[ Attacks against expatriates working in the Saudi Arabian oil patch have
] accelerated in ]tempo and intensity during the past several months. If
] this trend is not reversed -- ]which is not likely -- Riyadh will slowly
] fall from its current position as the kingpin of ]global energy markets.
] Oil prices will be both higher and more volatile, Saudi social ]stability
] far less guaranteed and OPEC less a force to be reckoned with.
] ....
] Al Qaeda is also all about leverage. It is not that the
] oil assets are beyond their reach -- the Sept. 11 attacks
] proved nothing is -- but instead that the oil assets are
] potentially a future target. Attacks against expatriates
] are akin to slowly turning the screws on both Washington
] and Riyadh, while attacking the infrastructure directly
] is a sledgehammer blow that al Qaeda can only use once.
] ...
] Many expatriates have been trying to get the U.S. government
] to pressure the Saudis to let foreign security into the country,
] but since this would just put more Western targets in the
] kingdom, the State Department is likely to try and let the matter
] drop. Instead, at security briefings in the U.S. Embassy, government
] officials are simply warning the expatriates that they
] "should get the [expletive deleted] out of here."

Stratfor rocks...

Saudi Oil Crown Slipping Away? - Stratfor