Quote:
Originally Posted by GSX
In this time of increasing oil prices (plus anything else in the world) is there any way to force OPEC to produce more oil. One idea I had of forcing OPEC would be to use the US power over food exports.
Anyone else has any ideas or feed back?
And I do warn everyone, this thread might become inhumane :seesaw:
|
Let’s see if I can take a stab at this. First off, a quick layman's explanation of OPEC is that it is first and foremost a cartel. I can absolutely see why folks may think OPEC is gouging, all it takes is one trip to the gas station but, one key factor to understanding OPEC is that it is in its best interest to keep the price of a barrel of dinosaur juice at as close to an equilibrium price as they can. What I mean is not too low so they don't make money hand over fist, yet not too high so oil consuming nations seriously step up their alternative energy efforts. Yes it may seem like OPEC is sticking it to the major oil consumers but this is the nature of how a cartel operates. If the oil ministers of OPEC nations feel like the price is too high (in their own minds of course) they will readjust production accordingly. Inversely, if they felt like the price of a barrel was too low, they would agree to some sort of a production slowdown. It’s all about business in the very long run.
So what can be done? Diversifying energy inputs and moving away from oil should be seriously taken up. Brazilian Government has done an amazing job with Sugarcane Ethanol for example. I just learned not too long ago that the U.S. has under-utilized Natural Gas and it’s a good, clean resource. Use of Wind, Solar, and Tidal should be exponentially increased. Now comes the question of digging for oil, if the proper technology is present and it can be done with a minimal ecological impact then why not. What needs to be watched out for is that the environment is maintained that it does not turn into an absolute disaster. Jury is still out in ANWR, but this Canadian/U.S. Oil Shale looks really promising. The amount of "potential" oil could hopefully be a godsend, as long as it’s done clean.
In closing, borrowing from Mike Huckabee who I don't agree with on 99% of anything but he had a line where he said he hoped the day would come that we could tell OPEC we need their Oil as much as we need their Sand. Some of us may differ, but let’s hope the day comes when this can happen.
