US mulls oil price war with Middle East: Senate debates lifting ban on exports July 31, 2015 Senators in the US have raised the prospect of an oil price war with the Middle East. The Senate held a crucial meeting on whether the decades-old ban on exporting crude oil should be lifted, with chair of the Senate committee on energy and natural resources, Lisa Murkowski, arguing the US should “compete against our [...]
Iran nuclear crisis: The sharks are circling and war is not impossible November 25, 2014 IF THE conventional wisdom of the mainstream press could sum up the current state of the Iranian nuclear talks in one headline, it would absurdly read “Optimism as talks fail to end”. Even by their standards, this fails to pass the laugh test analytically. Instead, an alarmed pessimism must be the correct response. For after [...]
Saudi Arabia begins quest for austerity as its economy sinks in plunging oil prices August 25, 2015 There's no escaping the market meltdown – even Saudi Arabia, which for years has revelled in its oil-rich economy, is having to consider austerity measures. Read more: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul stock exchange opens to foreign investors: Here are six companies you should watch According to anonymous sources who spoke to Bloomberg, the kingdom is [...]
Why the Islamic State wants to mint its own currency August 30, 2015 The Islamic state wants to mint its own currency for circulation in the areas it controls, as part of its bid to end US supremacy, according a video released this week. The new gold silver, and copper coins will deliver "the second blow to america's financial system of enslavement casting into ruins their fraudulent dollar [...]
Four reasons oil prices are falling again July 7, 2015 Greek debt crisis China slowdown Iran nuclear deal Market fundamentals All of the above comes against a backdrop of a resilient US shale gas industry as well as rising Opec supplies.
Iran nuclear deal deadline extended to end of June 2015 November 24, 2014 World powers have failed to meet today's deadline for an agreement over Iran's nuclear enrichment program, resulting in talks being extended to the end of June next year. Iran met with the UK, US, China, Russia, Germany and France in Vienna over the weekend to try to reach a compromise. The other participants want [...]
Iran nuclear talks: Agreement unlikely before Monday deadline November 23, 2014 Tomorrow is the deadline for an agreement between Iran and western nations over Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment program, but a deal looks unlikely. The purpose of talks currently talking place in Vienna is to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear enrichment program in return for an easing of UN-imposed sanctions. The UK is [...]
Climb in confidence of German business as Greek crisis subsides July 27, 2015 GERMAN business confidence climbed in July, survey data showed yesterday, as fears over Greece leaving the Eurozone subsided. Research institute IFO said its Business Climate Index rose to a 108 this month from 107.5 in June. It followed two months of contraction. The survey, which looks at responses from around 7,000 German firms, revealed rising [...]
David Cameron’s case for going to war in Syria is built on sand November 29, 2015 As the 19th century French foreign minister Talleyrand witheringly said of his Bourbon masters, “they forgot nothing and learned nothing”. So it is with Prime Minister David Cameron’s intellectually feeble effort to rally the Commons to go to war in Syria. Cameron has dutifully memorised the vague catechism for going to war – the precise [...]
North Sea oil revenue tumbles to an all-time low August 23, 2015 North Sea oil revenue plunged to an all-time low in the first quarter of this year according to the Scottish Conservatives. The Scottish government's quarterly national accounts show that it received £168m in tax receipts from the industry between January and March. This is down from £969m in the same period last year the Scotsman has reported. [...]