This week the experts are saying that OPEC needs a wake-up call concerning the shale-tinged reality of western produced shale oil to encourage them to slow down production to keep the price up. Prices falling to $75 a barrel are hardly profitable for patches of Texas shale, and rigs are seen idle from Texas to Utah amid the oil rout. The country is more divided than ever over the XL Pipeline issue with the naysayers predicting doom and gloom if it becomes a reality and the supporters saying the economy is sure to tank if there is no way to accommodate the increase in oil production. Meanwhile, the opposition is keeping warm with cheap heating oil as global warming is wreaking havoc with the climate by causing devastating snowstorms and long harsh winters. Does any of this make sense?
OPEC Needs a Wake-Up Call
A CNBC article by Holly Ellyatt claims that OPEC, that close-knit little group of 12 global oil producers, better wake up and cut production. Otherwise, oil prices will continue their dramatic slide as western producers keep stockpiling against a weak demand. Read on and learn the significance of this conundrum.
$75 Oil Makes Texas Shale Unprofitable
Bloomberg writer Isaac Arnsdorf points out in a recent article that Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicts that the $75 average price per barrel could make 19 U.S. shale regions no longer profitable. The global glut has driven prices down by as much as 32 percent since June. Could this be OPEC’s plan? Who can hold out the longest? Meanwhile consumers are enjoying the effects at the pump.
From Texas to Utah Shale Drillers Idle Rigs
To further emphasize the seriousness of the adverse effect of falling oil prices on the American shale oil industry, a Bloomberg article by Lynn Doan notes that 100 rigs will stop drilling by the end of the year. Apparently, the oil boom is in the first throws of inventory overload and nowhere to sell it. According to the article, the market needs to see much more significant reductions in the rig count to have any impact on production and prices.
The Keystone XL Pipeline—The Truth
Forbes contributor, Mike Patton, in a recent article claims that the opposition to the pipeline project are clouding the true facts with a well-crafted, articulate argument designed to confuse the public and scare them into thinking it is not that good for the American economy and could be disastrous for the environment. He claims to have written the truth.
The Dirty Truth About the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Friends of the Earth published an article that tells the opposite side of the Forbes story, calling the XL Pipeline “An environmental crime in progress.” The article cites dirty tar sands oil; water waste and pollution; forest destruction; affected indigenous populations; and pipeline spills as substantial reasons for never seeing the pipeline come to fruition. Somewhere in the two articles, the truth exists. Who or what do you believe?
