Saudi Arabia plans to sell state oil assets to create $2tn wealth fund

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Saudi Arabia plans to sell state oil assets to create $2tn wealth fund

Campaigners hail a symbolic shift away from fossil fuels, but others see
move as more style than substance

Terry Macalister Energy editor
Friday 1 April 2016 18.07 BST

Saudi Arabia is planning to establish a $2tn (£1.4tn) sovereign wealth fund by selling off its state petroleum assets in preparation for a world beyond oil.

Greenpeace said it was a pivotal moment akin to Switzerland abandoning banking, but others claimed Riyadh had long wanted to diversify its economy and spread its wealth though it had failed to do so.

If the fund was built up to $2tn, it would be more than double Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, regarded as the largest in the world by assets.

The move was revealed by the country’s powerful deputy crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, and would mean the desert kingdom using its public investment fund (PIF) to buy up strategic financial and industrial assets abroad.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/01/saudi-arabia-plans-to-sell-state-oil-assets-to-create-2tn-wealth-fund

[leveymg]

1. Holy shit, this was proposed in '97 and set off the Saudi split that led to 9/11

It's happening again, god damn them and the captive western elements the factions control. Expect an even uglier and more violent proxy fight for The Prize this time. We're going to lose entire cities before this plays out, unless we stop them.