We know that pumping oil out of the ground does not create many jobs. It does not foster an entrepreneurial spirit, nor does it sharpen critical faculties.A: Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi.
We certainly live in a bizarre time. Top Saudi officials look to grow their economy away from a dependence on oil, and have also suggested they should keep some oil in the ground to ensure their energy future.
Meanwhile, here in the US, absurd claims continue to be made on the fantastic job growth that environmentally oblivious oil development would supposedly augur. We are also promised that all that extra oil would benefit the American public in their insatiable need for the Happy Motoring lifestyle. However, that oil will be exported because it will fetch more elsewhere for the happy refiners.
All of the politics around US oil development and refining, whether shale, offshore or Keystone XL uses jobs and energy independence as a fig leaf to cover the real motivation—money and profits for Big Oil.
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