F. William Engdahl, Oil Geopolitics
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]“We are in the Midst of an Epochal Tectonic Shift”
Given the fact, that the oil price attracts strong attention these days, it is more than just fitting to have a detailed conversation with one of the most prominent observers of the “black gold” business: F. William Engdahl. In the following exclusive interview, he discussed his views on the current oil price, the history of the oil interests in the 20th Century, the true aims of the "War on Terror," and last but not least Peak Oil. - By Lars Schall
Mr. Engdahl, is the oil price by and large driven by massive speculation?
Mike Norman, the Chief Economist at the Wall Street firm John Thomas Financial, wrote to me in October of last year for example:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Mike Norman', 'T')otal NYMEX open interest in crude is 1.4 m contracts or about 1.4 billion barrels of crude. Daily volume
of crude traded on NYMEX i over 1 billion barrels per day. Total daily global demand is only 83 million barrels per day. The amount traded on one single exchange is more than 10 times total daily consumption. It‘s a giant casino with prices being driven up by speculators and consumers having to pay more and more.“i
PeakOil is You
THE Speculators Thread pt 2 (merged)
Re: Peak Oil vs. Speculation
by Carlhole » Wed 20 Apr 2011, 16:06:43
What‘s your opinion on that?
FWE: I wrote back in the 2008 period, when oil briefly spiked-up to $ 147 per barrel and Goldman Sachs was issuing client-advisories that it was going quickly to $ 200, and when JP Morgan was advising the Chinese government that China ‘buy all the physical crude you can get your hands on because it is going to $ 200,‘ at that point I wrote that roughly 60-70% of the price of oil then was pure speculation, manipulated by the GSCI, the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index. It‘s a perfect scenario that they have created on Wall Street to control the oil price irrespective of supply and demand.ii I would just add that the crucial ingredient these days is not the NYMEX for the global oil price benchmark, but the ICE Futures in London.
Why do I say that?
Because the ICE Futures is a daughter company of the International Commodity Exchange of Atlanta in Georgia, owned by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase etc. - the big oil banks that benefit enormously from the inside. There is absolutely no serious regulation of the ICE Futures. The British keep their hands off it, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC, since 2006 under the “Commodity Modernization Act of 2000“ allows ICE Futures to trade energy futures without disclosure to CFTC in the U.S. Market through London. So, in fact, it has deregulated and taken away from any government supervisory role the entire trade in energy futures, especially oil.
This is a rigged game. All you need now is a plausible event like this madman Gaddafi going berserk, or even a CNN perception of such, to then kick-off a snowball effect in the futures markets. These games are not sustainable over a ten year time, of course. Eventually it has to come back to supply and demand on some level, but the reality is that this is pure price and perception manipulation right now.
How much is the current upward movement of the oil price connected to the turmoil in the Middle East?
FWE: Well, the upward movement in the oil price began well before Christmas. The hegde funds and banks, who control and own the NYMEX, the ICE Futures and the Dubai Exchange, are using the Middle East events. I think they want to try to use that to push the price up to maybe $150 to $200 per barrel over the next months. And why? In order to put massive political pressure on Germany and the European Union. Why they want to do that is of course a different question. But ultimately pressure on the emerging giant, China which is beginning to act more independent than some in Washington would wish.
I don't know the exact date of this interview, but it is very recent.
Engdahl was right about the market in 2008.
- Carlhole
Re: Peak Oil vs. Speculation
by Carlhole » Wed 20 Apr 2011, 16:15:58
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') think this is all part of a very complex and long-time planned replay of the U.S. Oil shocks of the
1970‘s, with the goal in mind of maintaining not just U.S. Control over the oil markets, but over the
global economies‘ development. Too many countries since September 2001 begin to explore finding
solutions outside dependency on Washington. I know from direct discussions with leading people
throughout the traditionally “pro-American“ Arab OPEC countries, that they are fed up to here with
Washington and its heavy handed demands on them, with their military bases, with their attempts to
bring war against Iran and cause constant turmoil. They are looking to Europe, they are looking to
Russia, they are looking to China, there is all kinds of cross flux and activity going on in these countries. I
think that is the reason why the whole chessboard in the Middle East is being thrown up in the air by
Washington right now. Whether that means that Saudi Arabia has the oil or not, there is no reliable
source of information that says yes or no that I know of, certainly not that Swiss report the oil traders
always cite.
1970‘s, with the goal in mind of maintaining not just U.S. Control over the oil markets, but over the
global economies‘ development. Too many countries since September 2001 begin to explore finding
solutions outside dependency on Washington. I know from direct discussions with leading people
throughout the traditionally “pro-American“ Arab OPEC countries, that they are fed up to here with
Washington and its heavy handed demands on them, with their military bases, with their attempts to
bring war against Iran and cause constant turmoil. They are looking to Europe, they are looking to
Russia, they are looking to China, there is all kinds of cross flux and activity going on in these countries. I
think that is the reason why the whole chessboard in the Middle East is being thrown up in the air by
Washington right now. Whether that means that Saudi Arabia has the oil or not, there is no reliable
source of information that says yes or no that I know of, certainly not that Swiss report the oil traders
always cite.
- Carlhole
Re: Peak Oil vs. Speculation
by thuja » Wed 20 Apr 2011, 17:22:35
In other words...look away people. The normal price of oil is 30 $/gallon..forever. It's just...goldman sachs, al qaida, saudis, liberals, insert bogeyman here, that are driving oil up. Without them gas would cost a dollar a gallon...for the next thousand years...bwa ha ha ha ha!
No Soup for You!!
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Re: Peak Oil vs. Speculation
by Plantagenet » Wed 20 Apr 2011, 17:52:41
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kildred590', '
')The Saudis have no great love of Mubarak...
')The Saudis have no great love of Mubarak...
Says you. The Saudis, the CIA and folks in the media who cover this subject and actually know something about it say something different.
The Saudis supported Mubarak, opposed Obama turfing him out
Cheers!
Never underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to f#@% things up---Barack Obama
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Keep running between the raindrops.
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