Posted on 05/22/2008 6:56:43 AM PDT by DManA
The correct action would be to just go steal them. They’re off an island.
It is so sad that only 1 in 10,000 Americans would understand why you referred to a trip to Paris for a secret meeting.
What’s the demurrage per diem on a super tanker? This can’t be a particularly wise expenditure of funds.
1 in 100,000
Laytime has to be enormous for a VLCC.
Now, pork bellies on the other hand ...
Iran & Venezuela use oil tankers to manipulate global markets9 May 2008
Do you wonder why the price of oil has skyrocketed of late? Purportedly the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are engaged in a major covert effort to keep the world’s oil tanker fleets from carrying petroleum to the thirsty global markets that need it. This is according to reliable sources who monitor the tanker industry, and sources within the American law enforcement community.
The Iranian government has leased and engaged the bulk of the available supertankers, and smaller vessels and is storing oil in ten of them in the Persian Gulf, and keeping others idle whilst under lease or charter. The government of Venezuela is allegedly assisting Iran in this manipulative practice, which has resulted in the tripling of the daily charge for tanker use since April, because of a fifty per cent drop in vessel availability during the next thirty days, this is according to authoritative industry sources. Is this the functional equivalent of a declaration of economic war against the United States? What will the response be, and when will it occur?
Here is what we know so far:
A large number of tankers lie at anchor in the Persian Gulf, and elsewhere, all leased by Iran and Venezuela, and all therefore unavailable to carry oil for other prospective charter clients.
Iran has also commenced to lease tankers in the spot, or single-trip, market, where it had previously used only its own vessels. This of course, is a delberate act to tie up additional tankers. Its transparent claim, that it is storing grades of oil which have low global demand, cannot be taken seriously, as all levels of quality are urgently needed for the increased consumption rate.
Venezuela has a clasified agreement with Iran that requires it to engage available tankers, in support of the Iranian objective, which is to delay, and ultimately, deny oil shippers transport to needy consumer markets, thus driving up oil prices to stratospheric levels, and benefitting both countries financially. Notwithstanding its own oil revenues, Venezuela’s economy is in a shambles, and its government has distributed both large amounts of dollars and free or discounted oil, all to fund radical political movements in Latin America. It is in desperate need of more money, and this dark maneuver could accomplish this, though at a high cost to the rest of the world.
The Iranian scheme will not only disrupt global markets, it could cause serious economic distress in both North America and Europe. Since we know that the US government is aware of the scheme, it should also be assumed that they have planned an adequate response, whether it be major regulatory sanctions, universal economic sanctions, limited military action, or even general war.
At this point, country risk evaluators must assume the worst, and create contingency plans to respond to any of these possiblities, no matter how remote the chance that they may occur.
http://www.world-check.com/articles/2008/05/09/iran-venezuela-use-oil-tankers-manipulate-gliobal-/
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019722/posts
Iran and Venezuela to launch joint bank
Ahmanananutjob probably has no intention of selling a drop of it, but he may be in favor of using it as an eco-weapon by threatening to strategically destroy them while full, spilling all of it.
Since Iran is also a dangerous enemy, withholding crude oil that is otherwise loaded and ready for shipment is a form of market manipulation. It is also aggression against the US and it allies who depend on oil imports.
Moreover, the tactic gives Iran a way to game oil futures at our expense and help promote Obama and the Democrats. Iran would obviously prefer the party and Presidential candidate who promise to withdraw US troops from Iraq and meet with Iranian leaders for a mugging.
Iran is gearing up for offensive war, which suggests they are close to having a working nuke.
Mega-Scandal in Iran: $35 Billion in Oil Money Missing from State Coffers
Pajamas Media | May 29, 2008 | Meir Javedanfar
Posted on 05/30/2008 12:00:23 AM PDT by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023405/posts
Why Iran will fight, not compromise
Asia Times | 05/30/08 | Spengler
Posted on 05/29/2008 4:54:09 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2023264/posts
[snip] Except perhaps for the oilfields of southern Iraq, and perhaps also northern Saudi Arabia, there is nothing the West can give Iran to forestall an internal breakdown. Iranian dissidents put overall unemployment at 30% and youth unemployment at 50%. Government subsidies sustain a very large portion of the population; 42% of the non-agricultural population is employed by the Iranian state, compared with 17% in Pakistan... The present inflation rate of about 20%, driven by a 40% rate of monetary expansion, suggests that government resources are already exhausted... Iran reported a current-account surplus of US$13 billion last year. The fact that Iran cannot stabilize its currency suggests a breakdown of political consensus within the regime, and a scramble by different elements in the regime to lay hands on whatever resources it can. [end]
Would Seal Teams qualify as pirates if they held their knives between their teeth?
bttt
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