Incredibly stupid and short-sighted.
Too bad I can’t put down a “rest of my lifetime” Diesel and Gasoline reserve early in the next year.....
Then again, it would seem more rational to go ahead with the project, on the assumption that by the time it's finished, oil will be back up.
The Saudis lowered their prices in order to undercut Bakken. Building the pipeline, though, takes control of the price away from the Saudis altogether.
Thats OK. In bits and pieces, a Bakken pipeline system is slowly taking shape. Its just that a major Bakken-Cushing line, or a Keystone line crossing the Bakken, would accelerate the process and make it definitive.
Well, looking to the bright side, the US should be able to replenish (or even expand) the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at bargain basement prices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve_(United_States)
However, the SPR is currently about 95% full and only needs another 31 million barrels to be at 100% of existing capacity (727 million barrels). Preliminary plans exist to expand the SPR to between 1 to 1.5 billion barrels. Now might be a good time to implement those plans.
We make sensors used in offshore oil exploration. The bottom has just fallen out of that market and our orders have stoppd dead.
This seems to me more relevant to our national interest than foreign aid... redirect a billion from all those American hating foreign governments and build it with those funds.
Sliding oil prices have effects folks....rapid price changes can really raise heck!
I recall oil at $9.oo barrel....and what happened to the Texas/OK/La economies.