U.S. PRODUCERS ADDRESS TENSIONS WITH IRAN AND POSSIBLE EUROPEAN EMBARGO AND BLOCKAGE OF OIL TRANSPORTATION THROUGH HORMUZ; ANALYSTS ARE 'REWORKING OBSOLETE SCRIPTS'

摘要

With "dangerously high" tensions between Iran and the European Union (EU), the U.S., and other Organization of Economic Development (OECD) countries, over Iran's nuclear program, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) warned on 1/11/12 that world oil supplies could be greatly disrupted. This impending crisis and the familiar effects of the last oil disruption from the civil war in Libya, the independents stated, shows that as the U.S. "moves into the second decade of the 21st century, geopolitics and energy security will influence domestic policy more than ever." The topic was broached in that association's report, IPAA: Energy Security & Geopolitics: Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Although the extent to which Iran's actions would "shock" the oil price is unknown, IPAA suggested that oil prices may go to $150/bbl in the short-term during a crisis.