The United States fears Saudi Arabia may not have enough oil reserves to prevent world prices rising sharply, according to cables from its embassy in Riyadh.<br /><br />The cables, obtained by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take heed of a warning from a former Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom's crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 40 per cent.<br /><br />US diplomats reported that Sadad al Husseini, the ex-head of exploration at Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, "disagreed" with Aramco's analysis that it had reserves of 716bn barrels and that would rise to 900bn barrels in 20 years.<br /><br />The claims about the world's largest crude oil exporter, published in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, come as the price of oil has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel amid tensions in the Middle East and global demand.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Imran Khan reports.
