Tag: OPEC

Saudi Arabia calls out US bluster

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Friday, 14 October 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman shares a laugh with Russian President Vladimir Putin after giving the Russian leader a high-five that morphed into a handshake, on the opening day of G20 Summit, Buenos Aires,  Nov. 30, 2018. USA Today described it as ‘a car alarm blaring in a library… closely parsed for meaning’.

Saudi Arabia has politely but firmly rebutted the threats and calumnies levelled by the US political elites in the past week since the OPEC decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels per day. On Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official in Riyadh forcefully pushed back the allegation that the OPEC decision was at Saudi initiative and was politically motivated against the US, and, worse still, to help Russia.

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Two potentates meet up at St. Petersburg

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Wednesday, 12 October 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
A 19th century painting of Konstantinovksy Palace, St. Petersburg

There was something profoundly meaningful that the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan undertook a visit to Russia amidst the gathering storms in Ukraine. Conscious of the symbolism, Russian President Vladimir Putin received Sheikh Mohammed on Tuesday in a grand setting befitting a monarch — at the gorgeous Konstantinovksy Palace in St. Petersburg whose heritage dates back to Peter the Great, a symbol of the revival of Russia and its cultural heritage.

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A perfect storm in US foreign policy

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Tuesday, 11 October 2022 — Indian Punchline

By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

The old adage is that a good foreign policy is the reflection of the national policy. A perfect storm is brewing on the foreign policy front in America triggered by the OPEC decision on Thursday to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day, which will on the one hand drive up the gas price for the domestic consumer and on the other hand expose the Biden Administration’s lop-sided foreign policy priorities.

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OPEC’s body blow to Biden presidency

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Saturday, 8 October 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R) and US President Joe Biden bump fists in Jeddah before talks, July 15, 2022

The Biden Administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by two million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia. It taps into the Russophobia in the Beltway and deflects attention from the humiliating defeat of President Biden’s personal diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. But it is not without basis, either.

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Where JCPOA, oil conjoin stands OPEC+

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Thursday, 25 August 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and then Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at G20 summit, Hangzhou, Sept. 5, 2016, where they planned an oil output task force that fructified as OPEC+

The news that made the headline today is that the Biden Administration may have inched closer to restarting the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Meanwhile, it escaped attention that Iran’s oil minister Javad Owji said just a day earlier in Tehran following a meeting with Igor Levitin, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s senior aide, that the two countries have finalised their talks on “gas purchase and swap” and a contract is going to be signed in Moscow.

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Reports of OPEC+ death are greatly exaggerated

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Thursday, 2 June 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (R) met visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Riyadh, May 31, 2022

The fact that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states held a joint ministerial meeting with their Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Saudi capital of Riyadh at this point in time in global politics conveys a powerful message in itself.

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EU stumbles over Russian oil slick

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Wednesday, 11 May 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán (R) with  President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Budapest, May 10, 2022

The European Union officials are insisting that oil sanctions against Russia are coming. On Sunday, France’s Ecological Transition Minister Barbara Pompili was certain that “we will reach (an agreement) by the end of the week.”

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How black swans are shaping planet panic

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11 March 2020 — Asia Times

A case can be made that the current financial panic will only subside when the ultimate black swan – Covid-19 – is contained.

by Pepe Escobar

Two black swans swim in a lake of a park in Shenyang. Photo: AFP

Is the planet under the spell of a pair of black swans – a Wall Street meltdown, caused by an alleged oil war between Russia and the House of Saud, plus the uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 – leading to an all-out “cross-asset pandemonium” as billed by Nomura?

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OPEC And Russia Reset Oil Market Ignoring Trump’s Urgings By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

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10 December 2018 — Oriental Review – Indian Punchline

Belying most predictions by analysts and energy experts, OPEC and Russia and its allies have agreed on Friday on a larger than expected cut in oil production to the tune of 1.2 million barrels a day. The deal aims to mop up the oil supply glut and stabilize the price.

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How George Bush won the war in Iraq – really! By Greg Palast

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29 March 2013 — Vice Magazine

If you thought it was “Blood for Oil”–you’re wrong.  It was far, far worse.

Because it was marked “confidential” on each page, the oil industry stooge couldn’t believe the US State Department had given me a complete copy of their secret plans for the oil fields of Iraq. Actually, the State Department had done no such thing. But my line of bullshit had been so well-practiced and the set-up on my mark had so thoroughly established my fake identity, that I almost began to believe my own lies. Continue reading →

Updates on Libyan war/Stop NATO news: July 27, 2011

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27 July 2011 — Stop NATO

  • OPEC Won’t ‘Give NATO Carte Blanche To Bomb Oil-Producing Countries’
  • U.S. AFRICOM Commander Meets With Egyptian Junta Leader In Cairo
  • U.S. Planning To Maintain Military Bases In Afghanistan?
  • Poland Pushes West’s Eastern Partnership In Caucasus, Ex-USSR
  • Kosovo On Verge Of Armed Conflict
  • Sweden: Protest Held Outside Base Used For NATO Training

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Venezuela – U.S. Research File The Interdependence Behind Bilateral Political Tensions: Economic Realities Affecting Venezuela – U.S. Relations By Felix Blossier

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7 April, 2010 — Council on Hemispheric Affairs

In January 2006, the sixth gathering of the World Social Forum, during which Hugo Chávez as well as other left-leaning and socialist leaders fiercely criticized imperialist practices, was held in the Caracas Hilton Hotel. As James Surowiecki noted in an article for The New Yorker six months before the conference opened, a meeting sponsored by the Venezuelan Ministry of Finance took place at the same hotel. The aim of the aforementioned meeting was meant to promote American investments in Venezuela. How can one explain such a paradox? Are Venezuela and the United States only rhetorical political foes? Or, is there an underlying economic relationship between these two countries that renders them important trading partners?

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Martin Saatdjian: Venezuela taken steps to weather the financial crisis

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The Venezuelan government has taken important economic decisions, even before the crisis was even known, that now benefits and secures its economy against the financial crisis.

Regardless of the impact of the existing economic meltdown, the Venezuelan government has taken important economic decisions, even before the crisis was even known, that now benefits and secures its economy against the financial crisis.

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