Not that it's a big surprise, but this is what OPEC thinks of President Bush's pathetic begging for more oil to feed our addiction:
OPEC dismissed further calls to boost oil output from top consumer the United States, saying the global market is well supplied and the producer group has little control over oil prices near $90 a barrel.Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Saturday urged top exporter Saudi Arabia and OPEC to raise supply on a visit to the kingdom. His appeal came just days after President Bush asked the group for more oil on a separate visit to Riyadh, and less than two weeks before OPEC's next meeting on Feb. 1.
"I don't think there is a need to increase because the market is well supplied," Qatar Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
So there you have it, according to our masters in OPEC, the market is well supplied with oil. That's why it's $90 per barrel. Is that perfectly clear now?
P.S. In all seriousness, when are we ever going to realize that the United States has tremendous oil market power? That's right, if we'd only slash our demand for oil, we'd leave OPEC high and dry as oil prices (and OPEC revenues) plummeted. Obviously, this is too logical for the great minds in Washington, DC.
Iran -- will start importing oil in 2-3 years. All feilds in decline
Indonesia -- varies from month to month
Iraq -- offline and only trickling.
Nigeria -- can't expand capacity because oil workers are totally afraid to work there.
Venezualla -- foreign capital and oil servicing companies are spooked. All the heavy oil stuff requires a lot of technology to work which Venz needs from us.
Mexico -- in big decline.
Russia -- not an opec member but biggest independent player; foreign capital afraid to move into any new major projects.
Saudi -- a state secret how much oil they really have left. They might have 100 years, they might have 5.