Saudi Arabia has noticed the interest in EVs

Oil well
EVs influence desired oil prices

According to an interview on CNN with Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the oil producer would like to see the price of oil fall to the $70-$80 per barrel range, from its current price of roughly $100 per barrel. Driving their desire to see lower prices, was their larger concern that alternatives to the internal combustion engine gasoline powered car are being developed. If too many auto makers start making too many alternative fuel vehicles, then the demand for Saudi Arabian oil will fall.

In the interview, the Prince says that the State position of Saudi Arabia is that they would like to see the price of oil between $70 and $80 per barrel. They don’t really want us to use any less of their oil. “We don’t want the West to go and find alternatives”. That sounds pretty clear to us. He goes on to say “Because clearly the higher price oil goes, the more they have incentive to go and find alternatives”.  In other words, if the west develops alternatives to using our oil, they won’t be buying our oil from us.

But don’t get the idea that they are doing this for their own self interest. They really are looking out what’s best for us. And how do we know this? Because the Prince wraps up the interview with this statement “So really our interest coincides with American interests”. And here we thought they just wanted to sell us more oil.

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5 Responses to Saudi Arabia has noticed the interest in EVs

  1. Tom K says:

    Oh cry me a song!…. Its like a drug dealer whining about lost business because his junkie is going to rehab… I have 1579 miles on my LEAF now and I’m not looking back…

    • Ernie Hernandez (LEAFguy) says:

      For our family, the LEAF is a perfect vehicle. Our 2004 Quest only gets driven to prevent the battery from dying, and we will use it for a family trip in a few weeks. Otherwise, we use the LEAF.

  2. indyflick says:

    Interesting, because just a couple of months ago the FT was reporting…

    “Saudi Arabia could need the oil price to average more than $100 a barrel by 2015 to sustain the big public spending rises it plans in an effort to forestall the political unrest sweeping the Middle East.”

    “The break-even oil price the Gulf kingdom requires to balance its budget will jump from $68 last year to $88 this and then $110 in 2015, according to new estimates by the Institute of International Finance, a leading industry group. ”

    http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/87d60044-5bbb-11e0-b8e7-00144feab49a.html#axzz1NzS9TYDS

    • Ernie Hernandez (LEAFguy) says:

      Interesting article. (Reading it requires free registration, which we think is well worth it.) The accompanying bar chart showed required price needed in 2011 at just under $70, but from a different source than that mentioned in the article. By saying publicly that they wanted the price to come down to $70-$80 per barrel, it makes it sound as if they are in favor of lower oil prices, when they are actually saying that is their desired oil price. I wonder what their commentary will be like five years out.

  3. Tom K says:

    My Miata is in storage and will probably get sold (decent mileage though) as my LEAF has proven to be quite a capable vehicle. Let the oil producing countries fret over America’s quest to reduce oil dependance… I will replace everyone of my automobiles with plugins…

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