![]() Oil export revenues make up half of Kuwait’s GDP and 95 percent of state revenues. Kuwait has the sixth-largest oil reserves in the world and is one of OPEC’s top oil-producing and oil-exporting countries. Given the unrest among the Bahraini Shiite population, the demands for political reforms, if not the end of King Hamad’s rule, it's unlikely that gas subsidies will end anytime soon. It signed a free trade agreement with the United States in 2005, and was cited by the UN as the Arab world’s fastest-growing economy. Bahrain has emerged as a banking hub for the Persian Gulf and has expanded into retail sales and tourism. what? Ron Paul beats Obama head-to-headīahrain has relatively little oil compared to its neighbors and is working hard to diversify its economy – unlike many others on the list. However, petroleum reserves are estimated to be relatively low, so it is unclear if the government can deliver on that promise.Ĭhristian Science Monitor: Wait. The government has promised subsidies on an array of fuels, lasting until at least 2030. This likely means that automobile owners in Turkmenistan will continue to be entitled to 120 liters (34 gallons) of free gas a month, rendering the $0.19 price of a liter almost meaningless to some auto owners. The recent re-election of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov for a new five-year term mothballed plans for short-term dramatic changes occurring in the authoritarian Central Asian country. The boost in production along with the country’s political stabilization could help keep global oil prices in check. The Libyan Oil Minister Omar Shakmak said that the administration expects to reach the pre-conflict levels of about 1.6 million barrels per day by the summer of 2012, up from the current 1.265 million. Today, under the provisional governing authority of the National Transitional Council, Libya is in the process of restoring its capacity to produce and export oil. Many oil fields were mined, ports were the sites of fierce battles between opposing rebels and Qaddafi forces, and the country’s largest refinery, Ras Lanuf, was shut down. Saudi Arabia spends about $13.3 billion a year to subsidize gasoline and diesel prices, Abdullah Al Shehri, governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, told the Gulf News.ĭuring last year's revolt against the Qaddafi regime, Libya’s oil infrastructure was heavily damaged. As tensions rise over Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia will have to address an additional challenge as well: How long is the country willing to export 9 million barrels of oil per day, up from January’s 7.5 million, to keep global oil prices from rising even higher? A cable released by Wikileaks from Riyadh, written in 2008, revealed that senior Saudi officials expressed worry that the country’s reserves may have been massively overstated - by 40 percent. However, the Latin American nation is much less attractive to major oil investors, leaving Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest exporter of oil - now, and for years to come. OPEC recently announced that Saudi Arabia’s proven oil reserves were surpassed only by Venezuela. ![]() Venezuelans are likely to continue paying less for fuel than bottled water for years to come.Ĭhristian Science Monitor: Why Gioachino Rossini's music is so funny The last time the government attempted to raise gasoline prices in 1989, riots ensued, and hundreds of people died. His presidency is already threatened by his deteriorating health, providing a unique opportunity for the opposition’s candidate, the telegenic Henrique Capriles Radonski, to replace the ailing leader. With elections looming in October 2012, President Hugo Chávez knows that raising gasoline and diesel prices would be a risky move politically.
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