dominant transportation sector, and toward greater environmental sustainability. This transformative path will continue into the future, with an ongoing emphasis on helping ensure reliable energy supplies; adding value to our hydrocarbon resources through downstream and associated industries; continuing to expand refining capacity at home and in key world markets and further diversifying our national economy. These steps are part of a broader ambition to evolve the Kingdom's economy towards a knowledge-based industrial society by investing not only in energy infrastructure but also in Human Resource development and education. I have described this evolutionary process in part to underscore the Kingdom's long-range commitment to our imperative to reliably deliver energy to world markets. My intent is to also emphasize the steady progress, from strength to greater strength, that can be made only over a broad time horizon. If fulfilling such a commitment is contingent on deep and wide obligations of time and money, that dual investment is in turn reliant on energy prices that make such long-term commitments both practical and supportable. Long-range projects have often given rise to the discovery of additional resources with the potential to contribute significantly to the world's energy mix. In addition, programs to develop difficult and marginal areas such as non conventional resources are themselves capital-intensive, and in the present price environment, they may no longer make good business sense. --More
