IN APRIL 1986, then Vice President George H.W. Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia to warn the Saudis against increasing oil prices (which was then at $10/barrel) because it will threaten the US oil industry and national security.

More than 22 years later, his son President George W. Bush met with Saudi King Abdullah to appeal for help in bringing down oil prices, which now at an unprecedented $135/barrel (and counting) but was rebuffed by the Saudis. The US accounts for one-fourth of the world oil consumption, while China and the Middle East account for two-thirds of the NEW oil demand. The Philippines accounts for only one-third of one percent of the total world oil consumption, hardly a voice to be reckoned with in world oil bargaining.

Can the Saudis alone bring down oil prices in the world market? Certainly not! An increase in Saudi production from the present of 11 MBPD (million barrels per day) to 14 MBPD would unlikely bring down soaring prices, which are driven more by UNCERTAINTIES in the market (violence in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan), lack of refining capacity for oil readily available and other complicated dynamics.

Economists say prices are driven up by increased demand, not slow production. China and India are stretching supplies as they use ever increasing amounts of energy.

By the way, the top oil producers in the world as of 2006 (in million of barrels per day) are: Saudi Arabia – 10.7, Russia – 9.7, US – 8.3, Iran – 4.2 and China – 3.9.

The top oil exporters oil are Saudi Arabia – 8.5, Russia – 6.9, United Arab Emirates – 2.6, Norway – 2.6 and Iran – 2.5.

In Iloilo, the first step in constructing a house is to build a perimeter fence almost always made of concrete hollow blocks at least six feet high. Here in the US, especially in high-end subdivisions, there is never a concrete perimeter wall, except maybe for some who use wooden slabs or corrals to keep their pet dogs from straying.

At the Cherry Crossing subdivision where I am living in my daughter’s house, neighboring houses are 300 to 400 meters apart with no fences, giving us a big basement space where we keep our three dogs from straying as required by subdivision regulations.

Here comes the case of the Christiansons (in another place) who built a $200,000 decorative concrete wall made of Virginian red brick that encircled their home and lot at N. Cascade Avenue $200,000.

But the Christianson wall is in danger. Neighbors decided that it is somehow their business and they don’t like it. They petitioned the City Council to demolish the perimeter wall. Their reason: “historic preservation”, meaning preserving the tradition that people don’t build perimeter wall around their homes!

How can the city preserve history by tearing down such a grand and picturesque wall which in 50 years will become a historic structure itself? Such is life of the American people.

In the May 17 issue of a local daily here, there is a caricature showing a series of American homes. In the first frame, a placard is placed near the house which says “Wind Farm” while the caption said “Not in my backyard.” The second frame shows a “Gas Drilling” placard near the house with the same “not in my backyard” or “Nimby” caption.

A placard for “Coal Power Plant and Oil Refining” in the third frame was also contradicted by the same Nimby slogan.

The last frame showed a placard saying “Gas at $5.29” (it’s now at $3.85/gallon) while the caption said “Hey, how’d that get in my backyard?”

Hopefully, the group called RISE (Responsible “kuno” Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy) will realize that their opposition to tapping more energy sources except renewables, which are not also available in Panay, contributes to the high power cost in Iloilo.

One Response to “Dateline USA [Part 5]”

• 1
  Dr. Antonio Gestosani
  May 29th, 2008 01:50

  When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and threaten Saudi Arabia as the next target, America came to the rescue to protect his friends in trouble. Now, when America asked the Saudis a favor, they thumbed their noses in arrogance. When you have a friend like this, who needs an enemy?

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