The Geopolitical Consequences Of U.S. Oil Exports
Two crucial things happened yesterday.
The first you may have noticed – oil prices moved back up.
As for the second, most so-called “experts” seemed to have missed.
See, the environment we’re seeing in energy markets is very different from what we saw only a week ago, when oil prices were also rising.
Because yesterday also saw – for the first time in world history – a reigning Saudi Arabian monarch in Moscow for talks with Russia’s head of state.
Historically, Russia has been much closer to Iran – Saudi Arabia’s main regional enemy.
Now, King Salman and President Putin are expected to endorse the plan to extend the OPEC-Russia deal to cut oil production and boost prices beyond the current end date of March 2018.
But that’s not all they’re going to talk about…
Other, more far-ranging matters will also be on the agenda, including the war in Syria.
And the catalyst for this huge shift in global geopolitics is surprisingly simple.
It’s all about America’s record-breaking oil exports…
Russia and Saudi Arabia Need Each Other… for Now
Now, there’s no indication that Russia and Saudi Arabia are on the road to an alliance on anything beyond oil prices.
Even then, that accord remains only as long as it is in the subjective interest of the parties.
Nonetheless, it is disquieting to Washington that any such prospects may be on the horizon… or that U.S. oil exports may be introducing a range of foreign policy concerns.
From an energy perspective, the main issue at hand is the OPEC-Russian deal to cap oil production, which is now almost certain to continue further than the agreed-on end date of March next year.
And after some concerns had been raised over individual OPEC members exceeding the quotas the deal assigned them, evidence is now emerging that the restraint is holding.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
