi Arabia will:
• Enhance its accountability and physical protection of nuclear systems
• Advance its capability to search for and confiscate unlawfully held nuclear material
• Improve its ability to detect nuclear material to prevent illicit trafficking
• Enhance its means to secure civilian nuclear facilities
• Deny safe havens and economic resources to terrorists
• Create legal frameworks to enforce criminal liability for terrorists
• Improve its response and mitigation capabilities in the event of a terrorist attack
• Promote information sharing to suppress acts of nuclear terrorism
2. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will also join more than 85 states participating in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The PSI is a response to the growing challenge posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery vehicles, and related materials worldwide. PSI participants will now include Saudi Arabia and all states that border it. The U.S. will help the Saudis develop both human and infrastructure resources in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency guidance and standards.
• In order to ensure a smooth supply of energy to the world, Saudi Arabia must be able to effectively safeguard its borders and coasts, and ensure consistent supplies of water and power to its citizens.
• Under the Critical Infrastructure Protection agreement, the two nations have agreed to establish a Joint Commission on Infrastructure and Border Protection to facilitate training, the exchange of experts and specialized knowledge, and other support services as needed.
• The U.S. and Saudi Arabia will also conclude a security agreement that will allow for broadened cooperation between the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the U.S. Government.
4. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia will sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the area of peaceful civil nuclear energy cooperation. This agreement will pave the way for Saudi Arabia's access to safe, reliable fuel sources for energy reactors and demonstrate Saudi leadership as a positive non-proliferation model for the region.
• The United States will assist the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to develop civilian nuclear power for use in medicine, industry, and power generation.
• The Government of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will establish a comprehensive framework for cooperation in the development of environmentally sustainable, safe, and secure civilian nuclear energy through a series of complementary agreements.
Nearly 10 million barrels of oil goes out of Saudi Arabia every day, but not everyone shares in the wealth.
But nobody, on this presidential tour of the royal grounds, is talking about doing anything about the price of gas in Springfield.
Posted by Mark Silva on May 16, 2008 7:45 AM
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