[greenworm]

Combine that with the fact that many folks believe the $ to be unstable, it sure is startin' to look that way. Rate hike anyone?

[XOVERX]

Can somebody break this down into a simpler explanation for me. Sorry.

[Petro]

Just a few moments ago I thought I had something meaningful to add...something clever. Now...all I can say is OMG!

Do you think the whole Iran Bourse thing was a smokescreen for this?

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('XOVERX', 'C')an somebody break this down into a simpler explanation for me. Sorry.

[ipWinston]

Hi all, new to the board. I just wanted to share an article i came accross that might pertain to this topic.



http://www.mosnews.com/money/2005/01/24 ... inal.shtml

Russia’s Lukoil to Modernize Oil Terminal in New Jersey
Created: 24.01.2005 15:23 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:36 MSK


MosNews


Russia’s largest private oil company Lukoil announced on Monday, Jan. 24, that it has received permission to modernize an oil terminal in the state of New Jersey, U.S. The Russian company plans to use the terminal to deliver crude and oil products to the U.S. market, Lukoil’s vice president Leonid Fedun told reporters.

According to Fedun, Lukoil plans to finish bottom dredging operations at its terminal in Vysotsk within the next one or two months. This will allow Lukoil to load tankers with a deadweight of 100,000 tons and to export up to 3 million tons of crude and oil products to the United States. The Lukoil official added that at present time the company is using this terminal to export rather small amounts of oil products.

Last year Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc, a Lukoil subsidiary, purchased 779 gas stations in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, from Lukoil’s partner and minority shareholder ConocoPhillips. The cost of the deal amounted to $265.75 million. As a result of the deal Lukoil has doubled its gasoline retail market share in the north-east part of the U.S.

The ownership of a retail network will also allow Lukoil to more effectively use the capacities of the export terminal in Vysotsk. It is planned that the terminal’s capacity will amount to 7 million tons in 2005, and it will reach its full potential of 12 million tons in 2007.


Will this oil be priced by the russian exchange?

[eXpat]

RTS website:
http://www.rts.ru/engl/

[Petrodollar]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')So this is only for the Ural oil. How much is produced in the region? How much is exported?

[Chaparral]

Does Iran have a pipeline to shipping facilities on its northern coast? If there's trouble in the gulf for whatever reason, it would give them an overland shipping route to Europe and China along with the means of more efficiently turning their product into hard cash.

I could envision a world where Iran doesn't need its own bomb, Mother Russia would provide the nuclear umbrella should the stakes be high enough.

[SoothSayer]

virtually everything of value in the states is already owned by foriegners

I hadn't thought about that much.

Would this make the owners want to keep the $ - or the USA - healthy?

If so, the owning countries might not want to dump the $.

Or is the USA simply a hollowed out skeleton with little to offer the world except huge financial liabilities?

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('snowhope', 'T')raditionally / historically I agree JPL and you make very good points. But we are in a fast changing geo-political world - who would have though even 5 years ago that countries such as Iran, Russia, and increasingly some West African countries would gain the power and influence they have now?

I presume until relatively recently the US$ would have been considered a stable currency and the Euro didn't emerge until 5 years ago! What currencies were stable in the recent past and are stable now has and is changing rapidly.

Putin is a clever man and I think they are planning long term - the axis of power is changing as we watch. Chindia have yet to play there hands and of course and the Iranians keep threating a Euro bourse. All of the above is a threat to the US$ and I can only see it going one way unfortunately. The question for me is how fast and deep will the crash be..... no wonder gold is popular.

[KevO]

A former government adviser has warned it is "only a matter of time" before BP or Shell faces a bid from a Russian state-owned group such as Gazprom which could threaten western oil supplies.

Professor Peter Odell, an energy economist, says ExxonMobil is also vulnerable to a Chinese takeover as the large UK and American stock-listed oil groups lose their influence in global markets.

"A Chinese bid for Exxon and/or Chevron and/or a Russian bid for Shell and/or BP, backed by funds provided by the wealthy member countries of Opec seem likely to be only a matter of time.

BBC TODAY

.

[dissident]

Excuse me but Russia isn't grabbing anything. Companies in Russia are LICENSED to extract oil which is OWNED by the Russian state. Just like in the sanctimonious west, licenses offer privileges and not rights. The elected Russian government is perfectly within its rights to change unfair license deals made in the past. Also, there are certain responsibilities associated with holding a license. Shell, Total and BP-TNK are violating their license agreements so they can expect to suffer the consequences. Russia ain't no banana republic.

[Rincewind]

Sarcasm mode on/
So what’s the problem Peter Odell assures us all that there is no problem with long term oil supplies (i.e. Peak Oil is nonsense). Surely Shell and BP can just pack up their toys take the hit (I am sure the insurance will cover it) and find some more oil elsewhere?
Sarcasm mode off/

Rincewind

[Free]

In related news:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Gen. Andrei Popov, the commander of Russian forces in Georgia, said Sunday that if provoked, his troops would respond with "any means necessary, including shooting to kill," the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

[gg3]

Bombers and fighters and bears, oh my!

This stuff was common during the cold war. Each side flew those missions to test the other side's electronic defenses. According to a veteran of that era, apparently they developed a little routine (I don't think this is classified!:-) where the US pilots, flying close to Russian airspace, would wave Playboy centerfolds in the windows of their aircraft, to let the Soviet fighter pilots know it was just a routine "friendly" mission, not an act of war. Presumably the Soviet pilots did something analogous when they flew next to US airspace.

Regardless of politicians, the professional military on both sides got very clever at keeping in touch with their opposite numbers and developing routines to minimize risks of accidental war. Presumably the knowledge gained has become part of the institutional culture at both ends (or if not, we're in deep doodoo).

[americandream]

You were dealing with rational marxists back then....greed induced capitalism tends to skewer the intellect towards premeditated delusion. Greed is after all an emotion that's hard to resist when there's a lot to be lost.

[fonzcad3]

I had a question for the veteran peak oilers here. I'm confused as to why Russia, who has the eighth largest oil reserves is now the number one producer of crude. Saudi Arabia produces about the same amount as Russia, but why aren't the other six countries above Russia producing at the same rate? Is is a lack of investment, or are the statistics for oil reserves a sham?

[mekrob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 's')tatistics for oil reserves a sham?

[MD]

OPEC reserves were inflated in the 1980's. Read through the stickies for details. It won't be hard to find details as the topic has been discussed repeatedly.

[ClubOfRomeII]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('fonzcad3', 'I') had a question for the veteran peak oilers here. I'm confused as to why Russia, who has the eighth largest oil reserves is now the number one producer of crude. Saudi Arabia produces about the same amount as Russia, but why aren't the other six countries above Russia producing at the same rate? Is is a lack of investment, or are the statistics for oil reserves a sham?