Best explanation I&#x27;ve read is an IPO boosts the Saidi treasury so it can last until 2025 under the current oil prices. Current projectIons without the IPO only show the treasury lasting until 2020 before Saudi Arabia has to issue debt to cover their spending. It seems unlikely foreigners will service Saudi debt without high interest rates and even so, Saudi would not be able to pay it back. If Saudi Arabia can make it to 2025, it seems highly likely the decade of cheap oil will have destroyed the fraking&#x2F;tar-sands oil company holdouts in the U.S.<p>The House of Saud is one of cards, and they know it. Their social contract is one of regular, large oil payments to citizens, not patriotism. This social contract will die when the money does, and so too will the nation. Money can paper over a broken society, but it won&#x27;t build the sort of national unity you need for a successful nation state.