America’s shale boom is sending shockwaves through OPEC as the organization heads for its annual meeting Friday, The Wall Street Journal reports this morning.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/q8aznoj
Tag Archives: OPEC
Forecasters cut 2013 oil demand growth estimates
The world’s top oil forecasters this week all cut their 2013 oil demand forecasts due to subdued economic growth, with the figures showing increasing similarity in the views of producers and consumers.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday trimmed its global oil demand growth estimate, which followed similar moves by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/clb3zrj
Three Dilemmas Awaiting OPEC in the Future
OPEC faces a triple dilemma over the short, medium and long term, none of which have good outcomes for the cartel. The short term is simple; prices are likely to correct into 2013 below price bands that are deemed economically and politically comfortable. That strikes on OPEC’s medium term problem; the geological cost of production is now structurally out of sync with the geopolitical cost of survival. When OPEC doesn’t get the petrodollars they need to appease restive populations, the default position will be tough political repression to tighten their grip on power. Whether that ‘works’ as an effective coping mechanism remains to be seen; political outages might well help to lift interim prices, but this merely highlights OPEC’s long term nadir. The higher prices go, the more demand will fall – and more importantly – non-OPEC production explodes beyond the cartel to drive down prices. Any way you look at it, OPEC’s triple dilemma doesn’t have any easy exits.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/cmoo542
OPEC acknowledges shale oil supply may be significant
OPEC acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that technology for extracting oil and gas from shale is changing the global supply picture significantly, and said demand for crude will rise more slowly than it had previously expected.
In its annual World Oil Outlook, OPEC cut its forecast of global oil demand to 2016 due to economic weakness and also increased its forecast of supplies from countries outside the 12-nation exporters’ group.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/ctgmjcv