This post The World's Most Dangerous Man? Has a Terrifying Secret appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has a secret.

No, it's not that he was behind the horrific interrogation, torture and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Although most people would argue otherwise.

The Crown Prince's secret that I'm referring to isn't even that he approved the use of chemical weapons by Saudi Arabia in its proxy war in Yemen.

That piece of information, by the way, is something that the British media believes Khashoggi was about to reveal to the world before he was murdered.¹

The secret I'm referring to is one that is going to impact all of us in the coming years.

It involves Saudi Arabia's oil production? And it's something that anyone paying for their own gas should be watching closely?

Saudi Arabia's Oil Inventories Are Plunging!

You can see it plain as day in the chart below which shows you the amount of oil that Saudi Arabia has in storage.

Saudi oil storage levels are plummeting and hardly anyone has noticed ? partly because these inventory figures are not easily obtainable and never widely distributed.

Almost 100 million barrels have been worked off and inventories keep dropping.

You are probably aware that Saudi Arabia's oil production is critically important to the entire world. This is the reason that we hear so much about a country with a population of just 33 million.

Countries like Madagascar and Uzbekistan have similar populations and we hear nothing about them.

Saudi Arabia runs neck and neck with the United States and Russia as the largest producer of oil on the planet. But unlike the United States (and to a lesser extent Russia), Saudi Arabia consumes much less than it produces.

While the United States is still a massive net importer of oil, Saudi Arabia is a massive exporter of oil. That is why the Saudi oil is so critically important.

And that's why the Crown Prince's "secret" about plummeting oil inventories is such a big deal.

The Saudis supply the critical feedstock for the economies across the planet.

Take away that oil and those economies have nothing to run on.

Equally important, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that currently has any significant amount of spare production capacity.

That means Saudi Arabia is the only country that can crank up production immediately to offset production loses elsewhere.

If they couldn't do so, oil prices (and thus gasoline prices) would be much more volatile than they already are. Essentially they're the world's safety valve.

Or so they say?

You can likely understand why I don't take a lot of comfort in claims of spare capacity that come from the Crown Prince and his representatives. I don't necessarily view the Crown Prince as the "Honest Abe" of global politics at this point given the recent atrocities.

But the little-talked-about drop in Saudi oil inventories leads me to believe that the country could be experiencing some MAJOR production issues? Which would mean the world's most important oil producer isn't quite the "safety valve" that they've made themselves out to be.

If this is true, when other major oil producing countries ever fail to meet their targets? the price of oil could skyrocket!

Here's What This Saudi Drama Means For You

Unfortunately, it looks like this worst case scenario may just come true.

The world is about to lose A LOT of oil supply as President Trump's sanctions on Iran went into place yesterday while at the same time Venezuelan oil production craters as the country falls apart.

Combined, this could take approximately 3 million barrels of oil per day off the market ? or about 3% of the world's daily production volume ? which means the world will soon need to rely on Saudi Arabia's "spare production capacity?"

But like I just mentioned? I don't think they have the production capacity that they claim!

That's why you shouldn't let the recent weakness in oil prices fool you. The outlook for the commodity remains bullish over the coming years.

And unfortunately for the drivers out there? this also means a steady rise in the prices you'll be paying at the pump is very likely

But as always, we're not going to sit back and let your bank account suffer. Stick with The Daily Edge to learn more about how you can turn "gas pump pain" into your portfolio's gain.

Here's to looking through the windshield,

Jody Chudley
Financial Analyst, The Daily Edge
EdgeFeedback@AgoraFinancial.com

¹ Khashoggi murder: Journalist planned 'to release details of Saudi chemical weapons use', Express

The post The World's Most Dangerous Man? Has a Terrifying Secret appeared first on Daily Reckoning.