Posted on 10/09/2015 12:25:01 PM PDT by Trumpinator
Boone Pickens: Russia 'new sheriff' in Mideast
Matthew J. Belvedere | @Matt_Belvedere
Thursday, 8 Oct 2015 | 11:23 AM ET
The new military involvement by Russia in Syria could force OPEC's largest oil member to finally capitulate on production cuts, energy entrepreneur Boone Pickens said Thursday. Such a move could rescue battered crude prices, which have lost half their value in the past year.
The Mideast has a "new sheriff in town," Pickens told CNBC's "Squawk Box," with Russia making its most significant move back into the region since being kicked out in 1973, when then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat broke an alliance with Moscow ahead of the Arab-Israeli war.
Connecting the dots on how oil prices may be affected by Moscow flexing its military might is rather complex, with Russia, Syria, and Iran on one side and OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia on the other.
Since the bottom fell out of the oil market last year on demand and oversupply concerns, the Saudis have been holding the line on production, despite suffering a severe financial toll. The kingdom has refused to budge, in part, to shore up its market share, but also to maintain prices low in order to keep economic pressure on Iran.
Russia, a large non-OPEC oil producer, has seen its economy ravaged by the plunge in crude, in addition to the international sanctions for its aggression in Ukraine. While it wants the Saudis to reduce production, Moscow has refused to cut.
But Pickens, who's spent more than a half century in the oil and natural gas business, predicted changes ahead. The founder and chairman BP Capital Management said the Saudis have had enough. "You're going to see adjustments made. Russia will claim they're not adjusting, but force others to adjust."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
The ONLY think that Muslims/Arabs Respect is POWER and STRENGTH!! And now Putin shows he has BOTH!! They NEED a STRONGMAN to RULE them since they aren’t capable of ruling themselves!
Who cares what T “Bone” Pickens is talking about.
He only talks when he smells a free dollar to pocket.
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