India wields oil 'weapon' to cut dependence on Saudi Arabia

[magra]

Childish attempt at ad hominem. You weren't banned the last time you kept derailing the thread after express repeated warnings against it.

You did thread ban me for responding to you with my points which you did not like. I have seen you patiently engage with Pakistanis in multiple posts, but you were quick enough with just 2 or 3 posts to thread ban me.
You can tell me now and I will stop responding to you. Not to keen to engage with you if you are not.

The Chinese will switch suppliers when a cheaper supplier becomes available. Everyone and anyone would. The Saudis are the cheapest out there. Like I said, not a difficult concept to understand.

You can see that Indian response worked as OPEC decided to increase output from next month. This was the principal demand from India.

Oil prices slide on OPEC output call and surging India virus cases

Crude has rallied this year as vaccine rollouts help major economies reopen. The decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies was seen as a vote of confidence in the outlook for energy demand. The U.S. also added more than 900,000 jobs in March, the most in seven...

www.worldoil.com

That too for a fact as obvious as this. Did you think that I would just take your word for it?

EIA forecasts the U.S. will import more petroleum than it exports in 2021 and 2022 - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

www.eia.gov

.

Okay. I stand corrected. US does import as well as export oil. Indian refineries are equipped to handle the kind of oil US sells too.

India will not take "some" losses since the entirety of OPEC is under Saudi thumb. Where will you import all that oil from?

Iran is an OPEC member. Do you know how OPEC works?

Saudi is one dominant member of OPEC+, but it is not that all members will agree to them. There are Russians and Iranians which are part of OPEC+ and they will look to their own interests as well.
Iran has been known to give many concessions to sell their oil such as free shipping.

 

[krash]

Quality of my posts vary for people of different nationalities. You obviously are a poor judge.

That's not much coming from you, bud.

Btw, a pretty stupid MO seeing as this is a Pakistani forum.

I am not loosing sleep over it.

Never thought you would. You build these fantasies for a reason.

Rest of the post is just gibberish from a Pakistani with a skewed viewpoint when it comes to India.

Sound argument right there. Clearly not a desperate attempt at scurrying away from what you have no answer to.

I hope you'll leave it to India and Saudi to work it out.

Mere words threaten to bring your entire world down, eh?

Soon Saudi will be making a deal with India, just watch this space.

Promises, promises.

PS: Don't ban me.

Funny how you think that that statement would faze me.

 

[krash]

You did thread ban me for responding to you with my points which you did not like. I have seen you patiently engage with Pakistanis in multiple posts, but you were quick enough with just 2 or 3 posts to thread ban me.

Luckily that thread is still available for everyone to see. You brought India into a matter which had nothing to do with it just to try to disingenuously score some cheap points. I told you multiple times that your posts were grossly off-topic. I expressly refused to engage your propaganda and told you to "take it elsewhere". You, OTOH, made it a point to keep on repeating your rhetoric and derailing the thread. That too when I was clearly shutting every Pakistani down who was trying to bring India in it. So, as per forum rules, I removed you from the thread so that you did not derail a very serious debate and then issued you a warning so that you wouldn't do it again. The warning clearly stated what it was for. Your points or my liking of them had no baring on the matter. They never do. I mean, look at the repetitive and dishonest nonsense @Protest_again has been posting throughout this thread.

Let's take this discussion to the thread you opened on the matter. Would be ironic if we derail this thread as well.

You can tell me now and I will stop responding to you. Not to keen to engage with you if you are not.

Would be pretty stupid of me to ask that. Would also defeat the entire purpose of this forum. However, if you only resort to deliberate ignoring the argument that I have presented just to stick to your narrative then I will call you out for it. Nothing personally against you, just that I'm owed at least that much. An MO which is obvious from my posts against Pakistanis as well.

You can see that Indian response worked as OPEC decided to increase output from next month. This was the principal demand from India.

Oil prices slide on OPEC output call and surging India virus cases

Crude has rallied this year as vaccine rollouts help major economies reopen. The decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies was seen as a vote of confidence in the outlook for energy demand. The U.S. also added more than 900,000 jobs in March, the most in seven...

www.worldoil.com

The article you have quoted clearly states that the announced increase in production is due to the expected increase in demand due to the Covid vaccine. It is also a decision which can be revised on April 28th. It has nothing to do with India's response. It also says that the Saudis have increased their prices for Asia owing to their confidence in the Asian market.

Okay. I stand corrected. US does import as well as export oil. Indian refineries are equipped to handle the kind of oil US sells too.

As I keep repeating, it is about the cost of US's oil. Even if Indian refineries were not suited to handle it, pretty sure they can rework them to.

Saudi is one dominant member of OPEC+, but it is not that all members will agree to them. There are Russians and Iranians which are part of OPEC+ and they will look to their own interests as well.
Iran has been known to give many concessions to sell their oil such as free shipping.

Incorrect. The entire purpose of OPEC is to form a cartel to ward off any pressure from the consumer base. In case you didn't know, it is OPEC which decides who produces how much, including Iran and Russia. The US has failed to force them, the Chinese have failed to force them. Both of whom have demands many times more massive than India's. The US finally got rid of the Saudi oil, at least for now, and the Saudis did not bat an eye. With the smaller Arab countries in tow, the Saudis are the dominant member of OPEC, they pretty much are OPEC. And they are arrogant about it, they are the bully. Their recent oil price wars are very clear examples that they will incur billions in losses but will not relinquish their position of the bully. India, OTOH, has nowhere near as much clout over the oil industry.

We see these "we are their number 1,2,3 buyer, they will not mess with us" dreams every time from Indians and nothing ever comes out of it. How much more do you need to see after the Chinese literally invaded Ladakh?

PS: The concessions Iran gives are to its own cost. Also, given the sanctions on them, importing more oil from them isn't exactly as easy as you make it.

US pips Saudi Arabia as second largest exporter of crude oil to India

India spent $101.4 billion on crude oil imports in 2019-20 and $111.9 billion in 2018-19. It is a key refining hub in Asia, with an installed capacity of over 249.36 million tonnes per annum. It has 23 refineries and plans to grow its refining capacity to 400 mtpa by 2025

Do you really think Saudi could afford to loose a customer with $100 billion purse and growing? Just as Malaysia learned its lesson with palm oil, so will Saudi.


Indian Oil Buys Its First Norway's Johan Sverdrup Crude Cargoes: Report

See? More repetition of the same rhetoric.

First, tell me who is India planning to buy this oil from if not the Saudis?

 

[magra]

Luckily that thread is still available for everyone to see. You brought India into a matter which had nothing to do with it just to try to disingenuously score some cheap points. I told you multiple times that your posts were grossly off-topic. I expressly refused to engage your propaganda and told you to "take it elsewhere". You, OTOH, made it a point to keep on repeating your rhetoric and derailing the thread. That too when I was clearly shutting every Pakistani down who was trying to bring India in it. So, as per forum rules, I removed you from the thread so that you did not derail a very serious debate and then issued you a warning so that you wouldn't do it again. The warning clearly stated what it was for. Your points or my liking of them had no baring on the matter. They never do. I mean, look at the repetitive and dishonest nonsense @Protest_again has been posting throughout this thread.

Let's take this discussion to the thread you opened on the matter. Would be ironic if we derail this thread as well.

Sure, we can take this discussion on that thread.

Would be pretty stupid of me to ask that. Would also defeat the entire purpose of this forum. However, if you only resort to deliberate ignoring the argument that I have presented just to stick to your narrative then I will call you out for it. Nothing personally against you, just that I'm owed at least that much. An MO which is obvious from my posts against Pakistanis as well.

Thank you for committing to be impartial.

The article you have quoted clearly states that the announced increase in production is due to the expected increase in demand due to the Covid vaccine. It is also a decision which can be revised on April 28th. It has nothing to do with India's response. It also says that the Saudis have increased their prices for Asia owing to their confidence in the Asian market.

Increasing price for Asia (which includes India, China, Korea, Japan) is just a face-saver / compromise as it had to increase production. Both Saudi and India are dependent on each other. Saudi cannot afford to let go of such a big customer. They are also looking to invest in Indian refineries and oil storage facilities. They will not ruin the relationship.

As I keep repeating, it is about the cost of US's oil. Even if Indian refineries were not suited to handle it, pretty sure they can rework them to.

Getting US oil is for diversification and signaling purpose. Bulk of the oil will continue to be imported from middle east as its cheaper as well as nearer.

How much more do you need to see after the Chinese literally invaded Ladakh?

Bringing territorial dispute with China is off-topic. Please be careful as you may have to thread ban yourself

PS: The concessions Iran gives are to its own cost. Also, given the sanctions on them, importing more oil from them isn't exactly as easy as you make it.

Ofcourse, not easy today. This will be done once sanctions are eased. Biden govt is not as anti-Iran as Trump govt.

 

[krash]

Thank you for committing to be impartial.

You're welcome.

Increasing price for Asia (which includes India, China, Korea, Japan) is just a face-saver / compromise as it had to increase production. Both Saudi and India are dependent on each other.

What do you think the reduction in production is for? You know it's to hike the price right? It's Econ 101.

The Saudis have increased and decreased production at their discretion to maintain their optimal price and hence profits. Nothing special this time around. They nearly wrecked the world's economy less than a year ago only to show another country down. Took the production into negative and started dumping oil in the world. They are not what you wish them to be. You are not what you wish yourself to be.

Saudi cannot afford to let go of such a big customer.

So you keep repeating. Reality and history speak otherwise, both on India's part and the Saudi's. I can't repeat the same thing ad nauseam.

They are also looking to invest in Indian refineries and oil storage facilities. They will not ruin the relationship.

Yeah, and the guy taking the investment calls the shots? He can "ruin the relationship" whenever he wants? How do you guys come up these things?

Getting US oil is for diversification and signaling purpose. Bulk of the oil will continue to be imported from middle east as its cheaper as well as nearer.

And notice how the Saudis never batted an eye while India spends much MUCH more for the same amount of oil. The Saudis just sell it to the next guy, sell all of what they produce and they still produce exactly how much they want to.

Bringing territorial dispute with China is off-topic. Please be careful as you may have to thread ban yourself

Haha, nice one.

The example plays directly into the evergreen Indian fantasies of "We big customer, no one want to mess with us". Wiser men would call it a lesson.

Ofcourse, not easy today. This will be done once sanctions are eased. Biden govt is not as anti-Iran as Trump govt.

Seems to be the case. Iran would still have to deal with the OPEC gang though.

 

[magra]

What do you think the reduction in production is for? You know it's to hike the price right? It's Econ 101.

The Saudis have increased and decreased production at their discretion to maintain their optimal price and hence profits. Nothing special this time around. They nearly wrecked the world's economy less than a year ago only to show another country down. Took the production into negative and started dumping oil in the world. They are not what you wish them to be. You are not what you wish yourself to be.

So you keep repeating. Reality and history speak otherwise, both on India's part and the Saudi's. I can't repeat the same thing ad nauseam.

I think we both are repeating our stance. So I dont think there is any point in me arguing any further on this right now.

Yeah, and the guy taking the investment calls the shots? He can "ruin the relationship" whenever he wants? How do you guys come up these things?

India can get investment in refineries from other Gulf players too. Saudis wont find such big refineries that are open to investment anywhere else. It is not a one-sided relationship.

And notice how the Saudis never batted an eye while India spends much MUCH more for the same amount of oil. The Saudis just sell it to the next guy, sell all of what they produce and they still produce exactly how much they want to.

Did you see any other country cancelling their orders from somewhere else to now buy Saudi oil?

The example plays directly into the evergreen Indian fantasies of "We big customer, no one want to mess with us". Wiser men would call it a lesson.

Messing up with big customers will harm the other player too. Chinese investments in India (Tiktok, Huawei etc) were harmed post Doklam and Ladakh issues.

Seems to be the case. Iran would still have to deal with the OPEC gang though.

Ofcourse, but having Iranian oil on the market will reduce Saudi bullying power. And OPEC can only dictate production levels, not other aspects like shipping, insurance, trading currency.

 

[nahtanbob]

The Chinese will switch suppliers when a cheaper supplier becomes available. Everyone and anyone would. The Saudis are the cheapest out there. Like I said, not a difficult concept to understand.

Having the lowest cost of production does not imply they are the cheapest option
No question Saudis have the ability to go lower than American shale producer

 

[farok84]

Oil tankers are seen parked at a yard outside a fuel depot on in Kolkata. (File photo: Reuters)

NEW DELHI: When India’s government last month asked refiners to speed up diversification and reduce dependence on the
Middle East - days after Opec+ said it would maintain production cuts - it sent a message about its clout and foreshadowed changes to the world’s energy maps.
It was a move that had been in the works for years, fuelled by repeated comments from oil minister
Dharmendra Pradhan, who in 2015 called
oil purchases a “weapon” for his country.

When the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries and Major Producers (Opec+) extended the production cuts into April, India unsheathed that weapon. Indian refiners plan to cut imports from the Kingdom by about a quarter in May, sources told Reuters, dropping them to 10.8 million barrels from monthly average of 14.7-14.8 million barrels.
Oil secretary Tarun Kapoor, the top bureaucrat in the ministry, told Reuters that India is asking state refiners to jointly negotiate with oil producers to get better deals, but declined to comment on plans to cut Saudi imports.
“India is a big market so sellers have to be mindful of our country’s demand as well to keep the long-term relationship intact,” he said.

The Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco and the Saudi energy ministry declined to comment.
Pradhan, who sees high oil prices as a threat to India’s recovering economy, said he was saddened by the Opec+ decision. India’s fuel import bill has rocketed, and fuel prices – inflated by government taxes imposed last year - have hit records.
The International Energy Agency forecasts India’s consumption to double and its oil import bill to nearly triple from 2019 levels to more than $250 billion by 2040.

An oil ministry official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the Opec+ cuts have created uncertainty and made it difficult for refiners to plan for procurement and price risk.
It also creates opportunities for companies in the Americas, Africa, Russia and elsewhere to fill the gap.
If India is successful, it will set an example for other countries. As buyers see more affordable choices and renewable energy becomes increasingly common, the influence of big producers like
Saudi Arabia could wane, altering geopolitics and trade routes.
India has reduced the share of crude oil imports from the Middle East in recent years:

Diversification drive
India’s oil demand has risen by 25% in the last seven years - more than any other major buyer - and the country has surpassed Japan as the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer.
The country has already curbed its reliance on the Middle East from more than 64% of imports in 2016 to below 60% in 2019.
That trend reversed in 2020, however, when the pandemic pummelled fuel demand and forced Indian refiners to make committed oil purchases from the Middle East under term contracts, shunning spot purchases.
As India shifts gears again after Pradhan’s call for faster diversification, refineries are looking for new suppliers, the oil ministry official said.

Costly refinery upgrades that allow for the processing of cheaper, heavier oil grades have encouraged importers to seek out far-flung sources. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd bought the country’s first cargo from Guyana this month, and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd just imported Brazilian Tupi crude for the first time.
In past years, refiners have jointly negotiated here oil deals with sanctions-hit Iran, which offered free shipping here and price discounts, and now plan to do the same with other producers.
Since the break with Saudi Arabia began, Pradhan has had meetings with United Arab Emirates’ minister of state and chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm to strengthen energy partnerships.

Pradhan recently said African nations could play a central role in India’s oil diversification. The country is looking at signing long-term oil supply deal with Guyana and exploring options to raise imports from Russia, the oil ministry source said.
A separate Indian government source said the government expects Iranian sanctions to ease in three to four months, potentially offering India a cheaper alternative to Saudi oil.

Two traders agreed that Iran stood a good chance to benefit from India’s shift, as did Venezuela, Kuwait and the United States. An Indian refinery source said the US, Africa, Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend and Russian oil would probably get a look too.
Although Indian importers will scoop up increasing volumes of attractively priced global grades, most analysts expect the Middle East to remain India’s primary oil supplier, mainly because of lower shipping costs.
India’s oil ministry is working with refiners on a framework to jointly negotiate terms with suppliers.
“Buyers have alternatives in today’s market and these alternatives are going to multiply going forward,” Kapoor said. “There are so many companies in India that do buying at their own level, so these companies coming together also becomes quite a big bloc.”

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and Opec+ agreed after discussions with US officials to ease oil curbs beginning in May.
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman conceded that the production cuts had put state oil company Aramco “in some difficulty with some of its partners.”
The relationship

Analysts say the oil spat does not need to spill over into broader strategic ties in other sectors, including defence.
“Until recently, the balance of power was skewed towards Saudi Arabia, but increasingly, India is using access to its market and the diversity of options to put pressure on Saudi Arabia,” consultancy Eurasia said in a note. “For Saudi Arabia, losing market share in a global environment in which most developed economies are already seeing their oil demand decline due to green policy implementation, would be a blow.”

Abdulaziz confirmed that Aramco had maintained normal April oil supplies to Indian refiners while cutting volumes for other buyers - a sign Saudi Arabia is concerned about India’s search for new sources.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-biggest trade partner, importing a slew of items, including food. Saudi Armaco is looking at buying a 20% stake in
Reliance Industries’ oil and chemicals business. It is also a part of a joint venture to build a 1.2 million barrels per day refinery in India.

Power play: India wields oil 'weapon' to cut dependence on Saudi Arabia - Times of India

India Business News: When India’s government last month asked refiners to speed up diversification and reduce dependence on the Middle East - days after Opec+ said it woul

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Hi,

KSA's crude oil export is over 7 million barrels per day. India at 14.8 million barrels/month (~495,000 bpd), accounts for only 7% of KSA's total daily crude oil exports. The notion that India can wield oil as a weapon against KSA is laughable. This characterization will also make other GCC countries reluctant in supplying make up volumes to India, the proposed cut of ~ 135,000 bpd or $3.2 B/ year (with oil at $65/bbl). UAE, Kuwait or Oman will be happy to provide these volumes but not at the cost of their respective relationships with KSA. Iran and to some extent Iraq, might be willing to poach on KSA's market.

Sure, India can easily find other suppliers in Americas (US, Canada, Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, well not Venezuela until US lifts sanctions), infact it is about to receive its first 1million barrel (~33, 500 bpd) cargo from Guyana on April 8 (as per schedule). It takes about 30-35 days (shipping cost of $0.3-0.35/bbl for a million barrel cargo) to reach India from US, compare it to 5-7 days (shipping cost of $0.05-0.07/bbl for a million barrel cargo) from Jubail.

The long term contract the article is alluding to is an interesting prospect. The breakeven for Liza (Phase 1) is around ~$50/bbl (Brent) and has the maximum production capacity of 120,000 bpd. The JV comprises of Exxon (Operator, 45% share), Hess (30% share) and CNOOC (25% share). It is unlikely this Guyanese crude will be cheaper than KSA's, nor they have the capacity and volumes to replace KSA's share of Indian market completely (atleast not until 2024).

 

[krash]

I think we both are repeating our stance.

You are repeating your narrative/stance. I am presenting arguments which you are answering with a repetition of the same narrative/stance.

So I dont think there is any point in me arguing any further on this right now.

Well, you haven't arguing, just repeating your rhetoric.

India can get investment in refineries from other Gulf players too.

...........Who? Pray do tell which Saudi lackey in the Gulf will build refineries in India against the Saudis. It's like talking to a wall which has its eyes closed tight and its fingers in its ears.

Saudis wont find such big refineries that are open to investment anywhere else. It is not a one-sided relationship.

Oh yeah. Clearly its the rich Saudi willing to spend millions if not billions of his money on the poor Indian who would be worried about those investments falling flat. Only in India would anyone think that the investee calls the shots over the investor.

Did you see any other country cancelling their orders from somewhere else to now buy Saudi oil?

How do you think oil procurement works? Do you think these are lengthy ironclad agreements? Oil is purchased on a rolling basis. You don't cancel orders, you just order from the other guy. India just did it by increasing its purchases from Nigeria and the US while reducing them from the Saudis. Pakistan did it with its LNG.

Messing up with big customers will harm the other player too.

Yeah, not in a market as inelastic as this and not with substitute demand as ample as this. You just keep repeating that line against all the reason I've thrown at you. See what I meant in the opening of this post?

Chinese investments in India (Tiktok, Huawei etc) were harmed post Doklam and Ladakh issues.

And look at the Chinese begging and groveling infront of the mighty Indian consumer.....wait a minute.......

Ofcourse, but having Iranian oil on the market will reduce Saudi bullying power.

Not really. Again, you have no clue how OPEC works. Besides, the largest oil producer in the world couldn't dent the Saudis even while operating outside of OPEC. The third largest oil producer couldn't dent the Saudis even after locking horns under OPEC.

And OPEC can only dictate production levels, not other aspects like shipping, insurance, trading currency.

Like a wall.

The production levels are everything. 1) They dictate how much oil Iran can sell; it cannot sell India what it does not have. It will also not abandon its long standing consumers just to satisfy Indian fantasies. 2) They also ensure that the Saudis will always have a buyer to sell their oil to, despite any peacocking by India; global production < less than demand. 3) Production levels also dictate the price, which means that the Saudis get to sell all the oil they want to sell at the price they want to sell it.

Having the lowest cost of production does not imply they are the cheapest option
No question Saudis have the ability to go lower than American shale producer

In some cases, yes. In the Saudi oil case, no.

The Saudis dictate their price through OPEC. Due to their low production cost they can undercut anyone, especially the non OPEC producers. As I've mentioned in this thread above, the Saudi's production cost and hence price is so low that even when you factor in the added logistical costs to the other end of the planet, they still outcompete US oil. It took the US 35 years of active effort coupled with record low demand owing to a pandemic to wean themselves off Saudi oil. Most still don't believe that it will stay that way. The rest of the world is far closer to the Saudis and does not produce oil the way the US does. This is also the reason why they control the OPEC cartel.

 

[T-SaGe]

US becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to number 4

US becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to number 4

The country is the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipping in about 84% of its crude needs, and relies heavily on the Middle East.

www.hindustantimes.com

Until recently, Iran was India's number two oil supplier. We know this one closely because some of related payments were made over a bank from Turkey. When the USA put pressure, this trade was cut.

Now, this time they have begun to limit their oil trade with KSA. And they are giving KSA's place to US oil.

 

[magra]

You are repeating your narrative/stance. I am presenting arguments which you are answering with a repetition of the same narrative/stance.

Well, you haven't arguing, just repeating your rhetoric.

...........Who? Pray do tell which Saudi lackey in the Gulf will build refineries in India against the Saudis. It's like talking to a wall which has its eyes closed tight and its fingers in its ears.

Oh yeah. Clearly its the rich Saudi willing to spend millions if not billions of his money on the poor Indian who would be worried about those investments falling flat. Only in India would anyone think that the investee calls the shots over the investor.

How do you think oil procurement works? Do you think these are lengthy ironclad agreements? Oil is purchased on a rolling basis. You don't cancel orders, you just order from the other guy. India just did it by increasing its purchases from Nigeria and the US while reducing them from the Saudis. Pakistan did it with its LNG.
Yeah, not in a market as inelastic as this and not with substitute demand as ample as this. You just keep repeating that line against all the reason I've thrown at you. See what I meant in the opening of this post?

And look at the Chinese begging and groveling infront of the mighty Indian consumer.....wait a minute.......

Not really. Again, you have no clue how OPEC works. Besides, the largest oil producer in the world couldn't dent the Saudis even while operating outside of OPEC. The third largest oil producer couldn't dent the Saudis even after locking horns under OPEC.

Like a wall.

The production levels are everything. 1) They dictate how much oil Iran can sell; it cannot sell India what it does not have. It will also not abandon its long standing consumers just to satisfy Indian fantasies. 2) They also ensure that the Saudis will always have a buyer to sell their oil to, despite any peacocking by India; global production < less than demand. 3) Production levels also dictate the price, which means that the Saudis get to sell all the oil they want to sell at the price they want to sell it.

In some cases, yes. In the Saudi oil case, no.

The Saudis dictate their price through OPEC. Due to their low production cost they can undercut anyone, especially the non OPEC producers. As I've mentioned in this thread above, the Saudi's production cost and hence price is so low that even when you factor in the added logistical costs to the other end of the planet, they still outcompete US oil. It took the US 35 years of active effort coupled with record low demand owing to a pandemic to wean themselves off Saudi oil. Most still don't believe that it will stay that way. The rest of the world is far closer to the Saudis and does not produce oil the way the US does. This is also the reason why they control the OPEC cartel.

Looks like you are too big a fan of Saudi and have too much faith in its power. Saudi-UAE bloc tried hard to blackmail Qatar to shut Al Jazeera but it did not work. They have been trying unsuccessfully to defeat Houthis in Yemen, but Iran is still helping Houthis defying Saudi.

 

[krash]

Looks like you are too big a fan of Saudi and have too much faith in its power.

Hardly. Would advise a cursory glance at my post history. Unlike yourself, I try not to base my arguments solely on personal biases and/or preferences.

Saudi-UAE bloc tried hard to blackmail Qatar to shut Al Jazeera but it did not work. They have been trying unsuccessfully to defeat Houthis in Yemen, but Iran is still helping Houthis defying Saudi.

How is any of that in any way, shape, or form related to the Saudi's stranglehold, or the lack thereof, on the Global Oil Market? What are you saying.....?

 

[nahtanbob]

US becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to number 4

US becomes India's second biggest oil supplier, Saudi plunges to number 4

The country is the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipping in about 84% of its crude needs, and relies heavily on the Middle East.

www.hindustantimes.com

Until recently, Iran was India's number two oil supplier. We know this one closely because some of related payments were made over a bank from Turkey. When the USA put pressure, this trade was cut.

Now, this time they have begun to limit their oil trade with KSA. And they are giving KSA's place to US oil.

Does all this gymnastics matter ? If India buys from USA they are displacing existing customers of USA who will turn to other suppliers ?

What really matters in the long run is overall supply and demand ? @krash

 

[krash]

Does all this gymnastics matter ? If India buys from USA they are displacing existing customers of USA who will turn to other suppliers ?

What really matters in the long run is overall supply and demand ? @krash

Right on the head. One of the reasons why the Saudis control the supply from OPEC so rabidly.

TBF, the US has more supply than its current demand and it can accommodate additional customers to its existing ones. However, those who do not have a political bone to pick with the Saudis will pounce on the available supply from them, owing to the price differential. The market will balance itself out.

 

[magra]

Hardly. Would advise a cursory glance at my post history. Unlike yourself, I try not to base my arguments solely on personal biases and/or preferences.

My comment on having too much faith in Saudi power was solely based on your posts in this thread.

How is any of that in any way, shape, or form related to the Saudi's stranglehold, or the lack thereof, on the Global Oil Market? What are you saying.....?

If tiny Qatar can defy Saudi, surely others can too. In OPEC, other countries listen to Saudi since it suits their interests too. What action can Saudi take if an Iran or a Russia defies Saudi in oil production.