Oil Prices 2018 - Part 2: Goldman Sachs vs IEA

In Part 1 of my Oil Prices for 2018 blog, I focused in on Goldman Sachs. Essentially, they believe that oil prices will be stable with 2017, which due to cost controls make investing in big oil a great idea.

Now what does IEA (International Energy Agency) think?

Oil Prices 2018 - Part 1: Goldman Sachs vs IEA

I recently posted a blog that compared Morgan Stanley viewpoints versus those of IEA when it came to US shale production.

Well, recently, Goldman Sachs and IEA released reports on their viewpoints on 2018 oil. This blog post focuses in on what Goldman Sachs believes.

Kurds in Syria: Playing a better politcal game than the Kurds in Iraq, but still going to get screwed?

Of interest, even though ISIS was pushed out of Mosul and Raqqa, there is still some fighting happening on the eastside of Syria. The area is known as the Deir al-Zor province, near the Syrian/Iraqi border. This is leading to some interesting dynamics between Iran, Turkey, Russia, Syria and the United States with the Kurds in the middle.

Venezuela and Arrested Oil Executives

President Nicolas Maduro's administration has arrested around 50 oil executives. This includes five U.S. citizens, executives of Citgo (the U.S. refining division of Venezuela's PDVSA). Per Bloomberg:

The authoritarian socialist’s administration has begun a broad purge at state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, arresting more than 50 officials at the oil giant and its joint ventures since August, supposedly to fight corruption.

OPEC: Oil Cut Extension

Recently, OPEC announced it would extend their 1.8 million barrels per day oil supply cuts through the end of 2018 (with a caveat that the agreement would be reviewed in June). Reuters has a couple interesting perspectives from Russia and Saudi Arabia.

US Shale: Two Viewpoints from Morgan Stanley and IEA

A discussion point on US shale is what will US shale producers do next? US shale producers have over-produced in the past, helping to drive down oil prices. But what might happen in the future?

Lebanon: The Adventures of a Prime Minister (Part 2)

This is part 2 of my look into Lebanon's Prime Minister Hariri and his adventures. This is taking a look at my thoughts on why Hariri temporarily resigned from his post while in Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon: The Adventures of a Prime Minister (Part 1)

I mentioned in a previous blog how on November 4th the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned.