[E. Pluribus Unum]

Ali Al-Naimi noted that the "sands of oil" in northern Alberta need prices to be at least $40 to $60 US a barrel...

We passed that up about $40 ago.

[muawiyah]

THey're running the price up to make extraction of the Green River oil shale deposits economical, and maybe even the Indiana oil shale/uranium ore deposits nearly so.

OPEC screwed up.

[Kellis91789]

“We passed that up about $40 ago.”

Yes, but read the threat between the lines. He is saying that if oil sands or oil shale is ever pursued on a large enough scale to threaten Saudi oil profits, he will drive them out of business by expanding Saudi capacity.

Just the knowledge that the Saudis can do this anytime they want — and wipe out huge investments in oil sands or oil shale — is enough to prevent really large capital investment.

The US government ought to put an offer on the table to buy oil from US or Canadian oil sands or shale and remove the threat to capital investment. A 20 year commitment to buy 1 billion barrels a year at $50 no matter what happens to the market price. With that promise, investors wouldn’t need to fear the Saudis opening the spigot.