Stay updated with breaking news from Swing supplier. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
new sources. they are made and will keep supply throwing for years. the former head of strategy for the i calan energy giant said there is no way to stop this. he predicts that prices could drop down to $35 a barrel. a primary reason that the price decline accelerated is that saudi arabia, the world's swing supplier that is the that can increase or decrease production has decided to keep bumping. the saudis know it hurts them, but they hope it will hurt everyone else more. one of saudi arabia's main names is to put america's producers of chal and tight owl out of business. american firms have used technology and smart business practices to stay afloat. major oil producing countries
the 1980s, the soviet union collapsed. what will it mean now? nick butler, the former head of strategy for bp, told me we are in for a longer and more sustained period of low oil prices than in the late 1980s. why? he points to a perfect storm. supply is up substantially because a decade of high oil prices encouraged producers throughout the world to invest vast amounts of money in finding new sources. those investments are made and will keep supply flowing for years. the former head of strategy for the italian energy giant says there is no way to stop this phenomenon. he predicts that prices could actually drop down to $35 a barrel next year. a primary reason that the price decline has accelerated is that saudi arabia, the world's swing supplier, that is, the one that can most easily increase or decrease production, has decided to keep pumping.
partners in the organization of petroleum exporting countries, namely saudi arabia. saudi arabia is really looked to the swing supplier in any sort of disruption. so the first thing will be to assess how quickly saudi arabia can replace those lost barrels. >> and also whether saudi arabia remains stable. the king is taking measures ahead of a major revolt there. he's trying to make sure that there are new poverty measures in place to meet people's demands, so that they don't see a repeat of what's happened, for instance, in bahrain. how much of a linchpin is saudi arabia in terms of being calm and stable and not seeing the kind of chaos we've seen elsewhere? >> it's everything. libya had limited trade partners. its supply really was focused in italy and other close mediterranean neighbors. saudi arabia, though, is responsible for exports to every major consumer in the world, including the u.s. >> there are some estimates now that we could actually see oil hit $220 a barrel. do you think that's farfetched? >> it is right now.