OPEC's Actions Irrelevant: Weak U.S. Infrastructure Can't Handle Increased Oil Production Claims Int'l Oil Experts
(Saudi's 'Excess Capacity' Pumps Have Run Dry,
Making Commitment Unobtainable)
HOUSTON, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- OPEC's upcoming meeting is a moot point claims Ronald Oligney and Michael Economides, both University of Houston professors, Fortune 500 consultants and founders of OTEK (Australia), a petroleum service and consulting firm with offices throughout Australia. According to Oligney and Economides, who accurately predicted our current "mini-oil crisis" over a year ago, the real problem is that the whole infrastructure is weak due to a lack of investment dollars.
The two cite a recent Merrill Lynch announcement as evidence that another of their predictions has come true. "In March of this year, the Saudi government claimed they had 7 1/2 million barrels a day in excess capacity," says Oligney. "We insisted that was off by at least 5 million barrels and just last week, Merrill Lynch said that based on new market research, the firm had to downgrade excess capacity for OPEC."
But even if OPEC had the excess capacity, these experts state that there are serious infrastructure flaws, such as the lack of tankerage to move the oil, that will prohibit any consumer relief in the near future. Their view is that the financial community and its lack of investment in the industry are largely to blame. In fact, Oligney and Economides feel that larger investment firms as a whole may be guilty of wanton advice that borders on questionable professional behavior.
These issues and more are planned for discussion during their scheduled CNN "In The Money" interview Monday, September 11th, 2000 at 11am EST. Other questions to be answered are:
Will the Saudi government come through on their promise to increase oil production and how? How much supply will OPEC approve? Does OPEC's actions make a difference?
Together, these University of Houston professors have written a book, The Color of Oil, subtitled "The History, Money and Politics Behind the World's Biggest Business." In it, readers will find more provocative views and predictions in an easy to read format.
SOURCE OTEK
CO: OTEK; OPEC
ST: Texas, Australia
IN: OIL
SU:
09/07/2000 07:57 EDT prnewswire.com |
