Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014 | 2:01 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Big oil may have done something what environmental groups and Native American rights groups have been unable to do: stop the Keystone XL pipeline.
OPEC was able to control the cost of oil per barrel by limiting output. There was not a shortage. With all the new oil in the system, the cost of a barrel of oil went from over $100 a barrel to less than $60.
What will happen? Most OPEC nations use the money from oil to run their governments at least partially. They are taking a big hit. Countries such as Russia and Mexico have a choice: to continue at the rate they were pumping and suffer great economic loss or pump more oil to make up for some of the financial hit. If they pump more, the cost per barrel will go down more. Not pumping is not an option.
The Keystone pipeline was economically feasible at $100 a barrel. Is it at $60 per barrel? I don’t think so. That would make the oil too expensive. There will still be talk, but let’s see what the actual results will be. I don’t think it will be built.
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