THE CRUEL MATH OF THE MARGINAL BARREL

"Starting in 2005, global oil markets sensed that OPEC was only able to influence the price of oil in one direction: higher, by lowering output. OPEC’s ability to lower prices started to crack, break up, and generally fail as the first phase of oil’s repricing headed into 2008 ... OPEC production has made no progress in at all in the seven years since 2005, as oil began its price transition ... Western oil companies — which dominate non-OPEC production — have scoured the globe looking to replace their reserves, but largely to no avail. This is why ExxonMobil and ConocoPhilips eventually gave up, capitulated, and bought natural gas assets instead."

Ein Artikel von Gregor MacDonald über die mangelnde Fähigkeit seitens der OPEC, ihre Förderraten seit 2005 signifikant zu erhöhen sowie die schwindende Produktion von Staaten außerhalb der OPEC mit Außnahme Russlands. Erschienen auf Gregor.us ( 25. Mai 2012).