Transcripts for CNN CNN Special Program 20240604 14:37:00

of oil producing states, could at any time turn off the oil. that fear always hung like a sword of damocles. >> and that fear endures even as america approaching oil independence, because riyadh still sets the global price. in fact, the saudis have usually behaved responsibly in their role as the central bankers of oil. >> oil and saudi arabia were synonymous in the 1950s and '60s and '70s and '80s. >> to understand how and why the u.s./saudi bond has endured for almost a century, we need to go back to how it began. in 1938, american oilmen offered saudi king saud $170,000 in gold to let them drill for oil. >> the arabs were suspicious of these strange newcomers. >> the king was reluctant, but the desperately poor desert country needed the money.

Related Keywords

Soil , Fear , Riyadh , States , America Approaching Oil Independence , Sword Of Damocles , Saudi Arabia , Price , Fact , Role , Bankers , And 60s 70s 80s , 60 , 80 , 70 , 1950 , America , Bond , Oilmen , 1938 , Country , King , Money , Desert , Gold , Newcomers , Arabs , 70000 , 170000 ,