$200 Oil Not Out of the Realm of Possibilites: Korean Times

A recurring theme on this blog: Saudi Arabia can lower oil production in an attempt to raise oil prices, but Saudi Arabia no longer has the wherewithal to raise oil production to lower oil prices. (This puts me at odds with most pundits on this subject.)

But at least someone else agrees. From the Korean Times, as reported by PennEnergy:

But what if and more realistically so, there was to be a drawn-out civil war in Libya? Will the Saudi oil industry, already under duress to maintain supply at the present level, be able to withstand the pressure and continue pumping an extra two million barrels per day into the world market? Are its oil supplies going to last through long-term disruptions? Hard facts are pointing to the opposite direction, as oil prices will more than probably surpass their 2008 summer figures.

This is an excellent article. The source is interesting: Korean Times. It was interesting what was not mentioned: the Japanese nuclear disaster. Just one more reason that part of the world is going to be more dependent on fossil fuel.

OPEC countries are already producing at full capacity, thus the apparent surplus available there is on paper only. Last year, for the first time in its five decades history, OPEC itself has quietly raised its worldwide demand estimate three times. 

Those demand estimates were made before the nuclear disaster. 

The writer concludes that $200 oil is not out of the question.