Saudi Arabia continues to ratchet up production!

Well, if that proves one thing, it proves they've always been able to!

That the seeming production reduction was managed simply to price gouge!

And we should allow ourselves to be fooled yet again by so called activists; demanding we alone leave our oil resources in the Ground!

If we but used the brains we were born with, we would stop listening to the activists; or jumping whenever OPEC pulls our string and just crack on exploring what is possibly a Middle East rivaling reserve.

And for the most compelling reasons, the first being further forcing down the price of energy!

The second being in common use, these indigenous supplies produce four times less carbon from wellhead to exhaust! NG, 40% less again!

The third becoming masters of our own destiny, and no longer able to be held by the financial short and curlies, by foreigners, with anything but our national interest in mind.

The forth being a return to a decent long term reserve!

The only essential and currently missing element, is mandatory government involvement in exploration and exploitation!

And just as the body managing contractors and or calling for tenders.

A full two thirds of America's oil rigs now sit idle, and it wouldn't be much of a task to site them on some islands or equip them with pontoons and legs, to enable them to be used in a comparatively shallow marine environment!

But only if these reserves can't be approached from several convenient islands by horizontal drilling?

The greens will tell us we don't need an indigenous oil industry, that the trillions we might earn from that could be replaced by tourism.

Well that's worked out well hasn't it?

People going broke all over the place and the reef being destroyed before our very eyes by increased runoff; caused no doubt by increased population numbers/tourists?

When it comes to the Midas touch and indeed the environment, everything these folks, [with their locked and bolted mindsets,] touch seems to turn to Shiite!?
Rhrosty.

It is not just Saudi production. The world economy is in serious recession that started in 2008.

You may be right Arjay, and caused in the most part by price gouged energy!?

We could, but like General consolation corn cob during the American civil war; our mental giants resolutely refuse to do anything about it, or lead the retreat/or through the worst possible, most misguided strategy, cause the virtual annihilation!?

And even as we face a housing price bubble capable of all but shutting down our our over reliant on housing, banks; and through them the economy, which by and large has no manufacturing sector worth mention to fall back on, when all else fails!

The big four Banks are essentially owned and therefore controlled by four large hedge funds, who like all foreign investors, have anything but our national interest in mind!?

Ditto the American and Canadian "activists", who are over here, arguing with every fibre of their being, we do not explore for our indigenous oil stocks on environmental grounds, even though if we did and used our own indigenous crude exclusively, we'd reduce our transport carbon emission by a full 75%! Great outcome guys!

Even as these fly in fly out "activists" produce huge disregarded personal carbon footprints, than you or I would likely create in an entire lifetime!

It must be nice to be "so well off" you can come here and spend months cruising around our expensive tropical islands and northern beaches; almost like a sentry on guard duty?

I can't imagine what harm could possibly ensue if we started drilling a couple of dozen holes in already dead coral reefs!?

Except possibly the commercial interests of those who supply most of our oil; and or would be seriously threatened commercially, if we started to export our cleaner greener fuel; or, naturally occurring diesel!

And given a reserve to rival the Middle East, that's exactly what we'd do; and the real concern of these so called activists!?
Rhrosty.

It's not Saudi, Aussie, Yankee or Iraqi oil, it is OIL. The West won the second the Saudis went from swing producer to (attempted) market management and the days of Middle East strength are waning. The Genie is out of the bottle with tight oil becoming increasingly available.

Who cares if some US producers moth-ball for a while, we are getting sensibly priced oil which will also benefit those countries pulling themselves out of poverty the only way it works, with economic development.