Oil dips below $40/barrel
December 18th 2008 00:34
Today, oil dropped below $40/barrel before rebounding to settle at $40.06. Oil-producing nations are panicked. In recent days, they have announced a total production cut of 4.5 million barrels/day in an attempt to stop the freefall in oil prices. So far, though, the price has continued to drop in the face of a global recession. Those countries whose economies are largely dependent on oil now find themselves in dire straits as a result of the reduction in revenue from the sale of oil.
Good.
I don't wish ill on people in general, but the countries who supply us with oil are very often our enemies. They use the wealth they accumulate through oil sales to do some awful things. In case you haven't noticed, Iran is suddenly much quieter about its nuclear program. I read that Iran is also pulling its agents out of Iraq. I haven't seen any Iranian-backed forays into Jordan or Israel lately. I haven't seen Russia re-invade Georgia or any of its other former provinces in the last few weeks. Even the mouthy Hugo Chavez from Venezuela has largely shut his yap. He's still trying to forge alliances with unscrupulous partners, but he has been emasculated by the dramatic reduction in oil revenues. Yes, the oil market collapse has sucked the oxygen out of the room and left many of our adversaries gasping for breath.
The US is also suffering greatly from the weight of the recession, but many of the countries that would do us harm are down for the count. Cheap oil is good news for the US and good news for the non-oil-producing world. I can only hope that we go ahead and put in place a plan to break our dependence on foreign oil. Then, when oil prices rebound -- and they will rebound -- we will be able to tell the oil-producing countries to go and pound sand.
Good.
I don't wish ill on people in general, but the countries who supply us with oil are very often our enemies. They use the wealth they accumulate through oil sales to do some awful things. In case you haven't noticed, Iran is suddenly much quieter about its nuclear program. I read that Iran is also pulling its agents out of Iraq. I haven't seen any Iranian-backed forays into Jordan or Israel lately. I haven't seen Russia re-invade Georgia or any of its other former provinces in the last few weeks. Even the mouthy Hugo Chavez from Venezuela has largely shut his yap. He's still trying to forge alliances with unscrupulous partners, but he has been emasculated by the dramatic reduction in oil revenues. Yes, the oil market collapse has sucked the oxygen out of the room and left many of our adversaries gasping for breath.
The US is also suffering greatly from the weight of the recession, but many of the countries that would do us harm are down for the count. Cheap oil is good news for the US and good news for the non-oil-producing world. I can only hope that we go ahead and put in place a plan to break our dependence on foreign oil. Then, when oil prices rebound -- and they will rebound -- we will be able to tell the oil-producing countries to go and pound sand.
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