Saudi Arabia’s oil officials are working frantically to project how high oil prices might go if the Iran war and its disruption of energy supplies doesn’t end soon—and they don’t like what they are seeing.
The base case, several oil officials in the Gulf’s biggest producer said, is that prices could soar past $180 a barrel if the disruptions persist until late April.
While that would sound like a bonanza for a kingdom still heavily leveraged to oil revenue, it is deeply concerning. Prices that high could push consumers into habits that slash their oil use—potentially for the long term—or trigger a recession that also hurts demand. They also would risk casting Saudi Arabia in the role of profiteer in a war it didn’t start.
It’s a lot of fun to look at off-grid properties and hunting camps on the Internet. I do spend too much time dilly-dallying on my phone, looking at Land and Farm real-estate, as I found Zillow wasn’t exactly a great site for looking for places that aren’t your typical suburbanite development. Hunting camps and cabins, especially without electricity and running water out of the middle of nowhere tend to be quite affordable, especially in less expensive parts of country. Honestly, some of the properties I’ve looked at aren’t really accessable year round, might have restrictions on their use, or are too far from any kind of useful work, but it’s still interesting to explore and dream of the world of tomorrow.
When I own a land, how much land do I think I’ll want to own? I think I would want to own enough land to:
– Be able to hunt and shoot firearms at a backyard range, which would mean at least 500 feet from the nearest other house.
– Be able to ride four wheelers on my land, have some fun in the mud without making too much of a mess.
– Have enough land to hobby farm, such as pigs, goats, and other smaller livestock, which means they’ll need pasture and a bit of distance from the house.
– Be able to compost food, leaves, and other waste.
– Be able to burn trash and have bonfires, without causing a nuisance or smelling my neighbors burning their trash.
– Be able to listen to music as loud as I want to, hang lights outdoors, drink beer, and have a good time with buddies.
– Have junk cars and other equipment I’m working on, or saving for scrap use on my land without bothering others.
– Be far enough back from the road so I don’t have to see others or have others piering onto my land.
Obviously, none of that doesn’t require that much land if you have the right kind of neighbors and the right kind of state and local government that leaves people alone, but having more land often comes with having better neighbors that mind their business while you mind your own.
My parents have a little under five acres — surrounded on one side by city reservoir property — but I think I’d rather have closer to 50 with much less house and barns, as my focus would be the wilderness not having a fancy home or barnyard. Obviously, this is an expensive goal, but living farther out means you can get more with less money.
The U.S. economy is expected to slow further amid continued headwinds, while conflict in the Middle East further clouds the growth outlook, according to a basket of monthly economic indicators.
The Leading Economic Index, or LEI, published Thursday by research group The Conference Board, inched down by 0.1% to 97.5, after a 0.2% decline in December.
“The U.S. LEI fell further in January, as consumer expectations retreated again and building permits softened,” said Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, senior manager at The Conference Board.
The reading signals continued headwinds to economic activity, though data showed improvement over the six-month period, she said.
The index fell 1.3% over the six months between July and January, compared with a 2.6% contraction over the previous six-month period, according to the report.
Increasing attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf could significantly hurt the already strained global supply of oil and natural gas, pushing fuel prices much higher.
Important energy sites were attacked this week across the region. The main state-owned energy company in Qatar, the world’s third largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, reported “sizable fires and extensive further damage” on Thursday at its facilities after those areas were also struck on Wednesday.
The escalating attacks will make it much harder for energy producers in the Gulf to repair and restart their oil and gas operations when the war ultimately ends. Asian countries, which are the biggest buyers of Persian Gulf energy, face the greatest risk of fuel shortages, but the pain of higher oil and natural gas prices will be felt across much of the globe.
