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Tag "petrochemicals"

Turning down Russian gas has already caused Poland huge losses

by: Olga Samofalova translation by: Alena Scarecrow source: http://www.vz.ru/economy/2015/10/13/772080.html “We are independent in the gas issue”, – happily announces Poland having finally built a terminal for receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the new marine way of delivering gas from Qatar instead of saving financial resources will entail even much higher costs than earlier. Warsaw is already paying – now, that it has not yet received one single cubic meter

Russia-Ukraine: breaking news

(Thanks to C. for pointing these out to me – VS) Ukraine will receive a discount of $100 per 1,000 cu m at the natural gas price of $330 and a 30% discount on other prices, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday. Medvedev’s announcement came after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych in Kharkov in eastern Ukraine. “Discounts for Ukraine will come into effect from April this

Russia, China, Iran redraw energy map

By M K Bhadrakumar for The Asia Times: The inauguration of the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipeline on Wednesday connecting Iran’s northern Caspian region with Turkmenistan’s vast gas field may go unnoticed amid the Western media cacophony that it is “apocalypse now” for the Islamic regime in Tehran. The event sends strong messages for regional security. Within the space of three weeks, Turkmenistan has committed its entire gas exports to China, Russia and

Absolutely brilliant piece by Eric Walberg – MUST READ!

June was a busy month for two of Washington’s real ‘Axis of Evil’. Venezuela’s Chavez completed his nationalisation of oil and Iran’s Ahmedinejad stemmed a Western-backed colour revolution, leaving both bad boys in place, muses Eric Walberg What drives US foreign policy? Is it primarily the domestic economy, as it logically should be, or, as many argue, the powerful Israel lobby, or as other argue, the need to secure energy

Europe ’s winter of discontent: the Russian-Ukrainian gas war

This will appear in the next issue of Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.eg.org/ More tricks and hot air from across the Atlantic leave Europeans in the cold, notes Eric Walberg A hurried resolution to the Ukraine-Russia gas war was reached during a visit to Moscow by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko to meet with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin this week. Ukraine finally agreed to pay higher European prices for Russian gas

The Ukies are taking Europe hostage. Good!

It appears that the Ukrainians have siphoned off the Russian gas destined to Europe for themselves because they don’t want (or cannot) to pay market prices for their own gas. The Ukies have in fact taken the Europeans hostage. Good. Serves the bloody Europeans well for their support for the worst forms of Ukrainian nationalism and their anti-Russian policies, including in the war in Georgia this summer. The Ukraine –

Russia, Iran and Qatar to form an organization of gas-exporting countries similar to OPEC

Press TV reports: The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has defended the formation of an organization of gas-exporting countries similar to OPEC. Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari, his Qatari counterpart Abdulla Bin Hamad al-Attiya and the head of Russia’s Gazprom, Alexei Miller, had a Tuesday meeting in Tehran in which the three countries vowed to seriously pursue the formation of an OPEC-like gas group. Lavrov told journalists on Wednesday that

Chavez threatens to halt US oil supply

Press TV reports: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to cut off oil export to the US in case of any ‘aggression’ against his country. “If there is any aggression towards Venezuela” from Washington, “there would be no oil for the people of the United States,” said Chavez as quoted by Reuters. The threat came after Chavez accused a group of current and former military officers of trying to assassinate

Russia Takes Control of Turkmen (World?) Gas

By M K Bhadrakumar for Asia Times (via Informationclearinghouse) From the details coming out of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and Moscow over the weekend, it is apparent that the great game over Caspian energy has taken a dramatic turn. In the geopolitics of energy security, nothing like this has happened before. The United States has suffered a huge defeat in the race for Caspian gas. The question now is how much

Iran fully converts its foreign currency reserves into non-dollar denominations

Press TV reports: Iran says a decision to convert its dollar-denominated foreign reserves to non-dollar reserves is critical and needs to be properly publicized. Iran’s government has had great achievements in various fields that must be publicized by the country’s officials, Mujtaba Samereh-Hashemi, Iran’s Senior Presidential Advisor, told reporters at the end of a cabinet minister’s meeting. One of the most important decisions made by the government was to convert

They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper (UPDATED)

It appears that Iran is on the offensive on the question of oil prices. First, the Iranian OPEC Governor, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, has disputed that supply is the cause of high oil prices blaming “international political tensions, a weak dollar and speculation” instead. Then Iran predicted that the price of oil would reach $150 “shortly” (Goldman Sachs agreed). A couple of weeks later, Iranian President Ahmadinejad urged OPEC members to

Why we all owe Shaul Mofaz a big ‘thank you!’

The big news last week was the report that Shaul Mofaz, a Lieutenant-General and former IDF Chief of Staff under no less than four prime ministers, declared that an Israeli attack on Iran was “inevitable”. Most observers understood that Mofaz, who is currently a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transportation, made these statements as an opening shot in his campaign to succeed Ehud Olmert. Even the US immediately distanced

Iran completely dumps the dollar

Press TV reports: Iran abandons dollar in oil dealsIran has completely stopped carrying out its oil deals in dollar following the OPEC proposal to trade crude in non-dollar currencies. “The dollar is no longer a reliable currency, considering its devaluation and the loss suffered by oil exporters,” said Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari. “Iran proposed in the last OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) summit that member states use a

Iran is now selling 65% of its oil in euros

by Lew Rockwell Iran is now selling 65% of its oil in euros, 20% in yen, and only 15% in dollars, and even that 15% it plans to switch to “more creditworthy currencies” such as the UAE dirham. With the Bush administration threatening fullscale war against Iran almost every day, and taking any number of other warlike steps (sanctions, funding of terrorism, etc.), political reasons are enough to explain this

Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor, “The Telegraph” Saudi Arabia has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signalling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East. “This is a very dangerous situation for the dollar,” said Hans Redeker,

Japan okays yen transactions with Iran

A Japanese official says his country will use yen in half of its future crude transactions with Iran as requested by the Islamic Republic. Head of Japan’s Petroleum Association, Fumiaki Watari, noted substituting yen with dollar for half of Japan’s transactions is feasible. Watari who also chairs Nippon Oil Corp. pointed out that the Japanese refining companies are presently working to change the currency unit for their transactions, Shana reported.

Iran wants oil pay in yen not dollars

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:39:03 The dollar has sharply plummeted against the yen this afternoon on reports Iran has asked Japan to stop paying for its oil in dollars. The dollar was driven down against the Japanese yen this afternoon, hit by the news that Iran had asked Japan to pay for its oil purchases in the Japanese currency and not in dollars. Iran has sent a letter to Japanese

Tehran ,Caracas Strengthen Ties

TEHRAN, July 1— Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a meeting with his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Sunday said imperialism is facing a strong wave of opposition in a majority of the world regions, and added that victory is close due to the shaky pillars of the world arrogance. Ahmadinejad pointed to Iran’s policy for developing relations with independent countries, and stressed that Tehran and Caracas seek to bolster

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