Middle East, Africa

A US-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices To Punish Russia?

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on A US-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices To Punish Russia?

That the US could unleash a flood of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to drive down prices has been pushed for weeks, most recently by George Soros, but has been dismissed as not a serious option. Then Obama went to Saudi Arabia.

A Month of Panic in Iraq (Where It’s STILL All About Oil)

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Despite the continued influx of investment in Iraq, the situation is untenable and each month moves closer to an all-out civil war. First, we’ll give you the security run-down, then we’ll get into the oil.

Giant Sucking Sound? Emerging-Markets Fiasco To Topple European Banks

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Giant Sucking Sound? Emerging-Markets Fiasco To Topple European Banks

It’s not like Europe is out of the woods, after years of recession, lurching from bank bailout to country bailout, and sweeping remaining fetid matters under the rug. But its banks are now sinking deeper into an even greater morass: the emerging-markets fiasco.

Make No Mistake About It: The Storm Has Hit in Turkey

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Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, his party (the AKP), and the business elite attached to them have become targets of a focused corruption scandal that he may not survive. It should shake investor confidence to its core.

Prince Alwaleed Warns, US Shale Revolution Threatens Saudi Economic Stability

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By Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com: While Saudi Arabia continues to state that it is not at all worried by the increasing production driven by the US shale revolution, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the billionaire CEO and owner of the Kingdom Holding Company, frets about it.

How the Arab Spring Shakes Up The Oil Markets

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The oil producing country of note with major disruptions due to the Arab Spring was Libya. But it produces a relatively minor amount of the global supply. Syria, Egypt, Yemen, and other countries with their own “Arab Springs” are not major producers. So why the fear premium in the price of oil?

Massive Mission Creep In War On Syria (Already!)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Massive Mission Creep In War On Syria (Already!)

An American attack on Syria would just be a punitive action for the gruesome gas attacks. “Regime change” wouldn’t be part of it. That was the idea. Now the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to authorize President Obama to wage war on Syria, but amendments suddenly set new goals – smack-dab in the middle of a distant lala-land.

Market Celebrates Egypt’s Coup, But It’s Not Over Yet

by Contributor •  • Comments Off on Market Celebrates Egypt’s Coup, But It’s Not Over Yet

Contributed by Jen Alic of Oilprice.com: The situation in Egypt has not been tenable since the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi took over, post-revolution, but now that the military has stepped in, ousted Morsi, and placed him in detention, foreign investors are celebrating – on the logic that things couldn’t get any worse, only better.

Perfecting The Surveillance Society – One Payment At A Time

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Perfecting The Surveillance Society – One Payment At A Time

Governments, corporations, even that genius app developer in Russia have one thing in common: they want to know everything. Data is power. And money. As the Snowden debacle has shown, they’re getting there. Technologies for gathering information, then hoarding it, mining it, and using it are becoming phenomenally effective and cheap. But it’s not perfect.

Libya, An Energy Asset Security Nightmare

by Oilprice.com •  • Comments Off on Libya, An Energy Asset Security Nightmare

Contributed by Jen Alic of Oilprice.com. Libya—awash with roving militias and undergoing a near-total evacuation of Westerners from oil-producing Benghazi—is doing its best to make cosmetic security changes in an atmosphere of growing uncertainty. But much of the country’s south and half of its border regions are not even under government control.