Will Our Middle Eastern "Allies"
Destroy this Booming
American Industry?
American politicians have gone out of their way to talk
about Middle Eastern reform, whether it be taking the
mullahs in Iran down a peg to overthrowing Syrian
dictator Bashar Assad. American lives have been l
ost in efforts to overthrow the Taliban, Saddam
Hussein, and Moammar Ghadaffi. Yet throughout
all of this, one nation seems to escape the scorn
of the American intelligence class: Saudi Arabia. This despite the oil rich kingdom being the chief
sponsor of global terrorism and the extremist form of Islam that foments it.
The reason is simple: Saudi Arabia's oil industry is key to global stability, and the House of Saud is
The reason is simple: Saudi Arabia's oil industry is key to global stability, and the House of Saud is
friendly to American politicians and our military interests(on paper). But what if things changed?
What if America could stand on its own as an energy power? Would we stop being so generous?
Perhaps that's what the Saudis believe, which is why the kingdom has made the destruction of
Perhaps that's what the Saudis believe, which is why the kingdom has made the destruction of
America's nascent energy industry a top priority. By driving down the cost of oil at a time when
American producers are trying to recoup their substantial initial capital investments, OPEC
thought it could crush this industry in its infancy.
Thank God for capitalism. American hedge funds are happy to pick up the distressed assets:
Thank God for capitalism. American hedge funds are happy to pick up the distressed assets:
Hedge funds and private equity groups armed with $60bn of ready cash
are ready to snap up the assets of bankrupt US shale drillers, almost
guaranteeing that America’s tight oil production will rebound once prices
start to recover.
Daniel Yergin, founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates,
said it is impossible for OPEC to knock out the US shale industry though
a war of attrition even if it wants to, and even if large numbers of frackers
fall by the wayside over coming months.
Mr Yergin said groups with deep pockets such as Blackstone and Carlyle
will take over the infrastructure when the distressed assets are cheap
enough, and bide their time until the oil cycle turns.
“The management may change and the companies may change but the
resources will still be there,” he told the Daily Telegraph. The great
unknown is how quickly the industry can revive once the global glut
starts to clear - perhaps in the second half of the year - but it will clearly
be much faster than for the conventional oil.
“It takes $10bn and five to ten years to launch a deep-water project.
It takes $10m and just 20 days to drill for shale,” he said, speaking at
the World Economic Forum in Davos.
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