A couple of months ago, I wrote on the impact of the Joe Biden Presidency on the oil markets. Now that he is President of the United States with his inauguration on the 20th of January, every country would go back to their political and foreign drawing boards to analyse the impact of his swearing-in on their respective economies or governments.
While some countries would face pressure from Biden in respect to their human rights issues, climate change policies and other diplomatic matters, countries like Nigeria will be analyzing the impact of Biden’s policies on the fate of Oil.
READ: AfDB supports Africa’s flagship climate initiative with $6.5bn
Three standpoints are crucial here;
- Will shale oil, which has been the albatross on the neck of oil prices for years, weaken in respect to Joe Biden and notably Kamala Harris’ views on fracking?
- Will Joe Biden’s soft foreign policy on Iran enable Iranian oil to return to the market?
- Will Joe Biden emulate Trump in meddling with OPEC+ affairs?
The answers to these three questions would give an outlook on the fate of Nigeria’s black gold.
READ: Facebook suspends Donald Trump indefinitely
Shale oil
Over the years, the investment in the Shale industry in America has seen the United States increase oil production significantly. In understanding market dynamics, increased production of oil has a negative effect on oil prices. This is why we have not seen $100 oil in many years now.
An increase in US oil has significantly reduced OPEC+ market share and dominance in the oil markets. Historically OPEC could influence prices with their policies, but nowadays, US oil appears as a barrier in the oil markets.
READ: Mike Pence to go against Trump, announces he will attend inauguration
The dominance of shale is enabled by a few factors. Firstly, Fracking. Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside. It is highly controversial as it threatens to cause pollution and is detrimental to climate change.
Now, climate change is at the forefront of Joe Biden’s energy policy. Inadvertently, it will hamper the production of fossil fuels in the long-run.
Additionally, Wall Street would be wary of investing in the oil and gas sector as the future looks more into renewable energy.
Iranian dilemma
Joe Biden’s relations with Iran would differ from Trump’s relationship with Tehran. While Donald Trump gave tough sanctions during his tenure, Biden would seek to pamper Iran just like Obama did and this will mean Iranian oil can come back to the market. Although private intelligence shows Iranian oil is still exchanged in the markets, this diplomatic relation would still be significant especially with Iran accounting for about 9.5% of the world’s total oil reserves.
READ: Donald Trump and Joe Biden clash over plans to lift travel ban on UK, EU, Brazil
Meddling with OPEC+
During Trump’s tenure, OPEC+ was rattled several times. Trump has never hidden his mistrust in OPEC. He has previously labeled them a cartel in the past. When oil prices go high and affect the cost of gasoline on American consumers, Trump calls out OPEC to find ways to reduce the prices.
However, when prices are so low and energy companies in America can’t break even, Trump, like he did in April 2020, interferes and calls out OPEC to intervene. Interestingly, according to trumptwitterarchive.com, Donald Trump tweeted 271 times about “oil”; 70 about “OPEC”; 351 about “gas” (gasoline and natural gas); 68 about “Saudi Arabia”. It would be rare for Joe Biden to do the same thing as his style of governance will be seemingly different from Trump´s.
READ: FIRS hits 98% of target as it collects N4.95 trillion for 2020 fiscal year
Additionally, America as one of the largest consumers of oil will need to improve its demand overtime before supply outweighs demand as a result of the pandemic. How Joe Biden handles the pandemic would be significant in American demand. Would he endure lockdowns or not? That’s very important in the conversation on his impact on gasoline prices and demand.
Nigeria’s black gold – Oil, would be dependent on the future outlook of the oil market and Biden’s policies. It would be interesting to see if Biden would allow OPEC to seize market share from American oil. The first few years would be very important.
More grace,will appreciate you to help us on Nigeria market sector pls and pls in the game of politics also