An Analysis On The Impact Of Falling Oil Prices On Venezuela, Russia, And Iran

Jackson Diehl, Washington Post: Falling oil prices hit Venezuela, Iran and Russia hard

WNU Editor: I am not complaining .... I heat using oil, and I am banking about $250/delivery when compared to last year. But there are geopolitical consequences, and we are seeing that fallout from countries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

More News On The Impact Of Falling Oil Prices

Russia Braces for Widening Deficit as Oil Plunge Starves Budget -- Bloomberg
Moody's downgrades Russia amid oil slide -- Deutsche Welle
Iran sees no OPEC shift toward a cut, says oil industry could withstand $25 crude -- Reuters
Iran Sees ‘No Threat’ from Oil at $25 If Prices Keep Tumbling -- Bloomberg
Iran Blames Oil-Price Plunge for Delay in Saudi Visit -- Bloomberg
Former Saudi oil boss says it can cope with low price. -- BBC
Saudi Arabia can last eight years on low oil prices, says former adviser -- The Guardian
Oil price rout forces Venezuela to rethink petro-diplomacy -- Financial Times
Venezuela, Kuwait assess strategies to increase oil prices -- El Universal
Low Oil Prices Force OPEC Members To Rethink 2015 Budgets -- OilPrice.com
Plunging oil prices hit U.S. offshore drillers -- CBS
World’s Largest Traders Use Offshore Supertankers to Store Oil -- WSJ
Winners and losers in oil's plunge -- Chris Isidore, CNN
Charts: $26 oil unlikely but possible -- Daryl Guppy, CNBC
As oil prices plunge the politics are pivotal -- Michael Levi, Financial Times

This Is Why Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates And Kuwait Decided To Crash The Price Of Oil

Grant Smith, Bloomberg: How OPEC Weaponized the Price of Oil Against U.S. Drillers

WNU Editor: This is one of the best analysis and explanations that I have read on the "how and why" the "rich members" of OPEC decided to crash the price of oil. They have done this before (in 1986) .... and it gave them a significant market share (plus a few trillion dollars) for the next 25 years. This Bloomberg post is a must read. Predictions .... these OPEC countries are not going to relent .... expect hard times in the U.S. oil patch and to those who service them.

Update: Saudi prince: $100-a-barrel oil 'never' again -- USA Today

How Cheap Oil Hurts Russia And OPEC

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Mike Corones, Reuters: Shale industry hedges, OPEC fiddles and Russia squirms

WNU Editor: I am not going to shed any tears for OPEC or Russia.

Is Saudi Arabia 'Playing With Fire' In Pushing For Lower Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia was pumping around 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers would be increasing output over the next few months. (Reuters)

Saudis Risk Playing With Fire In Shale-Price Showdown As Crude Crashes -- The Telegraph

A deep slump in prices might heighten geostrategic turmoil across the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia and the core Opec states are taking an immense political gamble by letting crude oil prices crash to $66 a barrel, if their aim is to shake out the weakest shale producers in the US. A deep slump in prices might equally heighten geostrategic turmoil across the broader Middle East and boomerang against the Gulf’s petro-sheikhdoms before it inflicts a knock-out blow on US rivals.

Caliphate leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has already opened a “second front” in North Africa, targeting Algeria and Libya – two states that live off energy exports – as well as Egypt and the Sahel as far as northern Nigeria. “The resilience of US shale may prove greater than the resilience of Opec,” said Alistair Newton, head of political risk at Nomura.

Read more ....

My Comment: Lower oil prices are impacting global geopolitics .... and in my opinion .... this is long overdue.

Update: Some more good news .... Oil at $40 Possible as Market Transforms Caracas to Iran (Bloomberg).

An Analysis On The Geopolitical Impact Of Declining Oil Prices

Cheap-Oil Era Tilts Geopolitical Power to U.S. -- Bloomberg

A new age of abundant and cheap energy supplies is redrawing the world’s geopolitical landscape, weakening and potentially threatening the legitimacy of some governments while enhancing the power of others.

Some changes already are evident. Surging U.S. oil production enabled America and its allies to impose tough sanctions on Iran without having to worry much about the loss of imports from the Middle Eastern nation. Russia, meanwhile, faces what President Vladimir Putin called a possibly “catastrophic” slump in prices for its oil as its economy is battered by U.S. and European sanctions over its role in Ukraine.

Read more ....

My Comment: If we are entering a four or five-year cycle with oil prices in a general range of $65 to $80 a barrel .... the impact on countries like Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, and Russia will be profound and negative. For a country like China .... totally dependent on oil imports .... the benefits will be enormous.

Is The U.S. And Saudi Arabia Manipulating Oil Production (And Prices) To Bring Russia And Iran To The Brink Of Economic Collapse?

Is The Oil Crash A Secret US War On Russia? -- Anthony Zurcher, BBC

Lower oil prices, reflected in falling petrol prices at the pump, have been a boon for Western consumers. Are they also a potent US weapon against Russia and Iran?

That's the conclusion drawn by New York Times columnist Thomas L Friedman, who says the US and Saudi Arabia, whether by accident or design, could be pumping Russia and Iran to brink of economic collapse.

Despite turmoil in many of the world's oil-producing countries - Libya, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria - prices are hitting lows not seen in years, Friedman writes.

Analysts identify a number of possible reasons for the steep drop - increased US production, slowing economies in Europe and China and steady production from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec).

Read more ....

My Comment: Zero Hedge posted on this a few weeks ago .... Why Oil Is Plunging: The Other Part Of The "Secret Deal" Between The US And Saudi Arabia. As to what is my take .... countries that are dependent on oil production are hurting .... and it will only be a question of time before this "discomfort" results in serious unrest.