The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Saudi oil production much higher than people think

From the FT:

"Saudi Arabia has boosted its oil production to cushion against the weakened flows from Libya, where a de facto civil war has cut output by at least three-quarters from 1.58m barrels a day. But Riyadh has yet to provide details of how much it is pumping right now – a critical question as oil prices race towards $120 a barrel.

Traders and analysts put the kingdom’s output anywhere between 8.5m b/d and 9m b/d. But one senior western oil official told me over the weekend that Saudi production is actually 9.2m-9.3m b/d, much higher than most estimates. That is in line with an estimate by Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, which on Friday put output as high as 9.4m b/d.

According to the International Energy Agency, Riyadh last produced 8.6m b/d in January. The western countries’ oil watchdog will update its estimates next week. In theory, Saudi Arabia’s production quota within Opec is just 8.1m b/d."
at 5:22 PM