Posted on 11/17/2007 3:16:53 AM PST by SkyPilot
The dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister has warned.
Prince Saud Al-Faisal was overheard ruling out a proposal from Iran and Venezuela to discuss pricing crude in a private meeting at the oil cartel's conference.
In an embarrassing blunder at the meeting in Riyadh, ministers' microphones were not cut off during a key closed meeting, and Prince Al-Faisal was heard saying: "My feeling is that the mere mention that the Opec countries are studying the issue of the dollar is itself going to have an impact that endangers the interests of the countries. "There will be journalists who will seize on this point and we don't want the dollar to collapse instead of doing something good for Opec."
After around 40 minutes press officials cut off the feed, which had been accidentally broadcast to the press room.
Prince Al-Faisal added: "This is not new. We have done this in the past: decide to study something without putting down on paper that we are going to study it so that we avoid any implication that will bring adverse effects on our countries' finances."
Iran and Venezuela have argued that the meeting's final communique should voice concern about the level of the dollar, which has recently fallen to new record lows against the euro. They are pushing for oil to be denominated against a basket of currencies.
The greenback also weakened slightly against the pound, although sterling's own recent weakness has pushed it down from $2.10 to $2.0457 during the week.
Nigerian finance minister Shamsuddeen Usman said that Opec could declare in the communique that: "While underlining our concern for the continued depreciation of the dollar and its adverse impact on our revenues, we instruct our finance ministers to study the issue exhaustively and advise us on ways to safeguard the purchasing power of our revenues, of our members' revenues."
Chancellor Alistair Darling will today urge his fellow finance ministers at a major G20 summit to increase investment in oil production and refinement.
Absolutely, and most notably Iran’s mental case Amadjihadi and dictator Chavez. Of course Soros tries his best to manipulate the markets as well. He should be added to Bushes “axis of evil” as well, seize all his assets and booted out of the country for his attempts of espionage.
Don't forget Clarence Thomas, Condoleeza Rice, Alberto Gonzalez, Michelle Malkin, Justice Janice Brown, Linda Chavez etc. You are not alone....
Until such time as we use existing technology to produce oil from coal, and shale, and protect those industries from another low-balling of the oil supply price (re. the opening of OPEC’s spigots to destroy the fledgling “Synfuels” attempt of the early 80’s) we will always be hostage to the world price for oil on the open market.
:-QUIZ TIME-: What would happen if we placed a $50/barrel minimum price (not a tariff, but an addition to the actual cost for any oil purchased from offshore at less than $50/barrel) on all oil imported to the country. and required that we keep American oil for American's until such time as we meet our domestic needs from our domestic sources??
Is it possible that with a weak dollar, American exports and unprofitable companies and businesses will be more attractive to foreign investment and purchase?
IMHO you are correct. And everyone who controls some aspect of US economic governance knows it too - even created the situation. IMHO the point is to get every possible US economic advantage out of the lower dollar for as long as possible. (Isn't China doing this too, but by keeping it's currency undervalued?)
Now, what can we do?? How about a simple 1st step of going to the local Wal-Mart and asking them to have a “Made in America” section of their store. And support the “Fair Tax” to make it competitive for business to remain/move to the US.
Just a thought.
If we are importing 10 million barrels of oil a day at $100, then that is about 3.65 billion barrels of oil a year and about $365 billion per year in our trade imbalance.
What are we going to do? Ship F-22's and F-35's to Saudi Arabia in trade for the $365 billion? Certain technologies we only have a slight edge over Western Europe.
The US has to admit it is a gasoline hog, and start trimming down...
Something like an SMR transition to a Hydrogen-based fuel system is a way the United States could control its own destiny -- using Natural Gas to produce both Hydrogen and heat at the same time.
Such a process would allow for either electrical generation and/or desalination with the heat of the process (for areas that might experience water shortages) and then generate Hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles.
It would mean building more natural gas pipelines and add ones from Alaska to the lower 48, as well pipelines from Mexico/Canada.
And why the HELL are California and Florida so special that they prefer people to starve and lose businesses rather than allow drilling off their coasts?
Send the Environmental Wackos to Saudi Arabia, and let them break Islamic law, and we will be done with them...
...and start an assembly line to build reactors. Even if the worst estimates of the liberals had been right and ANWR would be now running out of oil, we would still be celebrating energy independence today.
A student of history once said, “Economic warfare is always a prelude a shooting type of warfare.” History proves this student to be correct.
This is certainly true.
But the problems with our currency are of our own making. Our government can't just keep printing the word "dollar" on little pieces of paper forever and hope that no one will notice.
ML/NJ
It’s a non- issue anyways. If the dollar weakens, the price of oil goes up accordingly. If oil was $12 a barrel, then I could see it being a concern, but at $95 a barrel, which we are told by the oil crooks factors in the lower dollar, this kind of talk (especialy between the two countries who openly announce their hatred of us) is seen clearly for what it is, wishful thinking and conspiring by our enemies to launch an economic attack against our country.
I need a cup of coffee.
bzzzzztt..... (Game show wrong answer buzzer)
We have been sold on the “global economy”
We can’t even make a widget without buying some specialty widget screws made in Sri Lanka or whatever.
It would take a decade at least to unravel these ties to make American manufacturing more competitive.
This is all Greenspan’s fault, his disgraceful cheap dollar policies caused the housing boom and the inevitable housing depression that will soon be on us. The dollar needs to strengthen or we’re up the creek without a paddle.
We already have economic attacks against US right from within our own disappearing borders. I don’t mind pointing out the obvious from other American haters but the majority of US continue to ignore the dirt worshipers who have made our oil reserves holy ground/waters. And some people claim the oil markets are free markets... ha ha
With the credit collapse, no one really wants to hold dollars that much anymore. Inflation is going to really speed up soon, and the world knows it.
This isn’t economic terrorism, we did this to ourselves.
It would mean building more natural gas pipelines and add ones from Alaska to the lower 48, as well pipelines from Mexico/Canada.
Natural gas, especially increasing it's use 2 fold like you propose, will only run out faster than it is. At best that idea is a very short term fix. And we don't need a pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48, only to Northern Alberta to connect to that system which already supplies much of our natural gas.
Ultimately, if we are going to use hydrogen in any large way, we need to make it using electricity. The only answer is to build nuclear power plants, but we will still have to import all the uranium to run them. If we don't get off our butts and start building them and securing Uranium deposits (Canada is loaded with the stuff) we will end up with the short end of the stick because other countries will have beat us to it.
What is everyone upset about. Al Faisal’s job is to advance the interests of his own country. His country, like China, have a great deal of money denominated in Dollars. If the dollar collapses, those reserves lose value. Therefore a falling dollar costs them money and therefore they have no interest in seeing a falling dollar.
The dollar falls for two reasons and they are not equal in influence. The first reason is the mood of the marketplace for trading currency. This is about 70% of motion and defines the demand side of “supply and demand”. The second is American money supply — an out-of-favor parameter that was once followed intently only 20 years ago. It is no longer measured as effectively as it was.
If anything, the U.S. government itself is the primary culprit in this "economic terrorism" -- through its massive inflation of the U.S. dollar as a means to pay off the abject idiocy that passes for fiscal policy in the U.S.
I thought a weaker dollar is better, more exports.
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