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2007-11-20 Home Front Economy

It may be more difficult than you think for OPEC to ditch the dollar

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Posted by gorb 2007-11-20 02:39|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 Gorb: I think these days it's between 40 and 45%.

Posted by Abdominal Snowman 2007-11-20 09:23|| 2007-11-20 09:23|| Front Page Top

#2 Much like fighting the law, if you fight the markets, you will loose.

Posted by Mark E.">Mark E. 2007-11-20 09:40|| 2007-11-20 09:40|| Front Page Top

The amount of oil OPEC sells on the world market is somewhere around $1.5 billion per day, said Jeffrey Currie, the head of commodity research at Goldman Sachs in London.

Compare that, he said, to the more than $3 trillion that change hands in currency markets every day.

Yeah, yet another reason not to worry. It's like getting upset that the British pound's worth about $2; so what?

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-11-20 09:46|| 2007-11-20 09:46|| Front Page Top

#4 Many stories exist of oil producing countries pricing their fuels for home consumption well below the "market price" charged abroad. This was done to pacify the locals. Many stories also exist of what happened when circumstances caused that artificially low price to rise.

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2007-11-20 14:08|| 2007-11-20 14:08|| Front Page Top

#5 Uh, lessee... Oil priced in dollars, check. Boeing jets, F-16s and most munitions priced in dollars, check. As dollar falls you get more $ / bbl. For the saudis, what's not to like? People also fail to consider that lots (though a small overall percentage) of those oil dollars return here when saudi buys American made stuff...

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2007-11-20 14:12|| 2007-11-20 14:12|| Front Page Top

#6 This thing about Saudi loyalty to the US seems a little hard for me to swallow. Loyalties, especially in that part of the world, can change quickly. Aren't these the same Saudis that had that little "embargo" thing back in 1973?

Posted by AuburnTom 2007-11-20 14:33|| 2007-11-20 14:33|| Front Page Top

#7 http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aiRdK_VcUFHU&refer=columnist_berry

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2007-11-20 15:45|| 2007-11-20 15:45|| Front Page Top

#8 No loyalty. Every percentage point they talk down the dollar is a percentage point off their accumulated wealth. Better to raise prices until the infidels surrender. More like twisting the knife while grinning at you.

The Sauds have spare oil production capacity which they have declined to put on the market since 2002. Rising prices strengthen muslims and oil producing dictatorships and weaken the west. The Saudis (unlike Washington) have no blinders on when it comes to which side of civilization they are on. When the Saudis again feel truly threatened (i.e. Iran) then they will crash the price of oil like they did in the mid 1980's.

Posted by ed 2007-11-20 15:56|| 2007-11-20 15:56|| Front Page Top

#9 Enjoy whistling past the grave yard.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-11-20 17:05|| 2007-11-20 17:05|| Front Page Top

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