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Did The Saudis And The US Collude In Dropping Oil Prices?
Submitted by Andrew Topf via OilPrice.com,
The oil price drop that has dominated the headlines in recent weeks has been framed almost exclusively in terms of oil market economics, with most media outlets blaming Saudi Arabia, through its OPEC Trojan horse, for driving down the price, thus causing serious damage to the world's major oil exporters – most notably Russia.
While the market explanation is partially true, it is simplistic, and fails to address key geopolitical pressure points in the Middle East.
Oilprice.com looked beyond the headlines for the reason behind the oil price drop, and found that the explanation, while difficult to prove, may revolve around control of oil and gas in the Middle East and the weakening of Russia, Iran and Syria by flooding the market with cheap oil.
The oil weapon
We don't have to look too far back in history to see Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter and producer, using the oil price to achieve its foreign policy objectives. In 1973, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat convinced Saudi King Faisal to cut production and raise prices, then to go as far as embargoing oil exports, all with the goal of punishing the United States for supporting Israel against the Arab states. It worked. The “oil price shock” quadrupled prices.
It happened again in 1986, when Saudi Arabia-led OPEC allowed prices to drop precipitously, and then in 1990, when the Saudis sent prices plummeting as a way of taking out Russia, which was seen as a threat to their oil supremacy. In 1998, they succeeded. When the oil price was halved from $25 to $12, Russia defaulted on its debt.
The Saudis and other OPEC members have, of course, used the oil price for the obverse effect, that is, suppressing production to keep prices artificially high and member states swimming in “petrodollars”. In 2008, oil peaked at $147 a barrel.
Turning to the current price drop, the Saudis and OPEC have a vested interest in taking out higher-cost competitors, such as US shale oil producers, who will certainly be hurt by the lower price. Even before the price drop, the Saudis were selling their oil to China at a discount. OPEC's refusal on Nov. 27 to cut production seemed like the baldest evidence yet that the oil price drop was really an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and the US.
However, analysis shows the reasoning is complex, and may go beyond simply taking down the price to gain back lost marketshare.
“What is the reason for the United States and some U.S. allies wanting to drive down the price of oil?” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asked rhetorically in October. “To harm Russia.”
Many believe the oil price plunge is the result of deliberate and well-planned collusion on the part of the United States and Saudi Arabia to punish Russia and Iran for supporting the murderous Assad regime in Syria.
Punishing Assad and friends
Proponents of this theory point to a Sept. 11 meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Abdullah at his palace on the Red Sea. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, it was during that meeting that a deal was hammered out between Kerry and Abdullah. In it, the Saudis would support Syrian airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS), in exchange for Washington backing the Saudis in toppling Assad.
If in fact a deal was struck, it would make sense, considering the long-simmering rivalry between Saudi Arabia and its chief rival in the region: Iran. By opposing Syria, Abdullah grabs the opportunity to strike a blow against Iran, which he sees as a powerful regional rival due to its nuclear ambitions, its support for militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and its alliance with Syria, which it provides with weapons and funding. The two nations are also divided by religion, with the majority of Saudis following the Sunni version of Islam, and most Iranians considering themselves Shi’ites.
“The conflict is now a full-blown proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is playing out across the region,” Reuters reported on Dec. 15. “Both sides increasingly see their rivalry as a winner-take-all conflict: if the Shi’ite Hezbollah gains an upper hand in Lebanon, then the Sunnis of Lebanon—and by extension, their Saudi patrons—lose a round to Iran. If a Shi’ite-led government solidifies its control of Iraq, then Iran will have won another round.”
The Saudis know the Iranians are vulnerable on the oil price. Experts say the country needs $140 a barrel oil to balance its budget; at sub-$60 prices, the Saudis succeed in pressuring Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, possibly containing its nuclear ambitions and making the country more pliable to the West, which has the power to reduce or lift sanctions if Iran cooperates.
Adding credence to this theory, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a Cabinet meeting earlier this month that the fall in oil prices was “politically motivated” and a “conspiracy against the interests of the region, the Muslim people and the Muslim world.”
Pipeline conspiracy
Some commentators have offered a more conspiratorial theory for the Saudis wanting to get rid of Assad. They point to a 2011 agreement between Syria, Iran and Iraq that would see a pipeline running from the Iranian Port Assalouyeh to Damascus via Iraq. The $10-billion project would take three years to complete and would be fed gas from the South Pars gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar. Iranian officials have said they plan to extend the pipeline to the Mediterranean to supply gas to Europe – in competition with Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
“The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline – if it’s ever built – would solidify a predominantly Shi’ite axis through an economic, steel umbilical cord,” wrote Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar.
Global Research, a Canada-based think tank, goes further to suggest that Assad's refusal in 2009 to allow Qatar to construct a gas pipeline from its North Field through Syria and on to Turkey and the EU, combined with the 2011 pipeline deal, “ignited the full-scale Saudi and Qatari assault on Assad’s power.”
“Today the US-backed wars in Ukraine and in Syria are but two fronts in the same strategic war to cripple Russia and China and to rupture any Eurasian counter-pole to a US-controlled New World Order. In each, control of energy pipelines, this time primarily of natural gas pipelines—from Russia to the EU via Ukraine and from Iran and Syria to the EU via Syria—is the strategic goal,” Global Research wrote in an Oct. 26 post.
Poking the Russian bear
How does Russia play into the oil price drop? As a key ally of Syria, supplying Assad with billions in weaponry, President Vladimir Putin has, along with Iran, found himself targeted by the House of Saud. Putin's territorial ambitions in the Ukraine have also put him at odds with US President Barack Obama and leaders of the EU, which in May of this year imposed a set of sanctions on Russia.
As has been noted, Saudi Arabia's manipulation of the oil price has twice targeted Russia. This time, the effects of a low price have hit Moscow especially hard due to sanctions already in place combined with the low ruble. Last week, in an effort to defend its currency, the Bank of Russia raised interest rates to 17 percent. The measure failed, with the ruble dropping another 20 percent, leading to speculation the country could impose capital controls. Meanwhile, Putin took the opportunity in his annual televised address to announce that while the economy is likely to suffer for the next two years and that Russians should brace for a recession, “Our economy will get diversified and oil prices will go back up.”
He may be right, but what will the effect be on Russia of a sustained period of low oil prices? Eric Reguly, writing in The Globe and Mail last Saturday, points out that with foreign exchange reserves at around $400 billion, the Russian state is “in no danger of collapse” even in the event of a deep recession. Reguly predicts the greater threat is to the Russian private sector, which has a debt overhang of some $700 billion.
“This month alone, $30-billion of that amount must be repaid, with another $100-billion coming due next year. The problem is made worse by the economic sanctions, which have made it all but impossible for Russian companies to finance themselves in Western markets,” he writes.
Will it work?
Whether one is a conspiracy theorist or a market theorist, in explaining the oil price drop, it really matters little, for the effect is surely more important than the cause. Putin has already shown himself to be a master player in the chess game of energy politics, so the suggestion that sub-$60 oil will crush the Russian leader has to be met with a healthy degree of skepticism.
Moscow's decision on Dec. 1 to drop the $45-billion South Stream natural gas pipeline project in favor of a new pipeline deal with Turkey shows Putin's willingness to circumvent European partners to continue deliveries of natural gas to European countries that depend heavily on Russia for its energy requirements. The deal also puts Turkey squarely in the Russian energy camp at a time when Russia has been alienated by the West.
Of course, the Russian dalliance with China is a key part of Putin's great Eastern pivot that will keep stoking demand for Russian gas even as the Saudis and OPEC, perhaps with US collusion, keep pumping to hold down the price. The November agreement, that would see Gazprom supply Chinese state oil company CNPC with 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year, builds on an earlier deal to sell China 38 bcm annually in an agreement valued at $400 billion.
As Oilprice.com commented on Sunday, “ongoing projects are soldiering on and Russian oil output is projected to remain unchanged into 2015.”
“Russia will go down with the ship before ceding market share – especially in Asia, where Putin reaffirmed the pivot is real. Saudi Arabia and North America will have to keep pumping as Putin plans to uphold his end in this game of brinksmanship.”
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Market Collision...... that always ends well....
........hopefully Russia has the depth to call the house of Sauds bluff...... what's the water cut Kenneth
Sub prime oil is in the US. Not Russia
The Saudis lowered oil cuz Obama is on a peace mission with Iran.
Stealing the Saudi gold, and trying to throw them away like a used condom, riled them
up.?
You're kidding,right ?
I'm not sure if this is a double cross,treble cross or more.
Everything in the MENA is highly convoluted. No simple scenario's ever.
Well one thing is for sure. We can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the Red Shield has nothing to do with any of this.
pika pika ! sharp sticks eye poke pika pika !!!!!!!!
"Did The Saudis And The US Collude In Dropping Oil Prices?"
No. The US ordered SA to lower prices.
Conspiricy is the only felony where 'reasonable doubt' does not apply, except of course when the government does it which is called national policy...
Some questions for everyone...global demand for oil has plummeted, producers keep producing, buyers are stockpiling....
At what point does PRODUCTION exceed STORAGE CAPACITY?
AND. . . .Russia, Iran and Venezuela are trading oil in other than the US Dollar, thereby undermining the USD as the global reserve currency.
Excellent article.
Pop Quiz to see if you are truly an American citizen:
(1) Do you know who Julie Sirrs was and why she exemplifies the best of America?
(2) Do you know who Alfreda Bikowsky is and why she exemplifies the worst of America, and proof positive why the CIA, DIA and NSA should be shut down once and for all?
did the US and the Saudis conspire to drop oil prices and destroy the Russian economy?
gee, ya' think?
Thank you.
Ignore the collapsing demand behind the curtain.
we shall see how long the collapsing demand meme lasts, war machine still needs Petrol, Electricity generation still requires OnG etc etc, and who is going to supply it, Tar Sanada, Frackle Rock n Co? Yeah we're in a global downturn but just keeping the lights on and storm troopers vehicles on the road along with the 10 percent of the population that doesn't work for the various Nazi regimes will still account for how much per day? As far as the non peak oil folks I'll believe it when i see us stop drilling holes under 2 to 3 miles of water - though alot of those contracts are being vacated just now they'll likely be back. Just looking at the length of the downturns over the past 3 decades you see the cycle getting shorter and shorter each time the boom wen bust - my simplistic view is this reflects our declining output from cheap sources combined with the steady increase in our base level consumption. One other metric to consider is the number of americans living in cars today....... truly mobile homes but they still need gasoline.....
> One other metric to consider is the number of americans living in cars today....... truly mobile homes but they still need gasoline.....
Useful website for those "taking that particular path" - http://carliving.info/101.htm
Here "Down Under" the well-heeled retirees prefer this style of "living in your vehicle" -
http://www.australianmotorhomes.com.au/SiteFiles/australianmotorhomescomau/umh/3775U/gallery/01_Winnebago_Motorhome.JPG
Their idea of the Australian Dream" is to hop from one RV Site to another, where they can drink themselves silly with similarly aged "friends", and bitch about "how hard life is for us retirees", whilst guzzling their heavily subsidised copious "lifestyle medications", provided in often "free" Webster Packs by their local Pharmacies, supporting the Government-mandated "why think when someone else will think for you" mindset that now pervades all of Australia.
http://amcalmaxsuccess.com.au/media/4295/webster_pak.jpg
"Quality Care" - "Someone will think for me" + "I'm not responsible for the consequences of my actions, 'cause I've got Rights, Mate" - I wonder how this is going to (eventually) work out . . . . .
(Answers on a postcard to Mr Abbott, our "Journalist who became Prime Minister", care of Canberra - possibly the World's most uninteresting city)
lol, I know. All over the world nobody drives gasoline powered vehicles anymore, nothing gets made of plastic, all food is now planted/fertilized/harvested/transported by organic neckbeards riding rainbow shitting unicorns, airplanes are fuelled by fairy dust shaken from Waldorf students... why this new alternative energy utopia is just like the Rockefellers (that was one helluva tip-off BTW) promised it would be!
Seriously though, I can find all kinds of evidence indicating collapsing demand growth, but is that really the same thing as what you're supposing?
Speaking of fertilizers, please add this to the mix: the four countries accounting for over 80% of the world's phosphate reserves are Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco.
The Oil Coup US-Saudi Subterfuge Send Stocks and Credit Reeling“John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, allegedly struck a deal with King Abdullah in September under which the Saudis would sell crude at below the prevailing market price. That would help explain why the price has been falling at a time when, given the turmoil in Iraq and Syria caused by Islamic State, it would normally have been rising.” (Stakes are high as US plays the oil card against Iran and Russia, Larry Eliot, Guardian)
U.S. powerbrokers have put the country at risk of another financial crisis to intensify their economic war on Moscow and to move ahead with their plan to “pivot to Asia”.
Here’s what’s happening: Washington has persuaded the Saudis to flood the market with oil to push down prices, decimate Russia’s economy, and reduce Moscow’s resistance to further NATO encirclement and the spreading of US military bases across Central Asia. The US-Saudi scheme has slashed oil prices by nearly a half since they hit their peak in June. The sharp decline in prices has burst the bubble in high-yield debt which has increased the turbulence in the credit markets while pushing global equities into a tailspin. Even so, the roiled markets and spreading contagion have not deterred Washington from pursuing its reckless plan, a plan which uses Riyadh’s stooge-regime to prosecute Washington’s global resource war.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-oil-coup/5420293
I'll admit I didn't read the article but this is exactly what happened.
Big US firms were prepared and hedged.
Look at XOM. Period.
Because almost no oil producer is making money on these fiscal break evens except for maybe Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
And that is the new oil cartel.
No military problems in those countries....because they are US subsidiaries
Oil IS going lower. You can load all the tankers and warehouses you want. US drillers will drill 2x capacity to pay debt and Saudi, Quait and Kuwait just doesn't care.
Want more head wind? $dxy over 1 year.
BS ! US drillers are pretty fucked up right now. They cannot double the drilling capacity because they cannot make any money from the old leases, much less from new ones. The existing plays are getting depleted way before being able to pay for their costs, so the result is a continuous accumulation of debt, made much worse by the low oil price. They hedged their production to some extent but not for HALF the price ! Meanwhile, the counterparties in these hedging are starting to see trouble brewing, as their portofolio of price derivatives is getting closer & closer of being triggered. That phenomenon would became very quickly very unpleasant for a lot of banks, since all those loan "guarantees" are backed by nothing but empty promises (aka AIG of 2008). The more aggresive media becomes in trying to convince everybody that things are under control, the more desperate the real situation is... Funny part is, this time the collapse won't result from some isolated "incident" that nobody saw coming (as in 2008), but from a deliberate (and immensely stupid) policy of relaunching the cold war...
Here's one for right up your ass:
Date 12/18/2014
"U.S. energy producers plan to pump more crude in 2015 as declining equipment costs and enhanced drilling techniques more than offset the collapse in oil markets, said Troy Eckard, whose Eckard Global LLC owns stakes in more than 260 North Dakota shale wells.
Oil companies, while trimming 2015 budgets to cope with the lowest crude prices in five years, are also shifting their focus to their most-prolific, lowest-cost fields, which means extracting more oil with fewer drilling rigs, said Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Global giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the largest U.S. energy company, will increase oil production next year by the biggest margin since 2010. So far, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ month-old bet that American drillers would be crushed by cratering prices has been a bust."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-18/exxon-mobil-shows-why-u-s-oil-o...
We are going lower and I don't care about counter trend rallies. Period.
Oil is being used as a weapon. Hedge Fund and other firms can float their crude around whatever ocean they want. I'll buy it back from them in the $30's.
... which means extracting more oil with fewer drilling rigs.
Well, that isn't exactly drilling "2x capacity", is it ? By pumping more, they would just deplete their current plays faster. Total quantity of extractable oil is about the same, but they'll sell it for half (or even a quarter) of their initially planned price. That sounds like a great financial strategy... for blowing up fast ! Reminds me of the real-estate crisis of 2008, with all those wonderfull MBSes.
I never said that one cannot make money speculating the price of oil but, as always, while the price itself might not be an issue, TIMING it is a real bitch... I wouldn't hold my breath for a 30$ barrel but hey, it's your money ! But then, personally, I wouldn't trust Bloomberg to tell me the time right, much less the future of my money...
A lot of talk, but no charts.
another crap article . Author failed to cite how russian ruble came back strongly and they are less dependent on oil and gas money so thinking of soviet like collapse which neocons wish for isn't happening . Moreover , they will burn Canada ( more depenent than russians on oil money ) , W.Europe and self hating baltics . Baltics just destroyed their shipping business .
The u.s amateur foreign policy stupid game is still on, like Iraq, Afghanistan and now Ukeland. How to cut your nose off in spite! USA Usa, usa
It ain't amateur hour when it's all geared to benefit the global banking cartel, read your WTO Financial Services Agreement (the Fifth Protocol, especially).
What a self-promoting Topf (German and Yiddish for 'Pot')!
He finally figured it out, after how many others did? He should do Tabloid Blogging.
the Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline would also compete with Israel's gas fields in the Eastern Med.
Israel has motive, means, opportunity, and has in fact repeatedly bombed Syrian military sites. While they repeatedly claim, without proof, that they are targeting StA missiles bound for Hezbollah, and assuredly, Israel does not want Hezbollah or Lebanon to be able to defend itself from the next Israeli onslaught, it is equally likely that Israel was assisting ISIS, just as they appear to be providing material and medical support to anti-Assad rebels.
Interesting, and speaking of Sony, which has been after market share in the Middle East, and therefore, several years back, began smuggling in their products to Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc., primarily using Hezbollah, which financially benefits Hezbollah, plus they get cheaper smartphones, laptops, etc.
Wonder who really hacked Sony?
The Saudis and the Israelis colluded with the US. The Obama administration can be duped into anything
If the scenario offered here is valid, then it seems basically a contest of whose economy can hold out longer before the threshold of pain is reached...? The Russians are good for - what, a couple of years of perhaps biting hardship? And the U.S? How long can an entertainment-addled, 3-second sound-bite oriented, morbidly obese, morally confused nation last? In fight terms, the U.S. needs to have a knockout within the first 3 rounds, or Less. The Russians on the other hand, merely need to 'survive' the first 1.5 rounds...
Do economic fundamentals matter for the US? The US has been living on QE since 2008 while its economy plays zombie. The trade and current account deficits continue to set new records, and a new debt record is set every day. 92 Million unemployed working-age Americans are now excluded from the official labor force numbers to produce the official unemployment rate as 5.8% or so. GDP numbers are "seasonally adjusted" and include angels' spells and fairy dust production. The oil price war is damaging shale drillers and the junk bond buyers who financed them. Shale jobs represent a large portion of the high-paying jobs created since 2008, while the rest of the economy replaced medium and high-paying jobs with low-paying temporary jobs. Loss of shale and other oil-patch jobs is likely to leave a large hole in the US economy. So far, the stock and bond markets have held up well, probably because of Fed money injections and the flight of dollars from EM countries back to the relative safety of the US. De-dollarization of trade is a threat, but will likely not become a major problem for some years.
A key element in the USA staying power is whether the US dollar holds up. As long as the World continues to accept the dollar in spite of mad money printing by the Fed and debt increase by the US government, the US can keep its game together. If the TBTF banks' mountain of leverage and derivatives goes up in smoke, the Fed will be called upon to bail out the banks and re-inflate the bubbles again. The CRomnibus bill pledged the public purse to cover any Wall Street losses from derivatives plays. So far, the central banks have all been engaging in money printing and deficit financing in a race of the currencies to devalue to achieve export competitiveness. The fact that everyone is doing it helps to conceal the extent to which currencies are being debased. Another big Fed bailout might shock the system badly, however.
Another key question is the potential for contagion - the extent to which a US meltdown would spread to the Euro Zone, London City, Japan, and China. The Euro zone has not recovered from the 2009 meltdown - the Troika of IMF, ECB and EU have merely papered over the mess with rather thin gauze and imposed austerity which leaves the Club Med countries in depression. France, the UK and Italy are wobbly, the Greek and Spanish voters are getting rebellious, and the Euro zone may start losing members. Japan is either going to Keynesian nirvana or hara-kiri depending on whose opinion you accept. So far, Yen printing seems unhelpful.
As for Russia, they may be saved by China floating them massive loans. Russia's fundamentals seem strong, with all their oil, gas, base metals, Uranium, gold, etc. Their weakness may be only the financial problems they face until they get the pipelines and Silk Road to China working.
Connecting the dots, China is smiling like a Cheshire Cat - buying up massive amounts of cheap oil, having Russia and its massive resources delivered to them on a silver platter by the US and EU, sitting on several $Trillion worth of liquid foreign currency assets, and watching the US, Saudis, and EU try to burn Russia down regardless of the damage they inflict on themselves. China continues to invest in foreign countries, tying up resources and markets, and continues to sign up currency swap agreements to trade in the Yuan with the dollar excluded. By crippling Russia, the US/EU/Saudi cabal may do little more than strengthen China while relegating themselves to 2nd-power status.
I've got 4,500 gallons of empty diesel storage on-farm and am betting that Putin has the kahonas....if not. I'm fucked.
'murderous Assad regime in Syria'
'Putin's territorial ambitions in the Ukraine'
What is this bullshit? Wall Street Journal regurgitated?
Wall Street Journal regurgitated
that's all redundant
...my outlook of this article changed as soon as the word "murderous" entered the building...
Makes more sense for Russia to collapse the price actually. They have a far more diverse economy than Saudi Arabia and have a greater need for the product given the massive expanse of their "territory."
Same goes for natural gas actually which is why I've never understood the whole "cut off the gas" meme. You want to keep the product flowing "at maximum price." Once the price collapses you end up getting suppliers popping up everywhere.
did they collude?
does a bear shit in the woods?
does the Pope wear a funny hat?
Do icebergs have tits?
Is the frog catholic?
no. the fed got a call from obama and was told to not stop shorting oil futures until the ruble collapsed.
a much simpler form - just use the fed to get whatever you want, whenver you want. must be pretty cool to work for a hedge fund that never gets redemptions and has unlimited buying/staying power.
Beware of SHC (Spontaneous Human Combustion) in Saudi oil facilities.
I am instantly suspicious of any meme being trotted out as gospel and this one is growing daily. Anything to deflect eyes from the fact that the world economy is imploding again and all the kings printers and all the king's ministers cannot put humpty back together again.
one last 'kick the can down the road' to jump start the dead US economy????
who nose?
So the US is in bed with the Saudis versus Syria and Iran, therefore the US starts bombing ISIS which benefits Syria and Iran. It all makes sense now.
Asinine article - this supposed "collusion" between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is trashing U.S. shale oil. Real damage is being done - damage that won't be easy to reverse, if it even can be reversed. I'll admit the Administration is stupid - but even this administration isn't that stupid.
If there has been collusion, it is between Saudi Arabia and Russia - both of whom want to see U.S. shale trashed completely, and both of whom are entirely willing to endure great pain to get that done.
The Saudis are profoundly disenchanted with the U.S. and are waking up to the advantages of moving past the grand deal with the U.S. over the petrodollar and joining Russia in the anti-petrodollar alliance - albeit slowly, deliberately and secretly.
Email me to get a free copy of my 2006 book in PDF format - Russian Rubicon - Impending Checkmate of the West
"but even this administration isn't that stupid."
But it is that destructive.
I agree....it all depends on what's their end game here.
Everyone will be crying uncle in the $40s.
Even the Norway *had* a trillions dollars)
Also looks like lower income for Treasury demand will plummet and Jeff Gundlach will be wrong this time. Rates are rising 2015.
China could just tell the Sauds that they'd only pay in RMB>
Already done.Effective date is the only question.
With the SWIFT alternate being the holdup, maybe..
You can tell your grocer you will only pay in beanie babies.
So what?
Someone else will buy the turnips you did not get.
Crude future on the lows 9c away from a 54 handle. Equities tanking on the close. Any news?:
http://www.investing.com/commodities/crude-oil-advanced-chart
History does have parallel tracks. Interest groups find themselves in alignment with common cause and they work together, going the same direction like trains on parallel tracks.
A good example is the Haavara agreement, whereby Nazi’s were paid by Zionist banking entities to remove German Jews to Palestine and other points east. This was in alignment with Nazi desires to disentangle themselves from Bolshevik International, then threatening Germany’s eastern border. That many innocent German Jews were patriotic Germans was of little concern, as they were to be elites needed to run the new country in Palestine (see Theodor Herzyl’s writings). Polish Jews and others in the Caucasus regions were to be the farm labor, and sent in advance of “higher level” Germans. At the highest level of strata were American Jews who would remain in Wall Street and continue the funding.
So, here are two train tracks running parallel with goals in alignment, but which are different trains and may diverge paths in future.
It looks like there is convergence today with Islam and Zionism and Washington Consensus. Shia vs Sunni rivalries whereby Sunni Gas and Oil gets to market in preference of Shia gas and oil.
Zionism and Israel are of course aligned, since Zionism funded and created Israel. This entity relates to capital markets, especially with the Kissinger agreement in Saudi. I notice the article does not mention this power agreement, and its financial component. All petrodollars are to be cycled into Western Markets and Western Banks. Petrodollars help the capital position of debt spreading credit making western banks. Debt spreading banking is Zionism’s funding source, as the usury aggregates into pyramid control.
The agreement with Saudi cannot be overemphasized in importance. The world went off the Gold Standard in 71 and entered into petrodollar and TBill standard in 73. Washington Consensus was then formed, where the rest of the world bought TBILLS in order to settle trade imbalance. This then moved a form of money power to the U.S. treasury, as they could now create worldwide demand using deficit spending. Tacit agreement with formerly illegal OPEC cartelization is the main reason for oil spike in 74.
All of these trains moving in parallel have convergent interests. Zionist Israel wants all the land between Tigris and Euphrates. Washington Consensus does not want Eurasia to form and hence destroy the Petrodollar -TBill economy. Sunnis work closely with Washington Consensus which in turn is in alignment with Zionist Capital means. Shia, Russia, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Council are working together in opposition.
China is the pivot player, not Russia. She is in POLITICAL control of her money with her State Banks. She forgives loans, thus former credit as money becomes floating money, similar to Greenbacks issued by Lincoln. This means that China is playing Rope-A-Dope with debt spreading Zionist banking Capitalism. China forgives debts, thus the former credit-as-money loses its debt association, and no longer must vector to debt instrument for destruction.
Western Capital and Wall Street markets have insatiable desire for wage arbitrage. These are rent gains off of Chinese labor cost differential between a developing market and developed markets. Chinese forgiving of loans make Chinese labor more efficient forever, as their economy has a better mix of money types. Also loans are targeted into channels of production enhancing her commons as well as strategic industry.
The wage arbitrage can go on forever due to inherent efficiencies, hollowing out the west and reducing her industry. The West/Sunni/Zionist/Consensus loses this war.
Sorry, but China is a part owner of the FED banking system (about 12%). She knows who butters her bread.
China is playing Rope-A-Dope. She has already said she will defend Russia no matter what, and that reveals her true intention.
China is too smart to repeat what the Kaiser did with Britain. It will be a slow war of attrition, especially since the world is full of nukes.
Between Rope-A-Dope confusion, where China appears to befriend the west, she is actually stealing jobs and going up the industrial curve rapidly. Wage abritrage and rental gains lulls the capital markets and zionist banking into stupor.
China can source labor for some time to make wage arbitrage, and meantime her industry gets more efficient and is magnified by a proper money supply. She then gains third world natural resources, including access to all of Russia's. She also gains Russian military know how.
I've heard the China is subordinate to Western Capital thesis before....not buying it. Especially after Tianamen, Chinese communist leaders maintained their state banks as political entities.
That's the dumbest comment I read this month. Perfect ending for such a lousy year...
Read it and weep. Know the source: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/orders/20120509a.htm
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2012-05-09...
Read it and weep. Know the source: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/orders/20120509a.htm
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2012-05-09...
well said
Momento Mori.
A moment for the Dead.
Dear folks across the world, this Heart that Loves you ALL wishes you a Grand and Merry Christmas. It is not the politics of economics that are important or everlasting in this season to be joyful, it is moar the feelings and memories we have of greater people and adventures we all shared in our history. Family and harmonious past times that are forever embedded in our thoughts and every day actions. These are the seasons reasons for keeping on keeping on. The foundations of childhood are still important today. Be the child you are, and see through those eyes. See with the heart, and not the easily fooled mind. Know everything in innocence, and not from anyone else’s tainted point of view. The truth lives in you. Find it, for this is the Christ. Awareness.
Let us all remember those who have gone before us on to the happy hunting grounds and left a world for the rest of us to either allow to be destroyed by despotism and corrupted criminality, or to take that which we have all be given and so may others have died for to preserve, and raise it up high on the alter of good true life to strive for every day. Give thanks for those efforts and gifts of freedom. Give thanks for family. Give thanks for the ZH community that is a world forum for the Higher Ground mentalists and lovers of truth. Even the puke trolls regurgitating babylonian garbage need love.
The times are a changing fast as the quickening happens, so hold on to your hats. All bets are off. There is a geo-political hurricane a comin, and this is what everybody knows. Pray for peace in a world of ridicules insanity, and that reason and intelligence rules still in this 3-D world. Always listen to that still small voice within you.
Please walk a path of enlightenment and righteousness for your own sakes and the sakes of all those you love. Every word, deed, and action is being carefully counted and recorded by the Great Mathematician of the Universe. Be aware and be concerned. It was a grand day when Joseph revealed himself to his Brothers.
Bless'ed Love. May the grace of the Most High shine the ever loving Light/Knowledge on you ALL!
Peace on Earth?
Choose well.
Is Christmas a celebration based on the Bible?
Date of the celebration
M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia says: “The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ’s birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source.”—(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276.
Luke 2:8-11 shows that shepherds were in the fields at night at the time of Jesus’ birth. The book Daily Life in the Time of Jesus states: “The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.”—(New York, 1962), Henri Daniel-Rops, p. 228.
The Encyclopedia Americana informs us: “The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun.’ . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration.”—(1977), Vol. 6, p. 666.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The date of Christ’s birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month . . . According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener . . . and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome.”—(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.
Wise men, or Magi, led by a star
Those Magi were actually astrologers from the east. (Matt. 2:1, 2, NW; NE) Although astrology is popular among many people today, the practice is strongly disapproved in the Bible. (See pages 144, 145, under the main heading “Fate.”) Would God have led to the newborn Jesus persons whose practices He condemned?
Matthew 2:1-16 shows that the star led the astrologers first to King Herod and then to Jesus and that Herod then sought to have Jesus killed. No mention is made that anyone other than the astrologers saw the “star.” After they left, Jehovah’s angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt to safeguard the child. Was that “star” a sign from God or was it from someone who was seeking to have God’s Son destroyed?
Note that the Bible account does not say that they found the babe Jesus in a manger, as customarily depicted in Christmas art. When the astrologers arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. As to Jesus’ age at that time, remember that, based on what Herod had learned from the astrologers, he decreed that all the boys in the district of Bethlehem two years of age and under were to be destroyed.—Matt. 2:1, 11, 16.
Gift giving as part of the celebration; stories about Santa Claus, Father Christmas, etc.
The practice of Christmas gift giving is not based on what was done by the Magi. As shown above, they did not arrive at the time of Jesus’ birth. Furthermore, they gave gifts, not to one another, but to the child Jesus, in accord with what was then customary when visiting notable persons.
The Encyclopedia Americana states: “During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.” (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) In many instances that represents the spirit of Christmas giving—an exchanging of gifts. The spirit reflected in such gift giving does not bring real happiness, because it violates Christian principles such as those found at Matthew 6:3, 4 and 2 Corinthians 9:7. Surely a Christian can give gifts to others as an expression of love at other times during the year, doing so as often as he wants to.
Depending on where they live, children are told that gifts are brought by Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Père Noël, Knecht Ruprecht, the Magi, the elf Jultomten (or Julenissen), or a witch known as La Befana. (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1984, Vol. 3, p. 414) Of course, none of these stories are actually true. Does the telling of such stories build in children a respect for truth, and does such a practice honor Jesus Christ, who taught that God must be worshiped with truth?—John 4:23, 24.
Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons?
Eph. 5:10, 11: “Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.”
2 Cor. 6:14-18: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be?lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? . . . ‘“Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,” says Jehovah God, “and quit touching the unclean thing”’; ‘“and I will take you in, . . . and you will be sons and daughters to me,” says God the Almighty.’” (Genuine love for God and a strong desire to be pleasing to him will help a person to break free from unchristian practices that may have had emotional appeal. A person who really knows and loves God does not feel that by shunning practices that honor false gods or that promote falsehood he is in any way deprived of happiness. Genuine love causes him to rejoice, not over unrighteousness, but with the truth. See 1 Corinthians 13:6.)
I agree with your Scripture interpretation concerning the events around His birth, but frankly the date doesn't matter at this point....it's the lifting up of the Lord every year at this time that matters.
Merry Christmas.
Jesusneverexisted.com debunks Xmass and Xianity quite well.
Don't waste our time here.
Jesus was born around April 15, because the whole world was being taxed at the time.
That said, this article has nothing to do with the Nativity, so I wonder why anyone is commenting on it here.
Dia is Mhuire Dhuit!
May or may no be related, but bears definitely shit in the woods.
The banksters need to repay us.
the murderous Assad regime in Syria
You are saying there exist non-murderous regimes in the Middle East? /s
Blatant propaganda piece once again.
Ah ! the "first oil shock = Arab embargo" myth, yet again ...
For information, the real story is :
- end 1970 : US production peak, the energy crisis starts from there, with some heating fuel shortages for instance (some articles can be found on NYT archive on that), or :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/US_Oil_Production_and_Imports_1920_to_2005.png
- Nixon name James Akins to go check what is going on.
- Akins goes around all US producers, saying this won't be communicated to the media, but needs to be known, national security question
- The results are bad : no additional capacity at all, production will only go down, the results are also presented to the OECD
- The reserves of Alaska, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, are known at that time, but to be developed the barrel price needs to be higher
- In parallel this is also the period of "rebalance" between oil majors and countries on each barrel revenues (Ghadaffi being the first to push 55/50 for instance), and creation of national oil companies.
- there is also the dropping of B Woods in 71 and associated $ devaluation, also putting a "bullish" pressure on oil price.
- So to be able to start Alaska, GOM, North Sea, and have some "outside OPEC" market share, the barrel price needs to go up (always good for oil majors anyway) and this is also US diplomacy strategy
- For instance Akins, then US ambassador in Saudi Arabia, is the one talking about $4 or $5 a barrel in an OAPEC meeting in Algiers in 1972
- Yom Kippur starts during an OPEC meeting in Vienna, which was about barrel revenus percentages, and barrel price rise.
- The declaration of the embargo pushes the barrel up on the spots markets (that just have been set up)
- But the embargo remains quite limited (not from Iran, not from Iraq, only towards a few countries)
- It remains fictive from Saudi Arabia towards the US : tankers kept on going from KSA, through Bahrain to make it more discrete, towards the US Army in Vietnam in particular.
- Akins is very clear about that in below documentary interviews (which unfortunately only exists in French and German to my knowledge, and interviews are voiced over) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fQJ-0jAr3LQ
For instance after 24:10, where he says that two senators were starting having rather "strong voices" about "doing something", he asked the permission to tell them what was going on, got it, told them, they shat up and there was never any leak. The first oil shock "episode" starts at 18:00
The "embargo story" was in fact very "practical", both for the US to "cover up" US peak towards US public opinion or western one in general, but also for major Arab producers to show "the Arab street" that they were doing something for the Palestinians.
In the end, clearly a wake up call that has been missed, especially at a time when we are around global peak and the omerta about it is almost complete.
Note : About Akins, see for instance :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR201007...
And his famous foreign affair article :
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~twod/oil-ns/articles/for_aff_aikins_oil_c...
His report to Nixon in 71 or 72 is still classified to my knowledge though, would be interesting to know if it can be declassified now.
as to the mid eighties, it was indeed also a US/Saudis deal, for instance :
http://youtu.be/02F-3l1EKsA
I've lived through oil crashes before and they are brutal. Oil prices are going to end up much, much lower than they are now. Probably down in the high 30's for the bottom. I am sorely tempted to hop on some out-of-the-money calls on futures options but experience tells me to be patient.....it's way too early. We haven't seen ANTHING yet. Russia and Iran are going to be bleeding from every orifice (and the U.S. shale industry too) as this thing gets much more serious. And if the House of Saud pushes things too far there is every reason to expect someone to eventually make a move against the Saudis. A couple of 150 grain bullets can turn oil prices around on a dime if the right people snap and say "fuck this.....we want the price back up a lot ASAP". That move could be instigated by Ivan, Uncle Sam, Iran, Whoever (we would never know for sure) but however this cycle eventually plays its way out there are going to be some seriously depressed oil prices over the next 1-2 years.
excellent post!
The oil embargo of Oct/1973-Mar/1974 was ~ 2yrs. after the Nixon`Shock (8/15/71) and the end of bretton-woods 'gold standard.
King Faisal was assasinated by his own nephew ~ one year later on Mar25, 1975.
The world's stock markets 'CRASHED', esp. the USSA was hit hard, in the 1973-74 period, as predicted. Where's todays crash?!?
Strangely, Anwar Sadat wasn't assasinated until Oct. 6, 1981?
Lebanon's Civil War lasted from 1975 {(divide and conquer)(just as were seeing the Kurd's in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran being divvied-up, as in divide and conquer over the 'Religious [?Race?] Card')} 1990. The Sunni, Shiite, Druze, Christian Maronites [Turkish Alawite?] which btw, has nothing to do about oil[?] other than landscape and fanastic port[al]s views into the energy-rich eastern mediterranean?
This is Syria's problem today regarding location! Assad isn't the mass murderer? It's a proxy war created by the 'Empire of Chaos' (Pepe Escobar H/T), period!
Iran and Russia will do just fine, as will Syria, and Iraq. ISIS is finnished without financial resourses in which their drugs and weapons our being shut-down. They refused Saudi help already? Why? Is/Has Bandar(Bush) been liquidfied?
Lastly, regarding Pakistan(Nuclear Arsenal 4-Sale$$$) and AFGANISTAN the dual 'Giant killers? What will the mighty USSA use for the Nothern Allainance [NA] once a full blown civil war breaks out again and the U??A can't get its half $$$ trillion dollar poppy fix. Think of the current Russian new alliance with former soviet states such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, (?Turkmenistan?), Kyrgyistan, and Belarus, having Georgia on someones mind? The USSA will be isolated with Iran and India getting a last laugh!?!
jmo
Ps. Obama is not qualified nor is /our his stratigist in foreign affairs where the countries well being is really of the utmost of concern! SAD!!!
"I love my country, it's my government I fear!"
"Did The Saudis And The US Collude In Dropping Oil Prices?"
Oh. Of course they did.
Because what administration's credibility and power would not be enhanced by destroying the only full-time jobs created in the last 7 years?
Gibb's rule #39 - There are no coincidences.
I believe the Democrats know that they will be kicked in the nuts in 2016.
I believe that they want to gracefully retrench for a comeback in 2018 mid-terms.
I believe that they will need oil-tycoon money to do that.
I believe that both Democrats and Republicans know that.
I believe that slaughtering 1/3d of the oil business for no measurable benefit won't do that for them, and would most likely generate a lot of funding for a third party.
I believe this analysis is based on reveiwing the motives of those who have the power do do what the articl proposes they did.
I believe I could be wrong in the obvious conclusions it leads to.
But experience leads me to believe it ain't F__cking likely.
"The Saudis and other OPEC members have, of course, used the oil price for the obverse effect, that is, suppressing production to keep prices artificially high and member states swimming in “petrodollars”. In 2008, oil peaked at $147 a barrel."
This is the most key statement of the whole article.
PETRODOLLARS, the instigation of which correlates perfectly with the decline in American oil fields.
AMERICAN OIL FIELDS - the expansion of which correlates perfectly with the decline in the oil price.
Surely it must all be a plot against Russia.
Because everything is a plot against Russia... well, except paranoia. That's healthy.
Saudis pumped oil at high rates in order to help crush the Soviet Union. The Soviets were then deprived of hard currency for exchange, and then couldn't buy enough food.
The Saudi's are in alignment with Western Banking Elites. The petorodollars do go into Western Banks. Shouldn't Saudi be a worldpower now if they controlled all of their petrodollars into a bank they truly controlled. Why aren't the Saudi's world power financial elites now, holding debt instrruments on the world?
Part of the agreement was to have U.S. Navy insure Saudi survival and also make sure there were markets for their oil This is why they have AWACs, F-16's, and the sixth fleet.
The petrodollar created demand for American Dollars, thus holding up its value.
Due to massive deficit spending during Vietnam, excess dollars would find their way to French, German and other Western Central Banks. Those dollars would not be spent on main street American goods.
To buy American goods would mean one less car made in France, Britain, or Germany. Instead these countries started buying U.S. Treasuries.
The TBILL economy was born around Vietnam, and the Petrodollar TBill economy was born around 74.
Peak Oil doctrine directly relating to prices is bull shit. Three are many other factors involved, especially financial factors. Cartelization is certainly a factor.
If we held the price of oil to $100 dollars a barrel, then all kinds of oil around the world would be found. Indeed that has been exactly what has happened. If we spent debt free money into fracking infrastructure, then there would be no debt overhead - so the arguments about Fracking Costs also have to be considered in light of money economics. At 100 dollars a barrel alternate energy resources would come on line as well.
Bottom line. China is moving rapidly up the industrial curve, she has access to natural resources in Russia, and the BRICS are creating an alternate money system outside of the petrodollar. This group can always stimulate internal demand, much as the U.S. did when it turned its wartime economy into consumer goods.
Agree with much of what you've said, but China has a demographic problem. As has been said elsewhere, "they will get old before they get rich". Ironic for a country with 1 Billion+ population, no?
In the future, mutch of industry will need energy inputs and raw materials from earth. Labor will be less of a need. If China needs labor they can put their now/then world class industry into South East Asia or Africa. The advent of high tech, robotization and high speed tellecomunications means that labor is less and less part of economic production.
China lost the African round to U.S. Nato, especially after Libya. However, Chinese are now moving into South America and Eurasia for resources.
China will be able to weather their demographic decline.
The U.S./Zionist banking entity should try to be friendly and offer food, etc. to help China in future, rather than trying to screw everybody over in a resource grab. America's rich farmland can be used as a bargaining chip.
But, the nature of banking and wall street power centralizing attracts psycho's. So, our now parasitic money controlled west cannot but behave and respond to its parasites.
Alternative energy schemes have never made sense.
Oil has been at about $100 or more for nearly five years. How long does it take to hatch that Alternative Energy egg?
Horizontal drilling WAS developed because of the high price of oil. Combined with existing and improved fracking methods, the practice allowed Capitalists to control the marginal oil production. Captialists will always drive to produce more, until the financials crush some of them. There are several thousand of those little capitalist oil and gas operators in the US and they were not encouraged in any way by the US government to drill ONE well.
You are on point, Sir.
Thank you for your brilliant Light.
Truth...it just feels good.
Spread it around like a prairie wildfire
KSA has the money to do this - harass RUS and other OIl Producers, destroy the USA/CAN Shale Business, punish ISIL - then take over their Bankrupt Assets to own them all...
IMHO, the Levant have been selling Oil at a steep discount, so after a certain level, I'd suspect that they'll start sabotaging the Low Cost Producers hard to pump up the Px again.
The article reads like it is straight out of the neo-con playbook. Most of it is propaganda bullshit.
It has nothing to do with a neo-con book of any kind. Please give a link for a definition or to that book.
The nonsense presented relates to immaginary conspiracy theories.
The decline in prices relates to the ability of 3,000 - 4,000 little capitalist oil operators to unleash their abilities to develop privately owned mineral reserves without being under the control of the state. Some here should look back to the years before the middle eastern countries confiscated the US developed assets. Oil was $1.75 a bbl and the producers were competing.
Russia might like to cut back on production, but it's living hand-to-mouth and doesn't have that luxury.
The innuendo about Saudi collusion with the US to drive down oil prices to hurt Russia, Venezuela, Iran, etc., is just that. The Saudis already have motive enough to run the taps wide open - they'd like to drive as many of these American oil pumping operations out of business as possible, shale or otherwise.
The bigger question is why Russia would center its economy around oil without developing other sectors? This sort of mismanagement - by a government that makes no secret of its love for managing or simply take over businesses - is curious.
At any rate, Russia is reaping what it sows. When you focus on one sector to the exclusion of others, you're poorly positioned for a downturn when it comes to that sector.
In the Yeltsin years, the Harvard boys (Jews) convinced Russia to convert to an extraction economy. Hypothecate your now debt free lands in order to create Credit Euros. Spend those Euros or Dollars on foreign goods. Meantime, extract minerals and oil, but don't develop a finished industry. This is essentially a Colonial Mechanism, whereby the outer colonies only provide material resources to the center.
Latvia and Lithuania also fell into the trap, as they now have generational debts on their former "debt free" lands.
The world bank and IMF push loans in order to create unnatural single resource economies. This is how U.S. Hegemony works, and no shot needs to be fired.
Putin's Russia pushed back, especially after putting the Oligarchs (Jewish) in jail. These Oligarchs borrowed Western Credit from their in-group buddies to buy up Russia natural resources cheap.
The war has been simmering for some time.
Russia has centered the economy around mineral production because the kleptocrats can more easily plunder those assets, generally with very rapid payback. Infrastructure investment takes decades to payback. The kleptocrats do not want to have exposure to confiscation should they fall out of favor with a government ruler. They understand that there is rule of law in Russia.
Last week, in an effort to defend its currency, the Bank of Russia raised interest rates to 17 percent. The measure failed, with the ruble dropping another 20 percent, leading to speculation the country could impose capital controls.
That is wrong, that same day, it recovered 31% from the lowest crater as shown by a chart posted here on Zerohedge. But the Russians are in no hurr to reverse all the devaluation in order to offset the low oil price. The Russian economy is only 15% export so the external pressures are not that threatening. Besides, if Russian companies need $100 billion next year, not only do they have the cash but they can get it from the $180 billion initial yuan-rubles swap where the yuan could be rolled as dollars
propaganda and brainwash.
Apologies - double post :(
This story is partially correct, but it misses the main point. This is really about the dollar. It's all part of the US's efforts to strengthen its hand in the negotiations at the IMF over the re-structuring of the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (by de-stabalising the rouble). The US is facing the loss of its hegemony, loss of the petrodollar as the primary global reserve currency and its replacement by a multi-lateral system based on the SDR, and a return to a fixed exchange rate regime a la Bretton-Woods (involving a huge devaluation of the USD). The transition from oil to gas puts all the cards in Putin's hands. He has already won in Ukraine, a manufactured crisis if ever I saw one. When commodities start being priced in new SDRs late 2015, none of this nonsense will matter.
When I see reports of the Russia-China gas deal describing it as a USD400bn deal, it makes me chuckle because the whole point is that not a single USD is involved. Ho, ho ho.
There is only one end game in town for now, all this is about raising Damascus to the ground.
Wish it wasn't the case but that's what their holy books say has to happen as a pre-requisite to their rapture, their day Messiah coming or returning and that's what they're gonna try.
Crazy stuff but all too real.
Russia got in the way of that very act happening last year and now when the time is right, all or any future Russian objections or reasoning to bombing Damascus will be ignored.
Western Powers and their middle east puppeteers are on a road to nowhere, to their Messiah coming or returning, God help them (oxymoron unintended).
When one stops and realises, with all our ability to reason and connect dots, its amazing that the 3 most powerful religions in the world are all hell bent on bringing their own end game about. They'll stop at nothing to have their prophesies realised. Learned men and women caught in a 10,000 year old trap, longing for religious superiority.
They couldn't learn to grow, to change, to let go, because the intrigue was too enticing. Better to be on a misson that just to be, as Bill Hicks put it 'on a ride'.
Oh the lure and the glory of illusion when that illusion is so inbred into our civilisation that to live and let live ceased to be an option.
Saudi Oil, U.S. Oil, Syria, ISIS, New Settlement in Jeruselem............ all that matter to them is that Damascus is raised to the ground!
Believe it cause they do.
No, sorry, BalancingForce, it's not about religion. Religion is just a tool they use to manipulate and control mankind. It's about money and power and control. Control of energy is at the nexus of their success. We can only hope that somehow, someone finds a way to distribute the new free energy technologies waiting in the wings to help mankind shake off the strangehold of the money changers and release us all from debt slavery.