Sunday, January 30, 2011

Geopolitical unrest and world oil markets

"...I think the bigger worry for oil markets would be that the process may yet spill over into other key oil-producing countries. Iraq will be a huge factor in determining medium-term growth in world oil production, and Iran is twice as important as Iraq in terms of current production. And should we see the temporary cessation of Saudi production, it would be an event without historical parallel.

I do not know where current developments will lead. But I am quite confident in the conclusion from my survey of historical oil shocks:

given the record of geopolitical instability in the Middle East, and the projected phenomenal surge in demand from the newly industrialized countries, it seems quite reasonable to expect that within the next decade we will have [an additional observation] with which to inform our understanding of the economic consequences of oil shocks..."

at http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2011/01/geopolitical_un.html

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