Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Virtually all of the recent political machinations in the region, including, not only the Iraq war, but also developments in Iran, and the Ukraine’s recently disputed Presidential election, can be best understood through the prism of oil pipeline politics.
US blue-chip stocks fell on Monday as oil prices nudged higher after an attack on a US consulate in Saudi Arabia, but technology stocks rose, helped by a broker’s hike in earnings and revenue estimates for Apple Computer.
Olivera — a shoe factory worker by trade — says oil and gas are vital to the sort of country the people are creating. “We want a different country,” he says, “and for that we need an economic base.” He sees Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves — second only to Venezuela on the continent — as the obvious economic foundation.
They are the three scariest words in U.S. industry. Cut your price at least 30% or lose your customers. Nearly every manufacturer is vulnerable — from furniture to networking gear. The result: A massive shift in economic power is under way
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that Britain’s growing need for energy over the next decades has to be seen in a “changing context” due to declining production from the North Sea.
“By 2020, we will probably be importing three-quarters of our primary energy needs — and we will need to adapt to that,” he warned when launching his government’s first-ever International Energy Strategy.
America’s real aim in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics is to seize control of vital resources before China and India can challenge US dominance.
Tehran’s sense of strategic encirclement, allied to Washington’s hostile rhetoric, could make Iran the epicentre of the next regional crisis….Once more, the politics of energy, especially oil, emerges as the most potent hidden factor in regional political insecurity.
The bitterly disputed Ukrainian presidential election, and the crisis that is exploding in the wake of the contested outcome, has reignited the Cold War and a new round of East-West conflict over control of Eurasian/Caspian/Black Sea energy.
Plans by the Moscow-based company Gazprom to provide 10% of Britain’s natural gas requirements by 2010 underline Russia’s growing international importance as an energy supplier. Oil and gas bring political and economic clout. And they are fuelling a revival in Russia’s great-power ambitions.
After Iraq it is oil rich Venezuela led by Hugo Chavez that has become the center for confrontation between America and the Euro Zone.
After a week of intense bargaining, Iran has again agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program to avert United Nations sanctions, further undermining US-led international efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. And with the emergence of an ever-stronger partnership between China and Iran, Washington’s woes are far from over.
Between August and October, Iraq lost $7 billion dollars in potential revenues due to sabotage against the country’s oil infrastructure, according to Assem Jihad, spokesman of the Oil Ministry.
