Iran is hiding more oil at sea than we realized

[jpak]

Source: CNN

New York (CNNMoney) — One of the biggest mysteries in the oil market surrounds just how much oil Iran is hoarding at sea.

That's a key question because Iran's nuclear deal with the West could lift crippling sanctions, and pave the way for tons of Iranian oil to hit the market. A surge in Iranian exports would only deepen the oil supply glut that has sent prices to fresh six-year lows this week to below $43.

Iran claims it's not stockpiling oil in tankers in the Persian Gulf, but no one believes it. Up until recently, energy experts thought Iran's vessels held 30 million to 40 million barrels of oil.

But maritime surveillance firm Windward has harnessed sophisticated technology to determine Iran is actually hoarding 50 million barrels of oil. That's up nearly 150% from April 2014 when Windward started tracking this closely-watched metric.

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Read more: http://cnnphilippines.com/business/2015/08/14/Iran-is-hiding-more-oil-at-sea-than-we-realized.html

[WDIM]

1. Oil is the main reason repuklicans are against the deal.

That and the fact that Iran does not use the petro-dollar as their currency in selling oil.

More oil supply is bad news for the fracking industry.

[jwirr]

2. Is this good or bad? What I see is cheaper gas for drivers?

[jpak]

3. It's mo' $$$$$ for TERRA!!!!!!1111111

see?

[jwirr]

6. Okay - I do see that. And while I might get cheaper gas I might also be the victim of terrorism.

[krispos42]

5. What makes oil companies richer?

Cheap gas, or expensive gas?



Who invests in oil futures? Rich people or poor people?



"Follow the money".

[jwirr]

7. And then there is this way to look at it.

[24601]

23. Who owns big oil is a legitimate question. 2.9 percent is owned by corporate management of the oil

companies. For the remaining 97.1%, ownership breaks down into 28.9% by pension plans, 24.7% by asset management companies (which includes mutual funds), 18.7% by individual investors, 17.9% is hels in Individual Retirement Accounts, and 6.9% by other institutional investors.

Source: http://www.whoownsbigoil.com/#/?section=whoowns-the-oil-companies-2

So in 2014, 71.5% of "big oil" was owned by the 59 million households that have mutual funds, 46 million households that have an IRA, and 61 million households that have a pension plan.

It's possible to invest and avoid ownership of oil companies; however, it takes a deliberate decision to do so and requires investment discipline.

[Kelvin Mace]

8. Cheaper gas is very bad long term

since it acts as a disincentive for people to cut back on fossil fuel usage by buying hybrids or electrics, adopting conservation programs, etc.

[Fred Sanders]

12. Which is exactly the propaganda put out by Big Oil.....and debunked. Green energy will be little effected.

[jtuck004]

4. Dang it! The only reason I fell asleep last night is because I thought we knew what they had.

Tonight is gonna be a struggle.


It does strike me that nearly every time I hear about lower oil prices I "read" the experts relating how bad it is for "the economy", yet my neighbors tell me how good it is. Turns out the experts are talking about those with the most money.

Sorry 'bout that.

[HooptieWagon]

9. Huh?

You cant hide an oil tanker in the backyard. It would be quite easy to locate them by something as basic as Google Earth, estimate the size, and estimate the cargo by how high they're floating. The U.S. govt probably has an estimate within 10%, as does all the oil companies and commodity traders.

[Roy Rolling]

11. Google Earth is not a live picture n/t

[HooptieWagon]

16. It will show an anchored tanker.

It would cost a fortune to store oil on a tanker sailing in circles, there's no reason to do so. Plus, ships have a transponder system called AIS that IDs the ship, size, course, and speed. It can be turned off, but uncommon to do so underway...it helps prevent collisions.

[Lee-Lee]

25. You do realize most Google Earth imagery is 2-7 years old, right

It's very rarely less than a year old.

[HooptieWagon]

28. It's not the only satellite imagery available to the govt.

You're arguing semantics, not the main point that Iran is not hiding tankers unless they're painted in invisible paint.

[Fred Sanders]

10. Oil prices plunged, as predicted, when the Iran deal was signed...outraging Big Oil and their legion

political puppets in Congress....another, overlooked reason for the insanity of opposing the rest of the world....a fact getting little mention in the media, which gets lavish amounts of ad money from....Big
Oil.

[JoePhilly]

13. Damn corporatist Obama!!!!

[cstanleytech]

14. Trust me big oil isnt outraged and here is out it will probably play out.

They will take the money they earned hand over fist with the higher prices and wait until the lower oil prices kill alot of the alternative energy companies and then they will use that money to buy those companies for pennies on the dollar.
After all even the oil companies know that eventually oil will not be viable as a cheap source of energy so they are going to want to be ready for it.

[Fred Sanders]

15. We are all doomed! Higher oil, we are doomed; lower oil, we are doomed? Make up your mind!

Green energy is here to stay, whatever the imaginary scenario.

Obama's long range energy analysis is quite clear on that.

[cstanleytech]

17. Yes it will stay here but the fact is cheap oil will probably have a short term negative impact

on those companies and if they cannot ride it out then the oil will probably swoop in and buy them out.

[Fred Sanders]

18. Cheap oil is of great assistance to developing countries...it is not all about American consumers.

[cstanleytech]

20. I am just pointing out what the oil companies are likely to do and why, you

are bringing up the consumers.

[asiliveandbreathe]

19. Has Windward used their sophisticated technology to determine how much the Koch Bros are hoarding at

sea??? Huh?? Seems to me they,big oil, is doing everything to keep oil high - thus gas pricing and all other oil based products,
of which there are many, at high prices....

from Lee Fang -

As Fortune magazine reported, when oil prices dropped from a record high in July of 2008 to record lows in December of that year, Koch bought up the cheap oil to take it off of the market. Koch leased a number of giant oil tankers, including the 2-million-barrel-capacity Dubai Titan, to store the oil offshore. The decrease in supply increased the price for consumers that year, while Koch took advantage of selling the oil off later at higher prices.

[Historic NY]

21. They been playing that shell game for years....

and many companies have been complicit in pushing that oil around the globe its called future pricing. They manipulate the markets with oil that never touches ashore.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/01/09/storing-oil-at-sea-is-about-futures-prices-not-crude-oil-prices-rebounding/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/13/us-oil-tankers-storage-idUSKBN0KM23K20150113

[Monk06]

24. Seriously 50 million bbls is half a day's oil supply by Jan 2015 numbers. A drop in the bucket.

And we are supposed to believe the Iranians would tie up their entire tanker fleet storing it?

Not exactly a safe place to store oil given the obvious vulnerability to weather, sabotage and enemy attack.

[Exultant Democracy]

26. That is great news. Anyone who knows the first shit

about Iran knows that relative depravation is the name of the game when it comes to regime change there. If the people of Iran think they are about to be oil rich, and the surplus only further craters the already weak market we could have things stirred up to a boil in a matter of years if not months.

[MJJP21]

27. IF

If true and oil prices collapse further this could be the death knell of Putin in Russia.