Oil producers are cutting back on capital investments. The uncertain economy is causing demand and therefore prices to fall, and tariffs on steel and tools are driving up costs.
Renewables projects, even those underway, are facing price uncertainty and regulatory pushback.
Gift link:
40 years ago, OPEC prevented US alternate energy projects getting any traction by suppressing the price of oil. Think the same plan is being used now to kill “green new deal” type projects, to keep everyone dependent on oil and gas?
Steve
OPEC currently seems more concerned about keeping the global spot price at or below the break-even price for US fracking production. They’ve straight up said as much, so they are definitely trying to drive down prices.
TIG also requested OPEC increase production, which they did.
There is a school of thought that says for strategic reasons it makes sense to use up other countries’ oil reserves before our own. So the current policies designed to cripple US oil production may be part of that as well.
It does seem odd though, that we export oil and natural gas which lowers the trade deficit, the oil field provides good paying jobs, and US companies keep the profits. And of course, once it goes away, the industry will be slow to start back up. So targeting the domestic oil industry in a manner that benefits OPEC doesn’t make a ton of sense from an economic or national security standpoint.
Completely off topic: Qatar is giving TIG a luxury 747 which is his to keep! It sure is nice of them to do something like that. Sometimes, I think they love our president more than we do.
I heard thinking like that 40 years ago. But that runs counter to the Shiny “JC” thinking “what puts the most loot in my pocket today?”
The amount of crude and refined products that the US exports, is pretty close to what the US imports. The US is cutting off imports from Venezuela and Mexico. Those countries can sell their crude elsewhere. Canada can only get a fraction of it’s crude to a port. Much of it is landlocked, with the only practical way out being pipelines to the US.
TIG has signaled to USian refiners to start switching their plants to an all light feedstock. I posted the link some time ago. hypothetical: once the refiners that have TIG’s attention have switched to an all US produced light feedstock, TIG accuses Carney of not “playing ball” and cuts off imports of Canadian crude. 3Mbpd vanishes from global supply. Bomb Kharg Island into rubble, because Iran did not “play ball” and another 1.5Mbpd vanishes.
It’s just a hypothetical…
Steve
The masses love it when energy prices fall!
The Captain
Since energy is an input to almost everything, the economy loves it as well.
DB2