According to a set of documents leaked by Wikileaks and published in British news paper The Guardian, Saudi Arabia could be running short on oil, to the extent that production could slow as early as next year. The documents expose a meeting in 2007 between a US diplomat and Sadad al-Husseini, a geologist and former head of exploration for Saudi oil monopoly Aramco.
Husseini told the diplomat at that time, that the Saudis would not be able to keep production levels at 12.5 million barrels per day; the point at which output is needed to stay at in order to keep prices stable. He also mentioned that the Saudis could hit ‘peak oil’ as early as 2012. ‘Peak oil’ is the term used to describe the level of production at which global output has hit its highest mark, and would indicate the beginning of the end for the Saudi oil industry.
“According to al-Husseini, the crux of the issue is twofold. First, it is possible that Saudi reserves are not as bountiful as sometimes described, and the timeline for their production not as unrestrained as Aramco and energy optimists would like to portray,” one of the cables reads. “While al-Husseini fundamentally contradicts the Aramco company line, he is no doomsday theorist. His pedigree, experience and outlook demand that his predictions be thoughtfully considered.”
Source – Wikileaks
