Precipitous fall in oil creates new challenges

The precipitous fall in world oil and energy prices now challenges the long term desire of the US to become energy self-sufficient. Further, the fall in the price of oil is putting pressure on the US financial sector as problem loans directly associated with US exploration and production companies emerge. In the last month, the US equity market has been driven lower by substantial falls in US bank stock prices as concerns mount over bad debts and loan provisioning surfaces. Today, we suspect that the US Administration is again confronted with the challenge of making significant policy adjustments. These decisions will ultimately affect the strategic geo-political role of the US in the new world order. A strategic US decision to maintain its elevated level of oil production will affect world energy prices; it will support and sustain deflationary pressures; and it will respond to growing US financial system concerns. We put our views and the issues in context... (VIEW LINK)