Chapter 68 7. Economic assassins and the return of petrodollars

On October 6, 1973, the Fourth Middle East War broke out.Egypt and Syria attack Israel simultaneously.Sure enough, as expected by international bankers, due to the partial policy of the United States towards Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia and four Arab countries in the Middle East resorted to oil weapons and announced a 70% increase in oil prices at the same time.This move had a profound impact on the world pattern after the 1970s. At the Arab Ministerial Conference in Kuwait, the representative of Iraq strongly demanded that the United States be the main target of the attack. He suggested that other countries confiscate and nationalize the commercial properties of the United States in Arab countries, impose an oil embargo on the United States, and withdraw money from the U.S. banking system. He believes that this will cause the United States to fall into the biggest economic crisis in 29 years.Although these drastic proposals were not adopted, they agreed to cut oil production by 5% on October 17th and continue to reduce production by 5% every month until their political goals are achieved.

On October 19, President Nixon asked Congress to immediately provide Israel with $2.2 billion in emergency aid.On October 20, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries announced a complete cessation of oil exports to the United States.International oil prices skyrocketed, from 1970 to 1.Thirty-nine dollars a barrel of crude oil rushed to 8 in 1974.Thirty-two dollars.Although the oil embargo lasted only five months until it ended in March 1974, the event shook Western society greatly. International bankers are doing everything possible to plan, so that petrodollars flowing into Saudi Arabia and other countries must flow back to the United States.

After careful analysis, the United States decided to adopt a strategy of dividing and controlling to internally divide and disintegrate the oil-producing countries in the Middle East.The main assault direction was selected as Saudi Arabia.Saudi Arabia is a sparsely populated country, rich in oil, located in the hinterland of the Middle East, surrounded by powerful neighbors such as Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Israel, with extremely weak military defense forces. The Saudi royal family has a deep sense of insecurity.After gaining insight into this weakness, the United States proposed very attractive conditions to Saudi Arabia, including comprehensive political support, military protection when necessary, and providing technical support and military training to ensure the continued existence of the Saudi royal family.The condition is that oil transactions must be settled in U.S. dollars, and Saudi Arabia must use the petrodollars it earns to buy U.S. treasury bonds to ensure U.S. oil supply. Oil price fluctuations must be approved by the U.S. If Iran, Iraq, Indonesia or Venezuela impose an oil embargo on the U.S. , Saudi Arabia is obliged to make up for the resulting oil supply gap, and Saudi Arabia also needs to dissuade other countries from imposing an oil embargo on the United States.

Mr. Parkin, the economic assassin, was sent to Saudi Arabia to be the concrete operator of this plan.As the chief economist of a world-renowned engineering company, Mr. Parkin's task is to use his imagination to make a large amount of investment in the Saudi economy look very promising. The premise is that the US engineering and construction company must win the bid. After a lot of hard thinking, Parkin suddenly came up with an inspiration. The sheep on the streets of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, are too different from the atmosphere of modernization. Large-scale urban construction can earn back a lot of petrodollars.On the other hand, Parkin is well aware that economists in OPEC members are clamoring for further processing of oil and having their own oil refining industry in order to obtain higher profits than selling crude oil.Parkin thought of a solution that satisfies everyone. Starting from the treatment of sheep, the income from petrodollars can be used to pay for the most expensive modern garbage disposal equipment in the United States. The beautification of Riyadh's municipal construction also requires a large number of sophisticated American product.In terms of industry, petrodollars will be used to transport crude oil and infrastructure for processing crude oil. Huge oil processing industrial zones will rise in the desert, surrounded by large industrial parks, large power plants, and substations. Power transmission systems, highways, oil pipelines, communication systems, airports, seaport renovations, and the huge service industry system supporting them.

In Parkin's plan, it is divided into two categories of projects, one is the contract for the construction of basic hardware facilities, and the other is the long-term service and management contract. Various American companies such as MAIN, Bechtel, Brown & Root, Halliburton, Stone & Webster will be in the future You will make a lot of money for decades. Parkin also thought of the further prospect of protecting the huge industrial chain generated by the Arabian Peninsula.Contracts for US military base construction, defense industry contracts and all other related activities, including larger management and service contracts.And all this will generate a new wave of engineering and construction contracts, such as military airfields, missile bases, personnel training centers and all related projects.

Parkin's goal is not only to allow most of the petrodollars to flow back to the United States, but also to spend all the interest income generated by this huge sum of money on American companies. The Saudis will be proud of such a modern industrial infrastructure and cityscape, and other OPEC countries will envy Saudi Arabia for turning into a modern country so quickly, and then this set of plans will be used in other countries. Parkin's excellent planning and lobbying ability satisfied the big boss behind the scenes. Under such a big plan, Dr. Kissinger came to Saudi Arabia in 1974 and finally finalized the petrodollar policy.

The shaky dollar, which escaped the shelter of the gold standard, finally found refuge in oil.