The historic position held by the West Texas Price Benchmark of Arab crude oil exports seems to be eroding quickly. Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world, and Kuwait have indicated that they are considering to drop its long-standing US pricing benchmark. Aramco has, after years of being frustrated by the price it is receiving for its crude, has ditched already the WTI benchmark last October. Saudi Arabia is not happy with the current pricing schemes, which are not taking into account the fact that the country holds the largest crude oil reserves in the world. Kuwait’s state owned oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has now also indicated to be following the same line of Aramco. KPC has indicated that it could be switching to a less volatile benchmark than WTI to make its oil revenues more predictable. Discussions already have been held with Argus oil pricing group officials at the end of last month. The discussion was focusing on another option to price KPC’s crude. Sources have stated to the press that “KPC is still evaluating the two pricing benchmarks, but there is certainly a strong logic to following Aramco.” A potential ditch of WTI as its benchmark is expected before the end of December. Aramco already has surprised the world market when it ditched WTI on October 28. Aramco now has as its new benchmark: the Argus Sour Crude Index.

The global oil market now seems to be heading towards a general reorientation of pricing, from a US-EU based approach to an Asian-Middle East centred pricing focus. Main reason for the current switch is the fact that a growing amount of Middle Eastern producers feel that the formula used before (WTI-based) had litte relation to the oil sold. WTI is a light and sweet crude oil, while Saudi Arabia produces sulphur-heavy oil, which is far more expensive to refine. American customers have been feeling the same, complaining that the price set by Aramco did not relate to global market prices for the crude quality sold. At the same time, WTI is very volatilie, sometimes at odds with the market situation in general. The WTI volatility was high in 2009, continously trading in a range of US$1-2 above or below Brent price (European benchmark). In January, however, WTI even was US$12 per barrel below Brent. Several months later, WTI however was trading at a premium with regards to Brent. For traders and other customers, this volatility only increases the insecurity of the market, as it makes planning very difficult. Saudi Arabia does not anymore want to be hold prisoner in this equation. The world’s largest producer wants to have its own benchmarks, showing much more stability for its customers. Analysts also stated that WTI is failing to represent the demand-supply situation of the market the last years. The WTI, based on the specifics of a very small partion of the US market space, representing only a storage capacity of 48 million barrels of crude oil, seems to be not representative anymore. When the market hit an US$147 per barrel record, Saudi Aramco complained that it could not find customers for its volumes. WTI at that time showed a shortage in the market (based on its own market place). In place of WTI, Aramco decided in October to adopt the Argus Sour Crude Index, with effect from January 2010. This price index is based on a weighted average of prices paid for three crudes from the Gulf of Mexico. The latter represents a much more stable market environment to base price settings on. The latter feelings now also are forming the oil price policies of Kuwait, some even expect Iran to follow the same path very soon. Kuwaiti officials have indicated that Kuwait could be having another benchmark in 2010.

In how far this will shake up overall prices in the region and worldwide is still unclear. Most of Gulf based oil production is being sold to Asian buyers. The latter have been watching the current developments with immense attention. Asian buyers in particular are paying close attention to speculation that there may be a shake-up in the way global oil pricing benchmarks are used. Asian clients are already paying a higher price, with a large premium, due to Aramco’s historical price arrangements for Asian markets. Since 1986, Aramco has priced its Asian sales through a combination of the prices charged for two Middle East crudes: Dubai and Oman. Asian consumers are currently paying around US$2 per barrel more than American and European customers of Gulf crude. Some analysts expect that Aramco could adopt the Dubai Mercantile Exchange’s (DME’s) fledgling Oman crude oil futures contract as an alternative benchmark for its Asian customers. This still is unclear, as only a tiny amount of all crude to Asia (12 million bpd) is being priced via the DME. Aramco has already stated last year that it wants to set up pricing and trading mechanism based on a Gulf hub system, maybe based on DME. For Arab producers, it will be also valuable to take a look at the Russian position. Russia (FSU) is becoming a major player in the Asian markets the coming years. A possible Asian pricing index should take Russia into account. The latter is due to start exports to Japan, China and South Korea through its new East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (Espo) pipeline in 2010.

Largely forgotten in the whole constellation is the fact that some Arab and OPEC producers still are discussing ditching the US dollar as crude oil currency of choice. Since the OPEC Summit in Riyadh in 2007, Iran, Venuzuela, Angola, Algeria and others are still hinting to price their exports in Euros or even Yen. If this also will become a feature, the market is heading towards immense changes, volatility is again the major price maker in the end. For traders and investors it seems that changes in all sectors of the crude oil market will have to be assessed very soon and kept in their minds. The stability (relative) of the 1970-2000s is over, changes will be made but results are not always to be very positive.

Amongst all the negative press the middle eastern states get from the western civilization, you have got to admit, they do have one hell of a sense of humor!

So I am browsing the news hourly (as I usually do) I do this religiously as I think its very important to be up to date with what’s going on around the globe, and I fell onto this article published on the BBC News website.

Stating the obvious I can tell you I nearly fell of my chair when I finished reading it! Please see below, and make sure your chair is clear of any sharp object that may hurt you should you fall from your throne!

Court Claim Over Camel Beauty

A $250,000 compensation claim has been made against Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Saudi Aramco for causing the death of a prized camel, local press reports say.

“She was part of the Camel Beauty Contest,” he said, the Saudi Gazette reported.
I actually spat my drink over my monitor when I read the “the she-camel was grazing in a desert pasture”

I find it amazing how such things are still taken very seriously in the middle east, when we have evolved into such a modern civilization technologically and socially.

So, what’s the easiest way to make $250k ? Just kick your grazing she-camel into a ditch when she’s not looking.

I bet Aramco’s finance department were not best pleased after issuing that cheque, I imagine they had the hump!

Link to the original article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8311277.stm

Saudi Aramco is being sued for one million riyals. Not over their long time use of natural resources in the EP without considering the environmental consequences, and not over being a country within a country where the rules that govern the rest of Saudi Arabia do not necessarily apply, but over a dead animal. According to Saudi Gazette, Abdullah Al-Saiari is suing the giant oil company for causing the death of an alleged beauty contest female camel which died when she tripped into a big hole that Aramco had dug and filled it up with crude oil in a desert pasture land, 250 km west of Ahsa. 1m SR is probably nothing for a multi billion-dollars company like Aramco, but can a camel breeder win a case against the oil giant? The news item says the General Court in Khobar is looking into the case, but since Aramco is owned by the government, shouldn’t this case be brought into the Court of Grievances? Hmmm…

Un éleveur de chameaux saoudien demande près de  265.000 dollars à la compagnie pétrolière publique Aramco, pour la chamelle noire de 3 ans qui a trouvé la mort dans un puits rempli de pétrole, à 250 km d’Al-Ahsa. L’éleveur Abdallah al-Sayari a déclaré que la chamelle était d’une très grande beauté et qu’elle était inscrite à un concours de beauté. Un conseil d’experts convoqué par les organisateurs du concours de beauté pour chameaux a fixé le prix de la chamelle à près de 265 000 dollars.  Le tribunal doit prononcer son jugement dans les prochains jours. De nombreux concours de beauté pour chameaux sont organisés régulièrement en Arabie Saoudite et le prix d’un chameau varie entre 150 000 et 200 000 dollars. Les chameaux noirs, les plus racés et les plus élégants peuvent avoisinés plusieurs millions de dollars. A suivre.

I am writing this blog post in response to the ‘Blog Action Day 09, Climate Change’.

To be honest, writing about this subject, in Saudi Arabia, is a bit weird!! You know why? Because the whole philosophy of preserving the environment and taking serious measures to fight the climate change is still young in the minds of both; the public and the business world.

For that, thinking about the climate change prevention idea in the Saudi business world will definitely lead you to consider the concept that contains such ideas; that is the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This concept is still new in the Saudi business environment. And even more, it is not totally understood, let alone embraced. Following the subject in the media, you would be encountered with a bunch of articles; most of them are written by Saudi academics trying to explain the concept. I am not saying this is wrong; on the contrary, it is advisable and certainly good to bring such concept to the public attention. But still, most of the examples provided to illustrate the concept are based on employees’ benefits and charity. Yes, these are main elements of the CSR, but they are not everything.

 I believe it is reasonable to claim that preserving-the-environment awareness is a cultural issue before any nothing else. Unfortunately, showing respect to nature, saving power resources, and respecting the green life in general are some things we are not growing up with around here. So any initiatives to address such matters should always consider this cultural lack of understanding.

 Nonetheless, hope is there and it is not all a black picture. There are some companies’ initiatives to promote environmental awareness and practices. ARAMCO and SBIC (Saudi Electricity, to some extent) always come to mind, at least for their fields of interests if not for anything else. However, although the efforts to adhere to modern industrial standards are important, the effort to raise employees’ environmental awareness is something we should concentrate on, at least, to compensate for the lack of it in our normal life. Maybe building this awareness in the corporate culture will be pay its dues and we will start seeing its results in the normal life.

Finally, more regulations, incentives, and programs are required to address this issue. And they better to be real and sincere and not to be used as way of advertisement! Such efforts are needed from both, public and private sectors, to raise the awareness of such critical matters. Critical matters to the essence of our existence on this planet.

What encourages me to write this post is the awful black Wednesday of  Khobar, Saudi Arabia. For those who don’t know Khobar, it’s a quite and nice city on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia where Aramco “famous Oil company” exists. Last Wed, Saudi Arabia celebrated it’s national day, however, some few teenagers destroyed some restaurants, showrooms and shops, and officials claim that the total loss was around $125,000!! Read more here

So how can we control these teenagers?

Here’s a simple non-lethal weapon that can give cops a quick control.  It’s based on the use of  LED flashlight to produce pulses of different colors at 10 Hz that affect your brain. Just press the button and the suspect will immediately run away!

The device is called the “Bedazzler” based on LEDs which are controlled using Arduino that generates PWM signals. It operates by a 9V battery!

The complete circuit and code can be found here. Thanks so much to Ladyada!

Let’s hope we celebrate a safe national day next year!

]]> http://orangminyak.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/making-sense-of-merapoh%e2%80%99s-oil-refinery-project-in-yan/ Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:45:13 +0000 abuaina http://orangminyak.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/making-sense-of-merapoh%e2%80%99s-oil-refinery-project-in-yan/

by Cecelia Kok

IN times of economic slowdown, it is always refreshing to hear news of large investments taking place in the local economy.

Hence, when Merapoh Resources Corp Sdn Bhd announced over the week that it had secured investments to build a US$10bil (RM35bil) crude oil refinery facility in Yan, Kedah, a sense of excitement was stirred up in the market, particularly for the oil and gas sector.

More expensive than the Bakun hydroelectric dam project in Sarawak (not of the same industry), the proposed oil refinery project by private company Merapoh definitely qualifies as another mega project for the country.

The planned facility also raises hope for the revival of an earlier proposed Trans-Peninsular Pipeline mega project, which according to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Azizan Abdul Razak, was still under review.

To recap, the Trans-Peninsular Pipeline project was mooted in 2007 by Trans Peninsula Petroleum Sdn Bhd. It involved construction of a 312-km oil pipeline connecting Yan in Kedah with Bachok in Kelantan. The project also included a crude oil refinery in Yan and three storage tanks in Bachok.

The idea was to transfer crude oil from the Middle East to East Asia without going through the busy Straits of Malacca, so as to shorten voyage time by an estimated three days and minimise the risks of pirate attacks. However, there was little progress on the project which some attribute to cost and geography related issues.

At this point however, it is unclear whether Merapoh’s oil refinery project is part of the earlier proposed Trans-Peninsular Pipeline project.

Boasting a capacity of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd), the proposed oil refinery in Yan is deemed to be the biggest oil refinery facility in Malaysia upon completion by end of 2013 or early 2014.

Merapoh executive chairman Mohd Nazri Ramli told reporters on Wednesday that construction of the project would start next month.

Nazri added that the company had awarded the engineering, construction and maintenance works of the project to SK Engineering and Construction Co of South Korea.

Other strategic partners for the project included China National Petroleum Corp, which would buy 200,000 barrels per day of the refinery’s output under a 20-year deal, and Saudi Aramco, which would be the company’s main supplier of crude oil.

In other words, Merapoh’s proposed refinery facility is to process imported crude oil (not local production) into refined products for export mainly to East Asia.

Some analysts are concerned about Merapoh’s ability to secure the huge financing required at attractive rates amid a relatively tight credit market environment.

Nazri indicated that the company had already secured initial funding from private Chinese equity companies – Hong Kong Beijing Star Ltd and Winston Investment Ltd. The duo would each invest US$5bil and take up 40% stake, respectively, in the project, while Merapoh would hold the remainder 20% stake.

Economic stimulant

The proposed oil refinery project is expected to create 1,500 jobs upon completion, of which 500 would be engineering and oil-related professional jobs.

Merapoh’s proposed oil refinery project is also expected to benefit some of the local oil & gas players, as more jobs along the value chain of the sector would be made available.

Merapoh had said that it would award 30% of its project’s contracts to local companies.

Analysts believe that the main beneficiaries of the project are likely to be fabricators and those involved in the downstream activities, with selective upstream players such as marine vessel service providers, gaining some advantage too.

Among the oil & gas players viewed by them as potential beneficiaries of Merapoh’s oil refinery project are Dialog Group Bhd, Wah Seong Corp Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, Kencana Petroleum Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Tanjung Offshore Bhd and MMC Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, TA Research thinks that if the pipeline project linking Yan and Bachok were to become a reality, there would be spill over effects to the property sector, as land prices in the surrounding area would increase even as new property developments would take place.

Property players with exposure to the Northern region in Peninsular Malaysia such as Plenitude Bhd, Paramount Corp Bhd, Kejora Harta Bhd and Ranhill Bhd would likely benefit in this case.

TA Research also feels that construction players such as Gamuda Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd would benefit as more infrastructure developments would be required to complement the major pipeline project.

Regional ambition

As for the economic reasons for having more oil-refinery projects in the country, Kaladher Govindan, the head of TA Research, explains that such projects are vital for the future growth of an oil-producing country like Malaysia.

Malaysia has an annual crude oil production of more than 650,000 bpd. According to the Oil & Gas Journal, Malaysia’s total crude oil refining capacity is currently estimated at 722,000 bpd.

The country has six refining facilities, three of which are operated by national gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd, two by Shell and one by ExxonMobil.

By increasing its oil-refinery capacity, Kaladher says, Malaysia can tap into the business of refining shipments of oil that pass through the Straits of Malacca for exports to other Asian markets.

Singapore, with its total oil-refining capacity of 1.3 million bpd, is a major oil refining and trading hub in the region. This is despite its lack of domestic oil resources.

In the past, Malaysia had to depend on the refining industry in Singapore to meet its own demand for refined petroleum products. But after investing heavily in refining activities over the last two decades, it can now meet its domestic demand for refined petroleum products.

Malaysia also seems to be gearing itself up to be a major regional oil refining and distribution hub.

Analysts explain that building oil refineries in Malaysia makes sense because of the country’s strategic geographical location in the region that makes it an ideal gateway to East Asian markets. Additionally, the Government is also seen to be very supportive of such projects as it has put in place various tax incentives to promote the industry.

Therefore, foreign investors do find it attractive to develop such projects in Malaysia.

For instance, in February last year, Qatar-based Gulf Petroleum Ltd said it would be embarking on a three-year project to build a US$5bil (RM17bil) integrated oil and gas complex, comprising an oil refinery, a petrochemical plant and storage facilities, in Manjung, Perak. It was earlier reported that the proposed oil refinery would have a targeted capacity of between 100,000 and 150,000 bpd.

However, the dramatic slump of crude oil prices in the fourth quarter of last year to earlier this year cast some doubts over whether the project would still go on.

To this, the management of Gulf Petroleum early this year confirmed that it would continue with the development of the project in Manjung regardless of the oil price fluctuations and gloomy economic outlook.

With the recovery of the global economy in the next few years, an analyst says she expects to see more refinery projects in the pipeline as the country positions itself as a leading regional player in the industry.

KUALA LUMPUR: China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) and Saudi Aramco may take a strategic stake in Merapoh Resources Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRCSB), which will own the country’s largest refinery with a capacity of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd).

MRCSB executive chairman Mohd Nazri Ramli said the equity participation by the two state-owned oil giants is understandable considering that CNPC will be a major client of the refinery and Aramco will be its main feedstock supplier.

However, the acquisition by CNPC and Aramco would only take place when the 350,000bpd-refining facilities are up and running by 2013, said Nazri.Currently, two private equity firms — Hong Kong Beijing Star Ltd and Winston Investment Ltd — collectively own 80% in the refinery project while MRCSB, which is controlled by Nazri Ramli, holds the remaining 20% equity stake.

Nazri said CNPC and Aramco would eventually become a shareholder of MRCSB by way of acquiring the existing stakes held by the two private equity firms.

The quantum of investment by the state-owned oil majors would eventually depend on how much of the shareholding the private-equity funds were willing to sell later, he added.

Nazri at the signing ceremony yesterday. Photo by Chu Juck Seng

Nazri was speaking to reporters after the signing of several agreements to formalise the Merapoh project yesterday.

CNPC is a state-owned fuel-producing corporation that handles all petroleum activities in China. Aramco is a government-owned corporation of Saudi Arabia and touted as the largest oil corporation in the world.

MRCSB, owned by a team of professionals in the petroleum industry, has been said to be affiliated to local tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, but Mohd Nazri was quick to deny it when asked about the link.

MRCSB also signed an MoA (memorandum of agreement) with the Kedah state government for the Merapoh refinery, confirming The Edge Financial Daily report on Tuesday.

Kedah chief minister Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the state government would not own a stake in the project, but gain royalty from the sale of each barrel of the refinery products. “For example, if the royalty from one barrel is RM1, so, we will get RM300,000 from the 300,000 barrels per day,” he added.

Nazri is confident in the prospects of the Merapoh refinery amid the bullish outlook on crude oil prices. “We are forecasting the crude price will be between US$150 (RM535.50) to US$200 per barrel when we complete the refinery (end 2013 or early 2014). The average (refined) product price is about US$130, so that is about 13% (profit) margin,” said Nazri.

According to him, about 30% of the contract works, including building pipelines and tank farms, would be awarded to local contractors.

MRCSB’s current paid-up capital of RM2.5 million will soon balloon RM200 million with the entry of the two private equity funds. The company signed an MoA with HK Beijing Star and Winston Investment, which will inject US$5 billion each to fund the refinery project. According to Nazri, MRCSB, HK Beijing Star and Winston will sign the shareholders agreement in a month time.

Nazri said it would also ink a formal agreement with Aramco later for the supply of crude. The primary crude oil will be sourced from Aramco, the secondary buyer would come from other region in the Middle East, possibly Iran, he added.

Also, he disclosed that Merapoh and CNPC had also agreed on a deal in 2007 for the latter to buy 200,000 bpd of refined crude from Merapoh’s refinery for 20 years.

The remainder 150,000 barrels will be for other buyers.

When King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was announced about two years ago, one of the interesting aspects about the project was the way it was planned to be developed and built. From the beginning it was clear that KAUST will be independent and not under the umbrella of the Ministry of Higher Education, and instead of relaying on a real estate or a construction company to build the university, the project was handled by Saudi Aramco, the national oil company.

Choosing an oil company to build a world class university seemed strange to many people, but to me it made some sense. The King’s bold vision meant things must be done differently. There are only two construction companies in the country that can handle a huge project like KAUST: Saudi Oger and Saudi Binladen Group (SBG). Both companies are already developing major megaprojects, and both companies have been linked to corruption allegations related to government contracts before.

To turn the King’s vision into a reality in the short time span that was announced, he needed people who are efficient and trustworthy. Many of those people can be found in Saudi Aramco, the largest oil company in the world. Now that the KAUST development model has been a success, I guess the King wants to use the same model to pull off another megaproject that has been delayed for years.

I previously wrote about King Abdullah Stadium. The Ministry of Finance repeatedly refused to allocate a budget for the project because proposals made by the General Presidency of Youth Welfare seemed so exaggerated and so… fishy. Rumors have been flying during the past few weeks that Aramco will build the new stadium, but honestly I found that hard to believe. I know that they have done an impressive job with building KAUST, which should be ready to receive students this fall, but I thought that was an exception. Well, I was wrong.

Aramco distributed a statement last week saying the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals have entrusted them to build the new King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. According to the statement, the project will include a big stadium, an 18-hole golf course, a hospital and a sports academy.

Is it right to hire an oil company to build a university and a sports city? It is probably not the most conventional approach, but from a pragmatic point of view it is effective and working. This way of thinking says that if this is what it takes to get the job done, then we will go for it. I really don’t mind such approach, but I think it should not make us overlook the problems and circumstances that got us here. Also, this makes me remember some questions and concerns that I have about Aramco, but that’s another post for another day.

Aramco, Total sign $9.6bn deals report says.

Another big project in Saudi Arabia. Big project needs more manpower, more welders needed!

Welders will have more chances in getting work abroad!

I left Jeddah in 1992, and haven’t been back to live there since then (other than weekends and vacations). As an insider living out of it, I saw things coming. Bad things, which I used to tell my family and friends would happen, I never knew what they were, I just knew… I had these feelings, and they happened. The bombings, the militant Islamist, the rise of the extremist. It could’ve just been part of my broadening awareness which is part of growing up, I’ll never know… but I know I felt what I felt at the time.

I am not trying to prophesies anything, as I am not Nostradamus. However, I would like to share my outlook for the Saudi future in this post.

I’ve received an email from a friend telling me that Saud Aramco will be taking the job of planning, designing, and constructing the new King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. Aside from why is an oil company taking over construction projects, as it did with the King Abdullah University is beyond me, but I believe that it has to do with accountability for money spending that might not be available in other construction companies in the region (in other words money said to be spent somewhere but it actually goes into personal pockets for personal gain). As SaudiOger and SBG are the other big companies that might have been tasked with that project. I know SBG was subcontracted along with others to do a lot of the work in the now almost complete KAUST (which I hope to write another post about).

Now this would be another ambitious project which holds King Abdullah’s name, and this is why I am optimistic about the future. These projects are not short term, we have not seen development in this size and magnitude in any era in the Arabian peninsula throughout the known history, even the second Islamic empire (the Umayyad dynasty) couldn’t wait to get out of the area and set up its base in Damascus, and yes every Saudi King, and every well off prince and every Saudi rich man has a few palaces/villas/chateaus/little apartments out in the nicer parts of the world. And even those that can afford a little have apartments in Egypt or Syria or Lebanon. Yet very few people have put anything back into this land, even with the luxurious palaces of all the dynasties that controlled the two holy mosques of Makkah and Madinah, one just has to look at old pictures of the holy places from fifty years ago to know that they were not really taken care of compared to other grand Mosques around the world.

Change in coming, change is happening, as slow as it might seem to us, it does not seem slow to our parent’s generation.

Once oil was discovered in the region, our nation was like a bodybuilder on steroids, all big from the outside but our internal organs get messed up, our kidneys and liver were exhausted and our hearts enlarged. We grew so fast like chickens on hormones, they say if you enter a chicken house where chickens were given hormones to grow and clapped your hands, they will have a heart attack and die. Since the discovery of oil, our culture has been forced to do the splits with one foot stuck in the past and the other trying to plant itself in the future, but the future does not wait and we are forced to stretch more and more.

This has caused the Dissociative identity disorder that our people and culture are/have been going through, we want to be true to our roots yet be modern… and that my dear readers… is another topic all together.

We have seen in the past few days a semi official opening of a cinema in Saudi. I am a movie buff, I love to watch movies, and I like to go to cinemas every now and then, having said that, I have not been to a movie theater in almost six months.

I remember in the early nineties when I saw JFK, the movie, in an Aramco theater, not a good experience, a few guys started smoking even though the they were told not to, and a sign on the screen came up telling them that smoking is not allowed. Two other guys sat in front of me talking to each other, and then halfway through the movie they left, after stating out loudly that this movie has no women in it… I was just happy that they left… oh yeah, and the movie was censored also.

I did wish we had movies in Saudi when my wife and I were engaged and had nowhere to go, but now that I think of it… we probably would not have went. Why would we want to watch a Saudi channel on a big screen? Because that is what is going to happen, the censors would go crazy snipping this and snapping that. Why do you think that pirated movies sell like hotcakes on every corner in Saudi? The ones at video stores have passed by the censors and no one wants to pay full price for less than 100% of the product… wouldn’t you feel cheated?

What about a family coming in and asking for a partition? And mobile phones? I have been to high level meetings in Saudi where mobile phones have been on… lets not forget prayer times, even in Makkah and Madinah… I would not want to go to a movie where I would hear the nokia tone, the latest song, Al-Sudais praying every five minutes.

So to sum it all up, go to a movie, pay full price, not get to see the whole movie because of censoring, not get to hear some bits because of some people talking and phones ringing, maybe not see all of the screen because of a partition that had been moved a bit… no thank you, I’ll pass.

And they open up with Menahi, not a good solid movie that can show how movie making is an art, how story telling is an art, and how one can deliver a message in an unforgettable way using modern technology to uplift the human spirit. A movie where all those that oppose would be invited to watch and come out of the movie with tears in their eyes and start hugging each other sobbing because they now have seen the influence of the silver screen, and the extent of their wrongness.

Now all religious societies oppose Hollywood movies, Mormons, have their own movie industry (I told you I was a movie buff), where a couple of guys go around correcting the wrong they see around them, they of course in the end convert the drug dealer or one that cheats and steels or a girl that has fallen into sin to Mormonism… how about our guys do the same (I know they have their own theater plays called Aljawala)… I would nominate Al-Oraifi to be the lead star in the upcoming movie, that would be a blockbuster… anyone wanna invest in that?

[South-South Cooperation] — China, Middle East — Reuters Analysis — by Alan Wheatley, China Economics Editor

Alan Wheatley is an intelligent journalist with years of experience reporting news in both Taiwan and mainland China whom I respect a great deal. Alan’s article does a superb job of combining hard data with different points of views from experts on all sides to present a unbiased report.

This is the general principle Reuters journalists follow. By providing the reader with the necessary perspectives and hard data to back them up, the reader is expected to make their own decision on the significance of the article.

As there always are, I am sure some bad apples exist. After a internship with Reuters Beijing Bureau back in 2006, I can personally testify that the Beijing staff makes a concerted effort to uphold the journalist’s creed and report both sides of the story.

With no fanfare, a $5 billion (3.3 billion pounds) refinery in which Saudi Aramco has a 25 percent stake quietly began processing oil a couple of weeks ago in eastern China.

The start-up of the Fujian plant, half-owned by top state-owned refiner Sinopec (0386.HK), testifies to the thickening trade and investment ties between China and the Arab world.

China’s exports to the 22 members of the Arab League jumped to $62.3 billion last year from just $7.2 billion in 2001, the year China joined the World Trade Organisation. The share in total Chinese exports rose to 4.4 percent from 2.7 percent.

Imports from the Arab world over the same period grew to $70.3 billion from $7.5 billion, doubling the share in total imports to 6.2 percent, according to official Chinese data.

…

Nowhere is this more in evidence than in Yiwu, a town in eastern China whose vast wholesale markets draw traders from across the globe in search of cheap consumer goods.

“We don’t see too many Europeans any more. These days, most of our customers are from the Middle East,” Zhu Shanshan, a sales representative at Dove Candle, which sells scented candles and handicrafts, said on a recent visit to Yiwu.

Salaaaaam everyone

آمس كان من آسعد الأيام اللي عشتها، من مشروعنا الأخير وآنا يتملكني الحماس والسعي للخير أكثر من أي وقت مضى

في البدايه حابه آتكلم عن المجموعه المنضمه لها

هي مجموعهFuture Youthوبالعربي شباب المستقبل

مجموعة بنات وأولاد يسعون للمشاريع الخيريه بطرق مختلفه

بدايتها كانت رحله للأيتام

ومن ثم بيع خيري لكتب مستخدمه والربح يستخدم لدعم باقي المشاريع الخيريه المخطط لها

وأخر ما قمنا به رحله آخرى لحوالي ٦٥ طفل يتيم من بنات وأولاد

……..

الخميس ٢-٤-٠٩

كنت من المشتركات بالرحله

واللي بدت من ٩:٣٠ تقريبا إلى ٤ العصر

في البدايه كان استقبال الأطفال الأيتام “آولاد وبنات”

وتنظيمهم وتوزيع بطاقات تعريفيه تحمل رقم واسم الجمعيه في حال لا قدر الحال فقد واحد منهم

وبعدها بدأ مشوار المتعه والبذل

تجربه رااااااائعه جدا

كانوا الأطفال متحمسين ومندفعين للألعاب

تحمل كل واحد مننا ٥٠ عضو وعضوة مسؤولية طفل أو طفلين

كان من حظي إني استلمت جهاد وساره آعمارهم حوالي ٥-٦ سنين

لعبنا ،ضحكنا واستمتعنا مع بعض..مرت لحظات تمنيت انها ما تنتهي

اكثر اللحظات اللي اثرت فيني لما كانوا الأطفال اللي مع وحده من صاحباتي ينادوها ماما ماما

ولما كانوا الأطفال يودعونا وقالوا لسابي انهم حيدعوا لها في كل صلاه

يالله كيف ابسط الإشياء لها تأثير

بعد ما خلصنا لعب جمعنا الأطفال عشان وقت الغدا

ومن بعد ما أكلوا كان وقت الألعاب والنشاطات اللي خططناها لهم

منظر الأطفال وهم يلعبوا، يضحكوا ويستمتعوا كان يستحق كل تعب وارهاق حسينا فيه

كل ما اتذكر النظره على وجههم لما يفوزوا او يخسروا ويناظروني ينتظرون تشجيعي، اتمنى ان اليوم ما يخلص

لما حضني جهاد و ارتمت الأميره ساره زي ما سميتها بين يديني حسيت اني ملكت الدنيا

أشياء بسيطه سويناها كانت تبان بعيونهم على انها عظيمه

بالمجمل كان يوم آكثر من رائع

كنت سعيدة جدا لما الناس تشوفنا وتسألنا عن آهدافنا ومشاريعنا ومن بعدها اسمع دعوة عسى الله يستجيب لها

وتضايقت لما كان في ناس سلبيين كانوا يحاولوا يتمسخروا او يعلقوا تعليقات ما كان لها داعي

لكن الله يهديهم

ختمنا الرحلة بعرض لدبابات هارلي دايفيدسون اللي اخذوا صور للأطفال وهم راكبينها ووزعو عليهم بروشات

يعطيهم العافيه يارب

وبعدين الهدايا والحلويات اللي وزعناها

ومنظرهم وهما فرحانين فيها يا حيااااااتي

عامة كانت الرحله ناجحة الحمدالله

وحققنا آهدافنا والبرنامج المنظم وإن حصل لخبطه شوي بالتوقيت

وأتطلع ان شا الله للمشاريع الجاية واني اكون جزء منها

Future Youth <3 We ROCK ;p

………

بعض ما كتب عن الجمعية

Accommodations in Saudi Arabia
By Barie Fez-Barringten
www.bariefez-barringten.com
Of a List o 37 lifetime venues in 71Year period
Architecture, including the places at which I resided has been metaphors of my life. They are icons and insignias of my identity. To others, they represented an association of like-minded persons and contexts. This all formed my ideal of urbanism and metaphors. Many are mnemonics conjuring the ideas, attitudes, feelings and details of a life I led in and around each place.
The account of Saudi Arabia residences is but a part of all the places we have lived and which I have documented in my autobiography.
Was there an effect on us after living in KSA for nearly twenty years? In particular, would there have been any difference between living in Saudi and the USA for the same period? One of the factors to be considered would have to be the stress and subtle impact of the differences. One of the differences is surely the strain that our every move experienced being a non-resident alien living full time without passport and no access to any due process.
Always looming over our head and predicating our decisions and reactions was that someone for any legitimate of pretended reason complain and have us ousted, imprisoned or worse.
As one adapts and understands the realities and develops the ability to survive and negotiate pathways the stress is covered with activity and initiatives designed to provide cover, escape, and a semblance of normality.
In any case, it certainly gave us they compassion for those in like circumstances in other parts of the world including the USA and Germany. Four years after returning from KSA in November 11, 1999 we still suffered from the effects of the stress and adoptions we made during that period. There were hidden health problems related to treatments, medicines, and behaviors, which are being worked out step by step. Many of them we were not aware of and are only discovering as they arise. There are no doctors, councilors nor interventionists trained to care for such as us.
Another side effect of the experience has been the place and way we now live. Our choices for work; residence and recreation are totally disoriented to the ongoing roles and mores of the context.
We have chosen to live in and amongst people very different from those we would before we left and in a life style and type housing we would never consider before. The twenty years taught us to sense different and appreciate differently.
I do believe some of our old friends and family are quite bewildered by our current choices. Today our activities are very limited and we notice that the more we limit our activities and enjoy equipoise our health improves and further adjust to normalcy.

Here are the places we called Home in Saudi Arabia:
Rahima Family Camp: One bedroom, 1 bath with small living room and dine room. Very small windows in a building of 12 units with low roof and minimum ceiling height. It is where we lived from August 11, to October 1981. It had a large central and partially shaded swimming pool with a clubroom and kitchen manned by Philippinos serving hamburgers, chicken and cold drinks all day long. It had been built as construction workers labor camp in the seventies, and abandoned. It had a giant central warehouse, which one night caught fire and burned for several hours until the ARAMCO fire department finally came. We called the guard, police and fire department and watched it burn. I recalled my watching a factory burn near Faile Street and in a tire housing project burn to the ground in Houston.
When it was over the warehouse skeleton still remained. This was one of the events, which taught us that God, not man would be the one to keep and protect us from harm.
ARAMCO’s, State departments, and other’s claims of caring and protecting were slogans, mantras and hopes; they were far from reality. There were to be many lessons on this subject in the next many years that followed.
The compound had two walls with one surrounding our “chicken coups. It had a hole in the wall, which I passed daily to get to the main gate and my bus daily. I passed other trailers/manufactured homes occupied by non-ARAMCO people. I had no idea that they were.
Others who came with us from Houston stayed in our camp while others were in different other camps. ARAMCO’s shuttle bus allowed Christina and the other ladies to visit each other daily and in the evenings we would go shopping in the village of Rahima. It was in waling distance from our camp and I bought a loose fitting thobs so I could sweat easily. Afterwards we would swim in our pool.
On the weekends we’d somehow visit and sleep over at each other’s houses and go swimming in the “hot” Gulf. At some point I fainted and could not stand up for several days.
I probably had heat exhaustion, malaria or some virus. The doctors did not really tell me any thing. By the way most of the doctors at ARAMCO would prescribe “Valium” for most any complaint.
The social life on all the compounds was extraordinary including the milieu and casual nods and recognition of westerners toward each other all over the compounds. It was exhilarating and familiar. Wherever you went ON Dhahran you’d see the same faces day after day at the same time , just like in a small town. At the post office, mess hall, parking car, and entrees, at the commissary and at shops and libraries. One rarely knew the names only the familiar faces and the types of cloths. The same could be said in the offices of Lee County and other communities where ones says hello and some odd and inane comment about the weather or the day of the week as a confirmation of being in the same context.
Bin Jumah building tenth floor Apartment:
Half moon bay had sand duns where we could see young teenagers in dune buggies, cars and trucks racing straight down dunes at high speeds. Maxims restaurant on a near by corner on King Abdul Aziz Blvd. was a landmark for us. We ate their one time and had snacks at other times.
Khalid liked to visit this place when I lived with him in Dammam, by then in 1991 it had become famous. It soon closed and reopened across the street as a very sheik club-restaurant.
It had the same name as Maxims in Paris. We knew the owner of a restaurant bearing that name in Houston; He was on Christina’s board of the German Wine Society.
Sea View Apartments:
A young Saudi guard took us many times to drive surf our Delta 88 Olds across the desert to visit various ruins out in the desert.
Al-Hamra Hotel:
Suhaimi Dammam Villa:
Sateen Street Riyadh Apartment:
Driving in Riyadh you would often be cut off by drivers crossing from the extreme left or extreme right lane to turn to the opposite side right or left. You watched for this and guarded your driving as you approached such intersections expecting this to happen.
Young teenagers could be seen during Salah time or late at night at empty intersections circling on two wheels within the four corners in tilted open pick up trucks at very high speeds and screeching sounds.
Euromarche/Aruba’s  El-Seif villa:(it was possibly owned by Prince Michael)
Khalid El-Seif referred me to his tailor and I had black thobs made.
Arieb compound Olaya Villa:
Christina was in Kitzbuhel when I moved in and occupied this villa. Before leaving Saudi we deposited our cat and personal effects with Katim, the Syrian personal manager and neighbor. The plan was he would feed the cat and I would return very soon with my Igama from Austria. It tuned out that I was there in Kitzbuhel for many wonderful months. There were two small swimming pools for this compound of about eight villas. Our villa had two floors and very large bedrooms and baths. The ceilings were very high and just right for Christian’s paintings. So I arranged all our furniture and personal effects and had her beautiful paintings hung in the living room, stair well, bed rooms and dinning room. The company provided us with two reclining TV chairs and a television, etc. Our cat gave birth to one litter of six and then later to a litter of 5. The first litter I was alone without Christina, and every lunch hour and evening I’d watch the Mother cat play and train her kittens. I had cats all my life, but never really learned their habits and manners.
It was a wonderful experience as I observed them being nurtured and trained to play, defend and combat each other.
When we were in Kitzbuhel we made a video of them all before totally giving them a way to people who answer the ad Cristina placed in the local Kitzbuhel newspaper.
It was in this villa that I entertained Kim (my former Korean secretary) and his Korean farmer friends so that I can assist them start up farms in Costa Rica; and where Mohammed visited me to help him prepare business plan to present to Prince Faisel.
My neighbors were so very kind and invited me for dinners, etc. most notably our finance VP and his beautiful Indian wife. She had been an airline stewardess and was a good cook.
National Gypsum Building; Riyadh Batha district:
This 2 bedroom, one bath apartment was kept clean and quiet in the same building as AlFoadia. It was not a place I ever wanted Christian to see and certainly not to reside. It was next to the highway so I kept the ac going all the time and the curtains and shades drawn. I was able to cook and entertain minimal guests here and I had a TV to watch videos. Mostly I studied the bible and listened to bible tapes.

Kitzbuhel, Austria (2)
I visited Kitzbuhel about five times over a period of Five years as vacation or respite between sponsors a waiting “re-entry visa” aids and medical tests and clearances. Christina was there more often waiting for her reentry on my Igama, usually after I worked three months probation period required by Saudi labor law. My first trip came after fifteen months employment at ARAMCO where my vacation was denied and then finally permitted. When I returned many others and I was terminated.
During these years we had visits from Charley and his wife, Vince and Rosa Rossi, Jane and John Boyhan, Garth Compton and girlfriend, Christopher from IBM and his family,
The last time I visited I got so used to the life there that I really did not want to return to Saudi and when I did God changed my life. It was an epiphany.
Our houseboys were so special:
• Mustafa: Indian doorman
• Kimche in Dammam
• Sunan: Thailand: El-Seif: When I came to the airport to collect him and called out his name he did not answer.
He was our cook, driver and janitor. After returning form our trip we found out that he began to get drunk. We also were missing one cat, he assures us he did not eat the cat, but it could not be found and we assumed he had eaten the cat. One evening after driving me to the US embassy, he came to collect me and was drunk. I finally subdued him and switched seats so I could drive. Later that evening I went to his room and he took a very big knife and tried to commit suicide. I prevented this and saved his life and us a lot of trouble. Soon, thereafter we transferred his to the service of the El-Seif family.
Sunan’s favorite saying was that he knows many places in the town, but not how to get there from where we live. He observed the fact that the stores closed for Salah saying that in Thailand , not only did stores not close but also were open 24 hours a day seven days a week with multiple proprietors using the space. He was a very good cook, except after 6 months of his cooking I could not feel my mouth for all the chili’s he used to prepare the food. Christina taught him to speak a little English and whatever manners and cleaning habits he could learn. He was well trained by her and the El-Seif family got themselves a good bargain.

• Emanuel in Riyadh
• Daniel from KFU who was older and only worked for one year at the school. He was never our houseboy because he had no means of transportation but he brought me coffee at the school. At my request he wrote me a beautiful poem of why he was a Christian and what being a Christian meant to him. I still have it.
• Manuel: worked in the florist shop, was crazy about making colored flowers, and colored wee decorations.
• Murthy
• Emanuel who also worked for KFU
Munich
Although we did not reside in Munich we regarded this city as our “downtown”. We’d go there to shop or just get away. We banked at the Deutch bank and our stockbroker was nearby. Travel throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland was coordinated from Deutch bank by a Eurocard overdraft account.
Aside from Munich we’d shop in other German border towns. After doing this for several years we began to realize that while Kitzbuhel was beautiful, we did really much prefer German people and food.
So we tried to find an apartment in a German town near the Czech border. But, alas it too was way over our head in price. One of my great joys was shopping with Christina while snacking a sipping from small bottle of liquors and schnapps that we’d buy on the way. I’d also buy small black cigars and we’d stop and get ibises (snacks) in Munich, Leipzig, Berlin, Kitzbuhel, Zurich, Vienna, etc.
Glenn Ave. in Lehigh Acres
Christina and I had lived in Kitzbuhel for several years and by now she realized it was not what she had hoped. So after lots of prayer she made a trip to Munich and saw an advertisement for a rental house in Lehigh Acres. She called the owner and agreed to rent the house. She called the movers and had our personal affects shipped. The mover did not leave behind many things because they did not fit in his truck. Later when we claimed and sued the company said it would not make good on our claim. She arrived at Miami with our cats and stayed with our dear friends Gene and Linda. She then traveled to Lehigh acres and set up home on Glenn Ave.

Unincorporated Lee County. Florida
One morning I received Christina’s mail in Riyadh from Florida asking me to review the legal papers and sign and return the documents for the purchase of our new home in Del Tura. I was astonished to read the title, deed and descriptions of a mobile home. I told her so on our daily tape, but proceeded to do as instructed. I could not imagine my wife the artist and wife of me, the architect, could conceive of such a thing. It was then I knew my trust in God and His best gift to me was a matter of believe, trust and faith,
I was emptying out my files and came across the invitation and contract to teach at King Faisel University. The Gulf war just ended and God told me that while others have departed my field I will send you into danger where others would fear, but you would be honored and desired. You are brave in the spirit and can do my work. I hand wrote a note of regards to the “dean” and sent it off. A month later I got a letter offering me a position. Again, I kept it simple and wrote on the letter, “yes”. I sent it again. Shortly I got a call from Dean Abdul Aziz Al-Saati inviting me to a face-to- face interview in Washington DC. He said he could not pay for any expenses, so I asked if he was not going to be in our neighborhood some time before returning to KSA.
I suspected that since he was with his family he would not leave the USA with out visiting Disney. I was right; we met and had our interview at Universal Studios with Christian, his wife and son, Mohammed.
I soon left Christina in a lurch to give a LEMA banquet for 400 guests in the Florida ballroom. God provided; and, I left to Saudi Arabia to reside temporally with Khalid Owainat in the AlFoadia Dammam office apartment.
And, then after nearly 20 years of service in KSA we returned to USA; November 11, 1999
Job 42:10-12
10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
We have learned to relish regularity, repetitive days, and simplicity where every year we can be stimulated buy the weatherman’s warnings and forecasts of pending tropical storms, tropical depression and hurricanes. Compared to the weather forecast of Saudi Arabia and other places, these forecasts are the most exciting live television productions and graphics. Most of the serious predictions are incorrect, especially the ones predicting local or changing weather.
Al-Foadia’s Dammam office/apartment
Khalid met me at the Dhahran airport and taken to the Dammam office and his room, which had two beds. He slept on one and me on another. Khalid and I became great friends. I lived out of my suitcases, which I kept on my side of the room. Going out every night to buy some great Arab meal and eating on our respective beds or at the restaurant. He got videos and would stay up all night smoking his hubly bubbly and watching TV.

The Gulf War had just ended so AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and TV) was still operating so there was great US programming. Khalid was funny and interesting. Khalid arranged for his driver to daily take me to and from the University. He was also very frustrated by being the stepson of a Palestinian Saudi whose other children were citizens of Saudi and would inherit the business. He was born a Jordanian and his mother was also not really a citizen. Eventuality Khalid left Saudi to join his uncles business in Detroit.
Bin Jumah Al-Khobar eighth floor Apartment Building
Christina wanted us to live in the Bin Jumah building rather than the other options we had presented to us. Abdul Hamid Shalaby was assigned by the dean to help me get settled. He arranged to show me various places and prices with reason of the housing allowance we were offered. The Bin-Jumah was way below the scale. But it was exactly the place we liked. It was very accessible because it was on Al-Khobar main road; it had two full baths; three big bedrooms; immediate free telephone line; street parking; and great views of the city; and a very nice balcony.

Thankfully, Mr. Jizawi paid our doorman nearly $800 for the telephone line; I had the water put in my name; the lease was in my name; and I bought the furniture from new and used furniture stores suggested to me by Faisel Al-N. and Evangelos Apostoletes. I got long and dead palm and swamp leaves from around Seaview as I had seen in the home of the Boyhans and bought curtains and had them installed by the furniture store. Later we bought bamboo and small accessory tables, shelves, tables and lamps.
We bought an answer machine; fax and photocopy machine and later Assemblies of God Church contributed a Dell laptop computer. We were well equipped to manage AIA, AIG/ME, Warden, and other business. We could communicate and reproduce books and study material.
It was here in 1992 that while I was resting watching a video in my living room I heard a thud like a plane breaking the sound barrier or thunder in the sky; I looked out and saw cars and light in the city as usual. So I soon went to sleep to be awoken by a telephone call from Christina announcing the “Khobar bombing” to me”.

The next morning I drove to Thugba where she described but did not see any thing. Later that day I drove with someone to show me the towers and the street and indeed saw the towers and its devastation. Day’s later Lieutenant Cornthwait invited me to see the crater in front and details. He requested our assistance to provide a clinically certified team of crisis counselors. I contacted various people and was able to put together of team of qualified and practicing ladies into a team we called “ABEL”. We immediately provided our services to various personnel directors of compounds housing US citizens while are registered with the central command for the next possible attack.
Lieutenant Cornthwait assured me that there would be no further incident because the entire US military was being re deployed immediately to the outskirts of a base near Riyadh. However our team and its member’s credentials were registered with the central command in its most secret files.
We often visited Riyadh and the many compounds. One such visit its chief gave us. He showed us his brand new satellite tracking positioning system which indicated all the streets and locations of the compound as we were driving.
This compound and two others we visited often were the targets of the terrorist attacks on Riyadh in May 2003.The others were the Al-Hamra and Jadaweel where we held our neighbor meetings. MODA once invited me and AlFoadia to bid on its maintenance and operations. Mr. Kahn and his team and I surveyed the site so I recognized it as it was being shown on US TV by Saudi TV. When we came here for FGBMFI meetings we had to park well beyond the concrete bollards and walk past the guards and the guardhouse to the next guarded entrance. Or, since I had a government sticker on my car from KFUPM they often let us in after inspecting under our car with mirrors on the end of sticks, under our hood, our trunk, and within our car and person.
There were two remarkable fires: one due to grease and another mischief.
The grease fire occurred while we were conducting a bible study with Zed and Randy in our living room. A sliding glass counter separated the kitchen to height window so we could see in both directions. The kitchen’s entrance was adjacent at 90 degrees to the front entry door. This opening had a door, which we had removed for easy access. We had done this when we lived on the tenth floor as well.
The apartment also was equipped with smoke detectors. The entry door had a double lock, which required a key to open, and up till then we did not leave the key in the door.
Christina left the bible study as it was ending and began to prepare her usual delicious meals. I saw the flames and rushed in demanding her to leave the room and exit. She did not. She instead took an another pot and filled it with water. I ordered her to stop. She did not, but instead poured it on the flame, which then exploded with her in the middle of the room, and the ensuing exploding flames.
The smoke detectors went off and I grabbed her to try to escape. By then Zed and Randy were also at the door but we could not get out and the buss of the alarm blared in our ears.
We suddenly realized that Christian was just fine, the flames had ceased as quickly as they started and the only nuisance was the blare of the alarm. We found some chair and removed the batteries. We huddled together and knew the hand of God had saved Christina and showed Himself.
Another fire occurred while Christina was out of the kingdom and I was at school teaching.
Evangelos came to our class, late as usual, and asked me if I knew that my building was on fire saying that as he left his house (Queen Building) just a few blocks away, he saw fire engines, etc. I immediately left and went to the site. I got in and escorted by Arab residents, fire rescue and police we ascended the very dark and flooded stair going up eight stories to our floor. My floor was also black dark. The only light we had was someone’s cigarette lighter (everyone smokes in Saudi Arabia). The floor was flooded so we waded in the water. All the walls were charred. I looked in to the open apartment to the left of me where the fire began, which gave some light; it was filled with a gruesome Grey dust. We reached my door and it was ajar since the fireman had kicked it open. We found the floors covered in black soot and flooded with water. The furniture had a layer of soot in the living room but the other rooms were clean but flooded with water. I realized that the fireman and police had soured are apartment and left. We had bibles and Christian books every where bit nothing had been touched. When Murthy arrived at his usual time at our apartment to begin his work he was astonished but got to work. I called upon Al-Foadia and they immediately sent some helpers and I took most of the Persian carpets to dry cleaners for cleaning. It took some doing and me signing a paper releasing the municipality. I had to go to the local police station. They were ever so kind and I made friends with them. I had to see them after that for various things. The fire department also came by for another visit and I had to sign a paper with them as well.
Several days later Christina returned to the kingdom. The elevator was restored but the hall on our floor was still covered with black sot and the lights were out. I had gone to meet her but she had arrived early and simply took a taxi from the airport to our building.
Every thing down stairs was very normal but when she opened the door of the elevator she thought she had arrived in hell. Still she proceeded to our flat to be met by Murthy who opened the door and presented her with a cheerful greeting, all electric lights on, every thing shinny clean, and lots of bouquets of flowers.
I, of course was totally panicked at the airport thinking every ridiculous thought about Christina but thinking it best to go back to the apartment to call Kitzbuhel and await news. Instead I am greeted by awe struck Christina and Murty.
Good God was this ever a time for rejoicing and being glad. Murthy had prepared a great feast and so nicely cared for our reunion. He always did! This amongst so many other occasions bonded us to dear Murthy and where God proved Himself to us.
Many months’ later light was restored, and still later the corridor walls and floors were cleaned and painted. I investigated the apartment where the fire began and every thing had been burned to a crisp. The Lebanese family in the unit had two little children, and while the mother lies asleep in her bedroom they playfully ignited the fire in the kitchen. They ran to the Mother’s bedroom, which was an end of the apartment, and there they huddled. When the smoke overcame them they went out to the balcony which was gratefully out side of their bedroom, closed the sliding glass door and screamed for help. Finally after over an hour and before the flames could reach them the hook and ladder removed them form off the balcony to the ground below.
Since that time the manager of the building was careful not to rent units to families with children.
Months later I met with the kingdom’s fire general at a fire suppression exhibition and conference given at our university.
I had made many photos of the damage and given some notes on the problems in the building to my dean. He introduced me to the fire chief who listened very kindly as I explained all the events of the fire and the associated shortfalls of the buildings fire escapes, fire extinguisher, emergency lights, etc. He assured me that since the building was owned by a staff member of the Prince of Eastern Province he could do little to enforce any remedial and needed work but that he would look into things. The dean and I assured him we were only presenting him with this so that he would know of the general situation in the Eastern Province but not to make any complaint, etc.
Well, within months fire extinguishers started to be filled and installed, emergency lights appeared in the stairwell and on most floors. About a year later a black steel fire escape was built out side of our living room window leading down to the ground.
Yes, it was not locked and indeed several years later, some thieves came up and took some things from certain apartments, including our next door neighbor’s whose window also led to the fire escape.
I had insured our personal effects for fire damage but according to them nothing was damaged; and our building took no responsibility for any damage to any of the tenants’ belongings.
They did finally rebuild the scorched apartment and did collect some money from the tenant to offset their expenses.
One day I saw a giant crane bird on the corniche. I called and alerted the department of environmental science in Jubail and then locally in Al-Khobar. The local office was in the form of a horticulturist and landscape architect on 18 street. We became good friends and he did rescue the bird.
When the new fish restaurant opened on the corniche they soon install d giant strobe lights which faced the benches where we usually sat and gazed after to dark sea. After a year of protest and complaining to my former students, now in charge of the engineering on the corniche, about the situation the mart’s finally changed the light s and darkened the place so that his restaurant was lit without annoying the casual public.
After a meeting of ABEL to counsel concerned Americans about another possible terrorist attack we passed by the McDonald Douglas gift shop and saw the most vulgar and garish little dolls and plaques with dirty and sneering remarks about Arabs, Islam and Saudi Arabia.

They put into stone what some bigoted westerner’s often jeer to each other about “rag heads”, etc. It was both stupid and ridiculous but the kind of souvenirs I suppose some westerners thought to buy and take home as gifts.
This along with many other such events explained why we had so few social friends and especially western friends. We just did not think this way. Neither in public school, work or here in Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand there were many people we got to know in Saudi Arabia from countries like India, Pakistan, etc. which we had little in common vocationally, contextually, etc… And yet we enjoyed fellowship and social conversations. We realized that they were from families and circumstances much like our own but from different countries. But we had a lot in common.
This facility was the one, which MacDonald Douglas in Riyadh discussed employing me too builds in 1989. I even was invited to their Christmas party and they gave me an employment contract to sign. They changed their mind and hired some employee from within the company to manage the project. This was also the compound in which Bob McCoy led a home fellowship.

Jeddah
Hotel Sofitel: the hotel I stayed at when working for Saudi Projacs; Meetings Rooms, Health club including swimming pool, Steam Room, etc. It was at this steam room I met a former UPM student now working in Jeddah, great buffet and food with nearby shopping for some grocery items. Barry B. met me there and took me to a ministry. We were jurors a project designed by Zuhair F. and another competition for a bank. Through the smoke of the steam room I heard a voice interrupt my conversation with My Saudi Projacs colleague calling:” professor Fez-Barringten”. When I answered the voice announced to my delight that ten years earlier he was one of my students at UPM.

Chronology of our life in Saudi Arabia
PERIOD          CONTRACT            PLACE                                        AGE           PLACE
1979               ARAMCO                 RAHIMA FAMILY CAMP   42              EASTERN PRV
1979               ARAMCO                 BIN JUMA BLDG/10 FL      42              AL KHOBAR
1980               ARAMCO                 SEAVIEW TOWNHOUSE     43              AL KHOBAR
1981                SUHAIMI/UPM  DAMMAM HOTEL                  44              DAMMAM
1981             SUHAIMI/UPM      SUHAIMI VILLA                   44               DAMMAM
1982            INT ASSOC                SATEEN STREET/                   45               RIYADH
1982            RUBRECTS                                                                                           KITSBUHEL
1983            EL SEIFFE BASIL    TAGASOUSSI/EURO             46              RIYADH
1983            LEBENBERG WEG                                                                              KITSBUHEL
1984           ARIEB                           ARIEB VILLAS                        47              RIYADH
1985           ALFOADIA                 NATIONAL GYP/BATHA    48              RIYADH
USA:
PERIOD                                      CONTRACT        PLACE                AGE             PLACE
1988-1991CFADT*                                                                             51                 Florida
1989          FRIZZELL
1990        COLLINS & DUPONT
*               CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AT DEL TURA
Saudi Arabia:
PERIOD CONTRACT                       PLACE                                       AGE                  PLACE
1991 KING FAISEL UNIV/ICI BIN JUMA BLDG                     54                     AL KHOBAR
1996 CDE/ICI                                                                                         59
1997 ARAMCO/ICI                                                                             60
1998 ALMUHAIDIB/ICI                                                                    61
1999 NOV 11.RETURN TO THE USA                                             62
www.bariefez-barringten.com’>http://www.bariefez-barringten.com”>www.bariefez-barringten.com

Part I::

Part II:

The good news is that the price of oil is falling – a lot; it’s also the bad news if you’re determined that the U.S. should kick its addiction to foreign oil. President-elect Barack Obama says now is the time to do that, even with the economy in recession. 

But Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil supplier – with the U.S. as its number one customer – is pulling all the levers and spending billions to keep the oil age going. 

60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl went to Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago to meet one of the most powerful men in the world, Ali Al-Naimi, the Saudi oil minister and de facto head of the OPEC oil cartel.

When I joined the oil business, I discovered a brand new world of multinationals, some of which I already knew, and others that I totally discovered. I think this blog can also represent an opportunity to share my knowledge of these little known companies which are often literally ruling the oil business.
I’m sure all of you know such companies as Exxon, BP, Total or even Petrobras. But these public companies own only a few % of the world’oil. The really big players are somewhere else. Have you ever heard of Saudi Aramco for instance?
Let’s make it brief. Aramco is the biggest oil company in the world, with both the largest crude oil reserves and the biggest production.
Aramco is a public Saudi company, benefiting from the country’s huge oil reserves (more than 264 billion proved barrels), and is therefore very naturally, one of the key players of the oil business.
For those of you who have watched the news during these past weeks, Aramco is for instance the owner of the Syrius, this “very large crude carrier” (VLCC, an oil tanker able to transport up to 2 million barrels of crude), which had been captured by pirates in Somalia in December.
Aramco produces 8.5 million barrels a day (3.1 billion barrels a year) and benefit from estimated reserves of 259 billion of barrels.
Apart from oil production, Aramco owns and operates an extensive network of refining and distribution facilities, and is responsible for the gas processing and transportation installations that fuel Saudi Arabia.
Aramco was created in the 1930’s by American investors and was then nationalized in the 1980’s.
Aramco’s global importance is not only due to its production, but is to be seen on a geopolitical point of view. The company is indeed a key element of the United States-Saudi relationships and is the number one oil supplier to the United States.
Aramco is actually a sort of a state in the state in Saudi Arabia. The company has its own diplomatic, security, and intelligence departments in parallel to the official Saudi diplomacy.