Institutional Investor (December 31)
“The major market narrative remains oil.” 2014 brought the largest annual price decline since 2008. Investors are “focusing on what the impact of cheap oil will be on global fundamentals in the coming quarters.”
Bloomberg (October 15)
Vladimir Putin is losing “his best friend: expensive oil.” Petro revenue makes up 70% of Russia’s export revenue and “oil has been the key to Putin’s grip on power since he took over from Boris Yeltsin in 2000, fueling a booming economy that grew 7 percent on average from 2000 to 2008.” To balance its budget, Russia needs a per barrel price of over $100. “At $90, close to the current level, Russia will have a shortfall of 1.2 percent of gross domestic product.”
Forbes (June 16)
Putin’s oil deal with China should hardly rate a footnote. It amounts to “an annual average of $13 billion.” And rather than being a groundbreaking strategic alliance, “the deal with China underscores Russia’s core weakness. Despite its immense resources and highly educated population… Russia has a shockingly small economy that is amazingly dependent on the export of oil, gas and a few other natural resources.”
Tags: China, Deal, Dependent, Economy, Export, Gas, Natural resources, Oil, Putin, Resources, Strategic alliance, Weakness
NBC News (April 26)
“The wheels of commerce along Rodeo Drive are no longer greased by oil money (“black gold, Texas tea”) or by much American money at all.” Sales to international travelers now “fuel” the economy and “Chinese alone account for 60 percent of sales on Rodeo Drive.”
Tags: Chinese, Commerce, Economy, International travelers, Money, Oil, Rodeo Drive
Euromoney (February Issue)
In Mexico, “cheaper electricity will lower manufacturing costs across the board, and the country could become a competitor in energy-intensive industries such as aluminum and steel production.” President Enrique Peña Nieto introduced sweeping reforms to liberalize the electricity and oil and gas sectors, prompting analysts to add “an extra 1.5% to future GDP growth rates as a direct consequence of the scope of these reforms and many say the risks are on the upside. Suppliers, contractors and a whole host of other industries will benefit.”
Tags: Aluminum, Analysts, Competitor, Contractors, Costs, Electricity, Enrique Peña Nieto, Gas, GDP, Manufacturing, Mexico, Oil, Reforms, Risks, Steel, Suppliers, Upside
Institutional Investor (August Issue)
“Investors confront the risk of a carbon bubble fueled by stranded oil and gas assets” should major governments decide to impose strict carbon legislation to combat climate change. One recent report asserts that “to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius between now and 2050, only 20 percent of the world’s fossil fuel reserves can be extracted and burned.”
Tags: Carbon, Climate change, Extraction, Fossil fuel, Gas, Global temperatures, Governments, Investors, Legislation, Oil, Reserves, Risk
The Economist (August 3)
“The world’s thirst for oil could be nearing a peak. That is bad news for producers, excellent for everyone else.” Is oil becoming “yesterday’s fuel”? The Economist believes demand may be nearing long-term decline brought about by advances in fracking and automotive technology.
Wall Street Journal (July 7)
Amid a North American oil boom, “shipments of crude by rail have shot up sharply, as producers race to get all their new oil to market and as pipeline companies scramble to build new lines or reconfigure old ones to handle the growing volumes.” This may change. “The deadly weekend explosion of a runaway crude-carrying train in Quebec threatens to ratchet up scrutiny of rising crude-by-rail shipments on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.”
Tags: Boom, Canada, Crude, Explosion, North America, Oil, Pipeline, Producers, Quebec, Rail, Scrutiny, U.S.
National Geographic (November 12)
“In an indication how ‘fracking’ is reshaping the global energy picture, the International Energy Agency today projected that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2017. And within just three years, the United States will unseat Russia as the largest producer of natural gas. Both results would have been unthinkable even few short years ago.”
Tags: Fracking, IEA, Natural gas, Oil, Producer, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
The Economist (July 21)
“In the past decade emerging markets have established themselves as the world’s best sprinters. As serial crises tripped up America and then Europe, China barely broke stride…. Lately, though, the sprinters have started to wheeze.” China, India and Brazil have all recently reported weak performance. Russia is the only BRIC with a resilient economy, but this is vulnerable to oil prices. What does the “Great Slowdown” mean for long-term growth and the world economy? The Economist believes, “no crisis looms, but serious concern is justified.”
“In the past decade emerging markets have established themselves as the world’s best sprinters. As serial crises tripped up America and then Europe, China barely broke stride…. Lately, though, the sprinters have started to wheeze.” China, India and Brazil have all recently reported weak performance. Russia is the only BRIC with a resilient economy, but this is vulnerable to oil prices. What does the “Great Slowdown” mean for long-term growth and the world economy? The Economist believes, “no crisis looms, but serious concern is justified.”
Tags: BRICS, Oil, Russia, Slowdown, World economy
