Posted on 03/15/2005 12:36:10 PM PST by Truth666
Saudi Arabia is trying to wrestle oil prices lower with a pledge to pump more crude - with or without OPEC. But so far, it isn't working.
On Tuesday, the world's largest oil producer said it might boost supplies unilaterally to bring relief to world markets if other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries balked at its earlier proposal to raise the cartel's output quota.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh has said neither a higher ceiling nor an unchanged one would put any more oil on the market.
The original Saudi proposal, made Monday, would add 500,000 barrels, or 2 percent, to the OPEC output ceiling of 27 million a day. But beyond sending a psychological signal of the group's readiness to respond to high prices, some analysts questioned the actual impact of such a move because OPEC members were already producing about 700,000 barrels a day above their quotas.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 35 cents to $55.30 per barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's above the record Nymex settlement price of $55.17 per barrel, set twice in late October, although futures would have to surpass $90 a barrel to meet the inflation-adjusted peak set in 1980.
ANWAR, Outer Banks, Long Island Sound, New Jersey Coast, Massachusetts coast, Florida, California, at least four new refineries, and renovations to port terminals to handle supertanker shipping instead of using smaller tanker offloading will end this within two years.
OPEC is only producing 700,000bbl above their 'quotas' nowadays? Why so little? Usually I think they produce about 2,000,000bbl above their 'quota'.
I believe the Saudis are the only ones with enough excess capacity to pump more at this point. But even then, a 2% increase certainly isn't going to bring oil down into the $25-$30/barrel range. However, the price may stabilize or retract a bit. Seems speculatively high considering the available supply and that demand is being met.
On to ANWR.
I wonder how high the price will have to go before the Dems. consider more domestic drilling and quit blocking even thinking about true and rational energy policy?
If prices keep going up (and $90 is not out of the question) this could be a real loser of an issue for them.
In the meantime, I guess they're content to enrich our enemies; i.e., Saudi, Ven., etc.
Muleteam1
See the title of this thread
If the BC government ever gets the balls to do so, there's oil off the coast of British Columbia just waiting to be tap'd...
Hard for us little people to compete against the OPEC CARTEL & the "TWO-PARTY CARTEL". (OPEC - We would ship more but those others won't assist. "Two-Party Cartel" - we can put a conservative agenda in if only we controlled all 3 branches of gov)
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