Posted on 12/22/2014 5:28:28 AM PST by thackney
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi also said he wasn't conspiring to take out rival producers by driving down the price.
"These rumors or whoever generated them, is completely mistaken," he said.
U.S. crude prices have slumped by nearly 50% in six months, the sharpest fall for many years.
That has unsettled stock markets, accelerated a financial crisis in Russia, raised the risk that Venezuela will default and forced some U.S. producers to shed jobs and scale back investment.
Depending on which conspiracy theory you subscribe to, Saudi Arabia is waging an oil price war against fellow OPEC member Iran, Syria, Russia or even the U.S., its long-standing ally....
The door now seems firmly closed to any move by OPEC to cooperate with Russia and other leading non-OPEC producers to reduce supply to a world market awash with oil.
"If they want to cut production they are welcome, we are not going to cut, and certainly Saudi Arabia isn't going to cut," al-Naimi said. " [That] position we will hold forever, not [just] 2015."
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
“Forever “ is a long time.
My thoughts exactly.
I was think it should read “Never, as long as I am oil minister”
Which could change next week.
They learned this from the Federal Reserve.
LOL!
OPEC has never really died during its history.Even though it’s members have tried to cut each other’s throats through he years by pumping above their agreed quota’s.
Prior to last month’s meeting, Saudi made it clear they were not going to make the cuts to fund those that did not and their overspending governments.
Well, duh. They’ve already cut production a little (thanks thackney), and they know that the demand will bounce back, as will the world economy, and that will be of long term benefit.
So will the destruction of their (and our) enemies Pooty-Poot, the mullacracy in Iran, and ISIS.
The other target, not often talked about, is Turkey. Kurdistan will join the family of nations by their own sweat and blood, but also thanks to plenty of help from the GCC, even including Qatar, which has been a rat in the nest for a long while now. For Kurdistan to emerge, it will have to carve itself away from Turkey, Syria, and Iran. Iran occupies Syria, but the low oil price won’t help them stay there (and the $700 million a month Zero and Lurch send is going to build nuclear weapons), and Assad’s nearing the end of his family business. Turkey has been trying to oust Assad.
I’m looking forward to 2015.
Political speech to serve a short-term purpose.
They will be back to what they do best: make money and preserve the royal family’s grip on power.
I think the Saudis take a longer view of the oil market than the rest of OPEC. They really do plan and invest. That doesn’t make the allies, but they are not fools.
OPEC now has very little pricing power. Among the top five oil producing countries, only Saudi Arabia is an OPEC member.
Saudi is in an existential struggle. It cannot afford to let Iran go nuclear - and Obama’s White House is all too obviously not going to do a damn thing.
This move is to destabilize Iran. All other effects are incidental.
OPEC has produced ~40% of the world oil supply for several decades. The only times it significantly produced less, was when they chose to drive prices higher by producing less oil, until the demand market caught back up.
Their "strength" in market share is essentially unchanged. But their ability to work together seems to have diminished, although they have often disagreed over the decades.
From the article: “For the first time in a long time, the ability to determine the price of oil no longer clearly resides with OPEC. Instead, it’s increasingly U.S. producers at the controls.”
Because they are unwilling to act in agreement.
Instead, it’s increasingly U.S. producers at the controls.”
I do not agree we demonstrate any ability to control it except push downwards. We produce all we can economically produce, but have no coordination to limit production to raise prices.
Wow. Amazing statistic.
Looked at another way, this means that SA has had several decades to become thoroughly hooked on petrodollars.
Their reserves have not been verified in over a decade. They could be almost out and either not know it or don’t care.
I bet they care. They saw the video of what happened to Khadaffi just like everyone else. They care.
SA keeps everything a secret. They don't even release their population numbers.
I guess we'll know when their reserves are running low when they start fracking. They'll not be able to keep that a secret from the boys in the aowl business.
The House of Saud has over a trillion dollars of wealth. They can spend a billion $ a day on their country and still be okay.
If you've got a trillion and you're spending a billion a day, your Khadaffi farewell moment arrives in two years, nine months.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.