Posted on 04/07/2025 6:46:57 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
Russia's economy is facing further turmoil as the price of its flagship Urals crude oil plummets to its lowest value since early 2023. On Friday, Russian Urals oil prices fell to about £43 per barrel ($53), with projections suggesting they could dip to £40 ($50) if the downward trend in global oil prices continues.
-snip-
The oil price crisis comes just as Russia faces rising domestic inflation, with everyday goods, such as food and fuel, becoming increasingly expensive.
Ordinary Russians feel the impact, with the cost of basic goods, including bread, milk, and potatoes, rising dramatically.
The country now finds itself at a crossroads, as economic pain and international pressure mount, with no clear path forward.
(Excerpt) Read more at express.co.uk ...
You really trust the lying, propagandistic British rags don’t you maxipad?
Well, there’s always China.
a) the general drop in oil prices;
b) the Saudis have started to offer a "special" discount to Asian customers of about $2.30/barrel;
The latter seems specifically to target Russian oil sales, probably because MBS is working with Trump to pressure Russia and also because the Saudis are unhappy with Russia's support for Iran.
The Kremlin just commented on the collapse. Pure panic.
Those Paperback Writers the Beatles sang about.
The US holds the largest trade deficit in the world, hitting a record $1.2 trillion in 2024.
This is simply unsustainable.
Bwahahaha! Chapter 100 of the same old story.
Putin is taking heat over the deaths of his soldiers, but now with his economy tanking, he may want to settle this war more than before.
Not sustainable at all.
I thought Trump worked for Putin?
The Saudis and Russians have often noted that they are not obligated to sell their product at a price defined by institutions in enemy countries — meaning NYMEX and LSE.
They will sell crude at a price determined by refiners. And as has been true for decades, if refiners demand too low a price, Saudi Aramco and Rosneft both can say no and offer to other refiners willing to pay more.
In the end, oil is civilization’s lifeblood. You HAVE to have it. There is no discretion and there is nowhere to go to replace that 20% of global production if Aramco and Rosneft say no.
Historically, the Saudis have determined what price will be as high as they can make it without eroding the western economies — which would lower their oil consumption. It is not determined by guys in NY and Chicago doing buys and sells of commodity contracts.
This, from some MI-6 idiot in the bankrupt and energy-challenged dhimmi subject state of England...
Merely a coincidence. Right?
Have a brain, Putin. Make peace.
When you borrow 10K from the bank the bank owns you.
But when the bank loans you 200 billion you own the bank.
If you can reconcile a Golden Age promised to the voters to be ushered in by the new tariff regime with crashing oil prices, then we can all agree that this is part of Trump's 5 dimensional plan.
Otherwise, let's take the win but not deceive ourselves that this was part of a preternatural master plan.
The treasury secetary almost cut off his own sentence when he said, “we don’t trade with Belarus...”, and this applies to Russia, North Korea, Iran, etc.
The west has sanctioned Russian oil, and then we have set a price that those observing sanctions can pay for it. The problem for the western price for oil is that no one actually pays those prices on the markets.
A case in point in France’s FINA Oil. They purchase it at half the market prices and then import it into France - it pays for socialism in essence.
Russia has 4% growth in GDP this year. The hype about year end USD purchases to settle debts/accounts is always the quoted amount when talking about foreign trade. The USD increases in value when nations settle their USD accounts by buying dollars in November and December.
Russia has a different set of problems from the United States. Russia’s economy is closer to the for consumers to the actual price of unfinished goods and materiels. The US consumer is 10x on average above those prices, which means the markup in our economy is much more, usually double that of non-western econmies or the Pacific Rim allies of the US.
Given that oil is now 10-20% of Russia’s foreign receipts, it is not the problem it was 25 years ago. Russia has long term contracts with India, China, N.Korea and others for their crude. Those long term contracts are usually within the framework of Brics or Nation to Nation, outside the WTO.
Brics countries trade between themselves in a combination of metals, barter, and currencies. The US is hampered with SWIFT and then the layers of Sanctons imposed by the US, by the individual EUropean countries, and then the EU commission itself.
The British rags are the mouthpiece for the Liberal British rule and for the Starmer Govt. They hate Trump, they hate Russia, they engaged in the Russian Hoax, and two impeachments. To give any credence to what British tabloids like the Sun.
Just like the Tariffs impact, the financial lenght of pain for this current round of market haircuts will be mostly borne by the west for the west in the west.
“economic pain and international pressure mount, with no clear path forward.”
The path forward for Russians is quite clear - into the meat grinder, at a double time. Just about two more months to reach a million total Russian casualties in this war, at the current rate at which they are being butchered.
Putin did that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.