Market Manipulation Muddle

Cairo – (BBP) Members of the OPEC cartel met in Cairo over the weekend and came away suggesting there may be further cuts in production announced at their next meeting in December in Algeria.
If OPEC members pledge to cut production at the Algeria meeting, it would be the third time this year such a step [...]

Clear Message from OPEC

The communications folks over at OPEC have sent a very clear message this week to all non-OPEC member oil producing countries: get on board with production cuts or this whole market manipulation thing isn’t going to work.
OPEC ministers will gather in the Egyptian capital on November 29, 2008 to discuss falling oil prices, which slipped [...]

Saudi King Makes Splash at UN

King Abdullah, the Saudi ruler, took some time off from his OPEC interests this week to turn the New York Palace Hotel and the U.N. General Assembly into an extension of his court. Long lines of VIPs formed to congratulate his majesty on hosting a conference on religious tolerance under the auspices of the [...]

Another Tantrum in the Sandbox

 
Wait for it: Oil should be above $70 a barrel to encourage investment in increased production capacity and avoid creating future supply crises, Qatar’s oil minister said on 10 November 2008, according to Reuters. Oil ministers at OPEC have said they will cut production again (they last did so after an “emergency” meeting in October [...]

Price Stabilization or Price Fixing?

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided at a meeting in Vienna on 24 October to cut production by 1.5m barrels a day – about five percent - in order to halt the slide in oil prices.
OPEC hopes its production cuts will lead to oil prices stabilizing between $70 and $80 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Russia has [...]

Word of the Day for 22 October 2008: Socialism

so·cial·ism     (sō’shə-lĭz’əm)
n.   Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.
See 2008 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend and Alaska Resource Rebate.

What Does Sarah Palin Have Against Fish?

A quick review of some of the highlights of Governor Sarah Palin’s environmental efforts while in office reveals (among other things) a puzzling antipathy toward Alaskan fish. Since becoming governor, Palin has:

helped kill a ballot initiative that would have blocked a massive new gold and copper mine from being built near the world’s most productive [...]