Ah, the Arab Spring! How convenient for it to alight just when oil prices were once again going through the roof. Saudi Arabia and its OPEC brethren are trying so hard to make us understand that their need for higher oil prices is now more essential than ever before. They cite the sharp increase in budgetary spending required in response to the "Arab Spring" to keep their restive populations in check.
In other words, folks, you like the "Arab Spring?" Well then, pay for it through higher oil prices. This is akin to France proclaiming, 'We need you to make up for our budget shortfall so we will significantly increase the price of Camembert 'fromage' exports.' Yes, yes, I realize our passion for Camembert doesn't compare to our need for crude oil and petroleum products, but you get the idea, the concept is about the same.
The irony is that we (the U.S. and oil consumers throughout the world) are being asked to bail out the budgets of OPEC nations, especially the booming Gulf Arab States (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, U.A.E. et al.) while we and much of the rest of the world are sinking into recession, if not depression. Saudi Arabia seems poised to rein in production to protect a price of $100/bbl for Brent crude. To support its objectives, earlier this month it raised the price of its main crude grade, Arab Light, to Asian customers, according to the Centre of Global Energy Studies in London. Wittingly or unwittingly, this is making Iranian oil that much more attractive to these very same buyers -- and, of course, in case you missed the point, it's a clear signal from the Saudis that the price for Brent crude better not sink below $100/bbl.
Given the prosperity of the Gulf States piggybacking on extortionist oil prices while the world's economies are reeling, it is well past time for those in charge of our government, especially now, given our growing domestic production of oil and gas bringing us to the cusp being free of all dependence on Persian Gulf and Eastern Hemisphere oil supplies, and natural gas supplies altogether, take the initiative to whisper sweet 'somethings' into their assembled ears before the OPEC meeting, somewhat along the following lines:
"Gentlemen, your oil cartel game in restraint of free trade in oil markets has gone on for too long. It's time you bellied up to the bar and paid your fair share to rectify one the greatest economic distortions, shell games and hijackings in human experience. If you continue to obstruct a free market in oil pricing, we the United States will in short order withdraw our Naval Task Force plying the Persian Gulf at a cost to America's citizens of hundreds of millions a day, and leave you and your coastline undefended by us. We would, of course, wish you well in dealing on your own with your neighbor Iran and its murderously bellicose ambitions.
And good luck!"
Follow Raymond J. Learsy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/raymondLearsy
If setting up giant solar farms cost us a large investment, so what? The money would go to American workers, rather than to support the armies of high priced hookers required by the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.
THINK of what we could have accomplished with that amount of money, had we used it for research and development of alternative renewable energy resources here at home.
For those that weren't around at the time. Please read President Carter's energy speech from 1977.
For a so called "Failure" he sure pegged that one right.
If only the American people had listened.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-energy/
"I give myself, very good advice, but I very seldom follow it, that explains the trouble that I'm always in" (From the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland)
Reading your post and link made reading Learsy's claptrap worthwhile. After starting to read the speech, I remembered watching it long ago.
Carter was no failure...........he was unappreciated.
I agree, this is nothing more than yet ANOTHER attempt by OPEC to extort money for doing nothing.
OPEC's nations have been exporting oil for profit since th 1930's. In all that time have they ever built a real economy around real products? No! They have just been sitting on ther rears doing nothing except collect checks and abusing thier women ans killing thier enemies with someone elses money.
Time to stop.
If the "free" markets are not allowed to decide supply and demand then the OPEC nations should have to pay MORE for everthing they get, so we can maintain our economies with THIER money.
Tell OPEC to flip off. We do need nor want thier oil.
They want prices to maintain at $100 per barrel? Then they should not have jacked it up to $145 per barrel...
We in America put organized criminals in jail (unless your a Bankster or a Wall Street thief, who are currently protected by Congress, appearantly...).
Lets charge them with racketeering and put them in jail.
Barrel Meter charts: http://trendlines.ca/free/peakoil/BarrelMeter/BarrelMeter.htm
We can try to produce more domestic oil, but not for long as our reserves are too small and our consumption too great.
It might be time to take a more serious look at efficiency and alternative sources instead of playing around the edge.
In the meantime, OPEC has us over a barrel.
A solution won't come fast, but what if we had been steadily working on it since the shot across the bow years ago?
As ugly as we might be, we would look terrible without a nose.... and besides you can't expect us to start WALKING everywhere, can you?
Read the link above for a breakdown on where the US imports its oil from.
Only 13% is imported from the Middle East/OPEC. The rest comes from Canada/Mexico and Venezuela, Nigeria etc..
Since the Arab oil embargoes of the 1960s and 70s, it's been conventional wisdom to talk about American dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf. But the global oil market has changed dramatically since then.
Today, the U.S. actually gets most of its imported oil from Canada and Latin America.
And many Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. now imports roughly the same amount of oil from Africa as it does from the Persian Gulf. African imports were a bit higher in 2010, while Persian Gulf oil accounted for a bit more last year.
America is one of the world's largest oil producers, and close to 40 percent of U.S. oil needs are met at home. Most of the imports currently come from five countries: Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela and Nigeria.
Only 8% from Saudi Arabia a US ally where women are not allowed to vote or drive.
and gas?
Surely OPEC and what it does is meaningless, and we can create $2.50 gal
gas on our own.
When I tell people that sure we can produce more and are, but they can
intentionally produce less and the free market will keep the price of oil and
gas wherever they want it to be, they look at me as if I had just said the dumbest
thing any human could possibly say.
First one has to realize that the Oil Lobby owns everything, no I'm not suggesting direct ownership, but by virtue of the fact that they can raise or lower prices on a "Prerequisite" (with a capital P) resource means that they can own things indirectly. This extends to Politicians, Banks, and Wall Street, in essence the Global Economy.
The Charter of our Constitution is one that gives the illusion that this kind of top-down power and control over "the Economy" is what we Citizens were supposed to prevent.
Americans have failed in their Constitutional Duty and they will now pay the price, the Oil Lobby has no allegiance to anyone or anything.
Now some reading this may think that I'm implying that there is a "conspiracy" or coordinated effort to keep the world enslaved to the Oil Lobby. Well, that would be wrong. I do not believe that and there does not have to be any such conscious effort for harm to come to us from unregulated Market forces, just as there does not need to exist a global conspiracy to addict people to crack cocaine for harm to come to people from that market.