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Saudi King named most powerful person in energy by Forbes
New York, Nov 15 (PTI):
Saudi Arabia's king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has been named ahead of US President Barack Obama as the world's most powerful person in terms of influence on the world's energy supply chain in a list compiled by business magazine Forbes.
The US magazine, which made a list of seven most powerful people, said, there power "is measured not just in petro-dollars, but in the ability to change -- for better or worse -- the fundamental nature of the energy supply chain."
Forbes said, when oil prices dipped down to USD 40 a barrel, Saudi Arabia was vocal in its call for USD 75 oil--meaning the 12 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations would agree to limit production forcing the prices of oil to that level. During October, oil was back at USD 80 a barrel. "No other individual in the petro-world has the influence of King Abdullah and his oil ministers," it said.
About Obama, who is ranked second on the list, the magazine said "he can end 40 years of increasing dependence on foreign oil by putting his stamp of approval on the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (or NAT GAS Act)."
The NAT GAS Act promotes the use of natural gas powered vehicles through a combination of tax credits and by requiring the federal government to dramatically increase the size of its natural gas powered fleet.
Ranked next to Obama are activists, the Picken Plans of the New Energy Army, who have also been working to reduce the American dependence on foreign oil. The chief economist of International Energy Agency Fatih Birol stands at fourth spot. While terrorists world over have been ranked at fifth position as Forbes believes terror is not just about airliners and commuter trains it is just as much about oil supplies and transmission lines.
According to the publication, "a relatively small group of terrorists can have an enormous impact on availability and distribution." Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have been ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Forbes rankings for most powerful people in energy.
The magazine stated that nothing is likely to have as much impact on the world price of oil as the industrial growth in China. The Chinese have spent over USD 100 billion in the last three years buying oil resources around the world, which is impacting what the value of oil in the ground is worth. Putin too have impacted the prices of crude oil in the world. In the last winter, he shut off natural gas supplies to much of Western Europe in an argument over pricing with Ukraine, it is clear "Vladimir Putin can, single-handedly, change the world's energy equation at any time for any reason," Forbes said.
