North Sea oil companies "close to collapse"

ed110220

cells wrote: »

The USA doesn't need ME energy it is a coal exporter and soon a big NG exporter and its foreign oil needs have been much lowered (most its foreign oil imports are now from canada and Mexico not the ME and Africa)

Also if the USA wanted to !!!!! slap nations to take their resources Africa is vast and very very poor they could buy/bribe/take over half that continent at half the effort and twice the return.

also USA is slowly switching from oil to NG where it can. Eg building are switching to much cheaper NG from heating oil. Some larger distribution and train companies are doing the same. If Boeing pushes its LNG aircraft into commercial production all domestic flights could swich from JetA fuel to LNG at a fraction of the cost of oil.

You've overlooked two important factors here. First of all the fact that the USA doesn't especially need Middle Eastern oil but rivals and competitors do (China especially) gives it a great strategic advantage. Secondly Middle Eastern oil is generally pretty cheap to produce (compared with say North Sea oil that is becoming unprofitable at $60/barrel) and so can be fabulously profitable for any company that can gain access to it.

Ed

pop_gun

N1AK wrote: »

If only the conspiracy nuts were a third as clever as they were deluded. Perhaps you'd like to provide a source showing how Saudi production has decreased?

The Saudi's are pumping ~5% less oil than they were a year ago (as of August, when prices were already falling). The only people supporting this conspiracy theory are the people dumb enough not to question it for the few seconds it takes to google oil production data. They'd fit in well with flat earthers pretty well.

Saudi Arabia claims it pumped more oil.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/saudi-arabia-says-it-pumped-more-oil-in-september-20141010-00334

How can you label a fact a conspiracy theory. What vested interest do you have in perpetuating a lie?

How does Saudi Arabia gain anything from pumping more oil? It needs high oil prices like every other oil producer.
When a commodity trades below the cost of production, it's being manipulated. By whom and for what reason are the only other questions need answering.

Kendall80

N1AK wrote: »

If only the conspiracy nuts were a third as clever as they were deluded. Perhaps you'd like to provide a source showing how Saudi production has decreased?

The only people supporting this conspiracy theory are the people dumb enough not to question it.

... and the opposite opinion to this would be that the so-called 'conspiracy theorists' are simply more resistant to the spoonfed controlled information western media regularly outputs.


The 2 nations most affected by this: Iran and Russia.


Well of all the countries in the world that's surely one heck of a coincidence, wouldn't you agree?


Also, insulting peoples intelligence just because they hold a differing opinion to you is a very questionable action.

cells

Graham_Devon wrote: »

It appears that North Sea oil companies may now get probably oks. This is direct from the government.

I don't know enough about taxation on North Sea companies to comment really, but a commentator has suggested it's rather unfair to give tax breaks directly to one sector.

They won't be given a general tax break but a decrease in the royalties and then probably only on new fields not existing ones

That makes some sense as it would mean output will likely be higher than otherwise and a 60% royalty instead of a 70% one is a hell of a lot better than a 0% royalty from non production

Generali

pop_gun wrote: »

Saudi Arabia claims it pumped more oil.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/saudi-arabia-says-it-pumped-more-oil-in-september-20141010-00334

How can you label a fact a conspiracy theory. What vested interest do you have in perpetuating a lie?

How does Saudi Arabia gain anything from pumping more oil? It needs high oil prices like every other oil producer.
When a commodity trades below the cost of production, it's being manipulated. By whom and for what reason are the only other questions need answering.

Game theory predicts that this is exactly what happens if producers don't have pricing power.

carslet

looks like it is happening sooner then anyone thought it would.

BP announcing job cuts in the north sea

ruggedtoast

Salmond was on the radio this morning, wibbling.

Apparently the fall in oil revenue is all Westminster's fault and wouldnt have happened if Scotland was independent.

jjlandlord

pop_gun wrote: »

Saudi Arabia claims it pumped more oil.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/saudi-arabia-says-it-pumped-more-oil-in-september-20141010-00334

How can you label a fact a conspiracy theory. What vested interest do you have in perpetuating a lie?

How does Saudi Arabia gain anything from pumping more oil? It needs high oil prices like every other oil producer.
When a commodity trades below the cost of production, it's being manipulated. By whom and for what reason are the only other questions need answering.

Perhaps some players take a longer view that many in the West who are only looking at the next quarter.

Saudi Arabia earns much more that cash with its oil resources. It gains influence and power.

If they can afford it, it may make sense to keep prices low enough to kill upcoming competitors or political rivals.
They may lose a few bucks now but they strengthen their position on the longer term and retain their political influence.

As I mention in another thread we should also always remember that Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are the hotbed of Sunni muslim Salafis and Wahabis. Oil money finances these rather extremist sects and allow them to finance their spread.

Kendall80

carslet wrote: »

looks like it is happening sooner then anyone thought it would.

BP announcing job cuts in the north sea

... and a 1.5 Bill write-down of Tullow Oils assets including some north sea operations.

tberry6686

Graham_Devon wrote: »

It appears that North Sea oil companies may now get tax breaks. This is direct from the government.

I don't know enough about taxation on North Sea companies to comment really, but a commentator has suggested it's rather unfair to give tax breaks directly to one sector.

Taxation (in percentage terms) on North Sea oil is far higher than the taxes paid by any other industry in the UK (possibly even the world). Effective tax rates on some fields can be as high as 70% so this would not be a tax break, more a slight levelling of the playing field with other industries.