Sanctions on Russia

Nancy Gomez26 said:Try attempting to purchase a non-Japanese vehicle in Japan, and you will quickly grasp the reality of domestic market protectionism. On the other hand, look at the European Union; they still maintain those specific tariffs on Japanese imports—wasn't it around 5% on all vehicles arriving from Japan? Even the Japanese struggled to move units in the USA until they began establishing local assembly plants; only then did they qualify as "domestic products." That is their version of a "free" and "open" market: everything is permitted, provided it doesn't dismantle the local manufacturer. Ultimately, massive swaths of domestic production simply migrated to China because the cost differential was too steep to resist.
The situation with the Chinese person is a different matter entirely, given that the entire system operates under the rule of a single political party—which is essentially a euphemism for slavery. Anything falling outside their ideological framework is either imprisoned or forced into exile. Those who remain are compelled to follow the party line, receiving subsistence wages for maximum labor. No matter how brutal that appears by modern standards, it is still considered progress compared to their circumstances fifty years ago.

Man, oh man... if the general public actually knew the kind of crap people have to deal with in China... ugh. I'll never forget when I was explaining some basic stuff regarding issues we were having at the firm—just standard procedures, really. I ended up getting in trouble because these idiots thought I was some kind of racist intentionally lying about Chinese people and how their market works, or the whole legal framework that makes all that nonsense function.

George Robinson43 said:Let’s be honest here. This is the actual oil production in Saudi Arabia for 2022:
January: 10.16 million barrels
February: 10.2 million
March: 10.3 million
April: 10.42 million
May: 10.55 million
June: 10.62 million
July: 10.82 million
August: 11.3 million
September: 11.1 million
October: 10.8 million

The talk of production cuts only started because everyone was forecasting a recession, seeing orders drop from China, and wanting to prevent a price collapse.
November: 10.45 million

Biden requested 12 million per day, but he was told it wasn't necessary—meaning prices are headed down, and the Arabs were right all along.
I am almost certain prices would be under $60 if Americans weren't busy refilling the strategic reserves.

The thing is, the Saudis were being pretty calculating here. They didn't bump up production, and instead, they signaled they’d try to keep prices from spiraling out of control.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...de-oil-prices/

Looking at this graph, it seems like they were just looking out for themselves. They kept production intentionally low enough to create market uncertainty, which basically lets speculators drive prices through the roof.

If they had actually stepped up and said they'd maximize production to stabilize things, we probably wouldn't be seeing this kind of volatility at all. I guess.

That announcement about cutting back comes because people were talking about a recession, orders dropping from China, and wanting to stop a price collapse.
November 10.45 million

The reason behind it is that the USA increased their own production:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-...20expectations.

And everyone else was doing as much as they possibly could, too.
It feels especially wrong when you see various European Union politicians and Putin-like mercenaries blaming the USA instead of Saudi Arabia.

Joe Biden asked for 12 million a day, but he was told it wasn't necessary—meaning prices would drop, so the Arabs were right.

Maybe senile Biden is the main culprit for this whole mess, including the war in Ukraine. It’s him and his clueless cronies, their Green New Deal, and the veto on the Keystone pipeline and fracking on federal land.
If a nationalist like Donald Trump had stayed in office, US fracking might have climbed to 16-17 MBBL/d—at least according to projections—and maybe Vladimir Putin wouldn't have had the nerve to gamble on a war under those circumstances.

I’m almost certain prices would be under $60 if Americans weren't filling up the reserves.

But what would be so bad about that? I mean, really.

The fact that energy prices went crazy during the first six months is exactly what allowed Russia to fund the war in Ukraine.
If the world had been more united, and if everyone who could have increased production had done so to steady the market, prices wouldn't have spiked. If that happened, the sanctions against Russia and the limits on their oil and gas prices would have been even more intense.
Russia would have run out of war money much sooner, and maybe we'd already be negotiating a lasting peace.
With 100,000 fewer dead.

And yeah—anyone can reasonably argue that it's perfectly fine for Saudi Arabia to look out for its own interests.
That’s exactly right.
But honestly, when that Iranian terrorist regime eventually goes after those Saudi refineries or tankers, they shouldn't be looking to Uncle Sam or the West to come running to defend a feudal monarchy.

Maybe some new president—someone other than this senile Biden—could just tell the Saudis, "Look, back when we actually needed you to cooperate and help us out, you basically screwed us over just to stack your own cash."
"Because of that, we had to dump hundreds of billions in military aid into Ukraine, and frankly, we don't have the desire or the capacity to keep propping you guys up anymore."
"Since you made your money, you can go ahead and buy your own high-end, battle-tested American hardware—the kind that’s already proven its worth in the war in Ukraine."

☕

Timothy Nelson5 said:The thing is, the Saudis were being pretty calculating here. They didn't bump up production, and instead, they signaled they’d try to keep prices from spiraling out of control.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...de-oil-prices/

Looking at this graph, it seems like they were just looking out for themselves. They kept production intentionally low enough to create market uncertainty, which basically lets speculators drive prices through the roof.

If they had actually stepped up and said they'd maximize production to stabilize things, we probably wouldn't be seeing this kind of volatility at all. I guess.

That announcement about cutting back comes because people were talking about a recession, orders dropping from China, and wanting to stop a price collapse.
November 10.45 million

The reason behind it is that the USA increased their own production:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-...20expectations.

And everyone else was doing as much as they possibly could, too.
It feels especially wrong when you see various European Union politicians and Putin-like mercenaries blaming the USA instead of Saudi Arabia.

Joe Biden asked for 12 million a day, but he was told it wasn't necessary—meaning prices would drop, so the Arabs were right.

Maybe senile Biden is the main culprit for this whole mess, including the war in Ukraine. It’s him and his clueless cronies, their Green New Deal, and the veto on the Keystone pipeline and fracking on federal land.
If a nationalist like Donald Trump had stayed in office, US fracking might have climbed to 16-17 MBBL/d—at least according to projections—and maybe Vladimir Putin wouldn't have had the nerve to gamble on a war under those circumstances.

I’m almost certain prices would be under $60 if Americans weren't filling up the reserves.

But what would be so bad about that? I mean, really.

The fact that energy prices went crazy during the first six months is exactly what allowed Russia to fund the war in Ukraine.
If the world had been more united, and if everyone who could have increased production had done so to steady the market, prices wouldn't have spiked. If that happened, the sanctions against Russia and the limits on their oil and gas prices would have been even more intense.
Russia would have run out of war money much sooner, and maybe we'd already be negotiating a lasting peace.
With 100,000 fewer dead.

And yeah—anyone can reasonably argue that it's perfectly fine for Saudi Arabia to look out for its own interests.
That’s exactly right.
But honestly, when that Iranian terrorist regime eventually goes after those Saudi refineries or tankers, they shouldn't be looking to Uncle Sam or the West to come running to defend a feudal monarchy.

Maybe some new president—someone other than this senile Biden—could just tell the Saudis, "Look, back when we actually needed you to cooperate and help us out, you basically screwed us over just to stack your own cash."
"Because of that, we had to dump hundreds of billions in military aid into Ukraine, and frankly, we don't have the desire or the capacity to keep propping you guys up anymore."
"Since you made your money, you can go ahead and buy your own high-end, battle-tested American hardware—the kind that’s already proven its worth in the war in Ukraine."

☕

The US is still going to step in and help, though. If they don't, they risk losing an ally that—even if they are unreliable—is still pretty much indispensable.
Otherwise, the Saudi people would probably just turn toward the Russians.

I honestly think the US and Europe need to find a whole new way to handle energy so we aren't stuck relying on Saudi Arabia.
It might sound like a pipe dream, but electric cars feel like the future if we ever want to stop being dependent on foreign energy sources.
I was reading recently that some car manufacturers are starting to bundle magnesium batteries with their vehicles because they're safer... now the big question is, will they actually be cheaper to make and easier to get a hold of?

electricsurfer47 said:The US is still going to step in and help, though. If they don't, they risk losing an ally that—even if they are unreliable—is still pretty much indispensable.
Otherwise, the Saudi people would probably just turn toward the Russians.

I honestly think the US and Europe need to find a whole new way to handle energy so we aren't stuck relying on Saudi Arabia.
It might sound like a pipe dream, but electric cars feel like the future if we ever want to stop being dependent on foreign energy sources.
I was reading recently that some car manufacturers are starting to bundle magnesium batteries with their vehicles because they're safer... now the big question is, will they actually be cheaper to make and easier to get a hold of?

Could the Russians actually protect them from Iran? I highly doubt it.

Timothy Nelson5 As stated by wearytrucker22:
The cold reality remains: the Saudi people have calculated their next move with clinical precision. They’ve refused to ramp up production, opting instead to signal that they will do everything in their power to crush this price volatility.
The data from Statista tells a story we’ve seen before. Oil prices are dropping, and it isn't just some random market fluctuation; it's the result of shifting tectonic plates in global energy politics. We look at the numbers and see a downward trend, but the reality is far more complex than a simple line graph. Consider the current landscape. Between the massive production shifts coming out of the US and the volatile decisions made by OPEC, the supply side is becoming increasingly unpredictable. It’s like watching a game of chess where the players keep changing the rules mid-move. You have the heavy hitters in Saudi Arabia trying to maintain price floors while domestic US shale production acts as a massive, unrelenting pressure valve. Then there is the geopolitical weight. The ongoing tensions involving Russia and its influence on global energy flows create a constant state of anxiety. Even as we talk about transitioning toward a Green New Deal, the world remains tethered to the barrel. The volatility isn't just about supply and demand; it's about how much leverage certain nations can exert over the global economy. When you factor in the instability in the Middle East and the way China’s industrial appetite fluctuates, you realize that "stability" is a polite fiction we tell ourselves to sleep at night. The numbers suggest a cooling period, but history teaches us that in this industry, calm is often just the eye of the storm.

Looking at this graph, the pattern is unmistakable. They were looking out for nothing but their own bottom line. It’s clear they intentionally throttled production to manufacture market instability, essentially clearing the path for speculators to drive prices through the roof.

If they had just announced a commitment to ramping up production and stabilizing prices, this whole chaotic mess wouldn't have happened in the first place.

The reasoning behind this is simple: the USA ramped up production.
The latest projections for the US economy are out, and they paint a picture that’s hard to ignore if you're paying attention. We’re looking at the numbers for upcoming economic expectations, and frankly, the outlook feels like watching a slow-motion collision. It’s predictable, yet unsettling. One can't help but draw parallels to how markets react when the foundation starts to shift. Much like an old engine struggling to maintain RPMs under a heavy load, the indicators suggest we are fighting against significant headwinds. There’s a certain level of friction between current policy directions and the reality on the ground—a gap that keeps widening. If you look at the trajectory, it isn't just about one single metric; it's the cumulative weight of inflation, interest rate uncertainty, and the general volatility in global energy markets. It feels less like a smooth flight and more like navigating a storm through thick fog. You know something is off, but the instruments are giving you conflicting readings. We have seen this pattern before. When the expectations deviate this sharply from the historical norm, the correction is rarely gentle. It’s a measured, deliberate slide toward a new reality, whether the powers that be in Washington are ready to admit it or not. Expect more turbulence ahead..

And everyone else? They did everything they possibly could.
It’s simply too low to allow this to continue. To all those EU politicians and Putin-like mercenaries out there: quit pointing fingers at the USA and start looking toward Saudi Arabia instead.

Senile Biden is the primary architect behind this entire disastrous mess, including the war in Ukraine. It comes down to him and those clueless green extremists—their obsession with the Green New Deal, their veto of the Keystone pipeline, and their crusade against fracking on federal lands.
Had we kept a protectionist like Donald Trump in office, US fracking production would have surged to somewhere around 16 or 17 million barrels per day—at least according to the projections. Under those circumstances, Vladimir Putin wouldn't have had the nerve to gamble on a war.

And what exactly would be the downside to that?

The chaotic surge in energy prices during the first half of the year essentially handed Russia a massive subsidy to fund their war in Ukraine.
If the world actually practiced any sense of solidarity—if those with the capacity to ramp up production had simply stepped up to stabilize the market—we wouldn't be dealing with these runaway prices right now. Imposing sanctions on Russia and slapping price caps on their oil and gas supplies would be an even more aggressive move.
Russia would have run out of war funds long ago.If things had gone differently, we might actually be sitting at a negotiating table discussing a permanent peace right about now.
A reduction of 100,000 lives.

And let’s be honest—anyone could make a perfectly valid case that Saudi Arabia is simply looking out for its own interests.
That is exactly right.
Then let them sit in silence. When that Iranian terrorist regime eventually strikes at Saudi refineries or tankers, they shouldn't be looking to Uncle Sam or the West to come running to the rescue of a feudal monarchy.

Maybe some future president—someone other than this senile Biden—will finally have the guts to tell the folks in Saudi Arabia... When we actually reached out to you for cooperation and asked for your assistance, you blew us off just to line your own pockets.
We were forced to funnel hundreds of billions in military aid toward Ukraine, and frankly, we have neither the capacity nor the desire to continue supporting you.
So you've managed to stack up some cash? Fine. Go ahead and buy our high-end weaponry for yourselves. It’s premium gear, battle-tested and proven on the front lines in Ukraine.

☕

As long as Saudi Arabia continues to price their oil exclusively in US Dollars, they’ll remain best friends with the USA. Once they pivot away from that mechanism—or even just start questioning its necessity in public—we are going to see absolute chaos. And let's be honest: the USA serves as their primary security guarantee against Iran, an offer nobody else is willing to put on the table. You could argue Turkey might act as a weak regional substitute, but without heavy backing from Uncle Sam, they're far too limited to matter. Ultimately, everything still hinges back to the USA.
Regarding Saudi Arabia—there is a power shift currently underway. We are witnessing a genuine generational handover within the kingdom's leadership. As the primary figurehead representing this new era, Mohammed bin Salman isn't part of the old guard that maintains those cozy, predictable ties with the USA. He has already demonstrated a knack for making moves that catch everyone off guard. Given his relative youth, he will likely hold onto power for a long time and exert it aggressively, provided he officially ascends to the throne—which, in all likelihood, he will. Interesting times lie ahead.

electricsurfer47 Asks:
I guess Americans will keep footing the bill for this. If they don't step up, they risk losing what might be their most vital ally, even if—and this is a big if—that ally isn't exactly the most reliable partner in the room. Maybe.

Who actually needs whom more? I mean, if you really sit back and look at the global chessboard, it’s hard to tell where the dependency ends and the leverage begins. It's all just layers of mutual necessity, I suppose. Maybe we think we're calling the shots, but everything is so interconnected now that nobody is truly standing on their own. I guess it's just one big, messy web of being stuck with each other.

I guess if things keep going the way they are, the Saudi people might just end up turning toward the Russians. Maybe. It’s hard to say for sure, but I suppose that's where the wind is blowing.

As for that Russia entity... you know, the one that can't seem to actually flatten a much smaller Ukraine right on its own doorstep? I guess it’s a bit of a mess.
It’s kind of wild when you really sit back and look at the situation. You have Russia sitting there under all these sanctions, yet they can't even manage to build their own tanks or keep their planes in the air without Western parts. It’s a mess, I guess. They’re actually having to buy kamikaze drones from Iran because they’ve completely burned through their own stockpiles of cruise missiles. And then, to top it all off, they're importing artillery shells from South Korea and Belarus just to keep things moving. It’s a strange, desperate loop, maybe.

Projecting military power? Like... the Navy? I guess that's what we're talking about now. Maybe.
The only carrier we have left is stuck in dry dock for repairs, and honestly, after that second fire recently, I’m starting to wonder if it's even worth the effort. The rest of the fleet? They’ve already burned through way too many cruise missiles. Everything feels poorly maintained, almost neglected. I wouldn't be surprised if half those ships just started taking on water halfway to the Gulf. You'd probably see them being towed along by tugboats, looking about as effective as those Ukrainian tractors dragging away busted Russian tanks.
🙂

I suppose there's a real argument to be made that both Europe and the US need to find some other way to power our lives instead of being so heavily reliant on Saudi Arabia. It feels like we're constantly tethered to them, and I can't help but wonder if there's a more sustainable path forward that doesn't involve such deep dependence. Maybe.

It feels like we're moving away from that old dependency on Saudi Arabia, I guess. Maybe the US isn't as tied to them as it used to be... though the European Union still seems to have a bit of a lingering connection there. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it. It's hard to say for sure.

The European Union really leaned way too hard on Russian gas and oil. I guess you could say they put all their eggs in one basket, and that basket was tied directly to Moscow. It’s a bit of a mess, honestly. Maybe they just didn't see it coming, or maybe they just didn't want to look too closely at how much they were depending on it. Either way, it left them pretty vulnerable.
I mean, I guess that's why the sanctions are moving at such a snail's pace. It just feels like everything is dragging on forever.
The moment when, say, the people of Venezuela finally hang their communist dictator and get production back online... honestly, the West wouldn't have to rely on the Middle East nearly as much. We wouldn't need to lean on Russia either. I mean, if we could just actually allow fracking in Europe, things might look a lot different. Maybe. I guess that’s just how it goes.

It might sound like nothing more than a pipe dream, I guess, but there’s a real argument to be made that electric vehicles are the way forward—if we actually want to stop being so incredibly dependent on foreign energy interests.

The whole Green New Deal fantasy... honestly, thinking we can just run cars on coal? It's a complete pipe dream. 🙂

Timothy Nelson5 said:The thing is, the Saudis were being pretty calculating here. They didn't bump up production, and instead, they signaled they’d try to keep prices from spiraling out of control.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...de-oil-prices/

Looking at this graph, it seems like they were just looking out for themselves. They kept production intentionally low enough to create market uncertainty, which basically lets speculators drive prices through the roof.

If they had actually stepped up and said they'd maximize production to stabilize things, we probably wouldn't be seeing this kind of volatility at all. I guess.

That announcement about cutting back comes because people were talking about a recession, orders dropping from China, and wanting to stop a price collapse.
November 10.45 million

The reason behind it is that the USA increased their own production:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-...20expectations.

And everyone else was doing as much as they possibly could, too.
It feels especially wrong when you see various European Union politicians and Putin-like mercenaries blaming the USA instead of Saudi Arabia.

Joe Biden asked for 12 million a day, but he was told it wasn't necessary—meaning prices would drop, so the Arabs were right.

Maybe senile Biden is the main culprit for this whole mess, including the war in Ukraine. It’s him and his clueless cronies, their Green New Deal, and the veto on the Keystone pipeline and fracking on federal land.
If a nationalist like Donald Trump had stayed in office, US fracking might have climbed to 16-17 MBBL/d—at least according to projections—and maybe Vladimir Putin wouldn't have had the nerve to gamble on a war under those circumstances.

I’m almost certain prices would be under $60 if Americans weren't filling up the reserves.

But what would be so bad about that? I mean, really.

The fact that energy prices went crazy during the first six months is exactly what allowed Russia to fund the war in Ukraine.
If the world had been more united, and if everyone who could have increased production had done so to steady the market, prices wouldn't have spiked. If that happened, the sanctions against Russia and the limits on their oil and gas prices would have been even more intense.
Russia would have run out of war money much sooner, and maybe we'd already be negotiating a lasting peace.
With 100,000 fewer dead.

And yeah—anyone can reasonably argue that it's perfectly fine for Saudi Arabia to look out for its own interests.
That’s exactly right.
But honestly, when that Iranian terrorist regime eventually goes after those Saudi refineries or tankers, they shouldn't be looking to Uncle Sam or the West to come running to defend a feudal monarchy.

Maybe some new president—someone other than this senile Biden—could just tell the Saudis, "Look, back when we actually needed you to cooperate and help us out, you basically screwed us over just to stack your own cash."
"Because of that, we had to dump hundreds of billions in military aid into Ukraine, and frankly, we don't have the desire or the capacity to keep propping you guys up anymore."
"Since you made your money, you can go ahead and buy your own high-end, battle-tested American hardware—the kind that’s already proven its worth in the war in Ukraine."

☕

Not quite.
Your interpretation feels a bit like hindsight bias...
Putin didn't launch an invasion expecting a multi-month grind, nor did he care how oil prices would swing once the guns started firing.

Oil and gas prices in the years leading up to the invasion had a much larger impact—specifically from at least 2014 onwards.
During that window, the Kremlin was busy stockpiling financial reserves for this exact adventure. Sure, about half of that was frozen, which caught the Kremlin off guard, but it still stung.

But before the invasion, high oil (and gas) prices were exactly what filled the Russian treasury and paved the road to war.

Now, if things had gone the way you're describing, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of OPEC would have cut production to keep prices high. I don't think that would have stopped Putin from invading Ukraine.

As for what happens after... maybe an oil embargo would have hit sooner—instead of December 5, perhaps early September. And while Russia might have made slightly less from speculative trading, I doubt it would have been the deciding factor.
Looking at the comparative charts for Brent/WTI/Urals, the discounts on Urals were highest when speculative pressure was at its peak. When that dropped in early September, the Brent-Urals spread tightened, only to widen again after December 5.

Regardless, it wouldn't have changed the gas market situation, and the Kremlin relied far more on gas revenue than oil.

Timothy Nelson5
And yeah—anyone can reasonably argue that Saudi Arabia should look out for its own interests.
That’s true.
It's just that next time an Iranian terrorist regime attacks Saudi refineries and tankers, they shouldn't expect Uncle Sam and the West to show up to defend a feudal monarchy.

Maybe a new president (unlike this senile Biden) could tell the Saudis: [B says:
when we asked for your cooperation and help, you blew us off and cashed in. [/B]
Because of that, we had to send hundreds of billions in military aid to Ukraine, and we have no desire to keep helping you.
You made your money, so go ahead and buy our expensive, high-quality weaponry—it's already proven its worth in the war in Ukraine!

☕

Well, the Saudis buy a massive amount of weaponry. They’re actually ranked fourth globally in defense spending, yet they barely produce anything domestically compared to the top three.

The real issue with the Saudi military isn't their gear or their hardware—it's the personnel. It's the exact same story you see with Russia.

___

Honestly, as soon as I see the whole "senile Biden" versus "statesman Trump" debate, I feel like everything is already obvious. Look, I don't give a damn about either of them, truly. But this whole idea that we're importing such retarded American policies—claiming that if Trump were in charge, Putin wouldn't have attacked Ukraine—is just pure childishness. I mean, POTUS doesn't freaking control Putin, and everyone has their limits when dealing with Russia.

So, look, all those sanctions they slapped on Russia thinking they’d totally cripple their ability to fight? Well, it turns out economic activity only dipped by maybe 3%. And get this—Russia is running this whole conflict in Ukraine while spending just about 5% of their GDP on the military, and honestly, there isn't even a hint that they're going to back down anytime soon over the next few years. Meanwhile, the capacity for a war of attrition like this on the Ukrainian side is just... well, it's steadily draining away.

restlesseagle8 said:So, look, all those sanctions they slapped on Russia thinking they’d totally cripple their ability to fight? Well, it turns out economic activity only dipped by maybe 3%. And get this—Russia is running this whole conflict in Ukraine while spending just about 5% of their GDP on the military, and honestly, there isn't even a hint that they're going to back down anytime soon over the next few years. Meanwhile, the capacity for a war of attrition like this on the Ukrainian side is just... well, it's steadily draining away.

Yeah, sure. That's why they're out there begging North Korea for weapons and making moves to settle up in foreign currency.

Melissa Rivera5 said:Yeah, sure. That's why they're out there begging North Korea for weapons and making moves to settle up in foreign currency.

Oh, sure. And I guess this "intel" about weapons coming out of North Korea is coming from some totally reliable, top-tier source within the empire of lies? Right.

restlesseagle8 said:Oh, sure. And I guess this "intel" about weapons coming out of North Korea is coming from some totally reliable, top-tier source within the empire of lies? Right.

Yeah, straight from Russian sources. How could you possibly have known?!

restlesseagle8 said:So, look, all those sanctions they slapped on Russia thinking they’d totally cripple their ability to fight? Well, it turns out economic activity only dipped by maybe 3%. And get this—Russia is running this whole conflict in Ukraine while spending just about 5% of their GDP on the military, and honestly, there isn't even a hint that they're going to back down anytime soon over the next few years. Meanwhile, the capacity for a war of attrition like this on the Ukrainian side is just... well, it's steadily draining away.

And just like you predicted, Europe froze solid over the winter.
Guess the proverbial fox couldn't get to the chicken coop after all.

Thank goodness winter is actually staying warm this year.
We aren't seeing those brutal winters we used to deal with 30 or 50 years ago—back when we’d spend two whole months stuck below freezing and dealing with snow every single month.

hollowdriver13 said:https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/urals-oil

Urals is sitting at $50

But let’s be real here, the actual price is way lower than that. We're talking about Rockies sitting somewhere around $37-$38. It is an absolute, top-tier disaster. Those national reserve funds and the central bank accounts are going to dry up incredibly fast at this rate. Once they're empty, I guess they can just sell off all of Siberia to the Chinese, probably at a massive discount too. ☕

The value of Rockies crude has been trading below the G7's $60/b price cap since Nov. 18 and Platts last assessed it at $37.635/b on Jan 4

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityin...ian-supply-gap

Nathan Thomas12 said:And just like you predicted, Europe froze solid over the winter.
Guess the proverbial fox couldn't get to the chicken coop after all.

Europe got lucky with the weather. Period. There was a debate on this forum about the Jeep a while back, and the Greens absolutely tore that vehicle apart.

I still think the car is top-tier. ☕

rowdyraven112 said:Europe got lucky with the weather. Period. There was a debate on this forum about the Jeep a while back, and the Greens absolutely tore that vehicle apart.

I still think the car is top-tier. ☕

I vaguely remember that thread and how you were praising the Niva. ☕
Look, I’m no Green, but the Niva is a garbage car.
Besides, praise should actually come from loyal customers. Take the Kremlin lovers on this forum—they're nothing but trolls spitting on the West while living in, say, Germany. If you want to be taken seriously, be a man, live in Russia, and then post your pro-Russia nonsense. I'd actually listen to someone like that, but they don't exist. Our neighbors to the east are basically a nation of trolls—there's maybe 15,000 of them in Russia, but millions living out in the West.

A Jeep is actually a pretty decent rig. It’s definitely not some sexy luxury SUV you’d cruise around downtown in, but when it comes to sand, mud, or snow? It gets the job done—rugged and built to last.

Anyway, back to the main topic—after those ExxonMobil dividends hit in November and everyone was bragging about how the US budget was seeing a monthly surplus, we're heading into a dry spell. No more dividends, tax revenues are dropping because economic activity is slowing down, the bill for the special operation keeps getting bigger, and to top it all off, export income is tanking. There's a reason the dollar has been looking weak lately.

The US Finance Minister, Anton Silvanov, expects this year's budget deficit to blow past the planned 2% of GDP. Between falling oil prices and everything else, he's forecasting an output drop of somewhere between 5 and 7%. They'll be covering the debts by issuing bonds and dipping into reserves. (Reuters)

Looks like the Canadians are rolling tanks into the US.

No EU bailout coming our way, the subsidies have dried up, and inflation is absolutely sprinting. Honestly, it was a total mistake to play nice with Putin.

We were all being sold this idea that Viktor Orbán was some kind of genius who had everything under control, but clearly, that "brilliance" has hit a massive wall over the last few months. He might need to consider a total hard reset.

What absolute amateurs.
They charge foreigners a premium, then the second the cash dries up, they come crawling back to them for help. 🤮