Crude Oil prices and future

Days of higher oil price gouging by OPEC cartel and other oil exporting countries have come to an end. OPEC failed to agree on a unified output cap, effectively letting its 13 members flood the globe with crude in an effort to harm rivals. Most of OPEC's members, including Venezuela and non-members like Russia, need higher oil prices to balance their national budgets or they have to keep on pumping more.

The Saudi move to crush American shale operations via OPEC is doing nothing but forcing a consolidation among the many shale fracking companies in US and Canada. Low prices force the weaker companies to either sell assets or go bankrupt, while stronger companies swoop in to gobble up assets. In the meantime, these stronger hands cap wells and wait for the day that prices rise and the development of newer technology and equipment.

It is also reducing the investment and development of oil field all over the world. If you can get oil for almost free, then why spend money exploring new fields. With present technology, oil field reserve and global demand to reduce pollution, I do not see a bright future for oil industry.

This is good time for oil importing countries to build their oil reserve, build their foreign currency reserve and spend the oil saving to develop new and creative source of energy like solar, energy storage etc. Universities should start a new course that should help future engineers develop alternative source of energy.