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The king of Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has every reason to feel unhappy about the soaring cost of oil.
The price of oil has doubled in a year, hitting a record of $147.27 a barrel last week.
Economies far from the oil wells are battered, and the prospect of relief looks gloomy: oil is depleting and demand is showing no letup.
As countries in Asia expand, more oil is required to feed growing economies. We all know what happens when supply fails to meet demand.
But despair not. High oil prices might just be a blessing in disguise.
Back in the days when oil was abundant and cheap, way below $100 or $50 per barrel, the world didn't pay much attention to calls to explore and use alternative energy sources. Times were good then.
In the United States, for instance, cheap oil led many consumers to ditch their lighter, smaller cars for heavy sports utility vehicles or pickup trucks that were energy-intensive.
As a result, they burned up more fuel on the roads. Petroleum consumption soared by 24 per cent, from an average of 17 million barrels a day in 1990 to 21 million barrels in 2004.
Besides, cheap oil made their lives more convenient. Splurging on electricity to power their homes didn't translate to painfully expensive monthly bills.
The US was an oil exporter and used to produce half of the world's oil in the 1950s. However, the country is now a major importer and eats up a quarter of the world's oil.
End of good times
The good times are undoubtedly over. The price of oil has surpassed the $100 mark and signs of a depleting supply are imminent.
According to the German-based Energy Watch Group, world oil production will decline more than half by 2030.
In 2006, production peaked at about 81 million barrels per day. It is expected to slide to 58 million by 2020 and to 39 million in 2030.
With oil prices shooting through the roof and supply falling, people are forced to scramble for other options. If oil were priced at $1 per barrel today and it flowed like water, no one would have bothered thinking about how to use energy from the sun, wind and water to power homes, offices and industries.
Conserving energy would probably not even cross their mind. That's the fundamental anomaly of human nature. People take for granted things that cost them no effort and value those they can't easily get.
So, keeping the price of oil expensive may be a good thing after all. It will ultimately motivate more economies to break themselves free from oil dependency and head in the greener, more sustainable direction.
If more people are interested in renewable energy, entrepreneurs will be encouraged to pour money into research and development.
Scientists and inventors, in turn, will be inspired to sharpen their minds further to develop cheaper technologies.
And as alternative energy technologies become more affordable, investments in the sector will pick up speed. In the end, it will be the consumers who will reap the benefits.
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