Replies

Red, back when I was an actual person working in the KSA, I was told by some people with very expensive cloth on their heads that the actual cost of production, not counting depreciation, and the other arcane allowances the awl bidness has invented, including insane greed, was about $0.50/bbl.

I was also told by responsible officials that at the time, they had a "Thousand years of reserves, even factoring in increased demand." That was the mid 90's. They were not counting new finds in the Empty Quarter that were since conservatively estimated to double known Saudi reserves.

I sometimes think the squalid truth of the matter is that without some sort of output constricting mechanism, the world would drown in cheap crude. Shortage? Reserves drying up? Could be from the same school of thought thast brought us Global Warming.

The biggest thing that actually is GW's fault? Not leaving behind an energy policy. After all, he was in the awl bidness hisself. For the next century and half at least, as much as the idiotic Greenies and Luddites will weep and knash their teeth, the world will run on hydrocarbons and nuclear power.

Sure, we'll switch to Hydrogen, fusion, solar, but that has to be a long-term coherent plan. Coal, Oil, Gas? They're cheap, abundant, and very clean when used with modern technology.

Can we not have some non-lawyer make that point while serving us in the government? One thing for sure about the awl bidness, somebody always lying. Maybe those Saudi officials were lying to me, but Muslims hardly ever lie when they've been drinking.