It is just an old time reunion thingy, to capture some memories from the past.
["Why is the Basque Country not independent...How about Corsica?...give that island independence."]
And, more importantly, how about Chechnya and Taiwan becoming independent. Let see how well that would set with the Russian and Chinese governments, respectively.
Ah the Caspian Oil conspiracy thing. Here is Hamiltonian, or whatever his name was, who was the "expert" on this one? This indeed is deja vu all all over again for me.
The elite of the NWO are way ahead of this and now you know at least one of the many reasons why we fabricated an excuse to enter the Balkans........Follows:
Balkans experiencing black gold rush
30/05/2006
Balkan countries could potentially become players in the world oil market. With the building of one of three planned oil pipelines, the region could finally start cashing in on its geo-strategic position between the thirsty West and the oil rich East.
By Georgi Mitev-Shantek for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 30/05/06
The interest in running pipelines through the Balkans is global. [File]
Oil transit from the Caspian Sea Region through the Balkans and into Europe and the United States is so significant that there are plans to build a total of three oil pipelines. However, experts agree that there is room for only two players. That was the message at a recent summit in Belgrade, attended by 150 representatives of governments and energy companies from the region, the EU, the US and Russia, as well as international institutions such as the IFC and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The interest in running pipelines through the Balkans is global. Countries in the region would be getting cheaper oil and would charge duties and taxes and other services, while tankers that currently wait up to 20 days to pass these straits would reach the US that much sooner. Russian interests are clear, according to analyst Dejan Stojadinoviæ: a reduction in dependence on Turkey, which controls the Bosphorus Straits.
"The Balkan pipelines and associated natural gas pipelines could also be an opportunity for Europe to reduce its dependence on Russia," Sijka Pištolova, an energy analyst and editor of the Energyobserver Web site, indicated. The Energyobserver, together with Miroljub Labus, who stepped down recently as deputy prime minister of Serbia, organised the Belgrade summit.
The plan for the 300km pipeline from the Bulgarian port of Burgas to the Greek port Aleksandropolis was approved in 1997. Investment in the project was rubber stamped by several partners -- Greece's Hellenic Petroleum, Latsis Group and Prometheu gas, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz and Univerzalni terminali Burgas, and Russia's TNK-BP, Rosneft and Gazprom. Moscow is urging companies to open these channels as soon as possible.
Bulgaria is also working on another project, a pipeline west from Burgas -- through Macedonia -- to the Albanian port of Valona. Though in principle, Washington supports all projects that could assure better access to Caspian "gold", this pipeline is proving the most interesting. The US government financed a feasibility study for a 900km pipeline, while the AMBO Corporation was founded in the States with exclusive rights to select partners for implementing the $1.24 billion project. Shortly after the Belgrade summit, Macedonia's Economy Ministry indicated that companies managing and exploiting the pipeline will be "entitled to all rights".
Countries in the northern Balkans want a piece of the action too. Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy are trying to find common language regarding the Pan European pipeline. It would run from Konstance, through the Serbian oil refinery in Pancevo, to the Italian port of Trieste on the Adriatic. Though this project has enormous advantages over its competitors -- at least twice the capacity, refineries and consumers along its route, partial construction under way, and an existing "pipe-to-pipe" connection to a line that crosses the Alps in Trieste -- its far less advanced than others.
In this race, likely to start bearing fruit at the beginning of the next decade, the winner could take all.
-Caspian crude is of different type than Persian gulf crude or North Sea crude. It requres different refining technlogy, like one used in former USSR.
-there is much less oil in Caspian basin then generally thought.
-The name of the game is not Caspian oil, but Caspian natural gas. When sold to Pakistan and India, it can be sold at higher prices than on world market. It can also keep them in check.
-China is desperate to get hold of this natural gas via Afgan pipeline. That is what Afgan war prevented.
I found it curious that Milosevic death was for several days the top rated news worldwide, as if nothing more important was going on at that time. Experience tells me it was a merely a filler, to detract attention from the real top story, one related to Iran I guess.
Caspian pipeline unites nations
Two sections of an important pipeline due to bring Caspian oil to Western markets have been connected at a ceremony on the Azeri-Georgian border.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said the project, due to be completed next year, would bring great financial wealth and boost regional security.
The multi-billion dollar pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to the Turkish port of Ceyhan is backed by Washington.
Russia has proposed an alternative route through its own territory.
'A start'
"The oil pipeline has united two brotherly nations," Mr Aliyev said at the opening ceremony on Saturday.
"The whole region needs this pipeline."
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said that some forces had tried to stop the project but had failed.
"I have no false illusions that this one pipe will be able to solve all our problems, but this is a start," he said.
"This pipeline marks a major step toward the independence of both Georgia and Azerbaijan," he added.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will run through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast.
The project, led by British oil giant BP with the support of the US government, covers 1,760 km (1,094 miles).
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3749616.stm Published: 2004/10/16 16:23:45 GMT
© BBC MMVI
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3749616.stm
Go ahead for Balkan oil pipeline
Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia have given the go ahead for the construction of a $1.2bn oil pipeline that will pass through the Balkan peninsula.
The project aims to allow alternative ports for the shipping of Russian and Caspian oil, that normally goes through the Bosphorus straits.
It aims to transport 750,000 daily barrels of oil.
The pipeline will be built by the US-registered Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation (AMBO).
The pipeline will run for nearly 900 kilometres from the Bulgarian port of Burgas, over the Black Sea to the Albanian city of Vlore on the Adriatic coast, crossing Macedonia.
Delayed project
The project was first conceived in 1994 but has suffered delays due to uncertainties about whether there was sufficient demand.
By signing the agreement on Tuesday, the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia have overcome the problem.
"This is one of the most important infrastructure projects for regional, EU, and Euro-Atlantic integration for the western Balkans," said Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano.
According to AMBO president Edward Ferguson, work on the pipeline will begin in 2005 and it is expected to be ready in three or four years.
He added that the company had already raised about $900m from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) - a US development agency - the Eximbank and Credit Suisse First Boston, among others.
The project has also the support of the European Union.
Analysts have said that oil companies like ChevronTexaco, Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum would be happy to find alternative routes to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4130271.stm Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/4130271.stm Published: 2004/12/28 16:19:23 GMT
© BBC MMVI