Dodged A Wee Bullet They Did
When the Scots were all ready to use that Sweet Sweet North Sea oil money to finance their independent dreams in September, Brent crude was at $96 per barrel.
Right now it’s $64.00
Much like Russia, Norway is hosed
The governor of Norway’s central bank says western Europe’s biggest oil producer is facing a major economic slowdown as crude prices continue to plunge.
“Our job now is that we need to prevent a severe downturn in the economy,” Oeystein Olsen said today in an interview after a press conference in Oslo. “Overall, that is presently the major concern of the board. That explains why we have reduced the rate.”
…Oil prices have plunged 44 percent from a June high, the worst decline since the financial crisis erupted in 2008. Norges Bank estimates oil investments will decline by 15 percent next year, with the risk of “spillover” effects on the rest of the economy and rising unemployment.
Norway depends on the oil industry for almost a quarter of its economic output and has built an $860 billion wealth fund from its offshore revenue.
I laugh every time I see a Prius.
And I wish I had bought that bigger SUV…
Biz, Politics, World Stuff | Mr. Bingley | 
December 11, 2014 9:33 am
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You don’t need an SUV. The new Mustang has an option that locks the front wheels so you can roast the rears in a glorious celebration of Gaia worship.
Did I see that Chrysler was coming out with a car packing 700 ponies?
I wonder how Venezuela is doing these days. They were down to their last square of toilet paper the last time I checked. As their economy is pretty much 100% dependent on oil, I would think they’ve slipped from clusterfcuk status to outright WTF do we do now status.
If you’re travelling anywhere in Venezuela, think about that toilet paper thing the next time you enter one of their restaurants.
I’ve read that the Saudis are depending on their deep pockets to weather this price drop, but I’ve also read that OPEC is effectively dead. Hard to say from the Lame Stream Media reports. But it would be nice to watch the bloated corpse of OPEC decompose.
Hopefully the US shale oil producers were prepared for this scenario.
From Theodore Dalrymple:
How? Oil prices were much lower than this before Obama and no one was complaining of ruination. (Ruin-nation. Get it?)
No pity for them. I am happy for the low oil prices and hope they get lower. My income hasn’t gotten higher at the same rate as oil prices. It’s about time prices get more reasonable.
Now if we can just lower the taxes on the oil, maybe they could sell more of it . . .
Syd,
Since you asked http://faustasblog.com/2014/12/venezuela-default-by-september-2015/
Venezuela goes, & Cuba goes with it