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| Arabia |
| The death of OPEC |
| 2008-09-11 |
| Saudi Arabia walked out on OPEC yesterday, saying it would not honor the cartel's production cut. It was tired of rants from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the well-dressed oil minister from Iran. As the world's largest crude exporter, the kingdom in the desert took its ball and went home. As the Saudis left the building, the message was shockingly clear. “Saudi Arabia will meet the market’s demand,” a senior OPEC delegate told the New York Times. “We will see what the market requires and we will not leave a customer without oil." |
| Posted by:anonymous2u |
| #9 The Saudis are smart enough to realize that they don't really want to pi$$ of crude oil consumers, or the consumers will really accelerate alternative fuels. The Saudis want stability in the market. Other members of OPEC, like Iran and Venezuela, are cash flow driven morons. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE THE PEOPLE HERE AT HOME [USA] SEEM SERIOUS ABOUT SYN-FUELS [OR MORE ACCURATELY, THEY SEEM SERIOUS ABOUT USING ANYTHING THAT WILL REPLACE FOREIGN PETROL-BASED FUELS]! |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2008-09-11 22:37 |
| #8 Wow, interesting. Talking heads will likely ignore this, but it sounds like real NEWS to me. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2008-09-11 22:19 |
| #7 I am surprised by the Saudi position. I guess they think Iran is unstable and unpredictable also. Or they realize Hugo and Dinnerjacket are idiots as do we. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-09-11 22:19 |
| #6 The Saudis are smart enough to realize that they don't really want to pi$$ of crude oil consumers, or the consumers will really accelerate alternative fuels. The Saudis want stability in the market. Other members of OPEC, like Iran and Venezuela, are cash flow driven morons. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-09-11 21:33 |
| #5 "Wonder what's in it for them (besides more money)?" Several possibilities: a. Squeeze us hard enough and we get serious about alternative oil sources and alternative energy, thus hurting their market. b. Squeeze us hard enough and we do to the governments of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran what we've already done to the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan -- only this time it's ONLY about oil. Unlike Iran and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia can see that provoking the sleeping giant could re-make the map. Another 9/11 type incident or a temporary closure of the Persian Gulf could turn us quite nasty, and we have the power to be very nasty indeed. Imagine another 3,000 innocents dead in the U.S., the northeast short on home heating oil, and gasoline rationing: the U.S. could get very nasty indeed. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-11 21:17 |
| #4 Hugo: "but I get to ride on a Russian Bomber"!!11!!!! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-11 21:01 |
| #3 Maybe the nuclear breath of Iran is breathing down their neck and they feel better knowing that the west is so dependent on them that it will save their ass. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-09-11 20:40 |
| #2 Yeah, newc. Wonder what's in it for them (besides more money)? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-09-11 19:45 |
| #1 That's some stand up stuff. |
| Posted by: newc 2008-09-11 18:18 |