Jury is still out on who was the real culprit
A decade after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, there are still arguments about who was responsible for the 2008 financial crisis. But it’s also worth revisiting who paid for the crisis and who profited from the emerging meltdown the world over. Any discussion about winners and losers, of course, must start with the bank bailouts. |
The US and China have imposed a series of tariffs on each other’s goods since May that have unnerved equity markets, while a rising dollar has put emerging market currencies under pressure, raising the energy bill for some of the world’s largest oil importers. Demand from nations not in the OECD group of industrialised countries — led by China and India — is expected to rise by 1.1 million bpd to 51.6 million bpd this year and by 1.2 million bpd to 52.8 million bpd next year, the IEA said.
Global demand will hit a high of 100.3 million bpd in the final quarter of this year, before moderating to 99.3 million bpd in the first quarter of next year. “We are entering a very crucial period for the oil market. The situation in Venezuela could deteriorate even faster, strife could return to Libya and the 53 days to November 4 will reveal more decisions taken by countries and companies with respect to Iranian oil purchases,” the IEA said, referring to the day US sanctions on Iran take effect.
Iran, Opec’s third-largest member, is feeling the effect of the sanctions. The IEA said crude output fell in August by 150,000 bpd from July to a 25-month low of 3.63 million bpd, while exports fell by 280,000 bpd to 1.9 million bpd, from a peak of around 2.5 million bpd in May.