It is still the same old petrol though

Sir, in your editorial comment “Unconventional oil”, February 22, you express some doubts about the quality of oil produced from shale and sands. Don’t worry, at the end of the day smell it and you will not be able to differentiate it from any petrol produced by the sweetest light Saudi crude. That the crude itself is of a lower quality is just a cost factor, and thankfully not at all like as if the grapes had gone bad.

And even in terms of its final price, in Europe at least, there would be more than ample space to sell this new-same-old petrol at its current prices, but of course then the taxman would have to reduce some of his enormous current take.

In fact from another perspective it is even a better quality crude…it generates more jobs and less curse for the producer.