Saudi Arabia to boost oil out put will pump prices fall?

Saudi Arabia to boost oil output. Will gas prices fall?[cm]

Obama Targets Speculation On Energy[wp]

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BY Terry Bankert 6/23/08 early edition http://attorneybankert.com/
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REFLECTION: I am not advocating war over oil prices. But we are beyond short term economics. We must develop alternative fuels. Our middle class life style depends upon it.[trb]
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THE POT IS CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah condemned oil "speculators" on Sunday at a summit on the spiralling price of crude which called for greater transparency in market dealings.[a] The speculators may have a role but the big villian is Saudia Arabia itself. They are holing down supply.[trb] While reaping record profits, Saudi Arabia is also growing increasingly concerned that oil current prices might eventually dampen economic growth around the world and lead to lower oil demand, as is already happening in the United States and other developed countries. [n]

ONLY SEVERAL COUNTRIES ARE UPSET OVER THE LOSS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS BECAUSE OF INCREASED FUEL COSTS? ABDULLAH MUST NOT GET OUT MUCH! Saudi output has risen to 9.7 million barrels a day (bpd), the king said, vowing to further increase production if necessary to defuse market tensions which have sent the price of a barrel of oil up to almost 140 dollars -- sparking angry protests in several countries.[a] An emergency energy summit meeting convened hastily here on Sunday underscored how few options the world has to push oil prices down from their record levels, as producers and consumers repeatedly emphasized starkly divergent views on both the fundamental causes and possible remedies for the current energy crisis.[n] Politicians in oil-consuming and oil-producing nations fear that rising prices could contribute to a global recession that would hurt all sides. [cm] It is not unusual for countries to go to war to secure something that they need and do not have. It looks now as if we have had two modern oil wars (can anybody doubt that the USA and Europe would have bothered to liberate Kuwait, or Iraq invade it, if it did not have the sixth – depending on statistics – largest oil reserves?) It is probable that there will be many more in the decades to comes.[w]

IS A MONARCH A DICTATOR WITH A CROWN? OR JUST A FOX IN THE CHICKEN KOOP! The monarch, who said Saudi Arabia would give 1.5 billion dollars to efforts to ease energy shortages in poor nations, told the 36-nation summit his country was "very concerned" about consumers worldwide.[a] For Saudi Arabia, the meeting was a rare foray into the spotlight, and an opportunity to underscore that the oil-rich kingdom was aware of growing anger and frustration caused by surging prices in oil-importing countries. [n] A seven-fold increase in the cost of oil since 2002 is causing growing economic and political pain in both industrialized countries and the developing world. [n]

THE PAIN WILL BECOME MORE INTENSE The International Energy Agency estimates that world oil use this year will climb 800,000 barrels a day, or 1 percent, as demand climbs in emerging markets. Stagnating production from Russia and the North Sea and disruption in Nigeria are also contributing to higher prices, which have touched off strikes, riots and accelerating inflation in nations around the world. [B]

I BELIEVE HE JUST LOOKED IN THE MIRROR He blamed increased oil consumption and taxes on fuel, but added: "Among other factors behind this unjust increase in oil prices is the abhorrent act of speculators acting for their own selfish interests."[a] The pain of escalating oil prices - crude sold for more than $134 a barrel on Friday, double year-ago levels - have cascaded throughout the U.S. economy. [c] Oil has become a hot-button political issue as the cost of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel have spiked in recent months. Congress has scheduled hearings this week to debate legislation that would attempt to dampen prices.[c]

HOW IRONIC THAT THE REPUBLICAN FREE MARKETEERS ARE SO QUIET ABOUT THESE SAUDI THIEVES... IT’S A MONOPOLY FREE MARKET SUPPLY AND DEMAND PREDICTORS OF PRICE DO NOT WORK IN THIS MONOPOLY! The summit in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah was the scene of an international debate over the cause of the doubling of oil prices in the past year.[a]

OBAMA ITS THE OIL COMPANIES DOING IT TO US Obama targeted the oil companies and traders after rejecting calls by both McCain and Bush to lift a ban on offshore oil drilling that has been in place for more than a quarter century.[i]

THE LOGIC HERE IS THAT THE SPECULATORS HAVE CAUSED PRODUCTION SHORTFALLS...REMEMBER IT IS A MONOPOPLY SUPPORTED (PROTECTED) BY YOUR GOVERNMENT ...THE SAUDIS SET SUPPLY. The United States and other Western powers blamed production shortfalls while Saudi Arabia and other Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members said speculators have played a key role.[a] On Saturday, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, attending the Saudi summit, attributed the record-high oil prices to lagging production.[c] Bodman said he did not believe speculators are the cause of high oil prices.[c] Since 2003, he said, global demand for oil has increased because of industry in China, India and the Middle East. But from 2005 to 2007, there was very little increase in supply.[c] Nations need an additional supply of energy to market, whether that energy is nuclear, coal, fossil fuels, solar or wind power, Bodman said.[c] "We spent 30 years digging ourselves into this hole," Bodman said. "It won't be solved soon."[c]

THE ISSUES ARE COMPLEX AND THE WORLD MUST EXERT STRONG PRESSURE TO CAUSE CHANGE. But for many Western governments, the prime culprit is a lack of enough oil to meet growing demand, principally from booming economies in China and India. [cm] "Fundamentally tight market conditions, in our view, are the main driver of price increases that we have seen over the last five years and particularly during recent months," Mr. Bodman told reporters. [cm] The kingdom – the only major exporter with enough capacity to significantly increase production – is under intense pressure from Western governments to increase output. Angered by high oil prices, Congress has initiated moves – so far unsuccessful – to force Saudi Arabia's hand. These have included a proposed halt to a major US arms sales package to Riyadh and draft legislation to allow US prosecutors to charge OPEC countries with antitrust violations. [cm]

REGULATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL MONOPOLY, WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST? The final communique by leaders and ministers from the 36 nations called for greater regulation of oil markets and greater investment in refining capacity.[a] "The transparency and regulation of financial markets should be improved through measures to capture more data on index fund activity and to examine cross-exchange interactions in the crude market," the statement said.[a] OBAMAS PLAN Sen. Barack Obama rolled out a proposal yesterday to curb speculation in energy markets, which his advisers said would help stabilize soaring gasoline prices. [wp] The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee laid out a four-step program that would, among other things, close an "Enron loophole" that protects some trading in energy futures from federal oversight, his advisers said. [wp] "I think everyone believes there's too much speculation in the oil markets, and a lot of it flows directly from that particular loophole," New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) said on a conference call hosted by the Obama campaign. [wp] The three other components of the plan, as described by Obama economic adviser Jason Furman, are to ensure that U.S. energy futures cannot be traded in offshore, unregulated markets; to work toward international regulation of oil futures markets, in cooperation with like-minded countries; and to have both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department investigate the oil markets. [wp]

OBAMA PLEDGE TO NOT LET BIG OIL MONEY ENRON US. HE ATTACKES MCCAIN'S ADVISOR GRAHM AS TAINTED.... Obama blamed former Republican Senator from Texas Phil Gramm, who serves as an economic adviser of his presidential rival, John McCain, for inserting a provision into the bill in 2000 "at the behest of Enron lobbyists" that exempted some energy traders from government oversight.

MC CAIN'S PLAN INEFFECTIVE The U.S. economy went into a nose dive last year as shaky home mortgage practices began to unravel, leading to foreclosure rates not seen in decades.[i] That, combined with rocketing oil prices and growing unemployment, have led Obama to charge that McCain's economic policies represent little more than a continuation of programs instituted by President George W. Bush, the 71-year-old Arizona senator's fellow Republican.[i]

HOW MUCH INVESTMENT IN REFINING CAPACITY IS BEING ARGUED BY THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES? It added: "An appropriate increase in investment, both upstream and downstream, is necessary to ensure that the markets are well supplied in a timely and adequate manner."[a] OPEC was split, however, over whether to follow the Saudi lead in increasing output.[a] Kuwait said it was ready to increase production, but the OPEC president -- Algeria's Oil Minister Chakib Khelil -- insisted this was not necessary.[a]

AMERICA SAYS THE SAUDI DICTATOR / MONARCH IS WRONG! US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said "there is no evidence that we can find that speculators are driving futures prices" to current record heights.[a]

MARKET MANIPULATION ANYONE! He told the meeting: "Market fundamentals show us that production has not kept pace with growing demand for oil, resulting in increasing -- and increasingly volatile -- prices."[a]

ASK YOUR SELF ...Q: AT WHAT PRICE PER GALLON OF GASOLINE WOULD YOU SUPPORT INVADING THE OIL PRODUCING COUNTRIES AND SEIZING THE OIL FIELDS? A:Would it be a pump price of $20 per gallon, $15, $10, $9,$8, $7, $6, $5, or $4 (bombs away).[trb] Warning that prices would almost certainly rise further, Bodman said: "In the absence of any additional crude supply, for every one percent increase in demand we would expect a 20 percent increase in price in order to balance the market."[a]

LOCK AND LOAD......currently $ 134 a barrel soon $200 a barrell... a 30% increase at the pump $4 x 1.30= $5. When do we start the draft and redeploy or armies? Or do we invest in alternative fuel and create policies , that do not include higher pump prices, to lower demand.[trb] “This means we will have $200 a barrel oil,” said Mohammed H. A. Abudawood, a prominent businessman and member of the Jeddah Economic Forum, after the speeches were finished and the delegates began drifting out of the room.[n]

THE MARKETS ARE GAMBLING AND THE WORLDS POPULATION IS GETTING VERY ANGRY German Economy Minister Michael Glos told the summit an increase in production would be "a strongly needed signal to the financial markets to not gamble any more on an increasing oil price."[a] India's Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Australia's Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson also called for increased output.[a]

IF THEIR SURVIVAL IS THREATENED THEY WILL SUPPORT A MARKET ADJUSTMENT, NOT TILL THEN. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammed al-Olaim said OPEC members "will not hesitate" to increase production if the market needs it.[a] But OPEC chief Khelil insisted there is enough oil to supply the market.[a]

IF THERE IS NO SUPPLY PROBLEM THEN THE WORLD IS BEING RIPPED OFF "We believe that the market is in equilibrium. The price is disconnected from fundamentals. It is not a problem of supply."[a]

NEXT MEETING IN SEPTEMBER , WE WILL SEE WHO STILL HAS TERRITORIAL SOVERINTY? Khelil said the 13-nation OPEC would only consider a production increase at a meeting in September.[a]

OPEC IS BLAMING AMERICA.... "We believe speculation, in its noble and not noble terms, has its impact," the OPEC chief said, also blaming "uncertainties on the dollar" for the soaring price.[a] THEY SAY THEY HAVE OIL TO SPARE A Saudi source said there is scope for other countries to follow the production increase as there are up to three million barrels of spare capacity within OPEC nations.[a]

WE WANT A NEW DEAL OR IT WILL BE A NEW DAY British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, senior Western leaders at the summit, called for a "new deal" between consumers and producers.[a] But like many Europeans at the meeting he said production shortages and speculation had to be studied.[a] Brown said that the world was going through "the biggest of all three oil shocks" in recent decades.[a]

OUR ARMIES ARE IN THE WRONG COUNTRIES Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said, however, that the world has enough crude to last "many decades" and that Riyadh will invest 129 billion dollars to be able to produce 15 million barrels a day (bpd).[a] Nuaimi said Saudi Arabia's production capacity will rise to 12.5 million bpd by the end of 2009 and another 2.5 million bpd could be added if demand warranted.[a]

RESOURCES ARE NEEDED TO DEVELOP ALTERNATIVE FUEL, IF WE CAN FUND THE HALBURTON WARS WE CAN FUND THIS RESEARCH. But asked how all this would help remedy the worst oil crisis in decades, some ministers seemed baffled and uneasy. [n] “Let me ask you,” said India’s oil minister, Murli Deora, when a group of reporters asked him for his views on how to address the crisis. “what else can we do to bring harmony between buyers and sellers?”[n] Oil wars seem inevitable. Even if the OPEC countries wanted to be ‘fair’ and allocate the oil evenly when production declines, it would mean that major users would face shortages and high prices. Will an American or Chinese leader stand back in the face of rising prices and domestic unrest or will they resort to military pressure, maybe on the pretence of terrorist threats or instability? We have grown used in the latter half of the Twentieth Century to major countries fighting economically or by proxy, forgetting the thousands of years of near-perpetual conflict that occurred before. The wars of the Twenty First Century could be the first sign of a return to a historical way of life, a regression in civilisation.[w]

-end Posted here by Terry Bankert ... 06/22/08

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— where did this stuff come from--
[a] http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjeemQwn9qRJNc4Y-M9HprTnTz8Q
[c] CNN http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/22/news/international/Saudi_summit/?postversion=2008062214
[n] The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/world/middleeast/23saudi.html?hp
[b] BLOOMBURG http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=agZ1gqbuhxpo&refer=africa
[bw] Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2008/gb20080622_256542.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis
[w] The Wolf at the Door http://wolf.readinglitho.co.uk/mainpages/oilwars.html
[cm] Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0623/p06s02-wome.html [wp] The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/22/AR2008062201865.html
[I] INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/23/america/NA-POL-US-Elections.php
[ch] China View http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/23/content_8420299.htm
[trb] Comments of Terry Bankert to include CAP headlines. http://attorneybankert.com/ 63840/ 15517

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