Posted on 10/13/2015 5:56:30 AM PDT by thackney
ladimir Putin's military campaign in Syria is stirring up trouble in the Middle East -- and jacking up oil prices in the process.
T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire oil man, believes that's exactly what Putin was hoping for.
"He wants a higher price for oil," Pickens told CNNMoney's Cristina Alesci. "A lack of leadership in the United States has allowed Putin to walk into the Middle East and be right there."
Energy-reliant Russia has been slammed by the crash in world oil prices. The Russian economy is in recession and the ruble has collapsed against the dollar.
But last week oil climbed back above $50 a barrel for the first time since July -- in part due to unease created Moscow's first military campaign in the Middle East in decades.
"This escalation certainly increases uncertainty in the oil-rich Middle East, thus boosting oil prices. If they start falling again, Putin is perfectly positioned to stir things up in the region," Ed Yardeni, president of investment advisory Yardeni Research, wrote in a note to clients.
That's not good news for American drivers. The average gallon of gasoline is selling for $2.314 on Monday, up from $2.29 a week ago, according to AAA.
Russia accelerated its bombing campaign in Syria over the weekend, conducting dozens of airstrikes against what Russia called ISIS targets. Military analysts believe Putin's real targets are actually Western-backed rebels threatening the regime of Russian ally and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
While Syria is not a major oil producer, Pickens points out that the country is uncomfortably close to the Strait of Hormuz -- a critical chokepoint for 17 million barrels of oil each day.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Did T. Bone vote for Obama? At least once?
I doubt that ever happen. T.Boone was a major swift boat supporter.
http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/lookup.php?donor=Boone+Pickens&type=d&submit=Go!
The disruption of oil extraction and transport to market may not affect the world market price as much as one might think.
If the US were allowed to put their current national glut of crude oil on the world market, this would a great deal to remove the inequities of supply that now plague the globe.
Better article on T.Boone vs Obama
on April 22, 2008, Pickens gave $15,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee that helps elect GOP congress members but didn’t do a very good job in 2006.
Back even farther than that — 24 hours earlier, to be precise — Pickens gave $14,250 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to The Times’ Dan Morain and the records of the Federal Election Commission.
And then there was the $28,500 Pickens gave to the Republican National Committee. But that was a long, long time ago — Oct. 15, 2007, in the days when Sen. Hillary Clinton’s staff was still planting questions in her forum audiences and the New York Giants hadn’t almost lost then miraculously won the Super Bowl against the New England Losers.
Pickens’ wife, Madeleine Pickens, who keeps a house in....
...La Jolla, has also contributed $28,500 to the RNC.
Pickens was, in fact, among the biggest fund-raisers for Rudolph Giuliani’s failed presidential campaign, probably bundling $1 million from friends, family and business associates. Giuliani, if memory serves, is also GOP.
In this 2008 election cycle, Pickens has directly given more than $80,000 to Republicans, including $2,500 to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, $2,300 each to the newly-indicted Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, plus $2,300 to Brian Bilbray, the San Diego-area Republican congressman.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/obama-boone-pic.html
so, Israel and Saudi Arabia should reopen the TAPline and flank the war in syria
17 MMBPD flow through the Persian Gulf. When the TAPline was operational, decades ago, it was capable of about 3 MMBPD. It would take many years to restore it to operational condition.
It was sabotaged many times before it was finally shutdown for good.
This from the 80s may give an estimate of what that pipeline might be like today. Think corrosion...
After the invasion and occupation of 1982, the Israel army established a series of hill-top fortresses in South Lebanon. By side of the Nabatieh road near Deir el Zahrani they dug a gravel pit for building up such a fortress. The pit enroached on the pipeline undermining it along the upper edge of the pit. Beside and just above the line is Tapline’s maintenance road which the local residents have recently been allowed to asfalt as access road to their houses. Some of those houses - including multi-story apartment blocks - use the line as a septic tank.
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/380/388/tapline/line/lebanon/deir-el-zahrani.html
wow..... thanks for that very informative effort
Yeah, folks drilling holes into it to use for sewage probably puts it past consideration for future use.
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