Quotes from Ellen R. Wald

Another casualty of Feisal's return to power was Abdullah Tariki, the general director of petroleum and mineral resources. Tariki is a well-known figure in global oil politics, mostly because in 1960 he cofounded, along with Venezuelan oil minister Juan Perez Alfonso, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, better known as the OPEC cartel.

The Saudis considered the petroleum under their soil a gift from God, but accessing its value laid within man's capacity.

During his life, Feisal had only three wives or possibly four, in contrast to his brother Saud, who had forty-one wives, according to the King Saud Foundation.

To maintain his rule, King Abdul Aziz had to show the people of Saudi Arabia, in material ways, that they were his subjects. Without the funds to do so, his rule would crumble.

It is worth stating clearly and unambiguously what official U.S. government spokespersons have not: For years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for Al Qaeda; and for years, Saudi officials have turned a blind eye to this problem.

Even though Saudis eventually came to occupy the senior management positions in the company, Aramco remained an oasis of Western culture and business standards within the conservative and traditional kingdom. Nothing, al Saud believed, should get in the way of profit and power.

Abdul Aziz did not have a funeral. Foreign dignitaries, prominent tribesmen, wealthy oil executives, and jealous Arab strongmen did not come to pay their respects. Funeral prayers were recited in Taif and then Abdul Aziz was buried without fanfare in an essentially unmarked grave in Riyadh.