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"Anti-Petrodollar" CEO Of French Energy Giant Total Dies In Freak Plane Crash In Moscow
Three months ago, the CEO of Total, Christophe de Margerie, dared utter the phrase heard around the petrodollar world, "There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars," as we noted here. Today, RT reports the dreadful news that he was killed in a business jet crash at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow after the aircraft hit a snow-plough on take-off. The airport issued a statement confirming "a criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations," adding that along with 3 crewmembers on the plane, the snow-plough driver was also killed.
CEO of France's Total dies in jet crash at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport – report http://t.co/AWNpuaAuCq pic.twitter.com/oA8aWLRCOZ
— RT (@RT_com) October 20, 2014
De Margerie, 63, joined Total in 1974 after graduating from the École Supérieure de Commerce in Paris. He served in several positions in the Finance Department and Exploration & Production division. In 1995, he became President of Total Middle East before joining the Total's Executive Committee as the President of the Exploration & Production division in May 1999. In May 2006, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total on May 21, 2010.
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According to preliminary data, the light aircraft collided with a snow-cleaning machine on takeoff, a source at the capital’s airport told RIA.
The aircraft was sending distress signals while still in the air and reporting an engine fire and fuselage damage, LifeNews reports. Upon crashing on the runway, the aircraft was engulfed in flames, reportedly killing everyone on board.
While initials reports suggested four people died in the tragedy, officials report that five bodies were found at the crash site, one allegedly being the driver of the snow-cleaning vehicle.
Vnukovo Airport has temporarily suspended all flights following the incident.
“A criminal investigation has been opened into the violation of safety regulations after a light aircraft crash in the capital's Vnukovo airport,” transport official Tatyana Morozova told RIA.
An investigative group is working at the crash site, Morozova added. In addition to people who were on board the plane, she said, the driver snowplow was killed.
Debris from the aircraft was scattered up to 200 meters from the crash site, according to the rescue services. The engine was found some 50 meters from the crash site, while one of the landing gears was ripped off and discovered nearly 200 meters from the main mass of debris.
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The plane he was aboard...
DEVELOPING: Passenger of crashed plane was head of French oil company - reports http://t.co/AWNpuaAuCq pic.twitter.com/pq5Y4SDXEW
— RT (@RT_com) October 20, 2014
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Of course this could merely be a desparately sad accident... aside from the coincidence of this so recently...
Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of Total (the world's 13th biggest oil producer and Europe's 2nd largest), believes "There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars." Clearly, based onhis comments, that we have passed peak Petrodollar.
Oil major Total's chief executive said on Saturday the euro should have a bigger role in international trade although it was not possible to do without the U.S. dollar.
Christophe de Margerie was responding to questions about calls by French policymakers to find ways at EU level to bolster the use of the euro in international business following a record U.S. fine for BNP.
...
"There is no reason to pay for oil in dollars," he said. He said the fact that oil prices are quoted in dollars per barrel did not mean that payments actually had to be made in that currency.
So even a major beneficiary of the status quo appears to see the end in sight for the Petrodollar.
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Furthermore, despite Western-imposed sanctions on Russia that prohibit western financing and technology transfer to some Russian energy projects, Total is continuing to pursue a natural gas project in Yamal, a joint venture with Russia's Novatek and China's CNPC.
“Can we live without Russian gas in Europe? The answer is no. Are there any reasons to live without it? I think – and I'm not defending the interests of Total in Russia – it is a no,” the Total boss told Reuters back in summer.
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And of course, it had to happen in Russia!
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is 350m visibility within national and/or international regulations to clear the plane for a safe take-off?
how big does a snow plough need to be and/or at what speed does the jet have to be going in order for 5 people to die in a collision?
were the killed passengers wearing seatbelts?
was the snow plough stationary or moving?
what was the BAC for the pilot?
As a motorcyclist I checked up on the effects of velocity on survival rates. Very very important to reduce your speed before you impact.
You hit something at 30mph you have a 80+% chance of survival. Typically some internal injuries, broken bones but probably you'll live unless your head bounces off something solid.
40mph you have about a 50:50 chance.
50mph you'll probably die, about 80%. Good chance of being a vegetable even if you live.
60+mph and your chances of survival are pretty minimal.
Conveniently ploughed under ?
Considering that a state department nitwit said “Fk the EU” in the clear, apparently that applies to EU oligarchs as well. Global tensions are at the point where it may not matter if it was an accident or an assassination, either could be spun into igniting World War III.
When considered in context the blowback from this will drive France and the EU closer to the East.
FYI allegedly “The airport vehicle driver sustained no injury.”
From: http://corp.vnukovo.ru/press/news/ob-aviatsionnom-proisshestvii-proizosh...
Concerning the Runway Incursion Accident of October 20, 2014
October 21, 2014
On the night of October 20 to 21, 2014 a Dassault Falcon corporate jet was carrying out a flight out of Vnukovo International en route to Paris, France, with one passenger and three crew on board.
The operating conditions at the time of take off were: meteorological visibility: 350 meters, runway surface friction coefficient: 0,5. Runway in use at the time of takeoff: RWY1, magnetic heading 06.
During the takeoff run the aircraft collided with an airport snow removal vehicle at 23.57 local time in Moscow. The incursion resulted in the death of all those on board. The airport vehicle driver sustained no injury.
As per the Vnukovo Airport Emergency Response Plan, the airport fire and rescue brigades were dispatched to the scene of the accident forthwith and proceeded to extinguish the fire immediately upon reaching the site.
The Airport was temporarily closed to all traffic, reopening at 01.34 LCT after the VKO Fire&Rescue and the Airfield Maintenance had ascertained it was safe to do so and the Airport was traffic-ready.
An investigation into the causes of the accident was initiated by a board of inquiry of the Interstate Aviation Committee with the experts of the Federal Air Transport Agency taking part also.
Vnukovo Airport extends its sincere condolences to the relatives and loved ones of the victims.
Vnukovo airport press-service
Let me guess, his successor will be in favor of paying in Dollars?
snow-plough driver is alive
investigation commity declared that at the moment of the incident the driver was drunk
in russian
http://www.gazeta.ru/social/2014/10/21/6269085.shtml
If your bet is that "dirty tricks like this don't happen", you'd probably lose.
Dirty political sabotage happens all the time, especially when wealth and power is at stake. Whether this is the case or not, I don't know. But the "who benefits" question should always be asked.
Just like when Putin assassinated nearly the entire Polish government in a plane crash back in 2010.
back then due to bad weather the dispatcher told the polish plane to turn around and safely land in Minsk
Mistral boats for total ceo?
Yummy! A delicious feast in the Conspiracy Club
Oops there goes another water bug.
Too bad we don't here of more bankers jumping.
Nothing to see here. Random chance. Freak accident. Move along, on pain of death move along.
I've been thinking about canceling my ZH account for a while now, i think today is the day. I joined because I wanted to make some sence out of the financial crisis and try to keep me and my loved ones from becoming 'Greeks' in this slowmotion trainwreck economy. But so far I've not made a penny, only lost money on some minerstocks.. Not blaming anyone accept myself..
The comment section is turning scarier by the day, i'm gonna hop off here.
Everybody take care, peace to mankind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX25PDBb708
Don't let the door hit ya!
Good luck to you bro.
This site has been overrun with conspiract theorists. It doesn't help when they get ammunition like this, though!
Au contraire. The site is getting more and more idiots like you who view the world like a naive 9 year old kid.
Human history has been a chronicle of conspiracies and their consequences.
Get some real education first before commenting further.
A conspiracy theorist is one who doesn't accept the official version of an event. Simple, isn't it?
Why engage in mud slinging, just roll over and leave like a man.
Not sure I understand why you would trade based on (fundamentals) info written about on this site. Learn about technicals and how to read a chart for better results (IMHO), as fundamentals don't reflect what the "big boys" trade or how they trade.
Good luck to you and all...
Even though this disaster has all the ingredients of a juicy conspiracy, if one examines closely the actions that would have to have been taken to bring it about, it looks very unlikely.
Since the snowplow driver was always going to end up dead, absent him having a death wish, he would not have been involved. That focuses attention on the person responsible for giving orders to him. That person is easily identifiable and will be held accountable, so he was unlikely to have been involved in a conspiracy unless he already has a cast-iron excuse for not ordering the snowplow off the runaway as the plane taxied for take-off. We're then into other possibles of 'someone' tampering with comms equipment so an order to the plow driver to get off the runway was never received by him. It starts to get far fetched.
It looks seriously like a human communication failure - aka "cock-up" - between those involved. One that just happens to suit the USG.
ADD: it is now being reported that the snowplow driver was drunk at the time. Duh(!)
Putin let this happen in his frontyard?
Will he atleasy get this investigated by the known super intelligent Russians and publish the findings or just take another one on the chin?
By 'investigate and publish the findings', you mean as in 'investigated and publish the findings' of Tu-154 'accident' involving Polish President's and whole Polish government staff a couple of years ago? Sure they will publish the 'findings', but the truth will be always known only to a handful of people and never to the broad public.
in war time here i see MUCH ppl not even worth the bullet they deserve.
That moustache is assassination-worthy, surely.
One day it will occur to filthy rich people to have their planes checked before take-off. Nah, that would exclude them from the conspiracies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Mattei
excellent associated piece of information. good job
Total CEO plane crash suspect caught on camera Courtesy: Lifenews
latest videos:
http://tersee.com/#!q=Margerie&t=video
Death by Zamboni?
Almost as good as 'Death by Teacup'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtT9BU64z28
Obviously someone felt pretty insulted to have snow plow on a day without snow parked on the runway. Typical gangster style execution sponsored by CIA, Mossad, BND and MI5.
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/27612.html
loud messge to oil companies
The article isn't clear. Sounds like the plane clipped the snowplow just as it rotated from the runway and was trying to come back and land and crashed on the runway, or at least the airport property. If is crashed straight ahead after clipping the snowplow. I don't think the pilot would have had time to report damage and an engine fire before impact.
It sickens me how too many people here gleefully connect this accident to his petrodollar stance. If you believe that to be true, condemn it.
"Med, this is a different war from the Great Patriotic War."
"Yes, Vlad."
"A certain type of 'banker' is now our enemy."
"You wish an asymmetrical response?"
"Yes."
*click*
Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business News stated this morning that the plane was shot down - despite "original reports" of it hitting a snow plow. She said "shot down" twice actually. One of her talking head guests took the 'shot down' news in stride by making some comment on how the plane hitting a snow plow "seemed really odd".
Stay tuned.....