Usually, I find corporate media stories about world oil markets in the to be clueless and inaccurate, but this New York Times article is a good one.
The economies of many big oil-exporting countries are growing so fast that their need for energy within their borders is crimping how much they can sell abroad, adding new strains to the global oil market.Experts say the sharp growth, if it continues, means several of the world's most important suppliers may need to start importing oil within a decade to power all the new cars, houses and businesses they are buying and creating with their oil wealth.
During my 17+ years at the US Energy Information Administration, I tracked the rise in world oil demand, including among oil exporting nations. For instance, check out these oil consumption numbers from 1971 and 2006 for a few major oil exporters:
Saudi Arabia: 280,000 bbl/d vs. 2.0 million bbl/d
Iran: 340,000 bbl/d vs. 1.6 million bbl/d
Iraq: 77,000 bbl/d vs. 575,000 bbl/d
Mexico: ~500,000 bbl/d vs. 2.1 million bbl/d
Venezuela: 219,000 bbl/d vs. 577,000 bbl/d
Note that those are huge increases since 1971, and that this growth is continuing. As the New York Times article correctly points out, this is cutting into the ability of major oil producers to export oil, as they increasingly need it for domestic consumption (at absurdly subsidized prices). This increased demand in OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries is yet another factor that is likely to support high oil prices for years to come. It's also yet another reason for us to get off of our "oil addiction," and fast!
It makes me sad that people confuse "premium" with "better" and think they are doing their car a favor by buying up.
The thing that is interesting is that the countries with the subsidized fuel prices find themselves trapped. If they try and raise prices, there are near riots in the street, but the governments realize that the status quo can't continue.