Current Oil Price

moimitou · Post by **moimitou** » 09 Nov 2011, 15:17

haha, we have so much fun at PS, (back down now though)

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 09 Nov 2011, 17:03

Italian panic today has been offset by a big drop in total US oil and product inventories. 15M barrels in one week.

WTI now testing $98.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 09 Nov 2011, 17:31

RalphW wrote:Italian panic today has been offset by a big drop in total US oil and product inventories. 15M barrels in one week.

WTI now testing $98.

Do you know the root cause of the 15M barrel drop?
And while I'm asking questions, What is the best non subscribed source of data on recent worldwide conventional crude exports? Note that I'm looking for what has been exported from one country to another as I think that is the obvious first indicator of a shortage.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 09 Nov 2011, 22:21

US stocks have been declining steadily for months. They are simply not importing enough, presumably because they anticipate future demand to be lower than it is now. Or for some reason they cannot find countries prepared to sell to them at a price their internal market will support.

This is a mine of oil export information.

http://mazamascience.com/OilExport/

The Oil Drum is an excellent place to look for export/import analysis , especially by the poster Charles Mackay.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 10 Nov 2011, 02:36

RalphW wrote:US stocks have been declining steadily for months. They are simply not importing enough, presumably because they anticipate future demand to be lower than it is now. Or for some reason they cannot find countries prepared to sell to them at a price their internal market will support.

This is a mine of oil export information.

http://mazamascience.com/OilExport/

The Oil Drum is an excellent place to look for export/import analysis , especially by the poster Charles Mackay.

Thanks.that is an interesting site and the graph shows total exports flat or declining hence the support for 100+/barrel.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 11 Nov 2011, 16:28

WTI tops $99. We might see it back in 3 figures by end of trading.

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 11 Nov 2011, 16:36

RalphW wrote:US stocks have been declining steadily for months. They are simply not importing enough, presumably because they anticipate future demand to be lower than it is now. Or for some reason they cannot find countries prepared to sell to them at a price their internal market will support.

Which is precisely why they (and we) are invading those countries and stealing the oil instead.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 11 Nov 2011, 19:25

Ludwig wrote: Which is precisely why they (and we) are invading those countries and stealing the oil instead.

Nice plan but it fails in the execution. Nasty, evil regimes seem to supply the world with more oil before they have been bombed to smithereens than after.

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 11 Nov 2011, 23:12

biffvernon wrote: Nice plan but it fails in the execution. Nasty, evil regimes seem to supply the world with more oil before they have been bombed to smithereens than after.

The question is, who do they supply oil to? If (or when) the dollar tanks, it won't be the US.

The "problem" with Libya and Iraq was that the governments were giving the proceeds of oil to their own people. Can't have that.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 12 Nov 2011, 03:06

Ludwig wrote: The question is, who do they supply oil to? If (or when) the dollar tanks, it won't be the US.

The "problem" with Libya and Iraq was that the governments were giving the proceeds of oil to their own people. Can't have that.

Do you really believe that? The average Libyan or Iraqi citizen must have been living a Jersey shore standard of living.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 12 Nov 2011, 03:45

I edited the above to give the quotation its correct ownership.

Gaddaffi only gave the oil money to people who supported him, which was why a home grown rebellion started. Saddam Hussein was the same. The Iraqi Sunnis did very well under Sunni Saddam but now the Kurds and the Shias are getting their fair share, which is part of the reason for continued violence.

The Iraq war started because Saddam was about to start trading oil in Euros or any currency on offer apart from the dollar. That would have started a decline in dollar status which would have fatally damaged the ability of the US to continue to trade at a deficit with the rest of the world. It would have put an end to "The American Way of Life" which must be protected at all costs, especially by a Republican like Bush!!!

Please take your blinkers off, Ludwig.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Nov 2011, 07:53

Ludwig wrote: The question is, who do they supply oil to? If (or when) the dollar tanks, it won't be the US.

It doesn't really matter. If EvilNation sells its oil to EvilEmpire then EvilEmpire will buy less for NiceCountry. NiceCountry will then have to sell its oil to us because nobody else wants it.

No matter what contracts different countries forge between each other, the marginal barrel gets sold on the New York Mercentile Exchange at the spot price of the moment. It goes to the highest bidder.

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 12 Nov 2011, 09:57

vtsnowedin wrote:
Ludwig wrote: The question is, who do they supply oil to? If (or when) the dollar tanks, it won't be the US.

The "problem" with Libya and Iraq was that the governments were giving the proceeds of oil to their own people. Can't have that.
Do you really believe that? The average Libyan or Iraqi citizen must have been living a Jersey shore standard of living.

I'm not saying they gave all their proceeds to the people, but the people were pretty well-off. Libyans (not sure about Iraqis) owned their own homes and had a good diet, decent health care and a high level of education. That's more than they'll be getting now.

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 12 Nov 2011, 10:14

kenneal - lagger wrote:I edited the above to give the quotation its correct ownership.

Gaddaffi only gave the oil money to people who supported him, which was why a home grown rebellion started. Saddam Hussein was the same.

I believe the rebellion in Libya was probably started by outside forces. If you think this idea is nuts, consider what happened in Chile in 1973. If you've got the manpower, launching a coup in a foreign country is really not so difficult.

The Iraqi Sunnis did very well under Sunni Saddam but now the Kurds and the Shias are getting their fair share, which is part of the reason for continued violence.

Well maybe... But there are reasons to be suspicious about a possible role of our forces in the violence:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php ... icleId=972

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/se ... q.military

The Iraq war started because Saddam was about to start trading oil in Euros or any currency on offer apart from the dollar. That would have started a decline in dollar status which would have fatally damaged the ability of the US to continue to trade at a deficit with the rest of the world. It would have put an end to "The American Way of Life" which must be protected at all costs, especially by a Republican like Bush!!!

Please take your blinkers off, Ludwig.

OK, I think your objection is based on a misunderstanding - I wasn't claiming that ALL the proceeds were going to ALL the people.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 16 Nov 2011, 14:51

WTI back over $101. Brent down sharply. A bit of economic reality on both sides of the pond

(Economic reality in the office too. I had to grovel to the administrators for the price of a service call-out on our defunct photocopier)