Schlagwort-Archive: #Gas

politics, Uncategorized

One Map That Explains the Dangerous Saudi-Iranian Conflict

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Jon Schwarz Jan. 6 2016,

theintercept.com

One Map That Explains the Dangerous Saudi-Iranian Conflict

Jon Schwarz✉jon.schwarz@​theintercept.comt@tinyrevolution

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday. Hours later, Iranian protestors set fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran. On Sunday, the Saudi government, which considers itself the guardian of Sunni Islam, cut diplomatic ties with Iran, which is a Shiite Muslim theocracy.

To explain what’s going on, the New York Times provided a primer on the difference between Sunni and Shiite Islam, informing us that “a schism emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632” — i.e., 1,383 years ago.

But to the degree that the current crisis has anything to do with religion, it’s much less about whether Abu Bakr or Ali was Muhammad’s rightful successor and much more about who’s going to control something more concrete right now: oil.

In fact, much of the conflict can be explained by a fascinating map created by M.R. Izady, a cartographer and adjunct master professor at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School/Joint Special Operations University in Florida. (…)

shia-oil-cropped-2

https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2016/01/Shia-and-Oil-lg.jpg

The map shows religious populations in the Middle East and proven developed oil and gas reserves. Click to view the full map of the wider region. The dark green areas are predominantly Shiite; light green predominantly Sunni; and purple predominantly Wahhabi/Salafi, a branch of Sunnis. The black and red areas represent oil and gas deposits, respectively. (…)

Source: Dr. Michael Izady at Columbia University, Gulf2000, New York

https://theintercept.com/2016/01/06/one-map-that-explains-the-dangerous-saudi-iranian-conflict/?comments=1#comments

politics, Uncategorized

geopolitics — Northern Route outpaces Southern Route; Natural Gas Europe, Sep 21, 2015

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http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/northern-route-outpaces-southern-25399
Natural Gas Europe – News & Analysis on European Natural Gas Matters, Sep 21, 2015

Northern Route outpaces Southern Route

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project is approaching a final deal as Gazprom and its EU partners have been dealing with loose ends. On the 5th of September in the Eastern Economic Forum of Vladivostok, the Russian gas company and its partners, namely: E.ON, BASF/Wintershall, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell, Engie agreed on percentages for each one for this route. Thus, Gazprom will lead the project with a 51% share, whilst the rest of the participants will get 10%, barring French Engie receives 9%.

This project is of outmost importance in circumventing Ukraine’s highly unstable territory and be able to deliver around 55 bcm per annum directly into EU markets. Together with Nord Stream 1 and an additional 55 bcm yearly capacity, Northern EU states and primarily Germany are clearly leading the way in the pan-European natural gas market and strive to reap considerable profits in the coming decades as the primal redistribution hub for gas across the Continent.

Amongst things to consider is that this route is being supported by the major energy companies of the states of Germany, France, the UK, Austria and Russia in a clear sign of defiance of Cold War geopolitical logic that has gripped most EU countries due to the Ukrainian crisis since early 2014. Moreover, it leverages the Russian diplomatic position vis-a-vis Kiev which stands to lose at least 2 billion euros per year from transit fees, and most importantly, its strongest leverage both against Moscow and the rest of the European countries. Concurrently a summit including the heads of states of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, will take place in early October 2015 in Paris to discuss an end to the crisis. The Nord Stream 2 project plays a crucial role in ending the brinkmanship by establishing a new “energy security order” in the Continent.

Furthermore this new agreement neutralizes the Turk Stream project which in essence was the Southern-leg of the Ukrainian by-pass. Since large consumers for the Russian gas are to be found in Central-North and West Europe and the quantities to be transferred are rather fixed for the foreseeable future, a project that will deliver an envisaged 63 bcm such as Turk Stream was planned, seems unreasonable and could be even be considered non-realistic. (…)

Geopolitics-Northern-Route-outpaces-Southern150921.pdf

Finanzmärkte, politics

Kavallerie in Kiew Europäische Schockstrategie für Ukraine Von Reinhard Lauterbach

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https://www.jungewelt.de/2015/03-05/045.php
aus: Junge Welt, Ausgabe vom 05.03.2015, Seite 8 / Ansichten

Kavallerie in Kiew
Europäische Schockstrategie für Ukraine
Von Reinhard Lauterbach

Die Ukraine steht am Rande des Staatsbankrotts. Genau die richtige Situation für jene Schockstrategie, die die Autorin Naomi Klein vor Jahren als Rahmenprogramm für die Durchsetzung neoliberaler »Reformagenden« dargestellt hat. Da kann die EU nicht abseits stehen. Sie schickt jetzt jene Kavallerie an den Dnjepr, die Peer Steinbrück vor Jahren der Schweiz nur androhte. Jetzt sollen er und andere Politiker von der Reservebank in einer »Agentur für die Modernisierung der Ukraine« das ruinierte Land im EU-Sinn auf Vordermann bringen.

Steinbrück, der bei seinem Amtsantritt als Finanzminister in Deutschland so weitsichtig war, die Förderung der Immobilienverbriefungen zu seiner Hauptaufgabe zu erklären, befindet sich in Kiew in bester Gesellschaft: Regierungschef Arseni Jazenjuk ist von Ausbildung Banker, Finanzministerin Natalia Jaresko hat zuvor in den USA Hedgefonds gemanagt, und der litauischstämmige Wirtschaftsminister Aivaras Abromavicius kommt auch aus dieser Ecke.

Interessant ist, dass die Finanzierung dieser Agentur zunächst von jenen ukrainischen Oligarchen übernommen werden soll, die in der landläufigen Diskussion zum Inbegriff aller Strukturprobleme des Landes erklärt werden: Rinat Achmetow, der auf zwölf Milliarden Dollar Vermögen verarmte Pate des Donbass und langjährige Finanzier von Wiktor Janukowitsch, bekommt seine zweite Chance ebenso wie Dmitri Firtasch, den die USA noch vor einem Jahr in Österreich wegen Korruptionsvorwürfen verhaften ließen, und der seine drei Milliarden mit dubiosen Vermittlungsgeschäften im russisch-ukrainischen Gashandel gemacht hat. Böcke als Gärtner? Nicht doch! Für sie und etliche andere ist die Gründung der Agentur, in die sie 500 Millionen Dollar investieren sollen, offenbar ein Rehabilitierungsangebot. Die Clique um Petro Poroschenko und Igor Kolomojskij, die die Konkurrenten vor einem Jahr ausgebootet hatte, hat in der Not verstanden, dass das Geld ihrer Klassenbrüder so wenig stinkt wie das eigene.

Die Menschen in der Ukraine dürfen sich derweilen warm anziehen, auch wenn der Winter langsam zu Ende geht. Vor ein paar Tagen hat das Parlament in Kiew beschlossen, die Gastarife bis auf einen kleinen Grundbedarf, dessen Preis »nur« verdoppelt wird, zu vervierfachen. Von der Metro bis zur Miete explodieren die Lebenshaltungskosten, während Löhne und Renten eingefroren sind. Wie gut, dass der »Agentur für Modernisierung« auch der Franzose Bernard Kouchner zuarbeiten soll, bekannt als Gründer der Hilfsorganisation »Ärzte ohne Grenzen«. Der Spezialist für Katastrophenhilfe und »ethischen Imperialismus« ist in der Ukraine am rechten Platz: hat doch der aus Georgien importierte neue Gesundheitsminister der Ukraine eine radikale Privatisierung der Gesundheitsfürsorge angekündigt.

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Martin Zeis
globalcrisis/globalchange NEWS
martin.zeis@gmxpro.net

politics

Putin’s New Gas Strategy Actually Makes Sense – JAN 22, 2015 – Marc Champion

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http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-22/putin-s-new-gas-strategy-actually-makes-sense

PDF: Report-South-Stream-Cancellation2015Jan

RUSSIA
Putin’s New Gas Strategy Actually Makes Sense
JAN 22, 2015 11:41 AM EST
By Marc Champion

When Russia canceled a planned pipeline to deliver natural gas to Europe across the Black Sea last month and said it would redirect the project to Turkey, some thought it was a bluff, others a sign of financial weakness and still others a rebuke to the West over Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin turned elsewhere to look for new partners.
In reality, the change made good commercial sense and should have happened years ago, according to a new report (1) by some of the most knowledgeable people on Russia’s gas industry.

The shift also means that Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled gas company, won’t be able to completely cut Ukraine out of the transit business, as the original South Stream pipeline had sought to do, for years to come. And, the authors might have added, the new arrangement is healthier for Europe, too.

The cancellation of South Stream is part of a broader change of strategy for Gazprom that plays to the company’s strengths, say Jonathan Stern, Simon Pirani and Katja Yafimava at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

The previous strategy to acquire distribution networks deep in EU markets. And while the report’s authors are more cautious, this was also in part politically motivated. It was meant to exert Russian political power as much as to make profits for Gazprom, which is one reason the European Union drew up regulations to obstruct it.

South Stream was expensive — conservatively priced at about $20 billion and by some estimates as much as $65 billion. It never made commercial sense, even when EU demand for gas was projected to soar and Gazprom controlled prices by negotiating separate long-term contracts with individual buyers.

Today, Gazprom faces new price competition from spot markets at gas hubs around the EU. Plus, new EU rules — some still being written — would force Gazprom to open up its European pipelines to other suppliers and distributors.

The Ukraine crisis prompted EU officials to move aggressively against South Stream for not complying with the new rules. And collapsing oil prices (to which long-term gas contracts are tied) made the economics of South Stream look even worse. Eventually, Gazprom pulled the plug.

The company then proposed redirecting the pipeline project to Turkey, its second-largest customer in Europe and the only European market projected to grow strongly. The gas Turkey now gets via Ukraine would come direct from Russia. And any additional amounts could be taken to a hub at Turkey’s EU border and sold.

Nevertheless, Gazprom would still need to send substantial amounts of gas to Europe through Ukraine until at the very least 2020, according to the Oxford report.
It’s by now clear that Gazprom’s pivot to Turkey was not a bluff, even if negotiations on price and the pipeline’s route continue. Gazprom has already allocated resources to the Turkish project.

Nor was the South Stream decision based only on cost. That couldn’t explain why Gazprom hired two barges and 200 personnel to start laying pipes on the seabed, Stern and his team said.

Other decisions taken at about the same time suggest a bigger shift at play:

Gazprom abandoned efforts to buy 100 percent of the Opal gas pipeline, which lies entirely within Germany. It also walked away (2) from advanced talks on an asset swap that would have given more extraction assets in Western Siberia to the Wintershall unit of BASF Group, in exchange for Gazprom’s full ownership of the German company’s interest in a domestic storage and trading business in Germany.

Not long before, Gazprom had finally agreed on terms to supply piped gas to China and iced its plans to develop terminals to export liquid natural gas. Putin sold that move as punishment for the EU and proof he could find alternative markets. But in essence, Gazprom is returning to the business it knows better than anyone else and the one it can more easily afford: extracting and delivering natural gas through pipelines.

Russia’s gas giant no longer has ambitions to own the whole extraction-to-European-consumer chain, or to invest in expensive LNG technologies. Instead, it will have a simpler, transactional relationship with the EU in the sale and purchase of gas. And that is exactly as it should be.

To contact the author on this story:
Marc Champion at mchampion7@bloomberg.net

Notes
(1) The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, January 2015: „Does the cancellation of South Stream signal a fundamental reorientation of Russian gas export policy?“ By Jonathan Stern, Simon Pirami, Katja Yafimava;
URL: http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Does-cancellation-of-South-Stream-signal-a-fundamental-reorientation-of-Russian-gas-export-policy-GPC-5.pdf — see attachment —
(2) https://www.basf.com/en/company/news-and-media/news-releases/2014/12/p-14-435.html

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Martin Zeis
globalcrisis/globalchange NEWS
martin.zeis@gmxpro.net

politics

“Turk Stream”: Huge Win for Turkey – Big Win For Russia – Historic Loss for EU – Pepe ESCOBAR, Dec 05, 2014

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“Turk Stream”: Huge Win for Turkey – Big Win For Russia 
– Historic Loss for EU
  • EU’s obstruction of South Stream blew black in its face
  • Russia gets more gas infrastructure regardless
  • Turkey won’t pass a chance to benefit from Eurasian ties
By Pepe ESCOBAR, Dec 05, 2014, 13:00 MEZ
So the EU “defeated” Putin by forcing him to cancel the South Stream pipeline. Thus ruled Western corporate media.
Nonsense.
Facts on the ground spell otherwise. This “Pipelineistan” gambit will continue to send massive geopolitical shockwaves all across Eurasia for quite some time.
In a nutshell, a few years ago Russia devised Nord Stream – fully operational – and South Stream – still a project – to bypass unreliable Ukraine as a gas transit nation.
Now Russia devised a new deal with Turkey to bypass the “non-constructive” (Putin’s words) approach of the European Commission (EC).
Background is essential to understand the current game.
Five years ago I was following in detail Pipelineistan’s ultimate opera – the war bet-ween rival pipelines South Stream and Nabucco.
Nabucco eventually became road kill. South Stream may eventually resurrect, but only if the EC comes to its senses (don’t bet on it.)
The 3,600 kilometer long South Stream should be in place by 2016, branching out to Austria and the Balkans/Italy. Gazprom owns 50 percent of it – along with Italy’s ENI (20 percent), French EDF (15 percent) and German Wintershall, a subsidiary of BASF (15 percent).
As it stands these European energy majors are not exactly beaming – to say the least. For months Gazprom and the EC were haggling about a solution. But in the end Brussels predictably succumbed to its own.
Russia still gets to build a pipeline under the Black Sea – but now redirected to Turkey and, crucially, pumping the same amount of gas South Stream would. Not to mention Russia gets to build a new LNG (liquefied natural gas) central hub in the Mediterranean. Thus Gazprom has not spent $5 billion in vain (finance, engineering costs).
The redirection makes total business sense. Turkey is Gazprom’s second biggest customer after Germany. And much bigger than Bulgaria, Hungary, and Austria combined.
Russia also advances a unified gas distribution network capable of delivering natural gas from anywhere in Russia to any hub alongside Russia’s borders.
And as if it was needed, Russia gets yet another graphic proof that its real growth market in the future is Asia, especially China – not a fearful, stagnated, austerity-devastated, politically paralyzed EU.
The evolving Russia-China strategic partnership implies Russia as complementary to China, excelling in major infrastructure projects from building dams to laying out pipe-lines. This is business with a sharp geopolitical reach – not ideology-drenched poli-tics.
(…)
More articles see:  Russia Insider Daily Headlines for 12/05/2014 – URL:  http://russia-insider.com/en

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Martin Zeis
globalcrisis/globalchange News
martin.zeis@gmxpro.net
politics, Uncategorized

Ölpreisschock: US-Fracking-Aktivitäten brechen um 40% ein

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Ölpreisschock: US-Fracking-Aktivitäten brechen um 40% ein

Der seit Juni anhaltende Ölpreis-Einbruch, der jüngst durch das Nicht-Eingreifen der OPEC verstärkt und manifestiert wurde, hat in den USA bereits zu einem Zurückfahren der Fracking-Aktivitäten geführt. Wie Reuters bezugnehmend auf Drilling Info Inc berichtet, sank die Zahl neuer Bohrungen von 7227 in Oktober auf 4520 im November – ein Rückgang um 40% binnen eines Monats. Zwar sind dabei auch witterungsbedingte Rückgänge enthalten, offensichtlich wird der starke Rückgang aber auch von einer zurückgehenden Investitionsneigung getrieben.

Wie Leser dieser Webseite wissen, ist die Besonderheit von Fracking-Ergebnissen in einer stark veränderten Förderkurve abzulesen. Demnach wird in den ersten Tagen die höchste Fördergeschwindigkeit erzielt, die dann stark absinkt:

overestimated_bakken_well_production#OPEC

Um eine dauerhafte Öl- oder Gasernte zu erzielen, müssen alte Bohrungen darum regelmäßig durch neue Bohrungen ersetzt werden. Passiert dies nicht, würde die Gesamtförderung ähnlich schnell zurückschrumpfen wie die Erntemengen einer einzelnen Bohrung. Da bei wachsendem Gesamtoutput deshalb auch die Zahl der Ersatzbohrungen mitwachsen muss, ergibt sich daraus der “Red-Queen-Effekt”: Die rote Königin erklärt Alice im Wunderland, dass sie dort immer schneller laufen müsse, nur um am gleichen Fleck zu bleiben. Bezogen auf Fracking besagt dieser Effekt: Wächst die Zahl der Bohrungen nicht mehr angemessen, schrumpft die Öl- und Gasernte recht schnell zusammen. (…)

Ölpreisschock: US-Fracking-Aktivitäten brechen um 40% ein

politics

Russia, China Sign Second Mega-Gas Deal: Beijing Becomes Largest Buyer Of Russian Gas – zerohedge 07.11.2014

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zerohedge, — Nov 7, 2014
Russia, China Sign Second Mega-Gas Deal:
Beijing Becomes Largest Buyer Of Russian Gas  
As we previewed on Friday (Nov 7), when we reported that “Russia Nears Completion Of Second “Holy Grail” Gas Deal With China“, moments ago during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum taking place this weekend in Beijing, Russia and China signed 17 documents Sunday, greenlighting a second “mega” Russian natural gas to China via the so-called “western” or “Altay” route, which as previously reported, would supply 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year to China.
Among the documents signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were the memorandum on the delivery of Russian natural gas to China via the western route, the framework agreement on gas supplies between Russia’s Gazprom and China’s CNPC and the memorandum of under-standing between the Russian energy giant and the Chinese state-owned oil and gas corporation.
“We have reached an understanding in principle concerning the opening of the western route,” Putin said. “We have already agreed on many technical and commercial aspects of this project, laying a good basis for reaching final arrangements.”
RIA adds, citing Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, that the documents signed by Russia and China on Sunday define the western route as a priority project for the gas cooperation between the two countries.
“First of all these documents stipulate that the “western route” is becoming a priority project for our gas cooperation,” Miller said, adding that the documents provide for the export of 30 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to China annually for a 30-year period.  Miller noted that with the increase of deliveries via the western route, the total volume of Russian gas deliveries to China may exceed the current levels of export to Europe in the medium-term perspective. In other words, China has now eclipsed Europe as Russia’s biggest, and most strategic natural gas client. More:     (…)
Full text see attachment (pdf-file, 4p) and URL:  
www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-09/russia-china-sign-second-western-route-mega-gas-deal-china-becomes-largest-buyer-rus
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Martin Zeis
globalcrisis/globalchange News
martin.zeis@gmxpro.net
politics

chartophylakeion tou polemou » Putin beim Waldai Klub 2014

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chartophylakeion tou polemou » Putin beim Waldai 2014.

Hierunter findet sich die unkommentierte, vollständige Übersetzung des Stenogramms von Putins Auftritt beim Waldai-Klub 2014 – als Grundlage für eventuelle spätere Diskussionen und Erörterungen. Der Text hat keinerlei Hervohebungen oder Markierungen und ist (momentan) nur relativ oberflächlich korrekturgelesen, für Hinweise auf offenkundige Fehler bin ich dankbar. Details können sich also noch ändern. Für einen Gesamteindruck (und dafür, nicht nur mit von SPON & Co. genehmigten und in beliebigen Zusammenhang gestellten Zitaten leben zu müssen), ist es aber erst einmal gut.

Quelle: http://www.kremlin.ru/news/46860
Putin bei Waldai 2014-1(PDF)

politics

Splitter aus Putins Rede auf der Waldai-Konferenz in Sotschi – russland.ru – 24.10.2014

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Splitter aus Putins Rede auf der
Waldai-Konferenz in Sotschi
Die EU wird sich dem Druck der USA nicht beugen und auf russisches Gas nie verzichten. „Ein
solcher Schritt wird die Konkurrenzfähigkeit der EU zugrunde richten. … Es ist kaum vorzustellen,
dass so etwas nach dem Willen unserer Partner in Europa geschehen könnte. Ich kann mir das
schwerlich vorstellen.“ Als Alternative käme nur der Mittlere Osten und die USA infrage. „Amerika
könnte Schiefergas und -öl nach Europa transportieren. Aber was würde das kosten? Wenn die
Europäer dieses Schema akzeptieren, wird das direkt zum Abbau der eigenen Konkurrenzfähigkeit
führen. US-Gas wird teurer sein als unser Pipelinegas.“
Kiew soll seine Truppen aus der Ostukraine abziehen. „Man darf sich nicht an jedes Dorf klammern,
das ist sinnlos. Die Truppen sollen abgezogen werden. Russland ist ebenfalls für die territoriale
Integrität der Ukraine. … Statt einen friedlichen Dialog aufzunehmen, schickt Kiew Truppen, Panzer
und Flugzeuge (in die Donbass-Region). Und die internationale Gemeinschaft hüllt sich ins
Schweigen, als ob sie nichts sieht, als ob es die Formulierung ‚unangemessene Anwendung von
Gewalt‘ nicht mehr gibt.“ Russland wurde im Kaukasus-Konflikt unangemessene Gewalt
vorgeworfen, „jetzt wurde dieser Begriff einfach vergessen, während (Kiew) Streubomben und sogar
taktische Waffen einsetzt“ (…)
Uncategorized

Why Oil Is Plunging:The Other Part Of The “Secret Deal” Between The US And Saudi Arabia

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www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-10/why-oil-plunging-other-part-secret-deal-between-us-and-saudi-arabia  —  zerohedge,  Oct 10, 2014
Why Oil Is Plunging:The Other Part Of The “Secret Deal”
Between The US And Saudi Arabia
Two weeks ago, we revealed one part of the “Secret Deal” between the US and Saudi Arabia: (1) namely what the US ‘brought to the table’ as part of its grand alliance strategy in the middle east, which proudly revealed Saudi Arabia to be “aligned” with the US against ISIS, when in reality John Kerry was merely doing Saudi Arabia’s will when the WSJ reported (2) that “the process gave the Saudis leverage to extract a fresh U.S. commitment to beef up training for rebels fighting Mr. Assad, whose demise the Saudis still see as a top priority.”
What was not clear is what was the other part: what did the Saudis bring to the table, or said otherwise, how exactly it was that Saudi Arabia would compensate the US for bombing the Assad infrastructure until the hated Syrian leader was toppled, creating a power vacuum in his wake that would allow Syria, Qatar, Jordan and/or Turkey to divide the spoils of war as they saw fit.
A glimpse of the answer was provided earlier in the article “The Oil Weapon: A New Way To Wage War” (3), because at the end of the day it is always about oil, and leverage.
The full answer comes courtesy of Anadolu Agency (4), which explains not only the big picture involving Saudi Arabia and its biggest asset, oil, but also the latest fracturing of OPEC (5) at the behest of Saudi Arabia…
Diagram  – OPEC’s Price Crunch – Estimated breakeven oil price for 2014 government budgets  (…)
… which however is merely using “the oil weapon” to target the old slash new Cold War foe #1: Vladimir Putin.
To wit:
Saudi Arabia to pressure Russia, Iran with price of oil
Saudi Arabia will force the price of oil down, in an effort to put political pressure on Iran and Russia, according to the President of Saudi Arabia Oil Policies and Strategic Expectations Center.
Saudi Arabia plans to sell oil cheap for political reasons, one analyst says.
To pressure Iran to limit its nuclear program, and to change Russia’s position on Syria, Riyadh will sell oil below the average spot price at $50 to $60 per barrel in the Asian markets and North America, says Rashid Abanmy, President of the Riyadh-based Saudi Arabia Oil Policies and Strategic Expectations Center. The marked decrease in the price of oil in the last three months, to $92 from $115 per barrel, was caused by Saudi Arabia, according to Abanmy. 
With oil demand declining, the ostensible reason for the price drop is to attract new clients, Abanmy said, but the real reason is political. Saudi Arabia wants to get Iran to limit its nuclear energy expansion, and to make Russia change its position of support for the Assad Regime in Syria. Both countries depend heavily on petroleum exports for revenue, and a lower oil price means less money coming in, Abanmy pointed out. The Gulf states will be less affected by the price drop, he added.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is the technical arbiter of the price of oil for Saudi Arabia and the 11 other countries that make up the group, won’t be able to affect Saudi Arabia’s decision, Abanmy maintained.
The organization’s decisions are only recommendations and are not binding for the member oil producing countries, he explained.
Today’s Brent closing price: $90. Russia’s oil price budget for the period 2015-2017? $100 (6). Which means much more “forced Brent liquidation” is in the cards in the coming weeks as America’s suddenly once again very strategic ally, Saudi Arabia, does everything in its power to break Putin.
—  Diagram  – “OPEC’s Price Crunch – Estimated breakeven oil price for 2014 government budgets” – see attachment (pdf-file)  and URL of article – m.z.  —
Notes:
(1)  A Look Inside The Secret Deal With Saudi Arabia That Unleashed The Syrian Bombing  —  zerohege, Sept 25, 2014 – URL:
www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-25/look-inside-secret-deal-saudi-arabia-unleashed-syrian-bombing
(2)  Deal With Saudis Paved Way for Syrian Airstrikes — Talks With Saudi Arabia Were Linchpin in U.S. Efforts to Get Arab States Into Fight Against Islamic State – WSJ, Sept 24, 2014 – URL:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/deal-with-saudis-paved-way-for-syrian-airstrikes-1411605329?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
(3)  zerohedge, Oct 10, 2014 – URL: www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-10/oil-weapon-new-way-wage-war
(4)  Saudi Arabia to pressure Russia, Iran with price of oil  – Saudi Arabia will force the price of oil down, in an effort to put political pressure on Iran and Russia, according to the President of Saudi Arabia Oil Policies and Strategic Expectations Center —  Anadolu Agency, Oct 10, 2014 – URL:
www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/402343–saudi-arabia-to-pressure-russia-iran-with-price-of-oil
(5)  Oil-Price Slump Strains Budgets of Some OPEC Members – Oil-Producing Countries Face Steep Deficits If Price War Continues —  WSJ, Oct 10, 2014 – URL:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/oil-price-slump-strains-budgets-of-some-opec-members-1412952367
(6)  For Putin, Oil Decline Worse Than Obama’s Sanctions —  Forbes, Oct 9, 2014 – URL:
www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2014/10/09/declining-oil-hurting-putins-economy-more-than-u-s-sanctions
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Martin Zeis
globalcrisis/globalchange News
martin.zeis@gmxpro.net