The price of a barrel of crude oil has dropped below the price of a single roll of toilet paper, no matter how good of a deal you think you’ve snagged on bathroom supplies — unless you’ve found someone willing to pay you $37 per roll. 
This is because the upcoming oil futures contracts for West Texas Intermediaries are set to expire this Tuesday, meaning that any investor who holds the contract is obligated to receive oil deliveries at a time when no one wants them and few have the means to store them. 
According to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/oil-markets-us-crude-futures-in-focus-as-coronavirus-dents-demand.html">CNBC</a>, the price of crude oil for the May futures contract at West Texas Intermediaries has closed at negative $37.63 per barrel, significantly lower than the price of oil futures contracts with later delivery dates. 
“There is still a lot of crude on the water right now that is going to refineries that do not need it,” Helima Croft, global head of commodities strategy at RBC Capital, told CNBC on Monday. “Right now we don’t see any near-term relief for this oil market.”
“Basically, bears are out for blood,” said analyst Naeem Aslam of Avatrade, reports <a href="http://dallasnews.com/business/energy/2020/04/20/oil-prices-fall-to-historic-lows-as-west-texas-crude-futures-go-negative/">The Dallas Morning News</a>. “The steep fall in the price is because of the lack of sufficient demand and lack of storage place given the fact that the production cut has failed to address the supply glut.”
According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/20/818457109/were-barreling-toward-an-epic-glut-of-oil">NPR</a>, Mike Sommers, the president of the American Petroleum Institute, described the upcoming issues in the oil market last month, predicting an unprecedented convergence of supply and demand problems. 
&#8220;We&#8217;ve had supply shocks before,&#8221; said Sommers. &#8220;We&#8217;ve had demand shocks before: Think of 9/11 or the Great Recession,” but added that “we&#8217;ve never had demand shocks with supply shocks.”
The news agency <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/20/838521862/free-falling-oil-prices-keep-diving-as-demand-disappears">reports</a> that the price of crude oil from West Texas Intermediaries was approximately $60 a barrel at the beginning of the year, and was only as low as $18 as of last Friday. 
The price of crude oil with later delivery dates, such as June or July, has not fallen as dramatically and remains in the positives. <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-oils-may-contract-has-just-gone-negative-plunging-154-and-trading-at-negative-10-a-barrel-2020-04-20?mod=bnbh_mwarticle">Market Watch</a> reports that the price of crude oil with a June contract closed at $20.03. 
Just eight days ago, the United States helped to mediate an approximately 10% cut to global oil production coming from countries with high production, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, reported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/business/economy/coronavirus-oil-opec-trump.html">The New York Times</a>. 
The news agency noted that the cuts approximate to about 9.7 million barrels per day, but also indicated that the deal would unlikely be significant enough to address the problem. 
<blockquote>Demand for oil has tumbled in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has crippled global commerce and eliminated untold numbers of commutes, plane trips and cargo shipments. Experts estimate that demand has fallen by somewhere between 25 million barrels and 35 million barrels a day — or up to three and a half times as much as what the oil nations are promising to cut.</blockquote>

Hong Kong Goes From Mask Shortage To Run On Toilet Paper

A Barrel Of Oil Is Now Cheaper Than A Roll Of Toilet Paper. Way, Way Cheaper.

Coronavirus

Oil and Gas

Toilet Paper

Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) cheered the news that oil futures plunged below zero on Monday as demand due to the coronavirus pandemic continued to plummet.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: &#8220;You absolutely love to see it. This along with record low interest rates means it&#8217;s the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet. *cough*
Ocasio-Cortez wrote her statement while promoting a tweet that stated: &#8220;Oil prices now at &#8216;negative values,&#8217; meaning oil producers have to pay people to take it off their hands and store it because when demand plunges (like now), that is less expensive for them than building more storage and/or shutting wells down.&#8221;
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Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> after seeing news that means American workers will lose their jobs: &quot;You absolutely love to see it.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/WcHb4fI220">pic.twitter.com/WcHb4fI220</a>
&mdash; Matt Wolking (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@MattWolking) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWolking/status/1252330720183410694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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There was immediate backlash online as critics said that Ocasio-Cortez was &#8220;cheering&#8221; American job losses due to the pandemic.
Political commentator Stephen Miller mocked those who have claimed that no one is cheering the pandemic, sarcastically writing: &#8220;No one is cheering this pandemic.&#8221;
Miller later added: &#8220;You only need thousands of people dead and millions of people unemployed to enact your vision, which is basically what we’ve been saying all along.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
No one is cheering this pandemic. <a href="https://t.co/J6zb7kATJ0">https://t.co/J6zb7kATJ0</a>
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1252320981919531008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Another political commentator from the Heritage Foundation wrote: &#8220;Member of Congress actively cheering massive job losses and economic misery for thousands of her fellow citizens:&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Member of Congress actively cheering massive job losses and economic misery for thousands of her fellow citizens: <a href="https://t.co/IL08w2qDfw">https://t.co/IL08w2qDfw</a>
&mdash; John Cooper (@thejcoop) <a href="https://twitter.com/thejcoop/status/1252321178909388815?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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America First Spokesman Steve Cortes responded: &#8220;I look forward to challenging leftists &#8211; from AOC to Joe Biden to Andrew Cuomo &#8211; to explain their anti-Energy radicalism to voters, especially in places like western PA&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I look forward to challenging leftists &#8211; from AOC to Joe Biden to Andrew Cuomo &#8211; to explain their anti-Energy radicalism to voters, especially in places like western PA&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/ar6IO51vuU">https://t.co/ar6IO51vuU</a>
&mdash; Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) <a href="https://twitter.com/CortesSteve/status/1252334211022958600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Jason Howerton tweeted: &#8220;AOC deleted the tweet. Never forget. Radicals want revolution and they don&#8217;t care what kind of unthinkable hell all of us would have to go through to get there.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
AOC deleted the tweet.
Never forget. Radicals want revolution and they don&#39;t care what kind of unthinkable hell all of us would have to go through to get there. <a href="https://t.co/eEKLihpskr">pic.twitter.com/eEKLihpskr</a>
&mdash; Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) <a href="https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/1252325029452247040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Daily Caller investigative reporter Chuck Ross wrote: &#8220;My cousin&#8217;s husband was laid off from his oil field job in Western Texas even before today&#8217;s downturn. They have 3 kids. She has cancer for the second time in her life, prognosis unclear. So no, you don&#8217;t &#8216;absolutely love to see it.'&#8221;
RNC Rapid Response Director Steve Guest wrote: &#8220;Screen shots live forever. Here&#8217;s a screen grab of @AOC cheering on job losses. Disgusting.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Screen shots live forever.
Here&#39;s a screen grab of <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a> cheering on job losses.
Disgusting. <a href="https://t.co/5WTyQs4x4x">https://t.co/5WTyQs4x4x</a> <a href="https://t.co/MuIPpwes6h">pic.twitter.com/MuIPpwes6h</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1252325090013917187?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Ocasio-Cortez offered no apology for her remarks and instead kept going, tweeting: &#8220;Now is the time to create millions of good jobs building out the infrastructure and clean energy necessary to save our planet for future generations. For our economy, our planet, and our future, we need a #GreenNewDeal.&#8221;
Just last week, the Houston Chronicle reported:
<blockquote>
Oil and gas companies announced plans to cut more than 6,400 jobs on a grim day for the industry that saw the price of crude oil settle below $20 for the first time since 2001 and the amount of petroleum in U.S. storage rise by nearly 20 million barrels.
The most job losses came at Weatherford International, the Houston-based oil-field service company, which said Wednesday that it plans to cut 25 percent of its global workforce. A breakdown of where the layoffs will take place was not immediately available but the company had said it employed about 24,000 workers at the beginning of the year — meaning it will shed 6,000 jobs.
</blockquote>
Last year, Ocasio-Cortez was one of the people who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-ocasio-cortez-doubles-down-sabotaging-amazon-hank-berrien">sabotaged</a> a deal where Amazon would have brought tens of thousands of new jobs to her district and billions of dollars of economic activity.
&#8220;Thirty-eight percent of voters faulted the congresswoman for the deal’s demise, identifying her as a &#8216;villain,'&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/nyregion/newyorktoday/AOC-Amazon-nyc.html">reported</a>. &#8220;In the New York City suburbs, 50 percent of voters blamed Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Upstate, the number was 40 percent; in the five boroughs, it was 29 percent.&#8221;
This is a developing news story, refresh the page for updates.

Ocasio-Cortez

Ocasio-Cortez Celebrates American Oil ‘Job Losses’: ‘You Absolutely Love To See It’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

jobs

Last minute negotiations by President Trump secured a 23-nation agreement to cut global oil production and potentially revive a struggling U.S. oil industry.
The United States has pushed Russia and Saudi Arabia for weeks to end a price war that, along with the coronavirus pandemic, drove global oil prices to an 18-year low at the end of March. The deal is the largest oil production cut ever negotiated, equaling about 10 million barrels of oil a day, or 13% of global oil production, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/opec-allies-look-to-resolve-saudi-mexico-standoff-and-seal-broader-oil-deal-11586695794">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Trump touted the agreement of OPEC+, supported by the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 10 other nations, on Sunday.
&#8220;The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States. I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. I just spoke to them from the Oval Office. Great deal for all!&#8221; Trump tweeted.
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The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States. I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. I just spoke to them from the Oval Office. Great deal for all!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1249422044564992001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The president followed up with a pair of tweets on Monday asserting that the cuts agreed to are more than double what OPEC stated in a Sunday <a href="https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/press_room/5891.htm">press release</a>.
&#8220;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,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19 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,&#8221; Trump concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#8230;.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.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1249691642975727616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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By Thursday, the deal had been in large part agreed to, but a late objection by Mexico seeking a lower cut in oil production threatened to scuttle the agreement. Trump called Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Saudi Arabia, salvaging the deal by promising that the United States’ drop in oil production would cover the difference for Mexico. Trump said that Mexico would &#8220;reimburse us at a later date&#8221; on Friday.
Unlike Saudi Arabia and Mexico, the United States does not have a state-owned oil company, so experts were initially unsure of how the U.S. planned to cut oil production. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said on Sunday that the cuts to U.S. production come from market projections by the Energy Information Administration, which expects U.S. oil production to fall by 2 million barrels a day by the end of 2020, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/saudi-arabia-and-russia-finalize-big-oil-deal-to-cut-production-after-prodding-from-trump">The Washington Examiner</a>.
&#8220;While it’s important to members of OPEC that they have mandates cuts, we don&#8217;t have that system in the United States,&#8221; Brouillette said.
While Trump and the oil industry celebrated the deal, the agreement may not be enough to revive the U.S. domestic oil industry as the coronavirus and state stay-at-home orders continue to keep people inside and depress demand for fuel.
The agreement also staves off U.S. oil tariffs Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-says-hell-consider-tariffs-on-oil-if-russians-and-saudis-keep-flooding-the-global-market">threatened</a> on April 5. The president said at a press conference that he would consider placing tariffs oil on Saudi Arabia and Russia to revive the U.S. oil industry if the two countries did not end their price war.

gas pump

Trump Touts ‘Hundreds Of Thousands’ Of Jobs Saved With OPEC+ Oil Deal

Donald Trump

OPEC

On Saturday, a new installment of the “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast was released on YouTube, and the focus was on energy – not just how oil production has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but how a play by Russia and Saudi Arabia have disrupted the industry.
Co-host Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire first asked: “I think for most people, the interaction we have with the oil industry is when we fill up our gas tanks, so low oil prices are not necessarily a bad thing when we look at it. What are we missing here?”
Sen. Cruz (R-TX) replied, first noting that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, and the price of oil per barrel has plummeted.
The senator then explained that this could have a ripple effect leading once again to the United States relying on “foreign countries” for oil:
<blockquote>The consequence of that is it potentially risks bankrupting most, if not every, American energy producer, and particularly in my home state of Texas, that&#8217;s devastating. But if you end up seeing American energy producers driven out of business, that also has massive implications in terms of you and me paying higher prices at the pump in years to come, and also geopolitically making us dependent on foreign countries in a way that we just now managed to get free and independent from.</blockquote>
Cruz continued, saying that a group of senators had a conference call with the Saudi ambassador a couple weeks ago, and that it got “bare-knuckled” and “candid.”
The senator explained in no uncertain terms to Saudi Arabia that they were “taking advantage of a global health pandemic to try to screw and bankrupt people across Texas” and other states. Their excuse was apparently “Russia.” Cruz replied that if they wanted to be treated like Russia, the U.S. could pull troops and Patriot missiles from Saudi Arabia if need be.
The podcast conversation then shifted to include Wil VanLoh, CEO of Quantum Energy Partners.
Sen. Cruz noted that the United States only recently became, for the most part, energy independent, and how it was technological advancements by smaller oil industry players that got us to this point.
When asked if energy companies can get back to where they were prior to the recent price drop, VanLoh explained how American energy independence is critical, and how the Saudis and Russians have attempted to interfere:
<blockquote>Right now, it&#8217;s not looking good. It’s not looking good for two reasons. One was Saudi and Russia have decided they were going to basically launch a market share war on the U.S., and as Senator Cruz said a minute ago, you know, the U.S. went from being a huge energy importer &#8230; we imported more than 12 million barrels a day less than a decade ago to literally over the last six months or so, we, on any given week, we will export or import a few hundred [thousand] &#8230; think about the impact on our economy, that&#8217;s depending on the price of oil, but say at $50 oil – that&#8217;s about $250 billion a year that stays here in the U.S.</blockquote>
Sen. Cruz went on to talk about the impact to the energy sector outside of COVID-19:
<blockquote>Then you&#8217;ve got a second component, which is you have the Saudis and the Russians, right as coronavirus is breaking, deciding this is a great opportunity to screw the Americans, to bankrupt the American energy business – and listen, what you&#8217;re doing, drilling in West Texas shale, the Saudis and Russians have hated it because you pass them up with America as the top producer, and so they&#8217;re sitting there, if I understand this right, they&#8217;re taking this as an opportunity, “Alright, we&#8217;ve got a crisis. Let’s put these guys out of business. Let’s bankrupt them so that when all is said and done, we&#8217;re the only players left in the game.”</blockquote>
VanLoh noted that the rise of the American shale revolution “challenged OPEC supremacy, and it challenged Russia supremacy.”
“So what they&#8217;re doing – it used to be what we would call an antitrust law predatory pricing in that &#8230; when they flooded the market with oil and they announced they were going to do that, and drove the prices way down, they were taking a big hit themselves, but they were doing it to bankrupt their competitors and then sweep in and dominate the market,” Cruz clarified.
Cruz later asked VanLoh about what happens environmentally if “independent energy producers go out of business, the economy gets going again after the crisis, and we&#8217;re dependent once again on on the Middle East for oil.”
The CEO stated that even if U.S. oil and gas are out of business, people will continue to use use oil, be it in cars, planes, or consumer products made using hydrocarbons. All of this would result in dependence on foreign sources, which would cost the U.S. a great deal of money and “significant geopolitical influence.”
“Fueling the Middle East with billions of American dollars is not good for keeping America safe,” Cruz added.
Check out the episode, which contains much more than what was written about above, here:
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HzpcbaoZZUQ" width="720" height="385" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Ted Cruz and Wil VanLoh

WATCH: Ted Cruz And Wil VanLoh Talk Importance Of American Energy Independence During And After COVID-19

energy

Ted Cruz

Verdict with Ted Cruz

President Donald Trump shut down a reporter on Tuesday for not knowing key information that was apparently related to a question that they were trying to ask.
“Mr. President, can I just check in on the oil again today?” Bloomberg News reporter Justin Sink asked.
&#8220;Oil?&#8221; Trump responded. &#8220;Where is it today?&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I was wondering if you&#8211;?&#8221; Sink continued.
&#8220;No, no. Where’s the price?&#8221; Trump fired back. &#8220;Give me the price.&#8221;
&#8220;Uh, I’m not sure to be honest,&#8221; Sink responded.
&#8220;How can you ask a question when you don’t know the price?&#8221; Trump fired back.
&#8220;I’ll look it up for you,&#8221; Sink said.
&#8220;OK, let me do somebody else then,&#8221; Trump responded as he then pointed at another reporter and said, &#8220;go ahead.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
savage <a href="https://t.co/Qb63H788i2">pic.twitter.com/Qb63H788i2</a>
&mdash; Nathan Brand (@NathanBrandWA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NathanBrandWA/status/1247657458153279494?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Wall Street Journal highlighted the current problem in the oil market in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-forecasts-oil-production-drop-could-be-factor-in-saudi-russia-price-war-11586283353">report</a> on Tuesday:
<blockquote>U.S. production of crude oil will fall 13% by year’s end, according to a government forecast Tuesday—numbers the White House hopes to use to convince Saudi Arabia and Russia to end their price war, a senior administration official said.
Saudi Arabia, in a dispute with Russia, has worsened a global oil glut by ramping up production at a time when demand has dropped because of the coronavirus pandemic. Both countries have said privately they are open to reducing production only if the U.S. also agrees to mandate cutbacks.
Trump administration officials have shunned any attempts at coordinating or even passively sanctioning output cuts from U.S. producers, considering it an intervention into private enterprise. But they are now trying to thread a diplomatic needle, potentially giving foreign rivals the signal they want, even without government mandates.</blockquote>
The Wall Street Journal added that the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasted that American oil companies will reduce oil production by 2 million barrels per day by the fourth quarter compared to where they were at in the first quarter.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/russia-saudi-arabia-are-very-close-to-an-oil-production-deal-rdif.html">reported</a> on Monday:
<blockquote>Russia and Saudi Arabia are “very, very close” to a deal on oil production cuts, according to the chief executive of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF.
“I think the whole market understands that this deal is important and it will bring lots of stability, so much important stability to the market, and we are very close,” said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
A virtual meeting between OPEC and its allies was scheduled to happen on Monday, but is now “likely” to take place on Thursday instead, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC. Reductions in oil output were expected to be discussed at the meeting that could bring the price war in oil to an end.</blockquote>
Trump indicated last week that he wanted the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia to end.
&#8220;I think they both want to make a deal,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/07/828688400/trump-urges-saudi-arabia-and-russia-to-end-oil-war">said</a>. &#8220;And they&#8217;re both smart. They love their countries. They want to make a deal. It&#8217;s good. But it&#8217;s also good for the world if they do &#8217;cause you save an industry.&#8221;
This article has been updated with additional reporting.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-BRIEFING

Trump Shreds Reporter For Not Knowing Key Info: ‘Let Me Do Somebody Else Then’

Media

Americans have had fairly stable energy prices for the past few years, and fairly low ones, in part due to the tremendous increase in energy production in the United States – both natural gas and oil. In 2018,  the U.S. produced <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/">95% of its domestic energy requirements</a>, the largest share since 1967. Stability is also owed to a mainly-steady oil supply emanating from OPEC countries and Russia, making up for decreased supplies from Iran and Venezuela. Gas prices, the marker Americans watch almost to the exclusion of everything else, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42435">averaged $2.60/gal in 2019 </a>, 4% lower than in 2018.
But while much of American energy is domestic, oil is a commodity with a single world-wide market. The choices other countries make ultimately affect our industry. In December 2016, Russia concluded an agreement with OPEC to balance output and stabilize price at an agreed-upon level – then at about <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/russia-and-saudi-arabia-new-oil-bromance">$60/bbl</a>. As expected, everybody cheated a little bit, but by the end of 2017, stability emerged. Saudi King Salmon paid his first ever state visit to Russia, where Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about major investments in the kingdom. In June of last year, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/30/russia-saudi-arabia-extend-deal-opec-oil-output">the deal was extended</a> for six to nine months. “Demand is softening a little bit, but I think it’s still healthy,” said Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih.
But then came coronavirus.
Saudi Arabia called an emergency meeting of OPEC and Russia, planning to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/9/21171406/coronavirus-saudi-arabia-russia-oil-war-explained">cut production to keep the price stable</a> as world economies faltered. But Russia, having a very large budgetary reserve, decided to keep pumping and let prices fall. For Americans, conditioned by the Arab oil embargo of 1973-74 and the 1980 Iranian Revolution embargo to think lower prices are good, the outcome of the meeting was something of a shock as we find ourselves in the middle of a Saudi-Russian energy war.
The Russians weren’t trying to help us with gasoline prices. Furious over American opposition to the Nord Stream II pipeline connecting Russian natural gas to European markets, Putin’s hope is to bankrupt the relatively new American oil industry and drive the U.S. from the market. Oh, and by the way, end up with more market share later. Putin is prepared to spend his reserve rubles propping up the Russian economy in the meantime.
Saudi Arabia’s fight is not with the United States, so the kingdom’s objective was not American industry. But the Sunni Saudis and the Iranian-supporting Russians are adversaries – over energy and more – so the Saudi government changed its mind and INCREASED production to FURTHER sink prices, hoping to damage the Russian economy more than Putting was prepared to tolerate.
And, indeed, there was a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/09/russia-saudi-arabia-squabble-over-oil-strategy-but-the-real-battle-is-with-the-us.html">massive price decline</a> last week – <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/03/14/the-oil-shock-of-2020-appears-to-be-here-and-the-pain-could-be-wide-and-deep_partner/">30% in less than a week and 50% since January</a>. It was, according to some experts, the worst week for the oil industry since 2008. Other analysts estimated that annual <a href="https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-To-Buy-77-Million-Barrels-Of-Crude-For-Strategic-Petroleum-Reserve.html">oil demand</a> could decline by more than the 2.65 million barrels per day recorded in 1980 after the Iranian revolution.
For the United States, the oil and natural gas industries are on the block. Not state-owned like those of Russia and Saudi Arabia, American energy producers are supposed to make their money on the market. But when the market rises or falls by collusion, where do they turn? CEO of Continental Resources, Harold Hamm, called the Saudi-Russian moves <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/oil-market-gets-white-knight-after-worst-week-since-2008">illegal</a>. But it isn’t clear that there is a legal remedy.
So, President Donald Trump <a href="https://link.axios.com/click/19735483.35298/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2hpdGVob3VzZS5nb3YvYnJpZWZpbmdzLXN0YXRlbWVudHMvcmVtYXJrcy1wcmVzaWRlbnQtdHJ1bXAtdmljZS1wcmVzaWRlbnQtcGVuY2UtbWVtYmVycy1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy10YXNrLWZvcmNlLXByZXNzLWNvbmZlcmVuY2UtMy8_dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXJfYXhpb3NnZW5lcmF0ZSZzdHJlYW09dG9w/5d8a19e2fbd297461c3ce0b1B488ff973">announced</a> the government would purchase enough crude oil to fill the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve &#8220;right up to the top.&#8221; The tab would be about <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-oil-purchase-strategic-petroleum-reserve-c6c016ba-2f20-4e55-89f3-4259d6a275a3.html">$2.6 billion</a> at last Friday’s prices for 77 million barrels of crude.
We still have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
Although there<a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Strategic-Petroleum-Reserve-Is-Slowly-Dying.html"> were discussions about dismantling it</a> a few years ago, the Reserve remains the largest emergency oil supply in the world. Designed to prevent the disruptions seen in the aftermath of the 1973-74 embargo, it has a capacity of 727 million barrels and presently holds about 635 million. It can be opened by the government to prevent economic dislocation in the face of overseas contingencies.
Within about two weeks, the President’s purchases may start showing up at the Reserve.
It may not work. Prices may rise and then fall again under longer-term economic pressures engendered by COVID-19. And there is still the question of paying for it – as Congress would have to appropriate the funds. &#8220;We continue to see political headwinds,&#8221; analysts with ClearView Energy Partners <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/031520-with-questionable-long-term-market-impact-trumps-spr-plan-faces-uncertain-path-in-congress?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosgenerate&amp;stream=top">said Saturday</a>, calling it &#8220;problematic&#8221; for the Democratic-led House to approve a plan the President has said will “save” an industry.
The President has other options for funding, but it would be a sorry day if the House of Representatives abetted Russia and Saudi Arabia in price fixing to cause long-term damage to the American oil industry.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly

President Trump

BRYEN: Trump Fills The Reserve

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made extreme remarks during CNN&#8217;s presidential debate on Sunday night, suggesting that he would end the oil industry’s ability to drill, would ban new fracking projects, and would take millions of cars off the road.
&#8220;No more subsidies for fossil fuel industry, no more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;Period. Ends.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Joe Biden: “no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemDebate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemDebate</a> <a href="https://t.co/STbBrh8DLg">pic.twitter.com/STbBrh8DLg</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1239368210513788931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;No new fracking and, by the way, on the Recovery Act, I was able to make sure we invested $90 billion in making sure we brought down the price of solar and wind that is lower than the price of coal, that&#8217;s why not another new coal plant will be built,&#8221; Biden continued.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Joe Biden: “no more, no new fracking” in my administration<a href="https://t.co/gnHCex8NPv">https://t.co/gnHCex8NPv</a> <a href="https://t.co/bwvLaU2VyB">pic.twitter.com/bwvLaU2VyB</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1239368769945952257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We in fact have the ability to lay down the tracks where no one can change, change the dynamic, and that&#8217;s why we should be talking about things like I&#8217;ve been talking about for years: high speed rail, taking millions of automobiles off the road.&#8221;
WATCH:
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President Trump: &quot;If you like automobiles, how can you vote for a Democrat who all want to get rid of cars&quot;?
Media: That&#39;s false!
Joe Biden: I support &quot;taking millions of automobiles off the road.&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemDebate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemDebate</a> <a href="https://t.co/YeG6BBdnFF">pic.twitter.com/YeG6BBdnFF</a>
&mdash; Trump War Room &#8211; Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1239368813327593473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Biden has embraced far-left positions championed by socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), praising her &#8220;Green New Deal,&#8221; which includes a government takeover of some private industries.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/06/04/joe-biden-embraces-green-new-deal-he-releases-climate-plan/">reported</a> in June:
<blockquote>Joe Biden is embracing the framework of the Green New Deal in his bid for the White House, calling on the United States to eliminate climate-warming emissions by no later than the middle of the century while creating millions of new jobs and rallying the rest of the world to forestall dangerous rising temperatures.
&#8230;
To that end, Biden’s climate plan adopts the rhetoric — and at times, many of the actual policy proposals — of the Green New Deal resolution put forward this year by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), which calls on the nation to eliminate its carbon footprint by 2030.</blockquote>
During a debate in December, Biden  indicated that he was willing to cut hundreds of thousands of oil and natural gas jobs.
&#8220;The answer is yes,&#8221; Biden <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/biden-says-hes-willing-to-cut-hundreds-of-thousands-of-oil-and-natural-gas-jobs">said</a>. &#8220;We should, in fact, be making sure right now that every new building built is energy contained, that it doesn’t leak energy, that in fact we should be providing tax credits for people to be able to make their homes turn to solar power. They’re all kinds of folks — right here in California, we&#8217;re now on the verge of having batteries that are about the size of the top of this podium that you can store energy when in fact the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. We have enormous opportunities.&#8221;
On the issues as a whole, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/where-does-joe-biden-stand-issues-heres-everything-josh-hammer">reported</a>: &#8220;Although Biden now presents himself as a moderate, centrist figure, the totality of his political career, overall, suggests that he is a firm leftist. Biden has dabbled at times in moderation, including previous support for tough-on-crime legislation and his longstanding stance that he is “personally pro-life” despite his support of legalized abortion. However, he has long been a progressive on legal issues, economic issues, and foreign policy issues, and even preempted President Obama’s “evolution” when, in 2012, he confirmed that he was <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/06/nation/la-na-biden-gay-marriage-20120507">“absolutely comfortable” </a>with same-sex marriage.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-VOTE-DEMOCRATS-DEBATE

BIDEN GOES EXTREME: Give Oil Industry ‘No Ability’ To ‘Continue To Drill’, Take ‘Millions’ Of Cars Off The Road

2020 Election

Climate Change

democratic debate

Fracking

Joe Biden

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia ratcheted up its oil war with Russia, announcing it would raise its crude supply to a record high in April. <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/saudi-arabia-russia-raise-stakes-123106547.html">Yahoo Finance</a> reported, “Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco said the oil giant would increase supply to 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in April for customers inside the kingdom and abroad. That&#8217;s 300,000 bpd above its maximum production capacity, indicating Aramco may also free up crude from storage.” The two countries had initiated a price war because of weak demand triggered by the impact of the coronavirus.
The 12.3 million bpd figure is a huge jump from previous months, in which the Saudis have pumped roughly 9.7 million bpd.
Russia has been trying to negotiate with the Saudis; Russian energy minister Alexander Novak indicated that Russia wanted to speak with OPEC but Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Reuters, &#8220;I fail to see the wisdom for holding meetings in May-June that would only demonstrate our failure in attending to what we should have done in a crisis like this and taking the necessary measures.”
OPEC and a group of oil producers headed by Russia had been in talks, but they collapsed; Yahoo Finance noted, “Three years of cooperation among OPEC+ producers ended in acrimony on Friday after Moscow refused to support deeper production cuts to support prices hit by the coronavirus outbreak.”
WorldOil.com <a href="https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/3/9/mnuchin-wants-orderly-oil-markets-in-talk-with-russian-ambassador">noted</a>, “Russia has sought to increase production to punish American shale drillers. Russia has sought to increase production to punish American shale drillers. Saudi Arabia’s state energy company Saudi Aramco responded by offering unprecedented discounts on Saturday to customers in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Rosneft plans to pump significantly more oil next month, when the OPEC+ arrangement formally ends, and Novak said the country’s share of oil export markets will be preserved.”
OPEC reacted to the collapse of talks by eliminating limits on oil production, which triggered the downward spiral of oil prices. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will start producing oil from the “Neutral Zone,” which would be in addition to the Saudis’ 12 million bpd.
On Monday, the Department of Energy issued a <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-responds-recent-oil-market-activity">statement</a> that read:
<blockquote>
The Trump Administration is closely monitoring the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19), and the fallout from last week’s OPEC+ meeting on global oil markets. These attempts by state actors to manipulate and shock oil markets reinforce the importance of the role of the United States as a reliable energy supplier to partners and allies around the world. The United States, as the world’s largest producer of oil and gas, can and will withstand this volatility.
The growth of the unconventional oil and gas industry in the United States has led to a more secure, resilient and flexible market. Thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth policies, America will remain the number one energy producer in the world. By prioritizing pro-growth reforms to tax, labor, regulation, energy, and healthcare policy the U.S. economy is more resilient than ever.
</blockquote>
&nbsp;

Exclusive: Inside Look At The Saudi Aramco Oil Company

Saudi Arabia Throws Down Gauntlet To Russia. Raises Crude Oil Supply To Record High.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) released a new digital advertisement ahead of the Democratic presidential debate tonight on NBC that highlights the devastating economic impacts if Democrats are successful in banning fracking.
The ad, which features Democratic politicians and left-wing media organizations, raises serious concerns about how banning fracking will cost America millions of jobs, will raise costs of goods and services in the U.S., and will threaten U.S. national security.
The Washington Post recently <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/climate-change/fracking-ban/">reported</a> that of the eight remaining Democratic presidential candidates, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, and Elizabeth Warren would all ban fracking while Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar would all impose more regulations on fracking.
API Rapid Response Manager Scott Parker told The Daily Wire: “Fracking has been one of the most important technological advancements in American history, and banning it would erase a generation of American progress. A fracking ban would leave working families behind, cost millions of jobs, and deliver a major win to countries like Russia. Presidential candidates who stand with American workers must stand against a ban on fracking.”
WATCH:
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Millions of American jobs lost, higher living costs, and U.S. national security in jeopardy. 
API’s new video addresses what supporters of a fracking ban won’t – its devastating cost to America. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemDebate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemDebate</a> <a href="https://t.co/wJfl1UWzIn">pic.twitter.com/wJfl1UWzIn</a>
&mdash; American Petroleum Institute (@APIenergy) <a href="https://twitter.com/APIenergy/status/1230306188845252608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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API&#8217;s digital ad comes after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) put out <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-ted-cruz-shreds-bernie-aoc-bill-to-ban-fracking">a similar ad on Tuesday night</a> hammering Democrats&#8217; plans as an attempt to implement socialism in the United States.
“We’re currently experiencing an American energy Renaissance with the United States having now become the number-one producer of oil and the number-one producer of natural gas on the planet,” Cruz says at the start of the video.
“The energy independence of the United States is something that people have been talking about for 50 years, and I never thought it would happen, and here it is,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said next in the video. “It’s in the nature of a miracle.”
“Fracking unlocked massive shale deposits of both natural gas and oils. Totally transformed the geopolitical world,” Cruz continued.
The video then transitions to socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) talking about how Democrats want to take away America’s energy independence.
“We need to put an end to fracking, not only in New York and Vermont, but all over this country,” Sanders said.
Cruz continued next in the video, saying, “What is dangerous about the climate movement is it has become an emotional primal scream rather than being driven by science.”
The video then highlighted extremist policy proposals by far-left Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who said at a rally, “By 2030, no more cars. By 2035, no more production of electricity.”
“Political leaders who are advocating it are also advocating massive government control of the economy and socialism,” Cruz continued. “Climate is a good excuse to say you’ve got to have socialism or else all of humanity’s gonna die.”
The video then cuts to extremist rhetoric from socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who said in 2019, “The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.”
Far-left Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is featured next, saying, “Imagine if one party disagreed with the other party on whether it was a good idea to treat cancer.”
Cruz then highlighted the impacts of Democrats’ plan to ban fracking, stating, “Policies to ban fracking would cost 14 million jobs nationally. In the state of Texas, would cost one and a half million jobs. It is hard to find something that would be more economically devastating.”
WATCH:
<iframe title="Democrats Have Declared War on America’s Blue-Collar Boom" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iEwQn-iha2U?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sen. Bernie Sanders And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Introduce Housing Green New Deal

WATCH: Digital Ad Highlights Devastating Impacts Of Democrats’ Plan To Ban Fracking

Democrats

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