Posted on 03/15/2022 7:01:39 PM PDT by elpadre
The prices of risk hedges against “nuclear” sanctions and their knock-on effects shrank back to pre-war levels as Russia continues to sell oil and gas, and major trading nations continue to use the American dollar as the main instrument of exchanges. Fears of a dislocated energy market and a rush out of dollars following the seizure of half of Russia’s $630 billion in foreign exchange reserves haven’t materialized, as both the United States and Russia showed a certain amount of restraint.
Oil fell sharply March 15 after Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States had accepted Russian demands for US assurances that the Iran nuclear deal wouldn’t entail sanctions on Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation. Last week, Russia threatened to hold up the negotiations with Iran unless the US provided such guarantees.
“We’ve received written guarantees. They are incorporated into the text of the agreement itself on the reinstatement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, and these texts reliably protect all projects and areas of activities envisioned by the JCPOA, including the immediate engagement of our companies and specialists, particularly as regards cooperation on the flagship project of our interaction, the Bushehr NPP,” the Russian news agency Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying. He referred to a nuclear power plant 1,200 kilometers south of Tehran. Then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his then-Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi are shown in this file photo taken in 2015 at Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. News that Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation – of which Bushehr is the flagshlp project –can go forward without being subject to Ukraine-related sanctions has rescued the Iran nuclear deal renegotiations in Vienna and, in the process, calmed financial markets.
The Iran nuclear negotiations are tangential to the strategic confrontation between the .....
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
Only $96 per barrel. Quite the bargain.
“....the United States had accepted Russian demands for US assurances that the Iran nuclear deal wouldn’t entail sanctions on Russian-Iranian nuclear cooperation. Last week, Russia threatened to hold up the negotiations with Iran unless the US provided such guarantees. ...”
sanctions on Russia and Iran removed????
Biden is low-life - impeachment is a must!
Oil is still being sold on the market.
Russia will still sell it to those who buy it and cheaply so the overall market wont have those same customers. Hence the Price of oil will not rise significantly as demand is being met in certain markets.
But that oil is still buying weapons for Russian troops.
FYI was $60-$65/bbl in late 2019, pre-Covid.
“...Although China hasn’t taken overt measures to help Russia circumvent sanctions, Chinese companies are buying heavily into Russian energy and minerals companies....”
If this article is accurate, then Russia is not running out of money and will be able to sustain their invasion.
Did something happen that changed the odds?
Looks like back dealing is already taking place. Most sanctions on Rissia will be dropped by the end of the year, and the NPCs will have a Russia love fest once Biden signs the “greatest” of peace deals (which will be a turd sandwich for Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and our nuclear arsenal). And Hunter will get billions from Russian oligarchs.
Until it gets back down to less than $70, there is no reason t get excited. Even then, the upcoming recession will drive it down to $50-60; maybe even lower.
I pulled up the WTI chart and was shocked to see that oil crashed below $17 in April 2020.
Was that the same time period when OPEC and the Russians conspired to drive USA frackers out of the oil business?
If it was, I had completely forgotten that Covid was raging at the same time.
“Was that the same time period when OPEC and the Russians conspired to drive USA frackers out of the oil business?”
Nice reminding everyone how Russia tried to destroy America”s oil and gas industry. F THEM!!
“and a rush out of dollars”
That was never, ever happening, PERIOD, FULL STOP.
I think it was both things. Covid killed a LOT of demand.
I was being a bit ironic. The article was insinuating that prices before March were what would be considered “normal”. I think the war just gave us an early taste of what inflation under Biden has in store for us, regardless.
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