Dividends of the shale oil revolution

Washington Post:
Adversaries of U.S. feel pain of cheaper oil

Two years of falling prices for crude oil have fueled economic discontent in Venezuela, changed Russia’s economic and political calculations and dampened Iranian leaders’ hopes of a financial windfall.
The lifting of the export ban will also have an effect on their competitive positions.  Obama actually has not been very strategic in his handling of the issue.  For example, the US could have completely eliminated imports from Venezuela and used the heavy crude from Canda instead delivered through the Keystone XL pipeline.  Instead, he pandered to the anti-energy left let those jobs go elsewhere.  His Iran deal was also a strategic disaster what will finance that countries terrorist infrastructure even if they will not get much boost from oil sales.  LNG exports have the potential of lifting Russian dominance of the European market making it easier to increase sanctions for Russian aggression in Ukraine.

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