Oil prices spike as Trump administration blames Iran for attack on Saudi Arabia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oil-prices-rise-saudi-arabia-attack-blamed
-by-us-on-iran-trump-strategic-petroleum-reserve-today-2019-09-16/
Date: 16 September 2019
As stated in the title, Trump believes that Iran was responsible for the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Satellite images of the damage suggest that the attack came from either Iraq or Iran, but some say Yemen. The price of a barrel of Brent Crude has increased by $6 to $66.28 now that the production of almost 6 million barrels daily has halted. The Trump administration is ready to utilize the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to keep supplies and prices relatively stable. This Saudi disruption was the greatest on record, halting 5.7 million barrels of crude oil per day.
Environmental science is a combination of many topics: in this case, our focus is on economics. As we already know, fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource from the Earth. There is extremely high demand for fossil fuels, as they are our main energy source. This attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities was even predicted to increase gas prices. This article shows how the demand for environmental resources can have great effects on the economy just by attacking one facility.
It is crazy that one localized issue on the other side of the world can cause higher prices in our community… and one thing that will get Trump paying attention is prices of oil. Obviously it goes well beyond just how much we are paying at the pump. You are right to point out how interrelated these topics are. Do you think Trump is doing the right thing by utilizing our reserves to keep prices stable (knowing it’s all finite)?