332 posts shown.
Oil prices are dropping.
The G7 ought to look past the lobbying efforts from Greece, Malta, and Cyprus for an inflated and inefficient price ceiling sitting at $60-70.
It is high time we hit Putin where it actually hurts; given how weak demand has become, cutting Russian production won't achieve much on its own. However, a $30 cap would plunge Russia straight into a financial crisis...
That was the stance taken by the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson. She noted that "our sanction will cover the oil needs for all member states, ensuring that we won't be buying Russian oil starting December 5th and that we've bridged the potential price gap for international buyers through our eighth package of sanctions," she told Reuters.
Beyond that, the G7 plan—designed to complement the EU embargo—is set to provide some level of support to shipping providers involved in exporting Russian oil, though this comes with a catch: it applies only at those mandated low price caps. This measure is also slated to take effect on December 5th.
Brenda Hayes5 said:He’s getting backing for this decision on every single news portal out there, not just on the New York Post.
If you’re going to listen to any speech regarding Ukraine, make sure it’s this one. The Kenyan ambassador at VS UN lays out perfectly how people across Africa view the situation in Ukraine and what the aggression from the White House actually signifies within our post-colonial world.
According to sources within the U.S. military and administration cited by The New York Times, the Department of Defense is looking to set up a new command headquarters based in Germany to streamline the coordination of equipment and training for the Ukrainian military.
The NYT suggests this move is intended to fix the somewhat disjointed patchwork of training and aid programs that have been cobbled together since the Russian invasion began back in February.
This new command would consist of roughly 300 personnel and would fall under the authority of General Cavoli, the top American officer stationed in Europe.
The Department of Defense is currently weighing the proposal, with a final decision expected sometime in the next few weeks, per The New York Times.
It’s becoming painfully obvious that the government wants to treat the population like cattle, but they’re hitting significant roadblocks—mainly because people actually expect resistance. This creates a perfect storm for disproportionately heavy mobilization in remote areas, rural towns, and small villages. We’ve already seen instances from the Far East, down in Buryatia or Yakutia, where nearly half the male population of certain villages is being hauled off to assembly points. This means local economies that were already stagnant are now staring down total collapse; thousands of families will be left without any income, and local small businesses and entrepreneurs are simply going to go extinct.
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You could argue that Russia has recently functioned as an economy driven by major cities and massive corporations (with Moscow alone accounting for over 20% of the GDP), but there is another factor at play here. Unlike the more compliant rural populations, the "modern" urbanites in the big cities have zero interest in fertilizing Ukrainian soil with their bodies—and tens of thousands of them have already fled within their own borders (and I'm not just talking about those rushing toward the border crossings; we’ll likely see a state of emergency and closed borders very soon). People are avoiding living where they are officially registered, the number of men in regional city centers during the work week has dropped significantly, and movement between regions has plummeted.
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Naturally, one would assume that military recruitment offices will soon start hunting people down at their jobs rather than at their registered addresses, which will deal the most devastating blow to the economy: millions of people would rather quit their jobs entirely than head off to war. On the flip side, economic efficiency in large cities is much higher than in rural areas, meaning that losing even a handful of employees can cause disproportionate damage to a firm. The temporary "disappearance" of at least 3 to 4 million people from the formal labor market won't go unnoticed. Consequently, I would venture to say that by November, the national GDP will shrink by at least 4-6% compared to August, and the following months will only serve to solidify that downward trend.
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Reporting. Dozhd Citing comments made by Natalia, the wife of one of the employees.
According to Natalia, things took a sharp turn on September 26th when men were instructed to bring their military IDs to work, supposedly just for some routine data verification. Following those document checks, they were sent off for medical exams. Almost without exception, once the checkups were finished, their military cards were confiscated, and they were all reclassified as Category A—essentially deemed "fit for duty." Their personnel files were updated to read "volunteer." When anyone dared to ask what that designation actually implied, the response was blunt: "Since you showed up on your own, you're volunteers." By the very next day, they were being marched off to training. A source speaking to Dozhd reported that roughly 80 employees from Gazprom's regional operations have been swept up in this so far.
Natalia's husband managed to dodge his medical exam entirely. He insisted that his condition required a specialist surgeon rather than a general practitioner, and he gave the recruitment officers at the local processing center his word that he’d be back the very next day. Instead, he just took off, leaving the country with his wife before anyone could realize what had happened. "We all know it’s never just about a military draft notice or some formal summons, so the moment he walked out the door, I started packing my things," Natalia said.
After he stepped out, Andrew got a call from his boss. The man broke the news about his departure, but as it turned out, Andreyev’s supervisor had no idea the company had already sent its staff off to a recruitment committee. Andrew noted that the production facility where he works is considered hazardous enough that the absence of even a single employee could trigger an emergency shutdown. "And yet, here we are," he remarked, "with eighty people suddenly being ushered out all at once." He added it.
Soto previously reported, citing her sources, that authorities in the Khabarovsk Territory haven't been able to maintain adequate staffing levels for essential services. It seems they’re struggling to protect the workforce at critical infrastructure sites like the local power plants and Gazprom facilities, which are vital for keeping the region's heating systems running. According to the report, several specialists from these key utility sectors have already been drafted into military units and are simply idling away their days, waiting for their orders to deploy to Ukraine.
quietcobra21 said:As if anyone would ever try to run Nord Stream 2 now that it's trashed. Hello? Are you even following the news?
Forget about Nord Stream 2. Gas isn't flowing through that anytime soon. The real question is if it ever will.
So, your theory "a" is completely useless.
- The analysts involved in this discussion have essentially ruled out the possibility that saltwater corrosion could completely incapacitate the damaged pipelines. One expert pointed out that, under current conditions, there isn't actually any water inside the pipes at all, simply because the pressure differential is preventing it from getting in.
- Once enough gas leaks out and the internal pressure drops to match the ambient pressure—essentially hitting the level of the surrounding water column—it becomes physically possible for seawater to seep into the pipe at the points where the damage occurred. However, an expert noted that since there's still residual gas remaining within the lines, the water won't just flood the entire system; rather, it will likely only penetrate small sections relative to the total length of the pipeline.
- Another contributor to this thread suggested that there might actually be a way to repair the pipeline by deploying plugs from both the German and Russian sides. The idea is to seal off the damaged sections and effectively squeeze the water out of the line. Beyond that, When you look at the internal lining of a pipeline, applying an epoxy coating isn't just a maintenance task; it’s a fundamental necessity for the longevity of the entire infrastructure. It serves as a critical barrier against corrosion and helps maintain smooth flow by reducing friction along the pipe walls. If you don't get the application right from the start, you're essentially inviting premature degradation and costly repairs down the line. It effectively serves as a barrier against salt spray corrosion.
- Ulrik Lissek, representing the Nord Stream 2 operators, seems to hold onto the belief that repairing the damaged lines might actually be feasible. His take is pretty straightforward: you can't even begin to talk about solutions until you get a clear picture of the destruction, which means actually assessing the damage first. "At this stage, nobody can make any serious claims about what the situation looks like down there or what our technical options really are," Lissek remarked, notably leaving open the possibility that they might be dealing with a massive, catastrophic fissure.