Response to Blog Post 5

I found this article by the New York Times extremely helpful. The power of the writing and information provided was strong and relevant to my topic. The article could easily allow someone with no prior knowledge of OPEC or oil production to understand my topic at an intermediate level. Once again the NYT was a great relevant source for my topic.

Blog Post 5

The Middle East



For the longest time the Middle East has been warred over by expanding complex societies as well as religious expansion. The Iraq war that was started 6 1/2 years ago was originally thought to be induced as a way for the United States to tap into Iraq's vast oil supply. Now, major oil companies have finally reached these reserves yet are finding it hard to withdraw a profit from oil extraction there.

The cost of supplying armed guards and protection for these wells has been exorbitant and inefficient in producing a strong and profitable market there. The extraction costs are high as well considering that Iraq's oil wells are far below the surface of the earth's crust.

Iraq's first attempt at becoming a part of OPEC and opening a bid for oil companies to come and drill there was a complete disaster. No oil company wanted to be involved in difficult oil extraction while at the same time fending off the Taliban and Al Qaeda. These made extraction prices/risks too great to establish a long standing oil exportation in Iraq.

Response to Blog Post 4

Once again the NYT (New York Times) has proven to be a viable and current source of news regarding my topic. The article was very well written and consisted of enough information to write a blog post on. I found that the style of the article was efficient enough to retain facts and absorb details to memory. I believe that the NYT will continue to provide these strong articles and future blog post ideas.

OPEC Blog Post 4

Thomas Reiss
OPEC





Oil dropped below $70 back in October. What does this mean for us? Well this certainly means that we are not in peak oil. The market demand for oil has been slipping and will continue to slip until consumers develop a stronger demand.
The drop in oil should provide a stimulus to the economy. Costing consumers less to fill up their tanks. In a recent report, the author stated that, “It will most definitely be cheaper for Americans to heat their homes this winter.” A recent government report stated that the reason for these oil costs to have declined is because of vast stockpiles of crude oil within the United States.
If investors are not confident than OPEC will more then likely cause a fluctuation of oil prices, inducing a frenzy of investing/stock trading. A similar pattern emerged in the 1980's. Oil production/price fluctuation was induced. Causing major losses for OPEC but at the same time boosting Asian, Latin America, and American markets.

Response to Blog Post 3

The information that I obtained through the website used was very helpful. There was great detail in the explanation and core facts about OPEC. I thought that this website could provide facts to formulate an opinion as well as facts to write an article. That is why I chose this site.