Challenges & Market Analysis.. •The United States As Exporter

Currently Saudi Arabia is one of the leading producers of oil in the world. However, it is losing its foothold on the market. Many countries, like North America, are increasing their oil production and are looking for ways to become less dependent on foreign oil. The increased competition has caused oil prices to decrease. By producing their own oil, countries not only will increase their revenues, but will also reduce their need to rely on foreign oil. By reducing their need foreign an oil a country does not have to worry that their oil supply will be cut off if they go to war.

Oil is the product that each and every one of us use. It can be used for fuel, heating and even cooking. The most often known for unstable price is crude oil or gasoline. According to the The Economist, The main reason for price shifts of oil is oversupply. The oil production in Saudi rose 10.3 million barrels per day. This increase is the effect of a new method that I being applied to oil extraction. This method is called fracking, fracking is where they drill into tight-rock formations then gradually turning horizontal for several thousand feet more. This results to accommodations to multiple oil wells. This new approved method of oil harvesting has raised the productivity gains and reduced the cost of harvesting oil.

The consumption of the oil cause changes in the supply and demand. The United States produces 11 million barrels of oil every day. We are one of the biggest countries to have a big influence on the production and prices of the oil. The basic supply and demand theory explains that the if a product is produced more, the cheaper it should sell. If a country were to double the output of oil day, prices would fall and the Production is high, but the distribution of oil isn’t keeping up with the market. The United States builds an average of one oil refinery per 10 years. This is a net loss due to the fact construction has slowed down since 1970s. Since 1970s, the United States has 8 less oil refineries today. The reason why we are not oversupplied with cheap oil is because of the other countries’ higher net margin and the only operate at 62% of their capacity. Excess capacity is only there to meet future demand. With demand moving accordingly, oil prices will continue to be set mostly by the market — despite external players’ best efforts. (McFarlane)

[Oil production has jumped from 5.0 million barrels per day in 2008 to 7.4 million last year and is expected to average 8.5 million this year and 9.3 million next year, according to the EIA, the analytical arm of the Department of Energy.” (Koch par. 2)]

High oil price for last few years drove the energy industry to come up with a new technological innovation and the result is a new drilling technique like hydraulic fracturing. This new technology made drilling easy in North Dakota and Texas (Timiraos, 2014). With more oil drilled domestically, U.S became net energy exporter instead of an importer. Also falling demand due to energy conservation, more efficient cars, less demand in China and OPEC opted against cutting production levels made the price go down. When Global economic growth was slowing and most economists agree that both supply and demand played role in the last year oil price plunge. Driven by the increased supply, oil price dropped from $82 to $50 between Oct'14 and Jan'15. The IMF summarizes 58% of the drop in oil price to supply and only 42% to demand.

Several oil-countries have been facing economic and political turbulence as a result of the crash in oil prices, and there is disagreement among OPEC as how to handle the situation. (Krauss) While this is happening, America’s oil production continues to rise, as it inches closer to becoming an energy superpower in production and consumption; and countries that depend on their oil exports face recession.

Our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas has created a vulnerability affecting our national security and economic stability. Up until this past decade there was an appreciable decline in our oil and natural gas production in the US and we were tied to world market price fluctuations. Oil prices and natural gas prices rose and fell based on OPEC’s and other large oil and natural gas producers’ production and pricing decisions. Beginning in 2005, things began to change in the US oil and natural gas industry. New technology called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” made it possible to extract oil and natural gas from geological

Two-thirds of the world’s remaining oil reserves are in the Middle East which will make international policy imperative in the future (Campbell 2007). It is

Hydraulic fracking has dramatically increased the amount of natural gas and oil production. Fracking allows for twice the production of oil and gas over regular oil rigs. Industry observers predict that by 2020, the United Stated will be the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world. Currently Saudi Arabia produces about 10 million barrels of crude oil per day, whereas the U.S. produced about 8 million. As of right now it is hard to be completely energy independent from Middle Eastern countries because we as a nation consume more than we are able to produce. It was estimated back in 2009 that we as a nation have consume around 19 million barrels of oil-based fuels per day. As the supply and demand of oil and natural gas increase allows for more job to open up. In 2010, IHS CERA estimated around 600,000 new jobs were created. In 2011 alone, the oil and gas industry profited more than 100 billions dollars (Levi, 2012).

Middle East is strategically important region where mostly world half of oil reserves are located. Three countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran and United Arab Emirates accounted for 57% of total Middle East liquids fuels production. (Liquid fuels production in Middle Eastern and North African countries n.d.) Although due to increased domestic production of petroleum and natural gas, the United States is reducing its dependence on foreign oil with imported liquid fuels, but still oil means a lot to the US as oil prices is determined internationally by what is available for all global consumers. Therefore, to safeguard the security of Oil supply in the Middle East and ensure stable access to affordable oil is in the vital interest of the America. (Mexican crude oil shipments to Europe and Asia are rising as U.S. imports fall

America must wean itself off of dependence on foreign oil, and one valid solution to this problem is offshore oil drilling and production. America’s economy is heavily based on petroleum, as though it is the nation’s blood; a necessity for survival. About 25% of oil produced in the U.S. comes from offshore rigs. Most of the U.S. coastline has been off limits for oil drilling since the early 1980s. Due to environmental concerns after an oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed. Since then, the U.S. has amplified its energy consumption to where it uses nearly 25% of the world's oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. produces about 10% of the world's oil. That has made the U.S. heavily reliant on imported

America the beautiful, land of the greed and the home of oil. Along with being a major superpower comes an insurmountable thirst for fossil fuels. Imperialist ideals and the corporate oil empire can bring stability and jobs but heavy costs also arise. Numerous solutions have been tried, but without fixing the underlying problem more issues are inevitable. Our over-consumption has an incredible effect on our reliance on foreign oil. OPEC, the Organization of the Oil Producing Countries, has supplied Americans with a constant flow of both oil and jobs. Nevertheless, progression comes with high cost to our environment, in addition to pulling us into international involvements. Increasing the United States’ domestic oil production was just a

on this years by providing the oil gap cause for the OPEC embargo to those

In the recent years, business become more larger due to the advancement of technology, a renewed enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and a global sentiment that favors international trade to connect people, business and market. The economist emphasize about the international trade can increase the production of goods and service, increase the demand from the consumer in local or international, the diversification of goods and services and the stability in the supply and prices of goods and services. As a result, it becomes the main part of the international business and motivated countries to trade with borders. The United States implied the government intervention since the great depression through the financial sector rescue

Saudi Arabia has an economy that is largely dependent on oil, with the government maintaining the biggest control over the country 's significant economic activities. Saudi Arabia owns about 16% of the global oil reserves and is the number one exporter of oil (Saudi Arabia, 2013). In addition, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was instrumental in the formation of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) group, which initially comprised Iraq, Venezuela, Iran, Kuwait and Venezuela (Energy indicators, 2004). Currently, the petroleum industry constitutes about 80% of the country 's budgetary incomes; about 40% of the country 's GDP and 87% of Saudi 's export earnings. Agriculture, in addition to petroleum products, has been a major contributor to the kingdom’s economy since 1970s (Saudi Arabia, 2013). The country has been able to produce enough agricultural products for their consumption as well as surplus for exportation to the GCC member countries.