Quote of the week:
"At the end of last year, overall fossil fuels represented 81% of energy consumption. 10 years ago, they were at 82%. $3.8 trillion of investment in renewables moved fossil fuels from 82% to 81% of the overall energy consumption."
Jeff Currie, Global Head of Commodities, Goldman Sachs
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We have spent this year learning that oil power is world, economic and political power. After spending trillions and trillions of dollars in recent years for so-called green energy, the needle hasn't moved more than even an infinitesimal fraction. Question: Has it been worth it?
Last week, OPEC humiliated President Biden on the global stage by cutting oil production after he specifically begged them not to. There’s no way to sugar coat it-- the Saudis just slapped the United States of America with the back of their hand and made it clear that they do not care what we want and that they do not take us seriously. Question: How’d that fist bump photo op with the guy you threatened to kill work out for you, Joe?
These OPEC cuts will tighten inventories to historically unparalleled lows; it’s an unsustainable outcome in Goldman Sachs’s view but one that would initially offer historically elevated returns of 25-40% even at $85/bbl price levels. As a result, we reiterate our bullish view on oil.
At some point, President Biden-- who tirelessly speaks domestically of “equality” and human rights-- decided to embrace the Saudis and their disgraceful track record on gay and women rights, journalistic freedom and any other human rights matter you can possibly think of instead of simply ramping up domestic oil production here in the U.S. Question: Is the United States really this feckless?
And all we heard about last month was progress on a nuclear deal with Iran. But cozying up to Iran has become too uncomfortable this month even for Biden, which is really saying something about what’s going on there. Question: Is abortion the only women’s “right” we’re allowed to talk about this close to the mid-terms?
The situations in Saudi Arabia and Iran haven’t been low enough to stoop, though. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration would ease sanctions if Venezuela would please, pretty please, pump more oil. Question: Isn’t Venezuela essentially being run by the Cuban secret service?
Nicolás Maduro is guilty of dozens of murders, thousands of extra-judicial executions, more than 12,000 cases of arbitrary detentions, more than 290 cases of torture, attacks against the judiciary and a state-sanctioned humanitarian crisis affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Question: Is the Biden administration saying that domestic oil producers are more evil than Maduro?
And then we learn that the White House is contemplating a complete block on all federal offshore leases, which would imply that the same laughable people running the Fed must also be running the Department of the Interior. Question: Is this the road to hell Jamie Dimon was talking about?
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The cost of all this anti-oil virtue signaling is proving to be basic human rights, the world economy and our nation’s integrity. We don’t have any questions about that at all.
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