by MrBill » Wed 10 Jan 2007, 05:26:41
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TreebeardsUncle', 'H')i.
Well, the media will spin this as nationalization and inefficiencies in state-run oil production programs are responsible for limitations on supply and for running up prices.
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I do not think it is purely media spin. Worldwide resource nationalization in places like Venezuela, Russia and Bolivia are fact not fiction.
National oil companies are gaining an increased percentage of reserves at the expense of multinational oil companies. Who may in the end become mere service providers and not owning their reserves.
In this respect they may look more like Baker, Schlumberger or Haliburton as oilfield supply and service companies rather than integrated oil giants in the future. However, even national oil companies like Petrobraz are partnering with other national oil companies like PEMEX or PVDSA to offer their skills in deepwater offshore drilling for example.
The trend is for CNOC and ONGC to partner with companies like Gazprom who are aligned with the state and/or state owned. And this is something that RDS, XOM, COP and BP must factor into their investment decisions. Especially, as the sanctity of the contract no longer means much to many governments who are prepared to aggressively take when the getting is good despite sunk costs when prices were low that make walking away from existing projects extremely difficult for the multis.
However, drops in 'potential' production from waste, civil wars and conflicts, under-investment, corruption and incompetence should not be confused with peak oil the geological phenomenon. They may be related, but they are not the same.
The organized state is a wonderful invention whereby everyone can live at someone else's expense.