John Hofmeister Opines Today On Syria

John Hofmeister, CNBC, Syria, Iran, Lybia, Egypt, employees at risk, shell oil, Obama, air strike, Photo by Dave HarbourEarly this morning, one of our favorite CNBC talking heads, John Hofmeister (NGP Photo), said the oil industry in the Middle East is facing, "…death by a thousand duck bites."

He said that one of the effects of Obama's impending attack on Syria is uncertainty.  "Companies are not going to let employees and assets be at risk."  He said that as companies face more risk, they will shut down operations.

"Egypt's oil industry has a hard time right now getting people to show up for work," he said, owing to the continuing tension between muslim factions.

He reminded the interviewer that spikes in oil prices inversely affect economies around.  "If we stay on this path," he said, "we're not going to have a very good decade."

He concluded that without the Syrian crisis and with world demand for oil and gas week, "This would be a wonderful time for Plan B — the U.S. dominating the global supply of natural gas…and get off this reliance on the Middle East."                             -dh