Pimp Ain't Gettin' No Respect

This is the sound of a pimp who's addict is considering rehab:

Opec on Tuesday warned western countries that their efforts to develop biofuels as an alternative energy source to combat climate change risked driving the price of oil “through the roof”.

Abdalla El-Badri, secretary-general of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said the powerful cartel was considering cutting its investment in new oil production in response to moves by the developed world to use more biofuels.

The warning from Opec, which controls about 40 per cent of global oil production, comes as the group of eight leading industrialised nations meets on Wednesday with climate change at the top of its agenda. The US and Europe want to use biofuels to combat global warming and to strengthen energy security.

Cut away. Raise the price. I wish you would. The higher the price, the more movement we'll have away from oil dependence.

This story is the very first public indication I've seen that OPEC is losing pricing control. Historically they could increase/decrease production to maintain oil in a comfortably painful area ... higher than anyone wants to pay but not so high that anyone does anything about it. Now, for reasons that may include peak oil as well as non-OPEC sources, they may not have the ability to manage production like they used to in the heyday's of the 80's and 90's.

All in all, a very good news story.