Re:Cheap oil is taking shipping routes back to the 1800s
by rosser on Friday March 04, 2016 @08:10PM
(#11227916)
The major contributing factor to this practice being economically viable is that the big oil producers are trying to undercut one another. That isn't an "advance" in economics, or innovation, or fuel efficiency, or anything else.
Re:Cheap oil is taking shipping routes back to the 1800s
by ArkyBeagle on Friday March 04, 2016 @10:58PM
(#11228349)
It's a bizarre case where the House of Saud is paring all other factors back to only their lift cost and the rest be damned.
It has the flop sweat of desperation to it.
The more that happens in That Region, it just makes the people who live there harken back to the Caliphate under the Ottoman Empire only even moreso.
Really great that economics, innovation and competition have driven down the cost of shipping (larger containerized ships, better fuel efficiency, smaller crews / labor component) and oil extraction down so low that there's now a cheaper option than that imposed by the canal folks. It's not merely an expensive toll that has brought this situation about, it's also cheap shipping.