Not because of "free market capitalism" - there is no supply vs demand explanation.   

 

Mr. Putin suggests the price drop is a political maneuver by the West to bankrupt Russia - another sanction for Ukraine.    

 

Energy traders filed a suit claiming that the Brent crude prices were being fixed.

 

Tesla electric car folks discuss whether cheaper oil/cheaper gas is an effort to undermine adoption of Electric Vehicles. 

 

Is the drop in oil prices a maneuver by the established fossil fuel folks to knock down fracking and gas fuel for home heating and electrical generation?

 

When is the best time to kill a new technology/new competitor?  (like Tesla)   (like community wifi)  ( like wind generated electricity) (like roof top distributed solar) 

 

The best time to annihilate a potential competitor is when they get up and running and begin to significantly impact the income stream/profits of the legacy business.   WRONG

 

The best time to wipe away a potential competitor is as sooooon as you see that they have a smarter, more efficient product than the obsolete/fossilized legacy product.  

 

Examples?  

 

 

The compact fluorescent bulb patented by GE and never produced by GE. 

 

“The spiral CFL was invented in 1976 by Edward E. Hammer, an engineer with General Electric,[6] in response to the 1973 oil crisis.[7] Although the design met its goals, it would have cost GE about $25 million to build new factories to produce the lamps, and thus the invention was shelved.[8] The design eventually was copied by others.[8] In 1995, helical CFLs, manufactured in China, became commercially available.[9] Since that time, their sales have steadily increased.”  See Wikipedia link here

 

One rationale explanation for the spectacular drop in oil prices is that the established players are trying to kill a newbie.   Who is the new competition?

 

What do you think?