Well, maybe not quite.
But maybe about East vs West....Muslim vs Christians.....Arrogant vs Wise, take your pick or feel free to add.


By ABDULATEEF AL-MULHIM | ARAB NEWS
What Norway's Statoil did, that Saudi Aramco could not do

Oil was discovered in Norway on Dec. 23, 1969.
On June, 14, 1972, Statoil was created as an integrated state-owned oil company. I have studied the effect that this company had on Norway during my brief time at Old Dominion University while taking courses for my master's degree in political science (The politics of oil). We had to study about the seven sisters, yet all our talk in the class was about Aramco and Statoil. The resemblances were more than what I thought.
Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938 when the geologists in Bahrain saw similarities with some sites in Saudi Arabia. The discovery of gas by Esso and Shell in 1959 at Groningen in the Netherlands in 1959, prompted some companies to look further north.
Discovery of other fields in the North Sea continued. And Norway became a very strong player in the oil and gas industry.
The most important thing Statoil did was to be listed on the Oslo and New York stock exchange in 2001. Also the company got involved in the daily life of the Norwegians. A very short time ago Norway announced that the Norwegian government pension fund generated by the oil wealth rose to 3 trillion kroner. This means every Norwegian man, women, young and old, has about $120,000 in his/her bank account. The total Norwegian oil production has always been around 2 million barrels per day. Also it is exporting oil and gas technology. They have supported arts, sports and any talent.
Saudi Aramco had served the Saudis in every day life. They improved agriculture and in the past they had one of the best health care services in the world. They have educated young Saudis since the 1930s. They built roads and schools and education centers. They have a housing fund for their employees that has no parallel in the world. They run a good library. I remember borrowing books from the library when I was only 13 years old. They have a mobile library as well. Aramco has a social presentation for the orphans of the area.
Saudi Aramco is a social institution in every aspect. People want Saudi Aramco to be the planner, the budgeter and the builder. We have faith in their planning.
This means Saudi Aramco’s role has to be bigger. Oil prices are always going up and their projects are in the billions.
After 77 years Saudi Aramco still imports technologies. Why” And why did they stop building schools when people were waiting for them to build a university or an institute outside their camp? When I heard of the multibillion projects that were planned by Saudi Aramco, I opened next day’s Saudi newspapers hoping to see a number of job openings for Saudis. In the Eest, when a billion dollar project is announced, there is an accompanying news items about the new jobs associated with the mega project. Otherwise public will have no interest in such news.
If Statoil can do for the Norwegians what they did with 2 million barrels per day, Saudi Aramco should do more for Saudis with about 10 million barrels per day.
So, what Norway's Statoil did, that Saudi Armaco could not do is exporting technology, stock exchange and a university called (Aramco Institute of Technology).
— Abdulateef Al-Mulhim is commodore (Retd.), Royal Saudi Navy. He can be contacted at: almulhimnavy[at]hotmail.com