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A curb on oil exploration The King of Saudi Arabia has made a royal decision to halt further exploration of oil and gas in the world’s largest crude exporting nation. The announcement was reported in early July by the official Saudi Press Agency  and quoted King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz on his way to a cabinet meeting as saying: “I told them that I have ordered a halt to all oil explorations so part of this wealth is left for our sons and successors, God willing.” A senior ministry official quoted by Zawya Dow Jones later explained that the statement was not an outright ban on further exploration, but rather was intended to express that future exploration would be carried out more “wisely.” Saudi Arabian oil reserves are the largest in the world and stood at 260.1 billion barrels at the end of 2009, according to the state-run Saudi Aramco.