As of last March 30, oil had traded as a commodity on open exchanges for 40 years. Most people do not remember a time when “WTI” oil was not quoted as “the oil price” by news sources in the United States or “Brent” internationally. It was not always so.
From the early 1930s to the 1970s, the international oil industry was dominated by seven large, publicly traded, integrated oil companies: five…
More and more “less-developed” countries are responding favorably to China’s political and financial offers of investment, conflict resolution, an alternative financial non-dollar system, and all-around benign, benevolent, Big Brotherhood.
The Chinese pitch is that it will help you by investing in your roads, ports, and resource development. China sells this in the name of trade: they will…
Over the past week headlines noted:
A 21-year-old Air National Guardsman leaked top secret military, intelligence, and security documents which exposes U.S. intelligence methods and possibly personnel. This is only the latest in a long string of leaks, losses, and compromises of top secret documents.
OPEC+ oil production cuts will probably increase inflation.
OPEC agreed to production cuts…
Over the last month a cascade of news confirmed the consistent incompetence of the Biden Administration and a world power shift.
Banks fail and Clueless Janet gives a speech identifying the main international financial problems as racism, abortion, and climate change. More banks fail and Janet gives another speech saying it was caused by a failure of the regulatory system which she was…
Another balloon was sighted about 600 miles from Hawaii. At this point, we are not sure how to identify them after shooting down three which, it seems, were not Chinese spy balloons but no one is sure.
What we do know is that our relationship with China is in a state of confusion. Our political, military, and financial leaders are not sure what it is or what to do about it. Are we in friendly…
On the afternoon of Sunday, 15 February 1942, General Sir Arthur Percival walked up Bukit Timah Road in Singapore and surrendered to General Tomoyuki Yamashita.
Percival surrendered 86,000 well-fed, well-supplied British troops on their fortified island base with supplies, vehicles, planes, and weapons to 22,000 exhausted Japanese troops at the end of long supply lines. He surrendered his…
In early December, the G7 and EU countries, plus Australia, put a cap on the price at which they would allow sales of Russian exported crude. The cap is $60/bbl with various modifications and adjustments. The rationale for the price cap is that with world oil prices ranging between about $70 and $80 the cap will reduce Russia’s income for fighting the war in Ukraine but will be enough above…
Was not the Arab Oil Embargo a big deal? No. It was not. It was a meaningless gesture but came to represent the energy crisis period of the 1970s in the perceptions of many media and academic commentators, government officials, and the public. Many believe the Embargo caused the crisis. Wrong.
The energy crisis, in terms of up to 5-fold oil price increases and changes of control of…
In days of old, when knights were bold, and oil exchanges were not invented, prices were steady, supply was plenty, and Big Oil kept drivers contented.
Before the first Energy Crisis started in 1970, the oil industry was run by major integrated oil companies. They explored for, developed, and produced oil fields, refined the oil, and sold their products through their own outlets to consumers…
