In "Secrets of the Kingdom" Gerald Posner says 'dirty bombs' would not only destroy the oil-rich country's energy infrastructure in the event of an invasion, but would make the oil fields unsafe to work in for decades, according to an advance copy of the book seen by Reuters.

Saudi Arabia has decided that "leveling the major oil production facilities and blasting away the core of the industry's infrastructure was not enough to deter an enemy from seizing its prized commodity," it says.

"We have not seen Mr Posner's latest book. However the allegation that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has explosives or any other type of weapon, much less nuclear weapons, attached to its oil facilities, is false and has no basis in fact whatsoever," Nail Al-Jubeir, director of the Saudi Information office in Washington, told Reuters.

Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi security consultant and co-author of reports into Saudi oil field security by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "This is complete made-up fantasy."

He added: "If (Posner) had studied the Saudi petroleum security infrastructure he would realize it's impossible to do what he claims the Saudis have done. Saudi Arabia does not have dirty bombs. It does not have any radioactive substances."

The book, to be published by Random House on May 17, attributes the claims to electronic intercepts of Saudi communications from the U.S. National Security Agency.