ExxonMobil ceases drilling operations in Russia

[OVERKILL]

http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-sanctions-exxonmobil-20140919-story.html

Quote:
ExxonMobil has halted drilling on its platform in the Kara Sea and begun shutting down its $700-million joint venture with Russia's Rosneft energy giant to comply with U.S. sanctions that take effect next week, energy industry sources reported Friday.

The drilling operation on the U.S. oil company's platform off Russia's far-north Yamal peninsula was meant to begin tapping an estimated 9 billion cubic meters of oil under the sea worth $885 billion at current prices, Bloomberg reported. The business information conglomerate cited three unidentified oil industry sources as saying a day earlier that ExxonMobil had already ceased drilling in preparation for installing at least a temporary seal on the exploratory well.

ExxonMobil has been granted a license by the U.S. Treasury Department to "enable the safe and responsible winding down of operations related to this exploration well," the Irving, Texas-based company said in a news release posted on its website Friday. It said ExxonMobil was "complying with all U.S. sanctions."

 

[dave1251]

Why do I get the feeling that the "sanctions" against Putin are more harmful to the West than to an small economy such as Russia that has enough resources to sustain itself for a period of time.

 

[Apollo14]

Don't know but I think you're wrong.

 

[Merkava_4]

Note to Admin:

It seems as though the link I posted above contains bad language from the comments section. I didn't realize this until after the time limit for editing my post expired.

 

[Merkava_4]

Here's a better link:

LINK

Quote:
Now there’s no particular reason why oil has to be priced in dollars. It can be priced in Japanese yen, Swiss francs, or pounds sterling. We also have the euro and other currencies. Oil could also be priced in gold. It could be priced in a lot of things. But when you price it in dollars, that means you need dollars whether you want them or not, whether it’s your national currency or not, because everyone needs oil. A country might not want to transact in dollars, but if oil is priced in dollars and you need oil, then you have to get dollars. This is a very powerful prop under the dollar.

 

[Concours14]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You guys really need to wake up and quit depending on the mainstream media for your source of news.


Agreed. Indeed, the last move of Qaddafi before the U.S. decided he had to go was to start negotiating (or attempting to) oil deals with China and Korea using gold/silver or other barter, outside the petro-dollar realm. It was at that point we decided he was a despot and the Arab Spring should roll through Libya. And look at the chaos we're (the banksters) willing to sow to "protect" the dollar as the world currency. Turns out old Qadaffi, like Saddam before him wasn't so bad after all, at least by comparison to what comes after. I do believe that will be the beginning of WW3, assuming we aren't there already. As our currency wars grow stale, as the world barters instead of trading in dollars, as our country becomes more and more irrelevant, the up-and-comers simply won't trade with the inflated, worthless fiat instrument the dollar has become.

Only question is whether our banks will scorch the earth as the U.S. leaves the stage.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

When the U.S. dollar is NOT the global reserve currency, then the peace since the atom bomb will be naught!

It's the U.S. that became the "world's policeman", no other nation can do this job. It's not perfect, but it's the least corrupt option.

 

[Nickdfresh]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You guys really need to wake up and quit depending on the mainstream media for your source of news.

LINK


Yeah, people just making [censored] up on the internet is vastly preferable...

 

[Andy636]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
When the U.S. dollar is NOT the global reserve currency, then the peace since the atom bomb will be naught!

It's the U.S. that became the "world's policeman", no other nation can do this job. It's not perfect, but it's the least corrupt option.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
When the U.S. dollar is NOT the global reserve currency, then the peace since the atom bomb will be naught!

It's the U.S. that became the "world's policeman", no other nation can do this job. It's not perfect, but it's the least corrupt option.


Go back a few year on this board, in this very General and Off Topic forum, and people were laughing that the rest of the world were duped into accepting "pieces of worthless paper" for tangible goods...and recommending that they be defaulted on, as what would they really be able to do anyway.

Others (not BITOG posters I think, but we wouldn't know if Presidents were posting here) have suggested that to dump same worthless pieces of paper is an act of war.

And history has proven that replacing those pieces of paper with any other currency on offer IS considered an act of war.

What's not corrupt about that ?

 

[rshaw125]

Amazed how Washington can totally mess things up. Another cold winter predicted in Europe, irritate the Russians who supply the natural gas. How did they irritate Russia? Ukraine. Imagine if Russia were to pursue Mexico into a military/economic alliance. That's what the US did with Ukraine. Sheer idiocy.

 

[Concours14]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
When the U.S. dollar is NOT the global reserve currency, then the peace since the atom bomb will be naught!

It's the U.S. that became the "world's policeman", no other nation can do this job. It's not perfect, but it's the least corrupt option.


Go back a few year on this board, in this very General and Off Topic forum, and people were laughing that the rest of the world were duped into accepting "pieces of worthless paper" for tangible goods...and recommending that they be defaulted on, as what would they really be able to do anyway.

Others (not BITOG posters I think, but we wouldn't know if Presidents were posting here) have suggested that to dump same worthless pieces of paper is an act of war.

And history has proven that replacing those pieces of paper with any other currency on offer IS considered an act of war.

What's not corrupt about that ?


You're correct! And, not many folks here today have read back that far, Shannow. And, I see it on my precious metal forums for the past 20 years, the guys with HUGE silver and gold stashes bought at $15 or $18 and $900.00/oz., just DYING for the dollar to crash a little so they can dump at $50.00, and $2000.00 like we did a few years back. And THEY snicker at the possibility of the U.S. just flipping the bird to the rest of the world, too. And they wish the Fed would default on all rather than over-inflate the dollar here at home. The dollar would still be worth what it is here, just not out there in world markets and then our individual gold and silver stashes would be worth a FORTUNE. But our Fed HAS to consider a foreign dump of our currency an act of war, especially a refusal to accept the Dollar in foreign trade because our gold stocks are now non-existent. A reset of our debt back to zero and a U.S. refusal to cash in all those T-Bills might pi$$ off our creditors, but really what are they going to do about it but do business with us anyway? We hold so many foreign stashes of gold that we refuse to return to their rightful owners (Germany is but one case in point) because we've already spent THOSE. Ah, a discussion for another thread. Time for a beer and get the smoker going!

Maybe it's corrupt, but it is the bedrock of everything we do overseas. The dollar MUST stand, or else.

 

[babbittd]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
You guys really need to wake up and quit depending on the mainstream media for your source of news.

LINK


The only "source of news" cited in that blog entry on Zero Cred is the Voice of Russia.

The Voice of Russia is the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service.

Thanks for the link, Comrade!

 

[Apollo14]

^ Good catch

 

[Garak]

Off topic, but how many of us are old enough to remember when the English language editions of Pravda were at large newsstands?

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Originally Posted By: Concours14
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
When the U.S. dollar is NOT the global reserve currency, then the peace since the atom bomb will be naught!

It's the U.S. that became the "world's policeman", no other nation can do this job. It's not perfect, but it's the least corrupt option.


Go back a few year on this board, in this very General and Off Topic forum, and people were laughing that the rest of the world were duped into accepting "pieces of worthless paper" for tangible goods...and recommending that they be defaulted on, as what would they really be able to do anyway.

Others (not BITOG posters I think, but we wouldn't know if Presidents were posting here) have suggested that to dump same worthless pieces of paper is an act of war.

And history has proven that replacing those pieces of paper with any other currency on offer IS considered an act of war.

What's not corrupt about that ?


You're correct! And, not many folks here today have read back that far, Shannow. And, I see it on my precious metal forums for the past 20 years, the guys with HUGE silver and gold stashes bought at $15 or $18 and $900.00/oz., just DYING for the dollar to crash a little so they can dump at $50.00, and $2000.00 like we did a few years back. And THEY snicker at the possibility of the U.S. just flipping the bird to the rest of the world, too. And they wish the Fed would default on all rather than over-inflate the dollar here at home. The dollar would still be worth what it is here, just not out there in world markets and then our individual gold and silver stashes would be worth a FORTUNE. But our Fed HAS to consider a foreign dump of our currency an act of war, especially a refusal to accept the Dollar in foreign trade because our gold stocks are now non-existent. A reset of our debt back to zero and a U.S. refusal to cash in all those T-Bills might pi$$ off our creditors, but really what are they going to do about it but do business with us anyway? We hold so many foreign stashes of gold that we refuse to return to their rightful owners (Germany is but one case in point) because we've already spent THOSE. Ah, a discussion for another thread. Time for a beer and get the smoker going!

Maybe it's corrupt, but it is the bedrock of everything we do overseas. The dollar MUST stand, or else.


Not a chance. Our “safe haven” status is good as long as the dollar can be used to buy stuff. And there is no other competitor for a reserve currency on the horizon. The dollar's share (62%) has not changed significantly in the past 20 years. The euro has its own unique troubles. The yen? If you think our situation makes the dollar untenable as the reserve currency, then you sure won't like the yen, either. Same goes for the pound. And that's about it for reserve currency candidates.

 

[Merkava_4]

The main problem with the whole world is the Petrodollar. The mainstream media is forbidden by the global elite to talk about it. Russia and China have their own plan to wipe out the Petrodollar. Once the world gets back on a reserve currency backed by gold, all these terrible wars will stop.

Quote:
We all see what’s going on in Russia. They’ve invaded Crimea. No one in the United States—left, right, or center—thinks the US should respond militarily. That’s not going to happen, but the US doesn’t want to be seen to be doing nothing, and so the US is engaged in financial sanctions, which is a form of financial warfare. The big difference between Russia and Iran—and of course the US has been in a financial war with Iran since 2012—is that Iran wasn’t in a position to fight back, whereas Russia is. If the US escalates its sanctions against Russia, Russia is in a position to do a lot of things. They could dump their US Treasury holdings; they could freeze US assets in Russia; and at the extreme, they could actually unleash Russian hackers and actually shut down the New York Stock Exchange.


LINK

 

[Merkava_4]

Basically the Russians and the Chinese are teaming up against the Petrodollar. Russia is going to sell natural gas to China and China will be buying it with their own gold backed currency.

Quote:
The Chinese and Russians are working together against the Americans, and there are many countries that would be happy to join them in dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This historic gas deal between Russia and China is very bad news for the petrodollar.


Quote:
But before I explain why that is, let’s put this deal in terms we can understand. The specific details have not been announced, but my sources tell me that the contract will bring in over US$10 billion a year of revenue to start with. The 30-year deal states that every year, the Russians will deliver 1.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas to China. The total capital expenditure to build the pipeline and all other infrastructure for the project will be more than $22 billion—this will be one of the largest projects in the world.

You can bet the Russians won’t take payment in U.S. dollars for their gas. This is the beginning of the end for the petrodollar.


LINK

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Basically the Russians and the Chinese are teaming up against the Petrodollar. Russia is going to sell natural gas to China and China will be buying it with their own gold backed currency.

Quote:
The Chinese and Russians are working together against the Americans, and there are many countries that would be happy to join them in dethroning the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This historic gas deal between Russia and China is very bad news for the petrodollar.


Quote:
But before I explain why that is, let’s put this deal in terms we can understand. The specific details have not been announced, but my sources tell me that the contract will bring in over US$10 billion a year of revenue to start with. The 30-year deal states that every year, the Russians will deliver 1.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas to China. The total capital expenditure to build the pipeline and all other infrastructure for the project will be more than $22 billion—this will be one of the largest projects in the world.

You can bet the Russians won’t take payment in U.S. dollars for their gas. This is the beginning of the end for the petrodollar.


LINK


The lead editor of your source is the protege of Doug Casey. For the many out there whom have no clue who Mr. Casey is the nutjob that wrote a book in 1979 the predicted the imminent destruction of the American Dollar in 1979.

Not only has Casey given really bunk advice on investing, profiting from same bunk advise, he has been wrong about the American Dollar for 35 years, one of his latest gaffs has been recommending his followers to move their investments and the investors and their families to Argentina. This advise was because the American and Canadian dollar was about to be devalued to zero so move to Argentina this advice was given prior to Argentina defaulting for a second time in a decade.

 

[Merkava_4]

If you don't like that link Dave, I gotz lotza other links.

Quote:
To understand why trade deals between Russia, China and India are potentially huge, a little history is useful: Back in the 1970s, the US cut a deal with Saudi Arabia — at the time the world’s biggest oil producer — calling for the US to prop up the kingdom’s corrupt monarchy in return for a Saudi pledge that it would accept only dollars in return for oil. The “petrodollar” became the currency in which oil and most other goods were traded internationally, requiring every central bank and major corporation to hold a lot of dollars and cementing the greenback’s status as the world’s reserve currency. This in turn has allowed the US to build a global military empire, a cradle-to-grave entitlement system, and a credit-based consumer culture, without having to worry about where to find the funds. We just borrow from a world voracious for dollars.

But if Russia, China and India decide to start trading oil in their own currencies — or, as Zero Hedge speculates, in gold — then the petrodollar becomes just one of several major currencies. Central banks and trading firms that now hold 60% of their reserves in dollar-denominated bonds would have to rebalance by converting dollars to those other currencies. Trillions of dollars would be dumped on the global market in a very short time, which would lower the dollar’s foreign exchange value in a disruptive rather than advantageous way, raise domestic US interest rates and make it vastly harder for us to bully the rest of the world economically or militarily.

For Russia, China and India this looks like a win/win. Their own currencies gain prestige, giving their governments more political and military muscle. The US, their nemesis in the Great Game, is diminished. And the gold and silver they’ve vacuumed up in recent years rise in value more than enough to offset their depreciating Treasury bonds.

The West seems not to have grasped just how vulnerable it was when it got involved in this latest backyard squabble. But it may be about to find out.


LINK