Yet Matt Simmons, an energy expert from Houston, Texas (who rightly predicted North America's dwindling natural-gas supplies in the late 1990s), questions whether the Saudis will be able to maintain their role as the global market's greatest oil producer. Simmons thinks that Saudi Arabia's current oil production is fragile at best.

Mr. Simmons bases his concerns on a review of more than 200 analytical papers written by engineers of Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company. Mr. Simmons discovered that some of the country's largest oil fields are declining much faster than the world might believe.

Mr. Simmons admits that it's impossible to prove whether it will be a major problem in the future, but he cautioned that it would be catastrophic if the Saudis' oil production declined unexpectedly.

Since World War II, a number of national powers have become dependent on Middle East oil. To be sure, there are other oil reserves throughout the world, but none compare to the rich fields of Saudi Arabia—with Kuwait and Iraq close behind. If the Saudi oil reserves begin to run out, look for even more turmoil in the ever-troubled Middle East. To learn more about the history and future of this region, request your free copy of The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. (Source: The Washington Post ).