[jhpigott]

my thoughts are two fold -

1) Israel since the beginning of this year has been pleading for the international community to levy “crippling” sanctions on Iran, namely targeting their energy sector. Obviously, Russia and China have been getting in the way of that happening. It looks like any new sanctions are going to be watered down. That being said, it looks like sufficient pressure is being applied behind the scenes that, in effect, is hurting the Iranian energy sector.

2) Iran soon may not be a fun place to be, if things start to go “boom”. Maybe these companies suspect a conflict is coming and are bugging out before the fireworks begin.

[bert]

.....Maybe these companies suspect a conflict is coming and are bugging out.....

One can only wonder what pressure is applied to the refiners to allow this to come about. Royal Dutch Shell is as big and global as they come and is compliant. The others have followed the big dog’s lead.