Thursday, June 12, 2008

Oil Crisis

After the Kuwait war, oil prices are started going up. Till now, there is no change. In this situation, some questions raised on me.

1. Who controls and owns the oil ?
2. Why the oil price is going high?
3. Oil production is mostly in Asian region. Then, why can't Asian countries get a reduced rate ?

Global financial strategies are depend on two currencies. 1. US Dollar and 2. Japanese Yen. Yen, doesn't have competitor, this may be because, most of the productions, quality products and the companies, we can't avoid are Japanese. But, US Dollar has number of competitors. The first competition starts, when European Union started to trade in their common currency called, EURO. Now, the second competitor is arising. Still not given any name for that and still under evaluation. This would be played a major role, since the second common currency is arising from Gulf Region (GCC). Since half of the world oil production is from Gulf Region, GCC's common currency can make a big difference in the world market. Still have one more question pending. Why Japanese Yen, even though it has less value, has important ? One reason was told already. Another hidden reason is, in the (fake) name of Global Peace keeping, US has its own military base and many operations in Japan. Since, Japanese are not good in English and their hard work is remarkable, they have to keep them in a major role. In the (fake) name of Global Peace, US is protecting their own country, not any other nation. We will think about this part in later session.



1. Who controls and owns the oil ?

There are three types of owners.

a) The local :- Local means, they won't be exporting to outside the country. They extracts and uses for their own and its territory. These countries are Nigeria, Chiapas, the Amazon. There are historical protests and fights to keep their resources from the multinational companies like Shell ( all belongs to US and European Countries). This was a worldwide protest / boycott with the help of Greenpeace and other environmental organizations.

b) The Islamic :- Islamic nations, those have enough oil resources. This is ranging from Morocco to Indonesia ( In Geographical order ). It claims that petroleum found beneath Islamic territory is the common possession of the world-wide Islamic community and neither state nor private property.

c) The Global :- The global name raised by UN official (bureaucrats) to keep their wishes. But hardly 30% of the world oil can control by UN. It is crucial to understand why in the last fifteen years the UN system dares to claim the right to regulate petroleum as a global commons. During this time the extractive industries, with special emphasis on mining and oil, have been in crisis. This was not due to their reaching the absolute limits on supply of minerals or oil. It was due to the refusal of billions of people around the planet to accept the social and environmental impacts of their destructive activities.


2. Why the oil price is going high?

The main reason of the oil price is due to its high demand and low production or the inability to reach the expectations as of demand. Secondly the low surplus production capacity and OPEC production decisions. Third reason is, multiple and hard-to-predict factors drives oil price These are weather, non-OPEC supply growth, Iran, Iraq, economic growth, Nigeria, Venezuela, Value of US Dollar, Chinese Oil demand and Hedge Fund Activity.

According to nation master's energy statistics, US is the country in the top of the most consumption of oil followed by China and Japan. So, less production in their own country and high demand of oil drives the OPEC and other major countries to go for high production. But this couldn't be achieved, resulting a high demand and price hike.

If a number of Islamic nations actually transformed their petroleum resources into a commons, then three important, perhaps even revolutionary, changes would follow. First, it would lead to a tighter control of the pace of extraction and a willingness to exercise the "Right to say 'No'," resulting in a much higher oil price. Second, the surplus of the commons would immediately flow into redistributive projects in the Islamic world and not into the financial systems of Europe and the US. Finally, of course, the whole basis of the neo-liberal program for the Middle East (as outlined in George W. Bush's plan for the outcome of the Iraq war) would be definitely challenged. The logic of both market and state rationality is increasingly losing its compelling power to determine the future of oil extraction and, with it, the whole system of capitalist production it energizes.

On the other hand, after Iraq war there was a notable twist between US and Britain, resulting a slight conflict. This was due to most of the oil fields in the Iraq has occupied by US controlled companies, however Britain got only less chance. So, the main benefit of the Iraq war to US is this huge oil field and prominent control in the Asian region.

3. Oil production is mostly in Asian region. Then, why can't Asian countries get a reduced rate ?

This question might be in everybody's mind. But, the actual fact is the income that is coming from the oil and the inability to achieve the production against the demand. I don't think so there is no other reason for it. But, considerably, the oil price of production countries, those have enough reserve oil, is less than other countries.

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