OPEC Meeting Ends without Consensus
June 11, 2011 3 min. read

OPEC’s meeting in Vienna a couple days ago ended without the cartel agreeing on a production level. This hasn’t happened in years (if memory serves, the last time was during the Iran-Iraq War), and it has left many questioning the organization’s future. After 5 hours of talks, the Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said, […]

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Fossil Fuels = Addiction
November 21, 2010 1 min. read

I wouldn’t be the first person to analogize Americans’ thirst to fossil fuels to an addiction.  The arch-environmentalist George W. Bush said the US was “addicted to oil” in his State of the Union address in 2006.  What we do for the Mexican drug gangs in terms of addiction to their products while advancing their […]

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$$$- Not Good Enough
September 26, 2009 2 min. read

Iran is replacing the U.S. dollar by the euro in the country’s foreign exchange accounts.  The Arabian Business reported that the euro will be used to calculate the value of the country’s Oil Stabilization Fund (OSF).  The OSF, which forms part of Iran’s foreign exchange reserves, is a contingency fund set up to help the […]

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IEA agrees: OPEC's discipline is fraying
May 15, 2009 1 min. read

The International Energy Agency is now wondering what we had discussed earlier in the week: OPEC’s discipline is fraying. The Agency believes that OPEC members are beginning to cheat because oil prices have risen from $32 earlier this year in part due to OPEC’s coordinated cuts. However, when prices are $60 a barrel, discipline is […]

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As Prices Rise Some Frays on OPEC Edges
May 13, 2009 2 min. read

OPEC reported a rise in output despite a pledge from the organization’s member to reduce production to meet quotas agreed to in December. Five members (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Nigeria and Angola) increased production over the past month by a total of 180,000 bbls/day, although Saudi Arabia remains within its quota of roughly 8 mln […]

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Asian oil consumers and Opec members meet, but little action
April 27, 2009 2 min. read

OPEC and large Asian oil consuming countries led by Japan, India and China met on Sunday for the third Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable. The group’s goal is to To foster dialogue between Asia’s resource producers, primarily Middle East countries, and consumers, such as China and India, and to send a message to the world that […]

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Rising Powers v. OPEC
April 14, 2009 2 min. read

One of the untold stories in the headlines during the past few months is that the price of oil has climbed.  Recent reports have shown oil at $61 a barrel in the 4th quarter, definitely higher than the $30 reached in 2008.  Many financial analysts contribute the rise in price mainly to OPEC cuts.  Bloomberg […]

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OPEC decides to act like a cartel
March 17, 2009 2 min. read
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Over the weekend OPEC members decided not to cut oil production levels. Instead, they chose to focus on doing what cartels are supposed to do: join together to regulate output. OPEC announced yesterday that member states would restrict oil production to their allotted amounts “to contribute to market stability” as members have yet to completely […]

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