Posted on 01/20/2016 10:31:57 AM PST by bananaman22
OPEC predicts cut in U.S. production
Iran’s increase in oil supply has mixed effects
OPEC’s prediction of a steep drop in crude production this year temporarily buoyed oil prices Monday, even though analysts expected markets to crumple as Iran starts selling crude to oversupplied international buyers for the first time in years.
Iran vowed to bring 500,000 barrels a day into the market as international sanctions were lifted over the weekend. But an expected free fall in prices never materialized after OPEC predicted that other producers, especially those in the U.S., would scale back production, which could boost prices that have fallen more than 70 percent since the summer of 2014.
But in today’s unsettled and often contradictory oil markets, even forecasts of a reduction in supplies can’t be taken as a sign the downturn that is squeezing Houston’s oil industry will end any time soon. Signals of a decline in U.S. shale production picking up steam could give the Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exports Countries confidence to ride out the bust without making the deep production cuts that could spike prices within months.
Without cuts by OPEC, which produces roughly 40 percent of the world’s crude, U.S. oil companies will struggle through “a one to two-year grind” of stagnant prices, said Morgan Downey, author of “Oil 101” and an oil trader. It’ll be up to oil producers outside OPEC - especially the United States - to go through the painful process of curbing oil production to lift prices.
Oil Producers/Oil Refiners in the USA should just stop exporting oil or importing oil from members of OPEC. Why not squeeze them instead of letting them squeeze us?
We can certainly produce enough to get by on our own until we crush the oil cartels.
Yes. HOld a meeting and cut production... so then we can up production here...
Tell that to retirees who have had to choose between 0% interest on savings or following advice and keeping it in "safe" stocks. Tell it to people who collect pensions when those funds run short. Tell that to folks who give up on saving for the future because the money gets wiped out. Tell that to municipalities which have property tax defaults because stock market value evaporated.
Wealth has been erased. That wealth is people's bottom line which adds in the value of their holdings.
Heh, they want more $26 oil. Give it to them.
And yet, the total amount of STUFF (wealth) remains pretty much the same.
It’s like when the Fed prints up a bunch of money. They don’t actually create anything. Just because there’s more money out there doesn’t mean we are wealthier.
Why oil prices have tanked makes no difference. The main reason they are so low now is because a relatively small number of producers can no longer control the supply. The current price reflects the market that has dramatically increased on the supply side.
The oil cartels have been crushed.
Yes, if they cut production, prices rise and then the frackers come back online. Long overdue for those guys to get their comeuppance.
OPEC has been dismantled.
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