Nations Scrambling to Find Immediately Available Oil; Algae-Oil Will Have To Wait

Just yesterday I posted a story about India asking for Saudi help to make up Iranian shortfall. Saudi said they would "see what they could do."

Now today, Don sends another story with the same players: Saudi, India, and now the US.

The U.S. government has offered to help India get alternative supplies for Iranian crude as it looks to squeeze the Persian Gulf producer’s oil revenue, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

The U.S. may help broker deals with suppliers such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the people said, declining to be identified because the information is confidential. Saudi Arabia has already offered to replace Iranian oil supplies if needed, two of the people said.

The U.S. is in talks with countries around the world on reducing their dependence on Iranian oil, Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman at the State Department in Washington, said in an e-mail yesterday.

The assurance follows Iran’s offer to sell extra crude to India as the Persian Gulf nation, OPEC’s second-biggest producer, cuts supplies to some European nations in response to sanctions imposed over its nuclear program. The U.S. and European Union tightened sanctions on Iran last month, restricting trade and financial transactions. They say the program is a cover for developing atomic weapons. Iran denies the accusation. 

It certainly looks like phones are ringing off the wall/e-mails are flying trying to find "excess" oil for Iranian embargo.

Obama may not be so upset about $110 oil: the US becomes a central player to broker deals and it justifies wind and solar subsidies.

I stand by my story: I think Saudi is going to be hard-pressed to ramp up production/exports/deliveries.  What's Brent doing today? $126, up slightly, 40 cents. So, scrambling but things seem to be working.