News

The recent invitation by OPEC for US officials to join in production freeze talks is clearly a nod to the production powerhouse Americas has become as a result of the shale revolution. But it wasn’t always that way. Just ask former US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who, 16 years ago, was the point person in talks with Saudi Arabia to boost production, which would keep US gasoline prices stable. Richardson’s tenure from 1998 through 2000 came at a much different time for both the US’ relations with OPEC and its role in the world oil market. For one, the US was producing only about 5.9 million b/d and was in the midst of a historic supply decline that would crater at about 3.9 million b/d by October 2005. In the spring of 2000, Richardson was urging Saudi Arabia through phone calls and what he called “quiet diplomacy” to orchestrate an OPEC production increase as the Clinton administration was worried about a crude oil price spike. That price spike had brought prices to over $34/b, a level which roughly 15 years later would create a crisis for producers and a boon for consumers. And OPEC has also changed significantly, Richardson said. “It’s a different OPEC,” Richardson said in an interview with S&P Global Platts. “Today, they’re not unified, there are more players and while the Saudis are still the leaders, they’re no longer as friendly to us as they used to be nor can they totally dictate [prices].” For the full interview with Bill Richardson, listen to the Capitol Crude podcast here: ‘Quiet diplomacy’: The US relationship with OPEC oil production Earlier this month, the Obama administration turned down an invitation from OPEC to join in the production freeze talks in Vienna. The US government’s absence at the OPEC meeting will not be a surprise to anyone. Representatives of Texas and Alaska attended a meeting with non-OPEC  producers nearly 30 years ago and US producers have attended OPEC seminars...