Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Oil Did Not 'Crash' But the Price Dropped Way Down

CNN loves to talk of crashes, plunges, and the imminent death of us all but that doesn't well serve a story when we have watched the price of oil decay over a substantial period of time.  (CNN.  Oil crash sparks OPEC revolt against Saudis)

The matter of international gamesmanship with oil prices was reviewed some days ago with Kannafoot and Lotho in terms of the currently-low oil prices are a good thing over any long-term perspective.  That story was covered in The Super Tanker Traffic Jam - Updated w/ Kannafoot Response and now we see another article from CNN, this with somewhat more of the perspective.

The CNN article is only partially accurate insofar as it mentions the way Saudi Arabia has been flooding the oil markets with oil it can pump more inexpensively than anywhere else around.  Other nations are furious but Saudi is only a partial explanation.

Mentioned but not explored so deeply in the article is the level to which oil produced by frackers in the U.S. has also had a substantial effect on world oil prices and, thus, America may or may not be responsible for the current glut in oil supplies but it appears certain it's a major contributor to it.

As with the previous article regarding the Super Tankers, the prognosis remains the same.  There are some high-finance hooligans on the loose with all this and the fact it can be profitable to leave a loaded oil tanker floating at sea for long periods shows a major part of the problem.

In the technical jargon to describe this situation, 'grab your ass,' because this type of financial gamesmanship is only temporarily a benefit to the people.

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