Back in 1991, rapper LL Cool J released his single, “Mama Said Knock You Out,” which famously begins with this line: “Don’t call it a comeback/I’ve been here for years.” The story goes that many critics thought LL’s career was on the decline when his grandmother told him to “knock out” all the naysayers. The single became a number-one hit. #-ad_banner-#Well, something similar could be said about OPEC’s surge back to the top of the production line. Saudi Arabia has reclaimed its spot as the top oil producer, besting the United States with 12.58 million barrels of oil a day… Read More
Back in 1991, rapper LL Cool J released his single, “Mama Said Knock You Out,” which famously begins with this line: “Don’t call it a comeback/I’ve been here for years.” The story goes that many critics thought LL’s career was on the decline when his grandmother told him to “knock out” all the naysayers. The single became a number-one hit. #-ad_banner-#Well, something similar could be said about OPEC’s surge back to the top of the production line. Saudi Arabia has reclaimed its spot as the top oil producer, besting the United States with 12.58 million barrels of oil a day in August, versus 12.2 million produced in the United States. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that Saudi Arabia added 400,000 barrels a day of production last month. At the same time, the United States took 460,000 barrels a day out of its production. This shift is exactly what Saudi Arabia and OPEC were hoping for. It’s been keeping the taps on its competitors and driving down oil prices in order to price out high-cost shale oil production in the United States. It worked. Investment in shale oil has fallen 66% since 2014, according to Rystad Energy and Bloomberg. And… Read More