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World Recovery Is In The Hands Of OPEC Andrew Butter October 25, 2009 In a recent interview posted here, Professor Nouriel Roubini said: I worry that oil is going to go up above $100 for reasons that have nothing to do with the fundamentals of supply and demand. Oil at $100 would have the same negative effects on the global economy as oil did at $145 last year. Last year, when oil was at $145, the global economy was still growing. Right now it has collapsed, and is recovering. Oil pushing above $100 would have nasty, negative real trade effects...

Petropolitics: If there's a bright spot to greenhouse gasbags curtailing carbon output, it's watching the Saudis squirm. The sheiks worry they may have to make do with one or two fewer yachts. During recent U.N. talks over global emissions cuts, Saudi Arabia quietly demanded that OPEC states get special financial aid if a new climate pact calls for big cuts in fossil-fuel use. The kingdom's whimpering comes despite a new International Energy Agency report showing OPEC revenues would still grow $23 trillion between 2008 and 2030 — a fourfold jump compared with the 1985-2007 period — if countries agree to...

Construction of the long-awaited rail network that will link the six members of the GCC is expected to start in 2010 or 2011. Abu Dhabi: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries' proactive approach to building railroad networks, whose estimated cost is more than $60 billion (Dh220 billion), will help boost cross-border trade, cut freight costs and result in faster movement of cargo and passengers, experts have said. "Rail is safer, faster, cleaner and [a] more economical mode of transportation. Strong logistics networks encourage trade and provide industry with a competitive advantage," Hussain Al Nowais, chairman of the UAE's newly created...

The U.S. dollar continued its six-month slide Tuesday amid a growing international chorus that wants the dollar replaced -- or at least supplemented -- as the world's reserve currency, a move that would end the greenback's six decades of global dominance. The dollar has come under attack from abroad as the economic crisis has played out, thanks to the Federal Reserve's decision to flood a seized-up financial system with liquidity last fall. The central bank's moves likely staved off deflation, but the massive influx of new dollars has devalued existing ones. Foreign nations are worried that the massive U.S. national...

<p>It began with a thinly sourced but highly explosive report Monday in a British newspaper: Arab oil sheikhs are conspiring with the Russians and Chinese to quit using the dollar to set the value of oil trades – a direct threat to the global supremacy of the greenback.</p>

“The United States would be mistaken to take for granted the dollar’s place as the world’s predominant reserve currency,” the World Bank president, Robert B. Zoellick, said in a speech at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins. “Looking forward, there will increasingly be other options to the dollar.” Mr. Zoellick, who previously served as the United States trade representative and as deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said that the euro provided a “respectable alternative” for financing international transactions and that there was “every reason to believe that the euro’s acceptability could grow.” In...

The embattled US dollar is expected to come under scrutiny at a summit of developing and industrialized nations following China-led calls to review its role as a reserve currency. The dollar issue is bound to surface at the two-day meeting in Pittsburgh as US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 economies debate a new framework for tackling the so called global "economic imbalances" blamed for fuelling the latest financial crisis. "Though not clear how the plan would be enforced, it would involve measures such as the US cutting its deficits and saving more, China reducing...

Opec cuts back, Russia ramps up oil exports MOSCOW -- Russia is surpassing Saudi Arabia in oil exports for the first time since the Soviet Union’s collapse as Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin exploits OPEC production cuts to gain market share. Exports of crude oil and refined products from Russia rose to 7.4 million barrels a day in the second quarter, from 7.25 million in the first quarter, according to Energy Ministry data. Saudi shipments fell to about 7 million barrels a day, from 7.39 million, according to International Energy Agency estimates of output and domestic demand.

The inspiration for this headline rests with a post Stacy McCain had made on his blog The Other McCain Monday, September 7, 2009 Ruh-roh China ditching the dollar? I read McCain's comments on how he thought gold may rise in price. It did. In his comments section, you can see what I said. It is the first comment where I talk about crude prices rising. And crude prices have risen since McCain's post. From the WSJ: OIL FUTURES: Crude Settles Higher On Weak DollarWhen it comes to gold, people don't really sweat it if it climbs. What people do sweat...

Energy Policy: Ignoring peak-oil Cassandras, BP has made another giant oil find in the Gulf of Mexico. We're not running out of oil. Our government just doesn't want us to look for it.The world is running out of oil and good riddance. That's the environmentalists' mantra. But since the first well was drilled near Titusville, Pa., 150 years ago, the prophecy has gone unfulfilled. Trouble is, those darn greedy oil companies keep finding the stuff. Oil has been produced in the Gulf of Mexico since the first well was drilled by Kerr-McGee Corp. in 1947. Some of the wells are...

Energy Policy: The chief economist of the International Energy Agency says the world is running out of oil. We've been told that for the last 150 years. The only thing we're running out of is the will to drill.Ever since the first oil well was drilled in Titusville, Pa., in 1859, experts have been predicting we would soon run out of oil. The latest is Dr. Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency in Paris, whose job it is to assess future energy supplies by OECD countries. In an interview with the Independent, Dr. Birol says that based...

Energy: While members of Congress take vacations their constituents can no longer afford, a country prepares to end its dependence on foreign oil by extracting supplies from shale rock. It's not the U.S. It's in the Middle East.Jordan imports 95% of its oil. Unlike the U.S., the desert kingdom plans on doing something about it. It does not, however, plan to cover its flat open spaces with solar panels or wind farms. It's going to do something the Democratic Congress has refused to do — get oil from its abundant shale rock. On Sunday, Maher Hjazin, head of the Jordanian...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures fell below $60 a barrel Friday, marking their biggest weekly loss in six months as an International Energy Agency report reaffirmed concerns about weak demand.The energy adviser to 28 developed countries projected in the monthly report that this year's global oil demand will fall 2.9% from a year ago, unchanged from the agency's prediction a month ago. Also weighing on oil prices Friday, data showed U.S. consumer sentiment fell sharply in early July, On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August oil futures fell 52 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $59.89 a barrel, the...

The push for conversion to plug-in electric cars will do nothing to stop carbon emissions, a report by the GAO warns, throwing cold water on a push by Democrats to get more plug-ins on the road. In fact, the problem could be made worse as demand goes up at coal-fired electrical plants. Plus, the need for batteries may just have the US changing the dictators to which we’re chained, as IBD reports...

Energy prices are starting to soar again. Oil prices, for starters, have broken free of the fundamentals that usually rule the market, rising despite a glut in surplus crude oil. Benchmark crude climbed to its highest level in eight months Thursday, touching $73.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas prices at the pump have been surging too, reaching a national average of $2.63 a gallon. What could spiking prices mean for a country trying to break free of a recession? Is there a risk that expensive oil and gas will make it harder for the economy to...

Predictions of $250 a barrel on fears for oil reserves, hopes of economic recovery and hedging against weak dollar The price of oil burst through the $71 a barrel mark today amid revelations that proven reserves had fallen for the first time in 10 years and predictions that the price could eventually hit $250. The latest high – from lows of $30 only four months ago – came on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where the cost of July deliveries rose by $1.35 to $71.36. This comes on top of a $2 rise the day before as investors rushed into...

But "as oil prices rise, so will big oil companies' profits, creating more importance to pass the legislation," said Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the liberal Center for America Progress. Mr. Weiss added that higher oil and gas prices will soon return to the forefront of the climate and energy debate, helping to push legislation through the House. At the same time, higher oil and gas prices are likely to slow the economy's eventual revival. Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned last week that gasoline prices in the $3-a-gallon range could require the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries...

Oil prices broke through the $70 per-barrel barrier Friday and more forecasters are broadening expectations for an upward swing in crude. Benchmark crude for July delivery lost 37 cents to settle at $68.44 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, finishing the week with a gain of nearly $2 a barrel. Earlier in the day oil jumped as high as $70.32 per barrel, the highest since October. Oil prices have been soaring for months despite a massive surplus of petroleum and natural gas. A large amount of speculative money has flowed into the markets, according to government reports, potentially taking advantage...

ST. PETERSBURG, June 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will not join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries any time soon, the CEO of Russia's leading independent oil producer said Thursday. "Russia will not be a [OPEC] member in the near future," LUKoil head Vagit Alekperov said on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum in Russia's second city St. Petersburg. Russia, the largest non-OPEC oil producer, and the 12-nation cartel have differed recently over measures to steady prices during the current economic recession. Russia has benefited from OPEC members' cuts in oil exports, but has not joined the group in...

Russian President may push 'new world currency'

His Excellency Ali I. Al-Naimi,Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources,Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. The grand pooba of the world largest Oil Production Operation was interviewed on CNBC's "The Call" this morning. Melissa Francis was interviewing the Saudi and called OPEC a Cartel. This hurt Al-Naimi's feelings. Or maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the Camel: Francis: When do you think we'll hit that $75-to-80 range that seem like almost everybody in the cartel agrees is sort of the equilibrium price? Al-Naimi: You have to be careful calling...

It's the new "C" word according to Melissa Francis, co-host of CNBC's "The Call." Using the word "cartel" to describe OPEC is officially a no- no. Francis, who was on location in Vienna, Austria at the OPEC summit, reported on an exchange between herself and Ali Al-Naimi, the oil minister of Saudi Arabia during the May 28 broadcast of "Squawk on the Street." In an interview, Al-Naimi took issue with Francis using the word "cartel" to describe OPEC: Francis: When do you think we'll hit that $75-to-80 range that seem like almost everybody in the cartel agrees is sort of...

Iran's OPEC governor said high oil stock levels show the crude oil market remains oversupplied and an output cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is a clear "solution" to reduce oil stocks. "The market is oversupplied as it was in September, October and December of last year. As an expert, if you find that the market is oversupplied, the

Chief Alfred Bubor: "Actually, I was on the toilet when I heard this boom, and all the lights went and the wall started falling down." ...military helicopters buzzed over the small town of Oporoza, in Nigeria's Niger Delta... The helicopter gunships hovered low over a crowded street, where people had gathered to celebrate an annual festival, and opened fire with machine guns and rockets, according to several accounts... The assault last Friday was the beginning of a six-day campaign by the Nigerian military's Joint Task Force (JTF), which is in charge of security in the Niger Delta, fighting oil...

MARACAIBO, Venezuela, May 7 (Reuters) - Venezuelan soldiers on Thursday took control of boatyards and other assets belonging to oil service companies in the latest step by socialist President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip on the industry. Earlier in the day, Venezuela's legislature approved a law allowing the nationalization of a group of oil service companies. Chavez said the takeovers would quickly start in the Lake Maracaibo oil heartland in the western state of Zulia. "Tomorrow, we will start to recuperate assets and goods that will now belong to the state, as social property, as they should always have...

OPEC wants to see oil prices rising to more than 70 dollars a barrel, the oil cartel's secretary general Abdalla El-Badri said Sunday. "The price of 50 dollars is not enough to cover investment costs for the future," El-Badri told reporters in Algiers. "The price which allows reasonable and acceptable revenues is more than 70 dollars a barrel," he added.

In recent months, oil prices plunged as consumers curtailed fuel use around the world, with some analysts predicting that the dire economic situation would cause oil to fall to $20 a barrel or less. But in a twist, oil prices have stabilized at close to $50 a barrel. While prices may have fallen by two-thirds since their peak last summer, oil remains expensive by historical standards. The resilience shown by the oil markets is not because of any improvement in the global economy or rise in oil consumption. Global demand remains on course for its steepest drop since the early...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices fell Tuesday as investors respond to the expiration of the May futures contract and ongoing economic concerns. Light, sweet crude for May delivery was down $1.06 to $44.85 a barrel in pre-market, electronic trade in New York. The May contract, which expires Tuesday, tumbled nearly 9% in the previous session. Oil for June delivery was down $3.96 to $48.51 a barrel. Trading is often volatile in the days leading up to the expiration of monthly futures contracts as investors not wishing to take delivery of physical oil roll positions into the front-month contract. Meanwhile,...

KING: We're back with Donald Trump. His book, "Think Like a Champion," ... TRUP: When the economy starts getting better, you will have an OPEC problem. They'll just start raising the price of oil again and destroy the economy... I also happen to think that $150 oil destroyed the world economically. And as soon as the world comes back, OPEC will raise its ugly head and destroy it again. So somebody better sit -- and I hope it's our president -- somebody better sit down with OPEC right now and say, "Listen, we're going to straighten this mess out, but...

US crude imports fell to 9.203 million b/d in February from 9.852 million b/d in January, with members of oil producer club OPEC accounting for the bulk of the 649,000 b/d drop, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed this week. Volumes from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Algeria alone fell by 629,000 b/d, with smaller drops totaling 109,000 b/d from Iraq, Nigeria and Ecuador. Imports from two OPEC members increased, however, Angola supplying an additional 144,000 b/d over the previous month and Kuwait an additional 26,000 b/d. The eight OPEC members were among the top 15 suppliers to the...

OPEC officials Thursday finally accepted worsening economic conditions would keep oil prices low for now, toning down a previous call for higher prices and suggesting the organization may not cut production further as long as prices stayed steady. The statements, which show a conciliatory tone toward oil-consuming nations, came as forecasts for the global economy released this week were gloomier than expected. On Thursday, the world's main developed and industrializing nations, the G20 released a package of measures to counter the crisis, including boosting International Monetary Fund resources to $1 trillion. "I think we can live with prices of around...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Tuesday said the entrance of Brazil and other independent oil-producing countries in OPEC would invigorate the cartel. "Nine of the 12 OPEC countries are represented here in this meeting," Chavez said during an televised interview from a summit of Arab and South American countries in Doha, Qatar. "Is there no way for us to sign a resolution and have Brazil enter OPEC immediately?" Chavez later expressed hope Brazil would soon enter OPEC. Brazil produced 1.99 million b/d of oil and natural gas liquids in the fourth quarter, according to state-led Petrobras. Venezuela was instrumental in Ecuador,...

[Quote]OPEC Engineered Obama’s Harvard Admission (oops! More Obama Skeletons) September 03, 2008 This just surfaced, rather innocently, as a matter of fact. Legendary civil rights lawyer, Percy Sutton, 87 yrs old, was being interviewed and just innocently admitted that years ago, Dr. Khalid Abdullah Tariq Al-Mansour called him and asked him to use his (Percy’s) connections at Harvard to help Barack Obama get him into law school. Now the question is who is this gentleman? Turns out, “his business and professional interests include co-founding the International Law Firm of Al-Waleed, Al-Talal & Al-Mansour, representing the O.P.E.C. interest of the famous...

Released on March 25, 2009 (Next Release on April 1, 2009) All Eyes on OPEC Recently, EIA and other oil market forecasters have been paying close attention to how the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is adjusting to lower global oil demand and weaker oil prices brought on by the global economic recession. Crude oil prices are now almost $100 per barrel off their peak level last year, and most forecasters, including EIA, are projecting 2009 global oil demand to be over 1 million barrels per day (bbl/d) lower than in 2008. In response, OPEC has met four...

24 March 2009 China has called for the creation of new global currency by the International Monetary Fund, possibly the revival of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR), to replace the US dollar as the new global currency. (Also see: China, others back Russia's alternative to dollar) China's position on the global financial scenario, made clear in an article by Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, was intended to sway opinion among developing countries and to step up pressure on western governments, ahead of the 2 April summit of G-20 nations in London. Zhou's essay, published both in Chinese and...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A weakened dollar and evidence that OPEC has significantly slowed production sent oil prices soaring to new highs for the year Thursday. "I think we'll see higher oil prices for a while," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "There's an expectation that the market has bottomed out." Benchmark crude for April delivery surged $3.47, or 7 percent, to settle at $51.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices hit $52.25 earlier in the day, a price last seen on Dec. 1. Crude prices have increased 11.6 percent since OPEC...

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said today that petroleum-producing countries need a price of at least $60 a barrel to bring more energy resources on the market. “If we want all hydrocarbon resources developed worldwide, 40 dollars is not enough,” Ali al-Naimi told reporters in Geneva, where he was attending an energy conference. Crude oil returns are key, he said, because they can allow companies and countries to invest in new and potentially valuable fuel source such as ethanol, tar sands and heavy oils. To develop these industries, the oil price will have to rise to a range between $60 and...

Global crude futures slumped in early European trading Monday, following OPEC's decision on Sunday to leave production targets unchanged, sources said. "The selloff is almost entirely linked to OPEC's decision to leave production unchanged," a London-based broker said. "Brent will stay in a range. There is not enough demand to drive prices above $50/barrel but recent cuts will keep Brent above $40/barrel," he added. At 1001 GMT, April ICE Brent futures, which expire later in the day, traded at $43.18/barrel, down $1.75/b from Friday's settle but up from a low of $42.59/b earlier in the session. April NYMEX WTI futures...

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Sunday agreed to keep existing output curbs unchanged, but ministers said they would comply more strictly with their targets. They also called another meeting on May 28 to reassess the supply-demand balance. An OPEC delegate had said earlier that April 28 had been chosen.

Iran's oil minister suggested Saturday that a weekend OPEC meeting should decide to cut back on crude output, adding his voice to those in the organization who think supply has outstripped demand. "There is too much oil on the market," Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters on the eve of a ministerial meeting of the 12-nation Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Other influential OPEC members have also said the group should reduce production. Still their statements have left open whether they want to lower output quotas or if they favor a solution less likely to impact on the struggling global...

In a report released early Friday morning, the International Energy Agency joined the U.S. Energy Information Administration in slashing its oil demand forecast for the 2009. Both organizations now forecast demand in the 84.5 million barrel a day range. The Paris-based IEA also took the opportunity to weigh in on the impact of the lack of investment by countries that are not part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, drawing the conclusion that the consequential drop in production will result in the world being more dependent on OPEC for its oil. With the world’s largest oil producing fields declining...

Falling global oil demand and lower crude prices are expected to drop OPEC's oil export revenues below $400 billion for 2009, the U.S. government's top energy forecasting agency said on Tuesday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration lowered its estimate for OPEC's oil export earnings for this year to $383 billion, about $19 billion less than the agency forecast last month. That would be far less than last year's record $970 billion in revenue for the producer group. OPEC is forecast to earn $503 billion in 2010 as the global economy recovers and oil demand increases, the EIA said. Last summer,...

OPEC secretary general Abdalla el-Badri said Monday that oil prices currently around $40/barrel were not suitable because they would not guarantee investment in future capacity beyond 2013. Badri, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a gas conference in the Qatari capital Doha, also said that the producers' group would study all options when ministers meet in Vienna on March 15 though he declined to say whether a further production cut was being considered. He said compliance with a 4.2 million b/d output reduction agreed in Algeria on December 17 was at 85% although he would like to see stricter...

OPEC secretary general Abdalla el-Badri on Friday described as "confusing and misleading" comments from the International Energy Agency that failure by OPEC to invest in oil infrastructure now could result in a new supply crunch and price surge in the future. He said OPEC agreed with the IEA view that failure by the industry to invest would result in a supply crunch by 2013, but added that it was "short sighted" of the agency to ask for prices to remain at $40/barrel while wanting investments to be made that were not economically viable at that level. "We agree with the...

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is expected to cut the number of oil rigs by as much as 20% until year-end amid lower crude output, people familiar with the situation said. Last year, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company, had about 130 offshore and onshore rigs in operation at peak times, a number that is set to fall by up to a fifth throughout 2009, the people said. "They haven't announced any specifics but they are saying there will be a reduction in the number of rigs by 20%," one Gulf-based oil industry...

President Barack Obama's first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $646 billion from a carbon reduction proposal. "Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that's controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Mr. Obama said Thursday morning. "That's why we'll be working with Congress on legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy." The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program — which would allow companies to...

Arab oil and economy Arab oil and the global economical crisis From the book 'Middle East Annual Review'‎ (1975) - Page 141 by Economist Intelligence Unit (Great Britain), Michael Field - Business & Economics: "The OPEC oil-price revolution of 1973-4 was mainly to blame for the present plight of developing countries and for the world recession". [1]. In Jun. 25, 1979 there were efforts of 'Teaming Up Against OPEC' by Jimmy Carter and the leaders of Western Europe, Canada and Japan, to prevent financial severity around the world [2]. Business week magazine March 25, 2002 Oil prices appear to be...

BLAME OPEC 1.30.2009 This thought just came to me: "The American People" and the liberal media are so busy blaming Wall Street - not to mention the entire French Nation is currently rioting against the amorphous category of all "banks" - why is no one blaming OPEC? This summer, gas was at a beyond record level - people were spending nearly 4x as much on gas as they did the year before. Clearly, this is going to cut into consumer spending. When is Obama going to call out Saudi Arabia? If we did not have a world-wide OIL CARTEL and...

The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank. We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy. Yet we import more oil today than ever before. The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year, yet we keep delaying reform. Our children will compete for jobs in a global economy that too many of our schools do not prepare them for. And though all these challenges went unsolved,...

FedEx CEO: use of foreign oil threatens US economy The Associated Press - Feb 23, 2009 Chief Executive Fred Smith said Monday that US reliance on foreign oil is the biggest threat to the nation's economy after terrorism.