Slash oil output to boost revenues but risk deepening the world's economic woes? Rarely have OPEC oil ministers faced a tougher choice.
If they cut production they are going to hurt the worlds economic issues even worse..thats a givin. If they don't they are hurting from profits???? How is that possible when those like Exxon whom refine the stuff are making record profits every quarter!! I find it hard to believe that even at 30$/barrel they are hurting in anyway!
YARDofSTUF wrote:Dunno, guess it depends on how much it costs for maintenance, repairs, finding new sites and the effect the value of the dollar/euro have on it.
Your kidding right? I just said Exxon for example is just the middle man and they are making Billions every quarter.. QUARTER now! You can't tell me they are not making enough money already.
Sava700 wrote:Your kidding right? I just said Exxon for example is just the middle man and they are making Billions every quarter.. QUARTER now! You can't tell me they are not making enough money already.
I'm saying without knowing teh costs involved anything we come up with is just a guess.
Exxon could charge more of a profit than the members of OPEC do selling to them.
Also when oil was high wasn't it teh Saudis that said it was Exxon and others making the killing on the price and not them? I thought that was a beaf they had with OPEC at one point.
Yes, oil companies make insane amounts of money, but as I am now working in that industry I now also see the vast expenditures these companies actually deal with to get the gas into your tank.
Millions of dollars to drill a well that, even with advanced seismic data, is still a crapshoot as to whether or not it will be a producer is a lot of cash. Imagine hitting three or four dry holes in a row; you're out $40-$50 million and now you have to decide whether or not your geologists can find a marketable strike or to just move out of an area and look for better fields.
Money all goes to: landmen to do the title research, brokers to acquire leases from the mineral owners, tests, seismics, R&D, well site setup, drilling, crew salaries, post-drilling production rigs, extraction, pipelines, wellbore assignments, working interests, blah blah blah. While most of the overseas oil is government-owned and extracted, the same work has to be done to varying degrees.
I am not excusing their manipulative practices (the scare of peak oil, among them), sometimes shady market spot prices and outrageous bonuses to CEOs, but there's just a lot more to it. Oil doesn't magically teleport from the ground into your gas tank.
To add to Burke's post, also look at a refinery. These complexes are insanely huge and complicated, I'm sure they cost more than a dime.
Still, record profits is record profits, and that money still comes from us. The OPEC is a cartel - and as such, it naturally does not have your wallet in mind, nor do the oil companies. Oligopoly industries ftw...
I believe the main point here is OPEC is going to juggle the world economic issues in the palms of their hands... they shouldn't even touch production right now if anything increase it to drop energy prices more... its already proved that once people can afford more gas in their cars they can purchase more goods.
Sava700 wrote:I believe the main point here is OPEC is going to juggle the world economic issues in the palms of their hands... they shouldn't even touch production right now if anything increase it to drop energy prices more... its already proved that once people can afford more gas in their cars they can purchase more goods.
But at what cost to the members of OPEC? And its not like gas prices are the heart of the issue with the economy, its worse now than when gas was 4 bucks.
YARDofSTUF wrote:But at what cost to the members of OPEC? And its not like gas prices are the heart of the issue with the economy, its worse now than when gas was 4 bucks.
See I pay 1.75$/gallon for gas.. I feel like I can spend more money around stores and go out to eat more with the feeling of more cash in pocket than what I had when I had to fork out 4$/gallon that would kill ya as you watched the gas pump count up. This is how it works and how its working..the economy is in worse shape but its all in how you view that pump count. OPEC is making plenty of money even at its current level..I don't buy into that "we are not making enough money" crap!
Sava700 wrote:See I pay 1.75$/gallon for gas.. I feel like I can spend more money around stores and go out to eat more with the feeling of more cash in pocket than what I had when I had to fork out 4$/gallon that would kill ya as you watched the gas pump count up. This is how it works and how its working..the economy is in worse shape but its all in how you view that pump count. OPEC is making plenty of money even at its current level..I don't buy into that "we are not making enough money" crap!
Ya and you could switch the price of gas for the price of food, or insurance or your mortgage and get the same results.
How much are each members of OPEC making?
The members of OPEC also have to plan for the future, where as a restaurant can always have meals to serve, they only have so much oil and need to build alternate streams of revenue for the future with the money they make, like how Dubai is being built up.
They may be making enough now, or more than enough, but who knows, unless, do you know how much they made?
YARDofSTUF wrote:Ya and you could switch the price of gas for the price of food, or insurance or your mortgage and get the same results.
How much are each members of OPEC making?
The members of OPEC also have to plan for the future, where as a restaurant can always have meals to serve, they only have so much oil and need to build alternate streams of revenue for the future with the money they make, like how Dubai is being built up.
They may be making enough now, or more than enough, but who knows, unless, do you know how much they made?
Well ya see we are talking about OPEC not the greedy insurance companies and so on..food prices are dictated by energy in more ways than one.
OPEC needs to be smart.. you raise prices you hurt the economy..you also cause people to conserve more thus not buying as much gas and hurting their pockets in another way. They have to really think about doing anything with current production.
Sava700 wrote:Well ya see we are talking about OPEC not the greedy insurance companies and so on..food prices are dictated by energy in more ways than one.
You try and put so much blame on the members of OPEC, why not find out the numbers first?
You could have a very good point, but as it stands right now its weak.
YARDofSTUF wrote:You try and put so much blame on the members of OPEC, why not find out the numbers first?
You could have a very good point, but as it stands right now its weak.
The numbers are in the article.. I'm going off the article I linked for the discussion and perhaps some numbers of what I paid for gas last year vs this year...also some stock figures that are stuck in my head. But I'm not about to search google for every fact and figure when the quote says it all.
Slash oil output to boost revenues but risk deepening the world's economic woes? Rarely have OPEC oil ministers faced a tougher choice.
What I'm looking for is how much the members of OPEC made last year or so and the costs of operations, or how much they made after expenses, I ddin't see that skimming through the article.
As a nation that is trying to do whatever we can to get out of the economic hard times we can't allow OPEC to dictate energy prices they way they are doing. We need to do whatever we can to keep them at current levels or lower.
