Agreements Are Elusive at Oil Talks in Saudi Arabia

JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — A hastily convened global energy summit meeting led by Saudi Arabia ended largely in disagreement on Sunday, with only a modest pledge of increased production by the Saudis and no resolution on what other practical steps should be taken to ease the crisis over soaring oil prices.

...

"There is a very clear difference of opinion on key issues underpinning the high price of oil,” said Raad Alkadiri, an energy analyst at PFC Energy, a consulting firm, who was present in Jidda. “It’s not clear that anything you heard today is going to reverse sentiment. One thing is clear: You are not going to wake up tomorrow and find that oil prices have dropped 20 or 30 dollars.”

To some, the upshot of the meeting was clear.

“This means we will have $200 a barrel oil,” said Mohammed H. A. Abudawood, a prominent businessman and member of the Jeddah Economic Forum, after the speeches were finished and the delegates began drifting out of the room."

Down the memory hole, it seems. I did a Google news search on the name Mohammed H. A. Abudawood and found the quote mentioned. When I went to the linked article, it had been cleansed, just as DantesPeak said.

It's interesting to observe the level of integrity in our media.

Zero can be a level.

11/16/06 AME Info - Company news 04:20:15
AME Info - Company news

November 16, 2006

Sanad Sukuk Fund launched in Zurich

The world's first GCC oriented Sukuk fund, the Islamic counterpart of the conventional bond fund, was officially launched by the fund's chairman Sheikh Mohammed H. Abudawood, a respected Saudi-based businessmen during the International Islamic Finance Forum in Zurich, 13-16 November.

Sheikh Mohammed was pleased to explain the fund's rationale, saying it closed a wide gap in the Islamic financial industry. At the launch he said 'Sukuk as replacement of bonds are a very new development. They have never been available to a wide base of Muslim investors. These investors want both a quality investment product and an investment that meets their religious criteria. I am honored to contribute to this development, offer my guidance to it and will be proud to see it progressing and growing. Such a product was needed for long time.'

It might have failed in fact checking.

That is when some intern called Mr Mohammed H. A. Abudawood, he failed to confirm the quote. So the NYT was forced to withdraw it.

Perhaps he regretted saying it in front of a reporter, who knows.

Does this Mr. "Mohammed H. A. Abudawood, a prominent businessman and member of the Jeddah Economic Forum." even amount to anything significant?

I'm sure there's another "prominent businessman" somewhere else in Saudi Arabia who thinks the price of oil will tank.

What a great photo, the pitiful white guys begging the mighty prince for life giving oil.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto acknowledged Thursday that speculators may be adding to rising prices, but said that Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman would make the case Sunday that speculators weren’t at the root of record prices.

There’s "absolutely no denying that the overall source of price increase in oil globally, and gasoline here at home, is a function of supply and demand. That’s the overwhelming reason; that’s the core reason," Fratto said. "There could be other factors in there. No one is saying there aren’t other factors that could have an impact. But the largest and most significant reason is supply and demand."

Far out. Strike ref NYTimes crudeprice next tag batch killref.

Oil prices rise in Asian trading after Jeddah summit

And elsewhere. NYMEX at 136.42. Wonder what this bit of history rewriting will do if word gets out?

Get a load of what the Executive branch has to say: