Posted on 06/04/2018 10:45:47 AM PDT by bananaman22
Saudi Arabia has plunged its immediate region into major strategic uncertainty. What can only be described as a serious outbreak of shooting in the Royal Palace in Riyadh on April 21, 2018, was the catalyst for events which could determine the fate of the Crown, the Kingdom, and the regional competition, particularly with Iran, for influence.
By June 1, 2018, however, the crisis seemed to be subsiding.
The delicacy of the situation posed serious questions for Russia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the US, in particular, in shaping their strategies, given that it raised serious questions over energy supply, the war in Yemen, control of the Red Sea, and the Eurasia-Africa links in the PRC’s Silk Route network. It is clear that the Saudi Government, controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, itself was, even by early June 2018, uncertain how the situation would evolve.
Gregory Copley, of Defense & Foreign Affairs, noted on December 12, 2017: “Saudi Arabia now appears to have moved beyond the point of recovery, and could collapse at any time into internal conflict or fracturing.” On October 8, 2015, he noted: “Concerns are growing within Saudi Arabia that the Kingdom is facing systemic challenges which could see its break-up within a decade or two.”
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
Oh wait...
I’ve got news for the Yurps, China and everybody else. If the region goes to hell in a handbasket and oil flows are disrupted, we’ll be just fine.
You, not so much.
Add a couple more refineries to our inventory and we'd be rosy.
They just need to learn to share the camels and goats and all will be well in their family.
I see lots of bearded heads rolling around in the near future...
[Pity that we don’t produce our own oil anymore, and instead are totally dependent on OPEC for our energy needs.
Oh wait... ]
It is really unclear how badly hurt the Crown Prince was, or even if he has died. Also unclear what the power balance is within the Kingdom now, or what is coming. Some big wildcards. The Iranian mullahs are loving this.
No, we would not be in clover. As you well know, domestic oil prices are not set based on the cost of production, but are set by the the world spot price.
If we produced 4mbpd and exported 20mbpd, oil producers would be in clover because they would be getting more money for their product, but the U.S. consumer would still also be paying the same higher price, just as they would if it all were imported at the same price.
The difference between now and 1972, however, is if OPEC cuts off supply, we have domestic production that can meet critical demand use. In 1972 we did not.
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