Trump Wants Americans to Know He Made Sure the US Pays More for Gargantuan Oil Import Bill
A higher oil price Trump helped OPEC+ salvage means a higher US trade deficit
The 23-nation OPEC+ deal was quite a feat for Donald Trump tactically. The United States’ oil production was expected to nosedive anyway as the shale debt boom goes bust, but now this will be counted as the US “cutting” its production for the purposes of the deal. The US enters the OPEC+ deal but unlike Russia or Saudi Arabia does not have to make an actual sacrifice to be considered to be making an actual contribution to the unprecedented 9.7 million BPD cut.
More than that Trump was even able to get the other parties to agree to view a part of the US reduction as Mexican:
An unlikely white knight appeared to ride to the group’s rescue on Friday in the form of U.S. President Donald Trump. He proposed an arrangement with Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (known as AMLO) in which 250,000 barrels a day of the “market-driven” decline in U.S. output would be rebranded as “Mexican.”
But don’t be fooled: That wouldn’t have taken a single additional barrel of oil off the market beyond those that would disappear anyway because of the Covid-19-prompted collapse in demand
As said, a big feat tactically. What about strategically? Well strategically the US consumes 20 million of barrels per day, and in 2019 produced 12 million of barrels per day.
So yeah, the head of the largest oil importer in the world is not only backing a cartel of oil exporters as they manipulate the markets to secure a higher price for their export. He actually went out of his way to expend energies to salvage the deal.
And he wants his entire country and all the US consumers to know he did a splendid job ensuring they will be paying more for their energy:
Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
….disaster, the Energy Industry will be strong again, far faster than currently anticipated. Thank you to all of those who worked with me on getting this very big business back on track, in particular Russia and Saudi Arabia.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2020
Yes the US had become the largest oil producer in the word but that does not mean it had become self-sufficient in oil. It was exporting some oil but that was a matter of geography and convenience and its exports after the oil export ban was lifted in 2015 were made up by increased imports.
Idiot in the WH
The only way to keep shale alive (for a relatively short time … few years) is with Tariffs. Which is what will be done.
“That wouldn’t have taken a single additional barrel of oil off the market beyond those that would disappear anyway because of the Covid-19-prompted collapse in demand”.
corrected to:
That wouldn’t have taken a single additional barrel of oil off the market beyond those that would disappear anyway because of the insane government response to Covid-19 prompted collapse in demand
The blame is always put on the virus,,, not the governments which are inflicting this on the people knowing the virus is either fake or no worse than a bad cold.