Quote from segv:
The immediate scenario is rapidly increasing demand, capped production, and uncertain supply.
I know this is the prevailing opinion, but if you check the facts you'll see that China oil imports are DROPPING since 2004. They're relying increasingly on DOMESTIC production.
Also, which part of Saudi oil minister statements in bold above is unclear? THEY CAN FIND NO BUYERS FOR THEIR OIL. LIGHT SWEET ALSO (dismissing the con-line that it's all heavy oils and therefore market isn't interested).
So, either you think that OPEC producers are lying when they said last year "find me a buyer and I'll sell him 2Mbpd".
Or, some other factors are at work here, about which I've outlined my theory in the past.
. I've been telling everyone I know that Chinese oil consumption was down 0.2% in 2005 and imports were down over 5%