Read on Twitter
So the spot price of oil just dropped to $0 a barrel. You'll get the economic analysis from a lot of people, but follow along here for some thoughts on the human rights implications based on years of @hrw research https://twitter.com/joemccann/status/1252295431788261378
First, We're talking about the spot price, not futures, but think about the oil driven economies like Saudi Arabia, Russia... My colleagues have researched how decades of oil wealth was stolen in Equatorial Guinea, what happens now? https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/15/equatorial-guinea-oil-wealth-squandered-and-stolen
My colleague @sarah_saadoun wrote "ordinary people have paid the price for the ruling elite’s corruption" - and we're talking extravagance like Michael Jackson's crystal glove https://www.cips.org/supply-management/analysis/2018/october/equatorial-guinea-and-michael-jacksons-glove/
Oil has now fallen to NEGATIVE $4 for the spot contracts because they have run out of options to store it as it's being produced in the US. That's because global #COVID19 lockdowns and a slowing economy have cratered use, leading to a glut. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/20/coronavirus-us-oil-prices-collapse-as-storage-runs-out.html
But this will have a long term impact on the viability of shale oil producers, which also should shift away from damaging environmental practices like fracking that threaten our right to a healthy environment https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/big-energy-question/how-has-fracking-changed-our-future/
Wow, as I keep tweeting the price keeps dropping. It's now at NEGATIVE $10/barrel. My thoughts turning to Sudan, where a nascent transitional government is trying to navigate these waters after throwing out dictator & accused war criminal Omar al-Bashir https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/20/sudan-has-window-opportunity-west-shouldnt-squander-it
This #OilCrash is wild, but let's keep talking about human rights. In Sudan, there was already “no money,” said Hamid Eltgani Ali, a professor at the American University in Cairo. “That could be the biggest issue that's causing this transition to fail.” https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2020/04/16/Sudan-democratic-transition-economy
Already, the Trump administration has relaxed environmental monitoring during #COVID19 pandemic, what happens now when West Texas producers actually have to pay people to take oil off their hands. Who's watching to make sure it doesn't get dumped? https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/16/how-covid-19-could-impact-climate-crisis
More thoughts here on how #COVID19 & falling oil prices could help on the climate change front. These #WTI spot contracts don't represent the global price for crude, but they show the impact of a dramatic drop in demand due to stay at home orders https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/the-fossil-fuel-industry-is-broken-will-a-cleaner-climate-be-the-result
For those who think this was a blip caused by the speculators, check @RogerDiwan who explains that there's a risk we see this happen all over again in a month if the economy & demand doesn't pick up. A lot depends on if COVID-19 stay home orders continue https://twitter.com/RogerDiwan/status/1252324713818394627?s=20
