Criticize him for his comment only. There is no need to use newbie as some sort of derogatory term. (You were a newbie once).
We FReepers use that term sparingly. Most of us sit tight for months before expressing unfounded, unsubstantiated, generalitites on a topic on which we know nothing. The petroleum discussion has been discussed here for about a year. Many of us were econ majors, we run businesses, post articles discussing facts on a given topic. I've posted a half dozen articles on the oil topic. Some published by the government's bureau of statistics, some from oil companies and others from trade magazines and corporate financial statements.
I've know several executives from Texaco and some of the stories they told me were amazing when they were hemorraging profits and had to sell their most profitable business units to generate cash to prevent bankruputcy.
For instance:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/1139.html