This time, it looks very unlikely. Big Oil helped push a faltering economy over the edge with excessive prices and consumers have cut back. Fortunately, the US is starting to wake up to the importance of alternative energies unless you are a Republican and in that case you think more of this is great. Breaking ties with Big Oil is always so difficult, especially since Wall Street money isn't flowing quite as fast as it was a few years ago. Either way, this is wishful thinking by the Saudis.
Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the world was heading for a fresh spike after the current phase of faltering demand and lower prices, which reflected the global economic downturn rather than an indicator of things to come.Discouraged investment? What did they do with their profits from recent years?
"We are maintaining our long-term focus rather than being swayed by the volatility of short-term conditions," he said in prepared remarks at the summit.
"However, if others do not begin to invest similarly in new capacity expansion projects, we could see within two-to-three years another price spike similar to or worse than what we witnessed in 2008."
Low prices and weak demand had discouraged investment in energy projects, with high development costs and tight credit markets compounding the problem, Naimi said.
