Saudi Arabia uses as much oil per person as America, largely to run oil-fired power plants to run domestic air conditioners. And the more of its oil siphoned off for such uses, the less cushion there is in the worlds oil supply. Thats a big problem now but is becoming less of one. America and Europe are cutting consumption and massively scaling up production. Saudi Arabias oil thirst merely deepens its dependence on a finite resource, suggesting that the inevitable day of reckoning will be a difficult one indeed.
