T

he scruffy city of Jubail lies an hour’s drive north of the Saudi

oil metroplex around Dhahran, through a desert- industrial

netherworld enveloped in wind- whirled trash and dust. The

highway rumbles past camels gnawing at bushes, unfinished workshops

sprouting re- bar, and the soaring flares of the Berri gas treatment plant.

Filling station complexes dot the roadside, each with a mosque and

a  coffee kiosk, bidding truckers to dismount their battered cabs to

refuel, pray, and recaffeinate. The drive nears its end amid makeshift

labor camps where South Asian men live in portable trailers clustered

in barracks- like rows.

The approach to industrial Jubail is one of the least picturesque set-

tings imaginable, yet what it lacks in scenic beauty it makes up for in

strategic importance. It is here, and in a few similar places nearby, where

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies are staking their bets for the next

phase of oil, and, if their preparations bear fruit, the next phase of monar-

chical rule.

Viewed from above, the Sadara Chemical Co. on Jubail’s outskirts has

a mesmerizing geometry. Thousands of miles of parallel pipes course

alongside a grid of roads, connecting gleaming stainless- steel silos, stout

storage tanks, windowless warehouses, and bewildering blocks of looped

tubing, interspersed with steam- puffing vents and safety warnings.

CONCLUSION

The Climate Hedge