Post
Topic
Board Economics
Re: Saudi Arabia and OPEC Reveal Surprise Oil Production Cut
by
temple
on 06/04/2023, 01:05:17 UTC
https://news.bitcoin.com/saudi-arabia-and-opec-reveal-surprise-oil-production-cut-white-house-insists-cuts-arent-advisable-right-now/

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia and several major oil producers announced their plan to cut oil production by 1.15 million barrels per day, starting in May and continuing until the end of 2023. According to the Saudi Energy Ministry, the move was coordinated with some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members as a “precautionary measure” to stabilize the oil market.

White House response
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-02/opec-output-cuts-aren-t-advisable-right-now-white-house-says#xj4y7vzkg

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Are the US authorities no longer in control of the world situation?
Every country is using the resources at its disposal to protect its national interest. Joe Biden administration is not pleased with the human abuse that is spearheaded by the Saudi government headed by Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The crown Prince is gradually tilting toward Russia and China to seek partnerships. The cut in oil prices is spearheaded by Russia and other oil-producing nations because they want the price of oil to go high so that they can make more money. I am sure that the members of BRICS such as China and India will still enjoy discounted crude. But this influence will not last for too long because crude oil will soon become obsolete.

That is true about Joe Biden, but Joe Biden also is not dependent on oil from Saudi Arabia and hence couldn't care less. What if he was the president of a country that is mostly relying on oil for its industry and also for households? If I see this correctly the USA is still heavily relying on fossil fuels, even for the production of electricity. I am sure they are all for renewables and are speeding up the process, but up until shortly ago the US still has been a net importer of oil, but is now very close to being fully independent in terms of the numbers according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But it can't be denied that there are countries in the world that are still fully dependent on oil imports. For them any cut in the provision of oil is bad news, but I assume that the US still doesn't care because they would probably be able to increase production themselves and export it. Though I have no idea whether importing oil from the US is a lot more expensive than importing from the countries mentioned by OP.

In the end what this cut does is it accelerates the development and innovation in the renewable energy sector. The day will come where these oil rich countries won't benefit from their oil anymore, but that is exactly the reason why many of them have been investing their money all over the world in companies and infrastructure and they have done it while almost going unnoticed. I think many of them are all set even when they couldn't sell any oil in 10-15 years from now. It would be interesting to do some further research on how much the oil rich countries already own in the world.