Posts

“Couldn’t Come at a Worse Time”: Putin Declares War on American Oil Production

/8,684 Comments/in , , /by

By Bloomberg. “The Kremlin has decided to sacrifice OPEC+ to stop U.S. shale producers and punish the U.S. for messing with Nord Stream 2,” said Alexander Dynkin, president of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow, a state-run think tank. “Of course, to upset Saudi Arabia could be a risky thing, but this is Russia’s strategy at the moment – flexible geometry of interests” . . .

When the coronavirus started devastating Chinese economic activity in early February – cutting oil demand in Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer by 20% — Prince Abdulaziz tried to convince [Russian Energy Minister Alexander] Novak that they should call an early OPEC+ meeting in response to cutback supply. Novak said no. The Saudi king and Putin spoke by phone ­­– it didn’t help. . .

In the short run, Russia is in a good position to withstand an oil price slump. The budget breaks even at a price of $42 a barrel and the finance ministry has squirreled away billions in a rainy-day fund. Nonetheless, the coronavirus’s impact on the global economy is still unclear and with millions more barrels poised to flood the market, Wall Street analysts are warning oil could test recent lows of $26 a barrel. (Read more from “Putin Declares War on American Oil Production” HERE)
________________________________

Opening the Floodgates of Oil Production Forcing Prices Down

By Brian Sullivan. Vladimir Putin just sparked what could end up being one of the ugliest oil price wars in modern history, and American oil and gas companies may be the victims.

This weekend Saudi Arabia dropped the oil bomb. It not only cut its forward crude price to Chinese customers by as much as $6 or $7 per barrel, but is also reportedly looking to raise its daily crude output by as many as 2 million barrels per day into an already oversupplied global market. Look out below.

The move by the Saudis is both a market share grab and a loud signal to Moscow that it’s done playing games. The dramatic action is in response to a contentious, and ultimately failed, OPEC meeting in Austria on Friday. OPEC members laid out a proposal to further cut oil output quotas by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day. [And it] couldn’t occur at a worse time. Coronavirus is already slamming global oil demand and crude prices have fallen 30% this year . . .

It′s not media hyperbole to call what happened this weekend in the oil markets “historic.” When the Russians walked out of OPEC’s Austria headquarters, it suddenly became every country – and every U.S company – for itself. A race to the top in production and a race to the bottom in prices. (Read more about the oil production crisis HERE)

________________________________

US Oil Production May Prove Resilient

By Jason Lemon. Under Trump, the U.S. has surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s biggest oil producing nation, largely spurred by the expansion of fracking. Saudi Arabia had tried unsuccessfully to flood the oil market and reduce prices drastically to maintain its dominance back in 2014. But U.S. production proved more resilient than the Saudis anticipated.

Some analysts are suggesting that Russia may similarly be underestimating or misunderstanding how the U.S. oil industry will respond.

“While the crash in oil prices that began in late 2014 [due to Saudi Arabia flooding the market] did ultimately result in hundreds of shale producers declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the net result of that process is that most of those companies reorganize themselves and come back with far less debt load,” David Blackmon, an independent energy analyst and consultant, wrote for Forbes.

“The strategy also fails to recognize that most producers have already put hedges in place for most of their equity production through the remainder of 2020 and beyond,” he noted. (Read more about how US oil production may respond HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Christopher Steele Refuses to Cooperate With U.S. Prosecutor Looking Into Origins of Trump-Russia Probe

/0 Comments/in , /by

Dossier author Christopher Steele will not cooperate with U.S. Attorney John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, telling an audience at Oxford University that he believes U.S. investigators have acted in “bad faith.”

Steele, a former British spy, said at the Oxford event on Friday that he and his firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, had already “done our duty” by cooperating with a Justice Department inspector general’s (IG) investigation of the FBI’s surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

According to The Daily Beast, which attended the Oxford event, Steele also criticized the IG, saying that he cooperated with the probe for “four or five months,” and observed “very bad qualities” on the part of government officials. He said some acted in “bad faith.”

Reuters reported on Friday that Durham’s team has recently approached Steele seeking an interview. The former MI6 officer rejected the request because he believes that he would not be treated fairly, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Numerous questions remain unanswered about how Steele collected information for his dossier, and how many of his allegations about Trump associates turned out to be inaccurate. (Read more from “Christopher Steele Refuses to Cooperate With U.S. Prosecutor Looking Into Origins of Trump-Russia Probe” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Report Undercuts Claim That Russia Is Trying To Help Trump’s Re-election

/0 Comments/in , /by

American intelligence does not indicate that Russia is attempting to help President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, according to a new report.

According to CNN, who spoke with several U.S. intelligence officials, Shelby Pierson, the top election intelligence official, overstated the intelligence community’s assessment on Russian interference in the 2020 election during a recent classified briefing with the House Intelligence Committee. She told lawmakers that Russia is attempting to aid Trump’s re-election, the New York Times reported last week.

However, the intelligence simply does not indicate that.

“The intelligence doesn’t say that,” a senior national security official told CNN. “A more reasonable interpretation of the intelligence is not that they have a preference, it’s a step short of that. It’s more that they understand the President is someone they can work with, he’s a dealmaker.” (Read more from “Report Undercuts Claim That Russia Is Trying To Help Trump’s Re-election” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

2 Russians Escape Coronavirus Quarantine

/0 Comments/in , /by

Two women being quarantined in Russian hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak escaped after complaining of dire conditions upon their return from China, where the virus originated and has killed more than 1,100 people and sickened more than 45,000 others.

One patient jumped out of a hospital window and another disabled an electronic lock in order to flee their isolation. Both had complained of uncooperative doctors, lax protocol and poor conditions, and feared they would become infected.

Russia has only two confirmed cases of the virus, but authorities have taken measures to prevent its spread by hospitalizing people returning from China as a precaution. Both women were quarantined after returning from Hainan, a tropical region in China.

One of the women published a lengthy Instagram post describing her ordeal. She said her son came down with a cough and fever days after returning to their home in Samara. The boy was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and tested at a hospital for the coronavirus.

The boy responded to treatment but his test results had been delayed for several days, she said. She accused doctors of obstructing her when she pressed for information about her son. On her fifth day in the hospital, she took a home pregnancy test, which came out positive. (Read more from “2 Russians Escape Coronavirus Quarantine” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Top Trump Russia-Europe Official Yanked Pending Mysterious Security Concerns

/0 Comments/in , /by

By NBC News. The top White House official responsible for Russia and Europe has been put on indefinite administrative leave amid a security-related investigation, two U.S. officials and a former U.S. official said.

The official, Andrew Peek, who took over the Russia portfolio at the National Security Council in November, had been scheduled to join President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week before he was abruptly put on leave, one of the officials said. The officials declined to specify the nature of the investigation. . .

Peek’s absence, at least temporarily, creates a void in a key position responsible for pushing back on Russian aggression and coordinating U.S. policy toward Moscow. It adds another jolt of uncertainty to an office that has experienced significant turnover during the past year.

Peek, whose background is in Middle East affairs, took over the Russia and Europe portfolio from Tim Morrison, who was a key witness in House hearings on Trump’s impeachment. The Russia and Europe role is the same one that was previously occupied by Fiona Hill, another key impeachment witness during last year’s hearings. (Read more from “Top Trump Russia-Europe Official Yanked Pending Mysterious Security Concerns” HERE)

___________________________________________________

Trump Loses Another Russia Adviser, Adding to NSC Turnover

By Bloomberg. The top Russia expert on President Donald Trump’s National Security Council has left his post after about three months, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Andrew Peek, the NSC’s senior director for European and Russian affairs, was escorted from the White House grounds on Friday, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to discuss personnel matters. A spokesman for the NSC declined to comment, citing the same reason. Peek also declined to comment.

Axios reported earlier Saturday that Peek was placed on administrative leave pending a security-related investigation.

Peek is the third departure from the position in less than a year. The NSC has been marked by turbulence and turnover over Trump’s three years in office, as the president has repeatedly sought national security advisers more in-line with his own ideology. (Read more from “Trump Loses Another Russia Adviser, Adding to NSC Turnover” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Media, Federal Government Tougher on Roger Stone Than Child Molester Jeffrey Epstein. Why?

/0 Comments/in , /by

Roger Stone was convicted in federal court last week on seven felony charges stemming from the since-closed Russia collusion investigation. Stone’s main crime was lying to Congress about who he had or had not spoken to about Russia.

By the time Stone’s trial began in Washington the larger scandal that ensnared him had long been debunked. Nobody was talking about WikiLeaks anymore; nobody cared. And yet prosecutors continued zealously as if it were still 2017. For lying about something that is now officially irrelevant, they argued that Roger Stone should spend up to 50 years in prison, effectively the rest of his natural life.

Now, at the very moment prosecutors were making that case, that Stone’s misstatements ought to be a death penalty offense, Congressman Adam Schiff was busy lying to the rest of us about new things, some of which actually mattered. Schiff didn’t seem worried about his lying. He knew he would never be prosecuted for it. In Washington dishonestly is strictly a one-way offense.

Yet despite the obvious irony of all of this, Roger Stone was convicted anyway. And official Washington cheered. “Rot in hell!” they screamed on Twitter, oblivious to karma, which, by the way, is real.

What’s interesting about the response to Stone’s case, both from federal prosecutors and from the conventional opinion-makers on television, is how much harsher and more outraged it was than anything that greeted convicted child molester Jeffrey Epstein. Do you think ABC’s George Stephanopoulos would even consider having dinner at Roger Stone’s house? Well, of course not. That would be immoral. (Read more from “Media, Federal Government Tougher on Roger Stone Than Child Molester Jeffrey Epstein. Why?” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Rolling Stone: ‘Hillary Clinton Is Nuts’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Hillary Clinton decided to use her name and allies to smear Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). Tulsi endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016. Clinton floated this insane theory that Rep. Gabbard was being groomed by the Russians to mount a third-party run to ensure a Trump victory in 2020. . .

While Rolling Stone suffered a knifing to the kidneys and heart over the University of Virginia rape story that turned out to be a total hoax which led to the magazine being sued and found guilty of libel, its analysis of the Russian agent paranoia that had engulfed the Democratic Party was pretty spot on. In short, the Democratic Party position on this subject is that we’re all Russian agents now. It’s ironic in two ways. First, the so-called intellectual elite, those who think that rural Americans and those without college degrees are trash, falling victim and being susceptible to digesting such tin foil hat garbage is priceless. These condescending and utterly revolting people appear to be so incapable of understanding why they lost in 2016 they’ve resorted to InfoWars-like cuckoo theories over why Trump is where he is at present. Second, remember when Democrats laughed at Mitt Romney about Russia being our biggest geopolitical foe? This was anachronistic, right? Well, post-2016, the Left has their own red scare brewing their minds, driving them insane, and leaving them spewing total insanity to the masses. The Russians were a joke in 2012, and now they’re everywhere. Oh, man—there is not enough popcorn for this show (via Rolling Stone):

Hillary Clinton is nuts. She’s also not far from the Democratic Party mainstream, which has been pushing the same line for years.

Less than a week before Clinton’s outburst, the New York Times — once a symbol of stodgy, hyper-cautious reporting — ran a feature called, “What, Exactly, is Tulsi Gabbard Up To?” The piece speculated about the “suspicious activity” surrounding Gabbard’s campaign, using quotes from the neoconservative think-tank, the Alliance For Securing Democracy, to speculate about Gabbard’s Russian support.

(Read more from “Rolling Stone: ‘Hillary Clinton Is Nuts'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Big Trump-Russia Report Is Coming, but How Much Will Remain Secret?

/0 Comments/in , /by

On May 23 of this year, President Trump gave Attorney General Bill Barr “full and complete authority” to declassify information relating to the actions of the FBI and intelligence community in investigating the 2016 Trump campaign.

Granting Barr that authority “will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions,” the White House said.

The move immediately set off speculation. What would Barr do? Would the public see a flood of secret documents, like records of informants and spying on the Trump campaign, like documents relating to the start of the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” probe, like papers on the use of the secret FISA court and wiretap authority? Congressional investigators and journalists who had long wanted to see such documents were in a state of high anticipation. . .

But now, anticipation is building again. On Friday, Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz sent a letter to key members of Congress saying he has finished his investigation into what Republicans call “FISA abuse,” but which GOP lawmakers suspect will be a much more wide-ranging look at the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. . .

How much will be hidden? Some lawmakers have said they think as much as one-fifth of the Horowitz report might be redacted. That would be entirely antithetical to the public’s need to understand the beginnings of the Trump-Russia affair. (Read more from “Big Trump-Russia Report Is Coming, but How Much Will Remain Secret?” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Russia to Begin Peace Talks With Taliban

/0 Comments/in , /by

A Taliban negotiating team arrived in Russia on Friday, less than a week after President Trump announced that peace talks with the Islamic militant group in Afghanistan were essentially “dead.” . . .

The Russian state news agency Tass, citing the Taliban’s Qatari-based spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, reported that the delegation had met with Zamir Kabulov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to Afghanistan. A Taliban official confirmed the visit to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Russia has been accused of aiding the Taliban as a safeguard against a burgeoning affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS) that has close ties to the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, a militant group in Central Asia. Russia has stepped up its defenses in Central Asia and has claimed thousands of ISIS fighters were in northern Afghanistan. . .

On Saturday, Trump announced he had called off secret meetings with Afghan government leaders and Taliban officials that were to take place at Camp David. The president noted that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for a recent attack in Kabul that left 12 dead, including an American soldier.”

“What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position?” Trump asked in a statement on Twitter, before adding that if the Taliban cannot agree to a cease-fire, “then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway.” (Read more from “Russia to Begin Peace Talks With Taliban” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Surprise: India and Russia Challenging China in South China Sea

/0 Comments/in , /by

India is challenging Chinese influence in the South China Sea with its outreach to regional powers, including Russia, with which it has agreed to launch a maritime route that would partly go through the hotly contested waters, analysts said.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed by India and Russia – two traditional security allies – during a regional economic forum this week, a new Indo-Pacific sea route will extend from the port city of Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East, to Chennai, on the Bay of Bengal in eastern India.

The shipping route will partly traverse the South China Sea, the scene of numerous territorial disputes involving China and neighbouring countries over the years.

In addition to cooperating on the planned maritime route, India and Russia could ramp up their alliance in the military and technological spheres, according to a joint statement released at the economic forum in Vladivostok. . .

“This could signal that India’s cooperation with Russia is now coming to a substantial phase,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview. (Read more from “Surprise: India and Russia Challenging China in South China Sea” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE