The prospects of a global economic slowdown are beginning to hit oil demand
The much-awaited ministerial meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia, in the expanded OPEC+, opted to increase its September output by just 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Despite the urgings of U.S. President Joe Biden to open Saudi Arabia’s crude oil taps during his visit there, the announced output…
Saudi Arabia isn’t ready to ditch Russia
After a brief lull and a price drop, crude oil markets are heating up again, surging by more than US$2 a barrel last week. The Aug. 3 expanded OPEC+ ministerial meeting, which includes Russia, is just around the corner. And signals from producing countries aren’t helping to stabilize the markets. In addition, the threat of…
An intense tug of war is being waged on the global crude horizon
Stakeholders continue to make interesting moves across the global energy chess board. Six days after U.S. President Joe Biden flew out of Saudi Arabia – without any public commitment from Riyadh to increase crude output significantly – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman spoke by phone, underlining the importance of…
Biden wanted more crude, Mohammed bin Salman needed recognition. The visit served both purposes
What did United States President Joe Biden gain from a trip that took him to Saudi Arabia, the state he once promised to make into the pariah he said it deserved to be? What did Biden get from meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he has avoided until now? In response to…
U.S. and Canada should work together to build new pipelines to strengthen North American energy security
Here’s an important message for U.S. President Joe Biden as he heads to Saudi Arabia tomorrow to ask the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase oil production: he should be asking Canada instead. Canada’s oil producers have helped to free American consumers from the world’s oil dictators before and can do it again…
Our choice is clear: protect the life we love or keep electing these idiots
If there’s any point to writing about energy, it’s to perhaps try to pull together disparate bits of information that the average citizen is too busy to notice, the sort of random and arcane stats and events that only genuine weirdos devote their spare hours to. Truffle pigs find the truffles. People learning about energy…
And the U.S. is getting ready to cave in
With crude oil fortunes on an upswing, Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest crude producer – is playing its cards very well. The crude oil markets have been transformed, with prices starting in 2022 at US$75.69 and now trading at around US$115 a barrel. That’s a gain of just over 50 per cent so far…
The left loves to fixate on the façade of politics and Karine Jean-Pierre is a prime example
United States President Joe Biden announced on May 5 that press secretary Jen Psaki would be leaving the White House. Her replacement would be principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who assumed the role on May 13. Psaki, a longtime Democratic politico who worked in former President Barack Obama’s White House as communications director and…
The speech’s overall tone was positive and upbeat
U.S. President Joe Biden gave his first state of the union address on Mar. 1. How did he perform overall? Let’s get the obvious analysis out of the way. There were many things in Biden’s address that I disagreed with. His political agenda is left-leaning and focused on increasing the size and involvement of the…
Geopolitics has been behind the surging markets
Oil and politics go hand in hand. They’re virtually inseparable. Recent events once again highlight the energy world’s dynamics. Fundamental factors have played a significant role in getting crude oil prices to the current levels. Yet, none can deny that, to a great extent, geopolitics has been behind the surging markets. Recent events underline this.…