SAUDI GAZETTE: JEDDAH - US exports to the Kingdom are rising in value, but represent a falling percentage of total Saudi imports, the Saudi British Bank said in its latest report on US-Saudi Trade Relations released on Thursday.
It said, moreover, that a huge expansion in Saudi Arabia’s oil production capacity is set to help meet US and global needs.
The bank noted that the relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia is based on a symbiotic relationship involving an understanding, but not always agreement, about politics, economics and security issues.
The sum of these three elements makes the relationship “special”, but also symbiotic. It is a relationship in which the partners cannot be easily disentangled. It is also a relationship that is often misunderstood and subject to misinformation. For the US, Saudi Arabia is a politico-strategic partner in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia is a voice of moderation and stability - and undoubtedly the single most important country in the world of energy. It is the driving force that tries to bring moderation in prices and to supply global markets with sufficient oil.
It further said that despite the political proclamations of Washington (made by every US administration since President Nixon), the US will become more dependent on foreign oil, particularly Middle Eastern oil.
The report said US-Saudi trade relations have remained solid, albeit with imports from the US progressively declining over the years as a percentage of total imports. But Saudi Arabia remains one of the US’s top 15 trading partners. >>> Saudi Gazette staff | Friday, June 05, 2009
