Why Selling Cheap Oil Wouldn’t Benefit Russia

Regarding “Russia Is World’s Key to Having Oil to Burn,” James Flanigan, May 30:

I was about to buy Flanigan’s thesis that Russian and other non-OPEC oil would save the day and make Chevy Suburbans more salable, when it occurred to me: Why should these people want to sell their oil cheap?

It’s understandable why the Saudis are concerned about the price of oil. They are so heavily invested in the world’s economy that big increases in the price of oil could have a devastating effect on their investments, but is Russia that concerned?

The supply of oil is finite, so why should Russia and other suppliers rush to glut the market and lower the price of oil? Why wouldn’t they instead mete out their supplies of oil to provide a long-term source of income?

Lou Einung

Palm Desert

Great. There’s crude coming.

What about refineries, especially in California?

Doug McCrary

Ontario