Oil producers hoping OPEC will still bail them out as Saudi oil minister faces rivals today

Financial Post ^ | Feb. 23, 2016 | Luc Cohen, Reuters

[rickmichaels]

HOUSTON - This week, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi will for the first time face the victims of his decision to keep oil pumps flowing despite a global glut: U.S. shale oil producers struggling to survive the worst price crash in years.

While soaring U.S. shale output brought on by the hydraulic fracturing revolution contributed to oversupply, many blame the 70-percent price collapse in the past 20 months primarily on Naimi, seen as the oil market’s most influential policymaker.

During his keynote on Tuesday at the annual IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston, Naimi is addressing U.S. wildcatters and executives who are stuck in a zero sum game.

[AndyJackson]

Biggest concern is middle east pools picking up cheap assets in pending bankruptcy from this.

[factoryrat]

I think the OPEC price dive had a two fold purpose, and the domestic big oil producers played a part in it. The first part was to bankrupt the smaller producers, so their assets could be picked up for pennies on the dollar, the second part was to get the US to drop its ban on exporting crude oil. This will kill the domestic refiners. Now, the producers can export crude overseas, have it refined, and then shipped back to the US for cheaper than it costs to refine it here in the US.

The refineries in the now de-nationalized mexican petroluem industry are about to experience a massive boom in refining, along with a massive influx of US capital investment in mexican refineries.

[riverdawg]

” ... producers can export crude overseas, have it refined, and then shipped back to the US for cheaper than it costs to refine it here in the US.”

Blame that on oppressive government regulation of existing refineries and the failure to approve construction of very few new refineries in the past 30 years.