But eventually it’s a question of access: Getting access to fields is on top of the oil companies’ agenda. We see a substantial build-up of supply occurring over the coming years. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
If a war started, the oil price probably would go up, as you said, maybe $5, $6 a barrel until you saw other oil from the extra supplies that are available elsewhere coming into the world, into the market. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
In a couple of years, the Chinese will be seen as regular participants in international industry. Their companies have to report to shareholders as well as to the Chinese authorities. They need to make money, they have to be efficient. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
So the major obstacle to the development of new supplies is not geology but what happens above ground: international affairs, politics, investment and technology. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
This has a lot to do with the unrest in Nigeria, but also with the production loss after the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, the decline in Iraq since the 2003 war, and the decline in Venezuelan output since 2002. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
The North Sea was supposed to run out in the 1980s. Then in the 1990s. And now production is still on-line. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
A premium in the oil price of somewhere between 10 to 15 dollars a barrel reflects this heightened anxiety. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
The bulk of extra supplies that could be put into the market come from two places. One, they come from other Persian Gulf suppliers, of which Saudi Arabia is at the top of the list. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
Clearly, the Chinese need the resources, but I don’t think they want to clash with the industrial world which happens to be the market for their goods. Daniel Yergin Read Quote
