Unconventional Oil Sources?

This was a new term for me.  I have also noted that gas prices on Rogers Street are down a few cents a gallon.

From Reuters, via Arab News is this:

The speech by Saudi Aramco’s Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih was the first from the oil exporter to acknowledge that unconventional oil was set to shift the energy balance of power and cut US dependence on Middle East crude.

“The abundance of resources and the more ‘balanced’ geographical distribution of unconventionals have reduced the much-hyped concerns over ‘energy security’ which once served as the undercurrent driving energy policies and dominated the global energy debate,” Al-Falih said.

For years oil markets, nervously watching pressure on limited spare production capacity, have obsessed over Saudi Arabia’s supply cushion as the last defense against prices spiraling higher.

“A few years ago, much of the global energy debate was based on the premise of acute resource scarcity and its economic and political ramifications,” Al-Falih said.

“Rather than supply scarcity, oil supplies remain at comfortable levels, even given rising demand from fast-growing nations like China and India,” he added.

On the other hand, the current administration seems to be slowing the exploitation of these unconventional oil sources.  In some bases, like the Keystone Pipeline, the oil will flow elsewhere and since oil is fungible around the world, the price will not be impacted, except in terms of transportation costs.

Regards  —  Cliff

PS:  Just in passing, shouldn't paragraphs tend to have more than one sentence?