Russ Steele
Thomas Barnett has some interesting analysis on the shift in future oil markets on his blog today:
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that for 2005, total U.S. oil supply broke down as follows: 55% from North America and 12% from South America. Another 14% from Africa and 4% from Europe/Russia. The Middle East accounted for 15%. Looking at it this way, I would say about 70% of U.S. oil comes from pretty stable places (I know, Chavez talks, but he still sells), with only 30 percent coming from the Middle East and Africa.
The whole analysis is here.
The global oil market can have a big impact on our economy. One thing to remember when reading Tom’s post is when customers are in trouble, so maybe the seller. China is one of California’s biggest customers, and they need more oil from unstable parts of the world than we do. Someday one of our biggest customer could be in big trouble. An that trouble may come home to roost.
