Since 2005 there has not been a good price for oil. Any price is too high for consumers or too low for producers. Oil is NOT a commodity. It runs through every transaction in the economy. Without oil, there is no transport, without transport there is no economy.
All oil in the ground is borrowed against, and in many cases re-hyphothecated. Shale in the US is collapsing after running negative cash-flow for ten years. Why so much debt? Because the oil industry is more than rigs and tankers, it is roads, highways, suburbs, cul-de-sacs, DIY stores, ... in other words, sprawl. There is no quick way to get out of this commitment to hard assets.
Hard assets can not be allowed to run at a low percentage. They have to keep pumping and burning or else take huge losses.
Oil industry now is desperate for customers.
All oil in the ground is borrowed against, and in many cases re-hyphothecated. Shale in the US is collapsing after running negative cash-flow for ten years. Why so much debt? Because the oil industry is more than rigs and tankers, it is roads, highways, suburbs, cul-de-sacs, DIY stores, ... in other words, sprawl. There is no quick way to get out of this commitment to hard assets.
Hard assets can not be allowed to run at a low percentage. They have to keep pumping and burning or else take huge losses.
Oil industry now is desperate for customers.
