The plunge of oil prices to 5 ½-year lows stems partly from U.S. "economic warfare" against its enemies, says financial writer/money manager Willem Middelkoop.
"The current price can only partially be explained by technical factors like growing U.S. oil production," he tells Russia's state-controlled
RT news service.
"The price declines were also caused by heavy selling in the American futures markets, and you could call that a form of economic warfare."
And what warfare is that?
"It is an all-out economic war between the U.S. and Russia now," Middelkoop, founder of the Commodity Discovery investment Fund, says. "If we see who has more problems [caused] by current oil, they are Russia, Iran, Venezuela. These countries can be seen as enemies of the U.S."
However, the oil futures market is global, and the U.S. government doesn't trade in it, unless it has successfully hidden such activity from the entire country. Even if it did participate in the market, it's unclear whether the government could influence prices.
Middelkoop believes oil prices might be rising soon. "The oil price should be bottoming out because the market fundamentals do not support current prices," he notes. "I looked at the latest predictions by the IEA [International Energy Agency] — they claim that total world demand will be around 92 million barrels per day and total world production will be a share of 93 million barrels per day. So there is a very small surplus in the oil market."
Meanwhile, ace activist investor Carl Icahn, says the oil price drop isn't over. "I think [oil's price] will continue to go down unless there is some outside event," he tells
CNBC. But if a crisis event doesn't happen, "I think at least for the near term, oil prices will go lower."
Prices are falling amid sluggish demand, as economies stagnate overseas, and amid bountiful supply. U.S. oil production has hit its highest level in at least 31 years, thanks largely to the shale revolution.
Looking forward, when oil rebounds there will be "tremendous opportunity" for investors, Icahn maintains, adding that "there will be increased demand for oil over the years." With sources of supply diminishing, offshore producers will thrive, Icahn notes.
To be sure, "I wouldn't rush in now on oil, and that's talking against myself because I own a lot of oil stocks," he states.
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