Prince ALWALEED: Let me tell you, the so-called day of rage should be changed to some other word, please. Should call it day of allegiance and love to the King Abdullah. Today if you're on the streets, people have the flags up, they were just themselves and say, `We will not tolerate and accept any sort of demonstration here. We're happy with our king, we love our king, and we will not accept any outside interference at all,' as Prince Saud al-Faisal said very openly in his press conference just two days ago. You know, we have issues, sure, internally, like any other country, and we had some demonstrations in the Shiite province in the east coast. And we had maybe around 40, 50 demonstrators yesterday. And the whole thing, you know, just faded away after they had discussion with the authorities over there. We had issues in the past, we resolved them internally and amicably. You know, when you have 40 million people going in the street and talking—and mingling with themselves, and authorities talk to them and disperse them amicably, this is not a demonstration. So really, this whole thing should be changed from day of rage to day of allegiance to the king.
BARTIROMO: Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
Let me ask you this. You recently wrote an op-ed, and you pointed to the need for meaningful reform in the Arab nations. What type of reform is necessary, in your view? You've already spoken out about women. For example, do you think women should have the right to drive in Saudi Arabia, Prince Alwaleed?
Prince ALWALEED: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, look, having said all that. King Abdullah is not going to take this for granted at all. King Abdullah is a reformer. King Abdullah is a reformer since he became the king almost five years ago. And it's a process, it's an ongoing process, you know. But each country has to advance and move at its own speed. You know, Saudi Arabia, you know, its constituency is not only the 16 million--the 20 million indigenous people here we have. So really, our constituency goes well beyond our borders. So King Abdullah has to balance all these things together. And sure enough, he's a reformer. And sure enough, we would like to make many changes internally. I mean, this show, for ladies driving, yes, I'm for it. And listen, the fact that I would publicly and openly, this shows that in Saudi Arabia there's an open debate. Actually, King Abdullah, under his supervision and guidance, has established a dialogue in Saudi Arabia whereby all the population, whether Shiite or Sunnis from north, south, west or east, they can get together and exchange their views. So really, we are heading the in right direction. Maybe not the same speed that you'd like us to, but each country has to move at the speed that it--that it needs. And exactly that's what President Obama said today, that each country should change in the Middle East at its own speed, its own pace, and without outside interference.
BARTIROMO: Prince Alwaleed, I want to ask you about the impact and the reaction from an investment standpoint. I know you have put your money where your mouth is in terms of investing when the market sold off earlier this week. But let me ask you first about Bahrain. A lot of speculation and debate about whether or not the Saudi government put troops into Bahrain to stop the protesters there. Are you worried about what's happening in Bahrain?
Prince ALWALEED: Well, sure. Whenever any Arab country, especially an emirate country, is facing some internal issues and strife, we will have to be concerned. I'm not sure about the word worried, but at least concerned. But on the issue of having our troops going to Bahrain, I can assure you that not a single Saudi member of the army or troops is available there because I--we believe that the Bahrainian government, under leadership of king of Bahrain and his able crown prince, will be able to solve the problem very amicably.
BARTIROMO: Let's talk about the supply of oil. Your Highness, you put money to work into the Saudi stock market. You believe the fall was not justified. What about the move in oil? Is the move in oil justified? And is there enough supply of oil in the world if in fact we do see this unrest continue and hit hot spots in terms of oil production?
Prince ALWALEED: Let us take the worst-case scenario. Let us say all of the production of Libya is off the market. So that's 1.5, 1.6 million barrels. Rest assured that Saudi Arabia can cover that within days. Actually, Saudi Arabia's production by one million within a week. Clearly, some other countries also assisted. But if all the product of Libya disappears tomorrow morning, one country called Saudi Arabia can cover it immediately. So we are the stabilizer. We are the ultimate stabilizer of oil. We have 25 percent of all proven oil reserves in the world, and we take that responsibility very aggressively. I mean, had we not raised our production, the price of oil now would be not only $100, could be $140, $150.
BARTIROMO: So based on where the supplies are now, the levels of supply, is oil justified at $100 a barrel?
Prince ALWALEED: It is not justified. This is a panic situation because people are concerned. They don't understand what's going on, they just are worried about what's happening in Libya. And I tell you openly, bluntly and blatantly, if all the production of Libya disappears, one country only, which is Saudi Arabia, can cover it immediately.
