And, OPEC knows that ain’t gonna happen. The last thing Democrats want to do is drill for oil– After all, “Oil makes us sick.”
After US Democrats passed legislation to sue OPEC for not producing enough oil, the leading oil producing nations responded by telling Democrats they better develop their own reserves.
(BBC)
OPEC also threatened to not sell oil to the US if the Democrats go ahead with their ridiculous plan to sue the Organization of the Oil Producing Countries for not producing enough oil.
The Peninsula reported:
Minister’s remarks came after Libya’s most senior oil official said on Thursday he was studying the possibility of reducing output in response to a US threat to sue OPEC members, although he said the North African country had no concrete plans to do so for now.
“It is not wise today to cut supplies even though there is a surplus because we do not want to create a psychological problem,” Abdullah bin Hamad said. “I’m not in favour of it at all. We want to try to help to ease the psychological heat.”
But the Qatari minister criticised a move by US politicians to sue the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries if the oil club did not pump an amount of oil that Washington sees sufficient.
“The Congress should look to increase exploration inside the United States,” Minister said. “It is strange to ask what I should produce. It’s an issue of sovereignty.”
The US House of Representatives has passed a bill allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices.
The Senate has yet to vote on it and the White House has said it would veto the bill.
Attiyah said if enacted, the measure could create a problem for the US market as many producers would avoid US buyers.
“You will see a lot of oil suppliers will avoid the American market and you will create another big problem.”
OPEC’s biggest exporter Saudi Arabia has announced plans to hike output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) – the fastest pace in decades – but some consumer economies blame the oil exporter group for doing too little to combat the rally.
Oil producers have to consider their reservoirs’ productivity for the long run and not only supply and demand factors as they manage production levels, said Abdullah bin Hamad.
“Sometimes I have to think carefully in terms of reservoir management. I do not want to damage all the reservoirs. We produce to satisfy the whole world but not at the cost of our reserves,” he said.
Record oil prices are putting pressure on the global economy, saddling companies and consumers around the world with higher energy costs and triggering protests from farmers in Spain to students in Nepal.
Hat Tip Joshua
Iran Press TV also gave Democrats a tongue lashing.
UPDATE: Pat Dollard adds this on America’s worst Congress ever:
Now adjourned for its Independence Day recess, the U.S. Congress has convened at least 40 hearings on the issue of skyrocketing energy prices in the first six months of 2008. At least 160 witnesses have been sworn-in and questioned. But, even as consumers suffer, the Congress still has done nothing to increase American energy supplies.
UPDATE 2: OPEC released this chart on who gas taxes:
OPEC could tell Democrats to cut taxes, too.
But, we all know that ain’t gonna happen, either.
