Hugo Chavez became President of Venezuela and seized all the oil infrastructure. All of it. He said “this is now the property of the people of Venezuela”. The thing is, all that stuff was owned by American companies the day before. The US had invested billions of dollars into developing Venezuela’s oil industry. Then Chavez proceeded to run the country into the ground.
America doesn’t like it when foreign countries seize all American assets. We get cranky.
Saudi Arabia has its own oil industry. They built it themselves and didn’t steal the equipment from US companies. They are an oppressive nation that doesn’t really respect human rights, but they’re allowed to do that. The big thing they do, is they play ball. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, and they don’t disrupt the oil supply. They keep pumping no matter what.
Think of Saudi Arabia as a guy with a giant farm, who produces 12% of the world’s total food. For the entire world. And he’s some wackadoo Super-Mormon with 40 wives, who has buttloads of money and is ultra politically conservative. But he sells food to everybody. Without him, a whole lot of people would starve. And all he asks for is to be left alone with his 40 wives and 200 kids in Utah, and in return he’ll keep shipping out the soybeans and corn and wheat.
The US doesn’t love the Saudi Arabian government, but that’s not a fight they need to pick right now.
I’ve never understood why we treat Saudi Arabia so well. We don’t need their oil although they could dramatically affect the global economy if they wanted to. They are the source of a lot of the terrorist funding, at least the theocrats they allow to exist, still pretty bad human rights. Their military is useless.
Back in the 1930s, the U.S. not the U.K. was the one that discovered oil in Saudi Arabia. That discovery led to the creation of ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company), which eventually became Saudi Aramco. The roots of the relationship go deep, and it was built on mutual benefit: oil for protection.
Fast forward decades later, and you’ve got Saudi Arabia buying hundreds of billions in U.S. weapons, pegging its currency to the U.S. dollar (1 USD = 3.75 SAR since the ’80s), and helping the U.S. carry out operations it can’t publicly admit to.
Example: In the 1980s, Congress blocked funding for the Contras in Nicaragua (a rebel group trying to overthrow a democratically elected government). The U.S. still wanted to move forward, so Saudi Arabia quietly stepped in and funded the operation essentially letting America outsource its dirty work. (Source: LA Times) https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-15-mn-4759-story.html
The U.S. is a democracy, which means things like regime change, covert wars, and controversial operations face oversight and media blowback. Saudi Arabia offers a workaround a partner willing to fund, support, or carry out moves the U.S. wants done but can’t openly do.
Beyond that, Saudi is seen as a buffer against Iran, a gatekeeper of Islamic legitimacy (Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques), and a stabilizer in oil markets. Whether people like it or not, Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as America’s loyal enforcer in the region.
So yeah, human rights, democracy, and all that? Nice on paper. But in realpolitik, money, oil, and leverage always win.
The real answer is that Saudi Arabia let’s US companies run their oil fields and pays them for exploration and extraction. Venezueula nationalized the private US companies in that same industry and took the capital and future profits for themselves. TL;DR one plays ball and the other stole something.
Saudi Arabia produces significantly more oil than Venezuela.
And Venezuela’s oil is of lower quality:
>Venezuela’s reserves are largely heavy crude oil, which may not be as economically viable to produce as Saudi Arabia’s higher-quality crude
Also, Saudi Arabia is an ally, while Venezuela is not.
While the Saudi government is absolutely a dictatorship, they’re also willing to work with the US rather than be an adversary, which for the past 20 years or so, Venezuela has been.
Rather than Saudi Arabia, the better comparison for Venezuela is Russia.
The US broadly speaking treats Venezuela much the same way the US treats Russia, like an adversary.
Comments
We need the military in the ME and SA helps with it. There is nothing the US wants with V.
Maybe you have the misconception the US actually cares about the moral injustices of another country rather than how they can benefit
They treat us differently
The Saudis bribe American politicians.
Hugo Chavez became President of Venezuela and seized all the oil infrastructure. All of it. He said “this is now the property of the people of Venezuela”. The thing is, all that stuff was owned by American companies the day before. The US had invested billions of dollars into developing Venezuela’s oil industry. Then Chavez proceeded to run the country into the ground.
America doesn’t like it when foreign countries seize all American assets. We get cranky.
Saudi Arabia has its own oil industry. They built it themselves and didn’t steal the equipment from US companies. They are an oppressive nation that doesn’t really respect human rights, but they’re allowed to do that. The big thing they do, is they play ball. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, and they don’t disrupt the oil supply. They keep pumping no matter what.
Think of Saudi Arabia as a guy with a giant farm, who produces 12% of the world’s total food. For the entire world. And he’s some wackadoo Super-Mormon with 40 wives, who has buttloads of money and is ultra politically conservative. But he sells food to everybody. Without him, a whole lot of people would starve. And all he asks for is to be left alone with his 40 wives and 200 kids in Utah, and in return he’ll keep shipping out the soybeans and corn and wheat.
The US doesn’t love the Saudi Arabian government, but that’s not a fight they need to pick right now.
One of them has a shitload of oil and the other doesn’t
I’ve never understood why we treat Saudi Arabia so well. We don’t need their oil although they could dramatically affect the global economy if they wanted to. They are the source of a lot of the terrorist funding, at least the theocrats they allow to exist, still pretty bad human rights. Their military is useless.
Back in the 1930s, the U.S. not the U.K. was the one that discovered oil in Saudi Arabia. That discovery led to the creation of ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company), which eventually became Saudi Aramco. The roots of the relationship go deep, and it was built on mutual benefit: oil for protection.
Fast forward decades later, and you’ve got Saudi Arabia buying hundreds of billions in U.S. weapons, pegging its currency to the U.S. dollar (1 USD = 3.75 SAR since the ’80s), and helping the U.S. carry out operations it can’t publicly admit to.
Example: In the 1980s, Congress blocked funding for the Contras in Nicaragua (a rebel group trying to overthrow a democratically elected government). The U.S. still wanted to move forward, so Saudi Arabia quietly stepped in and funded the operation essentially letting America outsource its dirty work. (Source: LA Times)
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-15-mn-4759-story.html
The U.S. is a democracy, which means things like regime change, covert wars, and controversial operations face oversight and media blowback. Saudi Arabia offers a workaround a partner willing to fund, support, or carry out moves the U.S. wants done but can’t openly do.
Beyond that, Saudi is seen as a buffer against Iran, a gatekeeper of Islamic legitimacy (Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques), and a stabilizer in oil markets. Whether people like it or not, Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as America’s loyal enforcer in the region.
So yeah, human rights, democracy, and all that? Nice on paper. But in realpolitik, money, oil, and leverage always win.
The real answer is that Saudi Arabia let’s US companies run their oil fields and pays them for exploration and extraction. Venezueula nationalized the private US companies in that same industry and took the capital and future profits for themselves. TL;DR one plays ball and the other stole something.
$$$
Saudi Arabia produces significantly more oil than Venezuela.
And Venezuela’s oil is of lower quality:
>Venezuela’s reserves are largely heavy crude oil, which may not be as economically viable to produce as Saudi Arabia’s higher-quality crude
Also, Saudi Arabia is an ally, while Venezuela is not.
While the Saudi government is absolutely a dictatorship, they’re also willing to work with the US rather than be an adversary, which for the past 20 years or so, Venezuela has been.
Rather than Saudi Arabia, the better comparison for Venezuela is Russia.
The US broadly speaking treats Venezuela much the same way the US treats Russia, like an adversary.