Menu Close

This Little-Known “Export War” Is the Real Reason Behind Cheap Oil

This is a syndicated repost published with the permission of Money Morning - We Make Investing Profitable. To view original, click here. Opinions herein are not those of the Wall Street Examiner or Lee Adler. Reposting does not imply endorsement. The information presented is for educational or entertainment purposes and is not individual investment advice.

The real reason why oil prices bottomed out last week has been completely overlooked by media pundits. Yet it may be the most important factor in oil pricing today.

You see, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company and the largest oil company in the world, is the bellwether for what all of OPEC is likely to do at any given time.

Trending: Why We Never Trust Big Bank Oil Price “Forecasts” (Especially Now)

And last week, Saudi Aramco cut its prices to the Asian market significantly.

Here’s why… and what that means for oil going forward…

The Export War for Asia Continues

saudi arabiaSaudi Aramco’s Asian price cut signals the next round in an increasingly bitter export war that will dictate broader global prices in the near term.

That’s because of two overriding considerations.

First, as I have noted on several previous occasions, Asian demand progressively dictates what is going to happen in energy markets for at least the next two decades (and probably longer, but reliable projections don’t yet exist beyond 2040).

All increases in end-user needs are centered there, with Asia and the Pacific region dictating the worldwide trends moving forward.

The international price of oil may be benchmarked by Brent (set daily in London) and WTI (West Texas Intermediate, determined in New York), but the driver is Asia’s growing appetite for energy.

And crude oil heads the list of what is being impacted…

The Saudi Oil Strategy Is Working Everywhere but Asia

Second, the Saudi strategy has been to build additional export volume into the current market glut, thereby grabbing share from other producing countries. That has served its intentions adequately in other parts of the world.

But it has continued to lose ground in the primary target of Asia.

There, the primary competition continues to come from Russia and, to a lesser extent, from rising volume from both Iraq and Iran. In fact, this competition over Asia has been one of the primary reasons for the shift in OPEC policy, from cutting exports to protecting market share.

As I observed here following OPEC’s 2014 “Thanksgiving Day Surprise” – the decision not to cut supply and instead to keep pumping to protect market position – Asia had been an immediate concern even beyond the impact of U.S. shale producers.

Now, Asia traditionally pays a premium for oil import shipments, above the price normally paid for by buyers in Europe or the U.S. Gulf Coast. The main Asian refinery complexes are also configured to use crude with a higher sulfur content (also known as “sour” crude).

As it happens, Saudi Arabia’s, Russia’s, Iraq’s, and Iran’s primary oil output is sour, setting the stage for this battle over Asia.

But in 2012, Moscow finished building the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline from Siberia to northeastern China. The ESPO pipeline runs a new, lower-sulfur grade crude (which Russia has proposed calling the ESPO benchmark grade).

Don’t Miss: Price hikes are just the start of Europe’s energy woes. The EU is turning into an energy basket case – here’s why…

This oil is “sweeter” (read: has lower sulfur content) than the usual Urals Blend Export coming from Russia, which is accomplished by taking out the very sour export volume from Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.

This was achieved by giving the domestic companies Bashneft and Tatneft discounts to redirect their oil supply to Russian refineries.

What this means is that, from the very beginning, the ESPO pipeline was targeting Asia with oil that not only was of better quality than that provided by the Saudis, but was being sold at prices that reduced or even eliminated the premium over Saudi oil.

The Saudi intention with the OPEC November 2014 policy shift was to drive the Asian price of oil below the level at which Russia could afford exporting ESPO oil to the continent. This is why OPEC maintained (and then increased) their oil export levels. The immediate target was Russia and Asia, not the United States and American shale production.

And OPEC’s strategy worked. For a while…

Russia Is Rejoining the Fight for Asian Oil Exports

Initially, Russia pulled back exports to Asia followed by both the Russian economy and the ruble collapsing. In addition to combating continuing Western sanctions over its conflict with Ukraine, the Russian central budget also struggled (and continues to struggle) with lower than predicted proceeds from oil andnatural gas exports.

That budget had initially been based on crude trading at $80 a barrel. By the time oil had moved to $30 per barrel (and below) earlier this year, the Kremlin was in panic.

Matters in Russia have now stabilized somewhat, although last week’s latest decline in crude prices has brought back some of the angst. What has changed most, however, is the attitude.

With the bulk of the damage to Russia already done, Moscow has decided to bite the bullet and rejoin the battle for the Asian oil consumer.

Realizing that the Saudi/OPEC decision to flood the oil market was meant to intensify the glut and drive Russia out, the Kremlin has decided to reply with increased exports, despite the guaranteed losses that come with doing so at current prices.

Of course, the caveat here is Moscow’s ability to sustain increased production in the face of a triple whammy: financial losses from these exports to Asia; declining extraction rates from Russia’s main oil fields in Western Siberia; and an increasingly desperate lack of both working capital and technical expertise.

But Saudi Arabia isn’t giving up yet and has tightened the screw by reducing the price for its exports to Asia. Riyadh calculates that their advantages in very low production costs and (at least apparently) ample reserves will win out over what may be an increasingly desperate move from Russia.

Meanwhile, Asian consumers are likely to reap the benefits – lower gasoline and energy prices – from this latest game of “oil chicken.”

 

To get full access to all Money Morning content, click here

About Money Morning: Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free. Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors.

Disclaimer: © 2016 Money Morning and Money Map Press. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning. 16 W. Madison St. Baltimore, MD, 21201.

 

The post This Little-Known “Export War” Is the Real Reason Behind Cheap Oil appeared first on Money Morning – We Make Investing Profitable.

Join the conversation and have a little fun at Capitalstool.com. If you are a new visitor to the Stool, please register and join in! To post your observations and charts, and snide, but good-natured, comments, click here to register. Be sure to respond to the confirmation email which is sent instantly. If not in your inbox, check your spam filter.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RSS
Follow by Email
LinkedIn
Share

Discover more from The Wall Street Examiner

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading