Now let's hope that the House of Saud can manage the political side of the kingdom as well as their engineers are managing the oil field side.

I have to say I have no idea of what you are talking about with this. Is this some reference to the bogeyman of Islamic fundamentalism? Saudi Arabia is already the greatest bastion of Islamic fundamentalism on the face of the planet. Christianity is illegal, no alcohol, stoning of adulterers... So you must mean anti-Americanism, right? Well, excuse mme if I say the rest of us don't care. You reap what you sow. You supported these dicks in the first place, and are responsible for the rise of fundamentalism throughout the rest of the Islamic world as well (the CIA and the madrassas to make cannon fodder for the war in Afghanistan, anyone?) So, if by 'political side' you mean 'The place might end up with people who won't sell to the USA!', well bad luck. What else would you expect? I'm sure they will still be quite happy to sell to the Germans, the French, the Japanese, and the Chinese.

Franz - Speaking that kind of truth to the biggest bully on the block will earn the retribution you do not deserve, but remember, God made us the biggest bully so we can protect God's chosen people, so Jesus can come back. OY Vey!

So, if by 'political side' you mean 'The place might end up with people who won't sell to the USA!'

He may mean 'can't sell to anyone', due to internal turmoil like that in Iraq or (to a lesser extent) Nigeria.

The House of Saud isn't the most progressive group of people, but if they fail to contain internal tensions in KSA and substantial unrest breaks out, the skillful management of the engineers won't prevent oil production from (probably) dropping substantially.

If it ends up with a group in charge that is producing well but just won't sell to the US, that won't really make any difference - oil is (mostly) fungible.