After years of keeping the price of crude sold to the U.S. low enough to maintain market share, Saudi Arabia is losing ground as the shale boom leaves U.S. refiners with ample supplies of inexpensive domestic oil.
Arab Light crude for sale in the U.S. averaged 48 cents a barrel less than Light Louisiana Sweet, a Gulf Coast benchmark, in August, the narrowest discount in data compiled by Bloomberg back to 1991.
The U.S. imported 878,000 barrels of Saudi crude a day in the first four weeks of August, the least since 2009.
Shale drilling has boosted U.S. oil output to the highest level since 1986. As refineries turn to lower-priced domestic oil to make fuel at a record pace, the Saudis and other foreign suppliers are left with dwindling slices of the market.
In June, imports from Saudi Arabia accounted for the smallest share of crude processed at U.S. refineries since February 2010.
"The Saudis are not going to sell crude at a disadvantage to themselves -- they're not about buying market share anymore," Mike Wittner, Societe Generale (GLE)'s head of oil market research in New York, said by telephone Aug. 28.
"Those days are long gone. They'll price crude to be competitive with the competing sour grades in every market, and if that means their flows to the U.S. are down, so be it."
Memo to self: send e-mail to Jane Nielsen.
Saudi Arabia is in trouble:
And later, a link to an op-ed in the WSJ on global warming, if I don't forget. TGIF.
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- US domestic oil competitive with Saudi oil (fact)
- Saudi running out of oil (controversial; not all agree)
- Saudi resides in a bad, bad neighborhood (fact)
- Saudi depends on US companies for technology (fact)
- Saudi doesn't have much else going for it, other than oil (and camels)
- Saudi needs $100 oil to maintain lifestyle for the rich (and hijabbed)
Saudi Arabia has inaugurated a multilayered fence along its northern borders, as part of efforts to secure the kingdom's vast desert frontiers against infiltrators and smugglers, state media said.
King Abdullah announced late Friday the launch of the first stage of a border security programme, covering 900 kilometres (560 miles) of the northern frontier, SPA state news agency reported.
SPA did not name Iraq, Saudi Arabia's neighbour to the north, referring only to the northern frontier, but the two countries' common border stretches over 800 kilometres (500 miles).
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Eagnews reports on Michelle's menus: CHICAGO – Hummus is too fatty, pretzels are too salty. Even hard-boiled eggs and yogurt don’t make the cut.
Those restrictions and others imposed on schools through the revamped “healthier” National School Lunch Program convinced officials in Illinois’ second largest school district to forfeit nearly $1 million in federal lunch aid to serve students food they want to eat, rather than what the government tells them to, CBS reports.
The federal “healthier” school lunch overhaul, championed by First Lady Michelle Obama, has been a boondoggle for public schools across the country. The tightened restrictions, intended to combat childhood obesity, have driven more than 1 million students away from school lunches and created over $1 billion per year in food waste since they were implemented in 2012.
The drastic drop-off in lunch sales is prompting an increasing number of school districts to ditch the regulations and attached federal funding to save their floundering cafeteria programs. Just this week, two other New York school districts dropped out.Wow.
And later, a link to an op-ed in the WSJ on global warming, if I don't forget. TGIF.
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