The Russians and Iranians have been problems for the Saudis for years. The new enemy is American oil and it hurts Saudi profits more than Russia and Iran. It’s American oil the Saudis are targeting.
Best case:
Iran and Saudi Arabia fight their proxy Shia-Sunni war for a long time. The will need to pump lots of oil to pay for this and spend all their oil money on America weapons...
Everyone is focusing on the effect falling oil prices are having on Russia. The Russians have suffered and survived worse degradations. The real story is in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have huge commitments to subsidize destitute Sunni Egypt. It is estimated that it is costing the Saudis $8-10 billion per month the subsidize Egypt and other critical Sunni entities. Without the subsidies the price of food and other essentials would skyrocket and the chaos would be unmanageable. The “Arab Spring” would then finally come to Arabia and sweep the Saudi royals into the proverbial dustbin of history. So far the French have refused to give the Saudis any discounts on the grain they are purchasing to feed Egypt.
Already at $1.95 in North Texas.
There never was any such a thing as “peak oil” - the earth shall continue to have petroleum pumped out of its crust a millennium from now. Some oil is always being regenerated at the Mohorovicic Discontinuity, where untold number of chemical and physical reactions proceed unabated, as they have since the planet cooled enough to form a crust. Some small amount of oil MAY have been produced through the decomposition of dinosaur remains, through a process known as Thermal Depolymerization.
Thermal depolymerization occurs in nature when an accumulated biomass is heated and pressurized in the earth’s crust over millions of years. This biomass, also known as kerogen, is believed to react with clay mineral enzymes at temperatures below 200 degrees C (392 degrees F), which produces oil. Actually the process only takes a few hours once the optimal conditions are reached, and this process can be used with all kinds of organic waste, not just dead dinosaurs. It can be and has been applied on an industrial basis, though the current cost to produce the crude oil is higher than the current market price of crude.
I don’t think obama will stand by and let islamists suffer because of low oil prices, he will do something, not sure what maybe use the EPA to shut down the industry or Ex Order to cease and desist; whatever he will not let America prosper at the expense of islam, whatever he decides to do it is apparent at this time; no one will stop him, the republicans if they don’t throw out boehner will be but a flock of meandering sheep.
Oil prices since 2008 have been based on a conscious fraud: the threat of an Iranian blockade in the Straits of Hormuz.
If everyone would recall, that was the excuse used for the initial run-up.
Once the price was there...hard to pull it back. Everyone in the biz likes pulling in the cash.
But it wasn’t hard to see that the price was based on BS, not supply fundamentals. But that can only happen for so long. Like until the ocean of supply overwhelms the lie.
Oil is merely finding its natural price.
I paid $1.85 last fill-up (that was with a dime discount from Kroger)
N.W of Indy in Crawfordsville the lowest price was $1.52 yesterday.
I think we may see $1.20 gas soon.