Posted on 03/28/2007 3:25:02 PM PDT by DBCJR
As tensions mount with Iran, oil markets around the world remain fixated on the Persian Gulf, ready to send prices soaring on the slightest hint of escalation.
Tuesday crude oil jumped $5 a barrel, or about 8 percent, on rumors, later denied, that U.S. warships had clashed with Iran's naval vessels.
...the United States gets less than 20 percent of its oil from the Mideast, and has an embargo on all oil from Iran. Plus, experts say Iran needs to export oil just as badly as the world needs to buy it, making a complete shutoff unlikely.
...
Iran, the world's No. 4 producer, has been playing hardball of late. It seized 15 British sailors Friday...
It remains defiant in the face of recently tightened United Nations sanctions designed to stop the country from enriching uranium...
Traders fear military action could disrupt oil supplies flowing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which Iran borders on the north.
And although Iran relies on oil exports for up to half its government budget, traders fear the country could use oil as a weapon, withholding it in retaliation for sanctions or a military strike on its nuclear program.
"If you want to see a quick way for oil spices to spike to $100, all they have to do is threaten to pull some or all of their oil off the market," said Neal Dingmann, a senior energy analyst at Dahlman Rose & Co., a New York-based energy investment firm.
... Iran ranks as the world's fourth-largest producer behind Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
...
With an estimated 137 billion barrels, the country's oil reserves are second only to Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels, according to EIA. And it has the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas, behind Russia.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
One thing obviously missing: China's voracious apetite for oil. And where do they buy oil?
Reminds me of the Cleavon Little bit in "Blazing Saddles".
To answer you question - if Iran's capability is taken down, they go onto the spot market until they can make other longer term arrangements.
LOL-Stop or I'll shoot the...
I did not realize the US produced more Oil than Iran. Very interesting. Why aren't we part of OPEC?(s/)
Ideally, I'd love for the U.S. and Britian to sponsor a civil war in Iran. Give the 'freedom fighters' all the weapons and aid they need to destroy the Mullahs.
I retired from the service several years ago, but when I was still active the price tag on a plain vanilla cruise missile (not the sea-launched version) was on the order of $600,000.00 a copy, give or take, based on quantity, IIRC.
That would put the price tag of your strike at $ 600 million. Can be done by different means far more inexpensively . . . .
And, as another poster notes, we don't need to destroy the infrastructure to shut them down, and there are some significant drawbacks longer term to destroying that infrastructure.
I think we can achieve both. And a side benefit of this would be to crush the global warming nuts. Humanity. cars are not causing global warming. The sun is, the oceans are. We can pollute the water, create wonderful smog filled rides to work. But global climate change? That's a joke.
Amen.
There is no 'of course' about ANWR. The TransAlaska Oil Pipeline is about to be shut down and torn out. ANWR won't keep the pipeline open unless it goes online soon, and there will be a ten year lag between permit approval and first flow. Time is about up. Also, it is ANWR.
Thank you Jimmy Carter for this mess. The Shah was trying to modernize his nation, and we should have helped him crush the Mullahs. I hope to God that there are enough Iranians left from that era, that would be receptive to starting a civil war there.
Reminds me of the Cleavon Little bit in "Blazing Saddles".
"Do what he say! Do what he say!".......sorry couldn't help it. One of my favorites.
I'm in a very compative mood today, please excuse the ANWAR slip.
It's nothing. The serious concept is that ANWR can do anything at all. If it is not produced soon, and it may already be too late, there won't be a pipeline to ship it through. The pipeline is past its design lifetime, and while it is still functional the volume of oil being shipped is getting near the lower end of utility. There may be only two, or maybe at the most ten years left before the volume is so little it is not worth keeping the pipeline open. If ANWR comes in after that it won't justify the pipeline.
A number of them left. Many of them, and their descendants, live in the metro Washington, DC area, and in California.
Top World Oil Producers, 2005
Country / Total Oil Production
(million barrels per day)
1) Saudi Arabia / 11.1
2) Russia / 9.5
3) United States / 8.2
4) Iran / 4.2
5) Mexico / 3.8
6) China / 3.8
7) Canada / 3.1
8) Norway / 3.0
9) United Arab Emirates / 2.8
10) Venezuela / 2.8
Don't be ridiculous. We are replacing the pumps with new electric drive units because it will be used for at least another few decades.
I guess we're not a big exporter of oil. We consume more than we produce. BTW....any connection to the South Carolina Barrs?
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