Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

An odd twist has appeared in our long national debate about opening portions of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil firms for drilling.. The twist is this: at a time when the oil companies themselves aren't pushing for any new rights in the area, they're about to get those rights handed to them anyway. One of those you'can't-get-it-until-you-no-longer-want-it gifts. Today I want to focus on why the oil companies no longer want this. Tomorrow we'll talk about why they may be about to get it. This part is easy: they don't want it because they're holding too much oil already. The world is awash with the stuff. Recall that in early 2013 the price of Brent (North Sea) crude was above $110 per barrel. It stayed in that neighborhood, which seemed normal at the time, until mid 2014 and then began a historic collapse, getting to $50 a barrel by the end of 2014, then it firmed briefly until the summer of 2015 and collapsed again, getting below $40. (I...

  I just want to record here a statistical fact so I won't forget it down the road.  I wrote a story recently for AllAboutAlpha concerning the different prices of "Brent crude" and WTI crude. Brent crude is sold through ICE Futures Europe: WTI through Nymex. Incidental to that story, I also referred to the fact that quantities of Brent crude oil are defined in "cargoes." I didn't answer the question: how many barrels in a "cargo"? Anyway, I'll do so here. Cargo size [600,000 barrels (95,000 cubic meter)] Related facts: The ICE Futures Europe symbol for Brent crude futures is B, also traded on the NYMEX, with the symbol BZ. It was originally traded on the open outcry International Petroleum Exchange in London, but since 2005 has been traded on the electronic Intercontinental Exchange, known as ICE. One contract equals 1,000 barrels (159 m3). Contracts are quoted in U.S. dollars