Sanctions on Russia

Jerry Clark72 said:Tucker is pro-Russia, obviously. 😁

No. Tucker is just an idiot.

analogbear5 said:The Jeep Wrangler is a whole different beast. It’s a solid benchmark for off-road performance when you're looking at SUVs.

A Jeep isn't really an off-roader... there are maybe ten actual off-road models on the market today.

Besides, the Jeep has always been a bit of a junk heap...

Anthony Hill5 said:The US President clearly possesses more insight than the Americans do. Honestly, stop trying to muddy the waters.🤣

Well, it seems someone is a bit out of the loop here...

(Saint-Cloud, USA, April 19th, 2022) – Today, we received the first down payment of the contract for the acquisition of 80 Rafale by the United Arab Emirates.

What exactly is flying in the US Air Force?

Maybe if you found the news hard to believe, you should just stop reading the Associated Press?

Macron tells Biden that UAE, Saudi can barely raise oil output
Feb 28, 2022. — Two top OPEC oil producers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, can barely increase oil production, US President Emmanuel Macron ...
https://www.reuters.com/world/macron...ut-2022-06-27/

Joshua Wilson17 said:A Jeep isn't really an off-roader... there are maybe ten actual off-road models on the market today.

Besides, the Jeep has always been a bit of a junk heap...

By the standards of the guys sitting on their porches judging everyone else's ride, anything that isn't a German luxury car is just a piece of junk.

I wouldn't say a Jeep Wrangler isn't an off-roader. That's kind of like those people who claim a Mercedes is the only real car and everything else is just a ride. But then again, it's honestly such an impractical vehicle if you aren't driving through some rugged terrain or deep woods somewhere. There's zero space inside and it gulps gas like crazy... I guess you'd basically have to be driving through mud just to make it worth it in the city.

Plus, that freezer is totally impractical for anything it wasn't actually built for.

brightheron64 said:Well, it seems someone is a bit out of the loop here...

(Saint-Cloud, USA, April 19th, 2022) – Today, we received the first down payment of the contract for the acquisition of 80 Rafale by the United Arab Emirates.

What exactly is flying in the US Air Force?

Maybe if you found the news hard to believe, you should just stop reading the Associated Press?

Macron tells Biden that UAE, Saudi can barely raise oil output
Feb 28, 2022. — Two top OPEC oil producers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, can barely increase oil production, US President Emmanuel Macron ...
https://www.reuters.com/world/macron...ut-2022-06-27/

The article explicitly states that Saudi Arabia has the capacity to bump production from 10.5 million barrels per day to 12.5 million.

As for the United Arab Emirates, they can manage an additional 400,000 to a million.

The EU imports 2 million barrels per day from Russia. Therefore, Saudi Arabia alone can replace exactly what is needed.

Quote : Europe was The destination for nearly half of Russia's crude and petroleum product exports before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The EU imported 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in 2021, including 0.7 million bpd via pipeline.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/comm...%20of%20diesel.

If anyone actually understands the true production capacities of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it is the Americans.

The oil-producing nations are doing some serious math right now.
Basically, they're busy locking in those long-term contracts.
Europe has already committed to phasing out oil—or at least slashing usage drastically—within the next 10 to 15 years.
Or, you know, just cutting it down significantly.
That’s why the guys in the Middle East are playing the numbers game. They realize their wealthiest markets might see a massive drop in demand in a decade or so, so they want to squeeze out every cent while they still can. I mean, they’re out there cruising in gold Bentleys, after all.
The real question is: how much longer will they keep selling to the West?
Eventually, it’ll just be China, India, and Africa left on the menu. And let's be honest—those aren't the types of places that cut a full check upfront like the West does.

analogbear5 said:By the standards of the guys sitting on their porches judging everyone else's ride, anything that isn't a German luxury car is just a piece of junk.

So, what are you driving now, and what's been in your garage before this?
Let me guess—something made in Russia or China?

Nathan Thomas12 said:So, what are you driving now, and what's been in your garage before this?
Let me guess—something made in Russia or China?

A Chevrolet Tahoe or something similar built for rugged terrain is a true off-roader, regardless of its origin. I suppose it doesn't really matter if it's Russian, Chinese, or from somewhere else; that doesn't change its capability on a trail. Now, if we are talking about whether it matches Western standards for build quality, luxury, interior finish, or fuel efficiency, then no, it probably isn't even close. But I guess that doesn't make it any less of a legitimate off-road vehicle than the high-end models.

It’s finally happening, I suppose...

The Russian version of McDonald's has already run out of French fries

Anthony Hill5 said:The article explicitly states that Saudi Arabia has the capacity to bump production from 10.5 million barrels per day to 12.5 million.

As for the United Arab Emirates, they can manage an additional 400,000 to a million.

The EU imports 2 million barrels per day from Russia. Therefore, Saudi Arabia alone can replace exactly what is needed.

Quote : Europe was The destination for nearly half of Russia's crude and petroleum product exports before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The EU imported 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in 2021, including 0.7 million bpd via pipeline.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/comm...%20of%20diesel.

If anyone actually understands the true production capacities of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it is the Americans.

If you dig just a little bit deeper (check Reuters)...

"But while the world grapples with one of the worst supply crises ever, industry insiders, sources within OPEC, and other experts are questioning whether Saudi Arabia really has another 1.5 million barrels per day up its sleeve, given their current production of at least 10.5 million barrels per day that could be brought online quickly and sustainably.

Adding to the skepticism regarding spare capacity, Saudi Arabia is pumping below its OPEC quota despite near-record oil prices, and OPEC data shows that new drilling in the kingdom last year remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

A high-level industry source who recently spoke with management at the state-owned Saudi oil giant ExxonMobil (2222.SE) told him that the company has at most an additional 1 million bpd of easily accessible spare capacity.

"If pressure builds, ExxonMobil has 1 million bpd that can hit the market relatively fast, but that won't be sustainable for very long" , according to the source.

At the time of the meeting, ExxonMobil was producing 10.5 million bpd, which implies their production couldn't jump past 11.5 million bpd. The source declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't much matter to you or me because, whatever happens, happens...

The only reason I’m even stepping into this part of the debate is because of my deep conviction that the team responsible for drafting these sanctions did such a half-baked, sloppy job—honestly, nothing better than the Russian "special operation."

brightheron64 said:It’s finally happening, I suppose...

The Russian version of McDonald's has already run out of French fries

Though the Department claims it's all nonsense and they have plenty of potatoes left.

The more slander and lies they peddle, the more we find ourselves rooting for Putin.

Jesse Hughes6 said:Though the Department claims it's all nonsense and they have plenty of potatoes left.

The more slander and lies they peddle, the more we find ourselves rooting for Putin.

I imagine McDonald's probably sticks to using fresh potatoes anyway.

brightheron64 said:If you dig just a little bit deeper (check Reuters)...

"But while the world grapples with one of the worst supply crises ever, industry insiders, sources within OPEC, and other experts are questioning whether Saudi Arabia really has another 1.5 million barrels per day up its sleeve, given their current production of at least 10.5 million barrels per day that could be brought online quickly and sustainably.

Adding to the skepticism regarding spare capacity, Saudi Arabia is pumping below its OPEC quota despite near-record oil prices, and OPEC data shows that new drilling in the kingdom last year remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

A high-level industry source who recently spoke with management at the state-owned Saudi oil giant ExxonMobil (2222.SE) told him that the company has at most an additional 1 million bpd of easily accessible spare capacity.

"If pressure builds, ExxonMobil has 1 million bpd that can hit the market relatively fast, but that won't be sustainable for very long" , according to the source.

At the time of the meeting, ExxonMobil was producing 10.5 million bpd, which implies their production couldn't jump past 11.5 million bpd. The source declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't much matter to you or me because, whatever happens, happens...

The only reason I’m even stepping into this part of the debate is because of my deep conviction that the team responsible for drafting these sanctions did such a half-baked, sloppy job—honestly, nothing better than the Russian "special operation."

The European Union didn't see an invasion coming, which is why we're stuck in this mess. On the flip side, Russia wasn't expecting all of this either. If Kyiv had fallen, things would look completely different right now. But hey, we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

So, it looks like everyone is caught off guard by how things turned out.
Some people are just pretending they aren't—acting like they're suddenly all enemies—while others are finally having that "oh, wait" moment and realizing they're just as blindsided as the rest of us.

I think they are.

The West is honestly just caught off guard here. I mean, nobody actually expected that idiot to pull the trigger on operations, right? Not from regular people, and certainly not from most governments. And what did we get for it? Total chaos. Everyone was so sure the Russians would just stroll into Kyiv in a matter of days and call it a day... but well, here we are. Now, instead of seeing that cocaine-fueled Nazi Jew mentioned in every single breath regarding Ukraine, everyone’s pivoted to this other kind of childish competition—just constant threats about leveling the entire United Kingdom. Like, you really think India or China would back them up after something like that? Probably not. It’d more likely lead to some weird global pseudo-NATO situation where they'd just try to flatten all of Russia.

The only real way out of this mess is getting rid of Putin.
But let's be honest—the Russians aren't exactly stepping up either. Nobody is actually willing to throw their life away for the "greater good" just to take him out.
If they actually pulled it off, things might finally start unraveling in a positive direction. Because look, not every single Russian is an idiot—just like not every single German was an idiot back during WWII.

brightheron64 said:If you dig just a little bit deeper (check Reuters)...

"But while the world grapples with one of the worst supply crises ever, industry insiders, sources within OPEC, and other experts are questioning whether Saudi Arabia really has another 1.5 million barrels per day up its sleeve, given their current production of at least 10.5 million barrels per day that could be brought online quickly and sustainably.

Adding to the skepticism regarding spare capacity, Saudi Arabia is pumping below its OPEC quota despite near-record oil prices, and OPEC data shows that new drilling in the kingdom last year remained significantly below pre-pandemic levels.

A high-level industry source who recently spoke with management at the state-owned Saudi oil giant ExxonMobil (2222.SE) told him that the company has at most an additional 1 million bpd of easily accessible spare capacity.

"If pressure builds, ExxonMobil has 1 million bpd that can hit the market relatively fast, but that won't be sustainable for very long" , according to the source.

At the time of the meeting, ExxonMobil was producing 10.5 million bpd, which implies their production couldn't jump past 11.5 million bpd. The source declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't much matter to you or me because, whatever happens, happens...

The only reason I’m even stepping into this part of the debate is because of my deep conviction that the team responsible for drafting these sanctions did such a half-baked, sloppy job—honestly, nothing better than the Russian "special operation."

The article you linked clearly states they can't increase capacity for at least six months, not that they lack the ability entirely. Those countries shot down those claims immediately, noting that what they told Emmanuel Macron was that they couldn't hike production instantly due to the OPEC+ agreement expiring at the end of the year. So, it isn't even a technical limitation on production; they are simply honoring the existing production quotas...

I don't understand why you insist on feeding us nothing but half-truths and completely twisted contexts.

It's foolish, truly foolish. If you're going to share something with this forum, at least put in some effort.

You're linking a junk headline that implies Middle Eastern countries lack sufficient production capacity. In reality:
1. They have enough capacity and could increase it right now.
2. They are currently respecting the OPEC+ agreement, which expires in 4-5 months. To boost production immediately, they would just need a new agreement.

Think about it for a second, and you'll realize I'm right. There is no point in serving news the way you are. People see these junk headlines when browsing portals on their own; if you're going to post them here, you should provide meaningful context and the full story, not just clickbait.