Blog Posts - CounterStrikeMedia

WHY NUCLEAR POWER STILL RULES; ISLAM, CHRISTENDOM IN THE CAUCASUS PIPELINES

10/1/2019

James Ellis On The Energy Density Advantage Of Nuclear Power
by Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. via PolicyEd
Nuclear power has an energy density advantage over every other method of generating electricity.

Zvi Bar’el writes: For Iran, Iraq’s economic dependence is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it gives the Islamic Republic great influence over Iraqi politics. But on the other, this makes Iraqis view it as the source of their problems and not just economic ones. […]Iraq’s decision to abide by American sanctions on Iran even though it opposes them shows how detached Westerners are from reality when they view all Shi’ite groups as agents of Iran.- Haaretz

MEET THE FRACKERS & HOW NORD STREAM II PROVIDES EUROPE STRATEGIC AUTONOMY

9/18/2019

Nord Stream II and Europe's strategic autonomy
The European Union's gas relationship with Russia remains controversial within Europe, with opponents portraying the Nord Stream II project as aggression against Ukraine, a danger to Central and Eastern Europe and a reflection of Germany's dependence on Russian gas.

New leadership and new challenges for Saudi Arabia's oil industry
Rauf Mammadov

https://www.amazon.com/Frackers-Outrageous-Inside-Billionaire-Wildcatters/dp/B00GDJKH2I/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

IRAN STRIKES THE HOUSE OF SAUD

9/18/2019

Why U.S. Patriot Missiles Failed to Protect Saudi Oil Sites
By Sébastien Roblin, NBC News: "The U.S. is having trouble defending against low-flying drones and cruise missiles after years of the Pentagon focusing on longer-range threats."

Attacks on Saudi oil plants reveal weaknesses in US-made defenses
(Military.com) Ground-hugging swarms of drones and cruise missiles that decimated Saudi oil production facilities this month did billions’ worth of damage and defeated U.S.-made air-defense systems, including Raytheon's Patriots. The attacks raise concerns, analysts say, about the efficacy of such defense systems against the threat.

Saudi oil facility attack challenges Washington’s credibility
Karen E. Young | Al-Monitor
While the recent attacks on two Saudi oil facilities will affect global oil prices, it is the US commitment in the region that is under attack.

Iran's Strategy Behind the Saudi Attack
By Raymond V. Mason, RealClearDefense: “A possible Iranian link to the attack on a Saudi oil installation this past weekend is the latest example of Iran’s continued ability to threaten American interests in the Middle East despite robust U.S. sanctions. While the administration is applying maximum economic pressure, sanctions alone will not force Iran to the table and are insufficient to address resulting Iranian retaliation."

The Saudi oil attacks won’t devastate the global economy — here’s what could

The Gulf Crisis Should Remind Us of the Importance of Fracking
Charles Lane, Washington Post

The Oil Price Increase and the Dollar
Desmond Lachman, AEI

Iran’s strike on Saudi Arabia brings Persian Gulf war closer
Michael Rubin | Washington Examiner

The Iraq War surge
Stephen J. Hadley and Hal Brands | AEI video

Out of the Loop: What the Saudi Attacks Tell Us About the Future of Conflict
By Eliot Pence, RealClearDefense: "The Abqaiq attacks this month raised many questions. Who did it? How did they do it? What did they do it with? One question was notably absent: Why couldn't Saudi Arabia stop it? The answer is not straightforward, nor is it necessarily clear that anything could have stopped it."

THE SAUDI'S & ARAMCO. . . . AGAIN & FOREIGN EQUITY SOARS INTO RIYADH

8/22/2019

THE MEANING OF A LOW IPO VALUATION

Saudi Aramco raises $25.6 billion in largest-ever IPO
Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco broke market records with the launch of its initial stock offering on Thursday. Shares were priced at the high end of the target range and raised a record $25.6 billion. The market debut puts Aramco's value at $1.7 trillion, far ahead of other corporate giants. Aramco is expected to begin trading on Riyadh's Tadawul exchange on Dec. 12 at 32 riyals ($8.53).
Read More
al-monitor.com

The long and winding Saudi Aramco initial public offering road
Benjamin Zycher | AEI

Saudi Arabia to delay Aramco public offering
reuters.com

Huge Aramco IPO hounded by big ifs
Institutional investors have questions over the company's transparency and governance
BYPIERRE DONADIEU

Saudi oil company Aramco says it’s ready for two-stage public offering
al-monitor.com

ASIA TIMES: FOREIGN EQUITY SOARS INTO SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia selling the Aramco initial public offering, yet again
Karen E. Young | Al-Monitor

ASIA TIMES: WHY LISTING ARAMCO IS WRONG

Algeria considers allowing foreign ownership in certain sectors
reuters.com

Saudi Arabia scolds fellow OPEC members for exceeding oil output cuts
al-monitor.com

US OIL CHARTS: THE US HEGEMONY ON OIL

8/21/2019

Animated chart of the day: Oil production in America’s big 3 oil fields (Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian Basin)
Mark J. Perry | AEIdeas

THE UAE'S PETROL DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY

8/10/2019

UAE diversification strategy lags despite growth in oil sector

Karen E. Young | Al-Monitor

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a leader in economic diversification across the Gulf Cooperation Council, but even the UAE is struggling to grow.

THE EPA'S ETHANOL BINGE & HOW RUSSIA SEEKS TO SHAPE THE MIDDLE EAST

7/13/2019

COLIN A. CARTER, HENRY I. MILLER
Giving In to Big Corn
Consumers will suffer the hangover from the EPA’s ethanol binge.

How Russian business could shape Mideast's future security architecture
Russia has been engaged in the Levantine oil and gas sectors for some time, but now Moscow could use that foothold to help build lasting security in the region.

IRAN RESPONDS BY SHOOTING DOWN A US GLOBAL HAWK IN THE PERSIAN GULF

7/6/2019

PIPELINE POLITICS: NORD STREAM PUSHES FORTH FOR RUSSIA, HARD CURRENCY AND POLITICAL DISRUPTION

6/30/2019

нефть: The Impact of Russian Energy on Europe
By Jeremiah Goodpaster, Small Wars Journal: “The use of energy plays a significant role in Russia’s political subversion, coercive deterrence, and negotiated manipulation aspects during Hybrid Warfare operations in Europe. The use of energy to allows Russia to stay below the threshold of violence and the possible activation of Article 5 Collective Security of the NATO charter."

US MAKES SAUDI ARABIA A NUCLEAR POWER

6/28/2019

ISRAEL OPENS UP ABOUT IS OIL RESERVES, 2 CHARTS ON US OIL REVEAL PETROL REVOLUTION CONTINUES & EASTERN MED STARTS DRILLING

6/15/2019

Eastern Mediterranean heats up as gas rivalry stakes grow higher
Turkey’s launch of a second ship to drill in disputed areas off Cyprus is the harbinger of further escalation in the eastern Mediterranean and tough choices for Ankara.

Simon Henderson writes: Israel is also looking for companies that can explore its waters for more gas. Although a deadline for bids on nineteen offshore blocks has been pushed back to mid-August, perhaps reflecting a lack of investor interest, Israeli officials are reportedly still hopeful that ExxonMobil will bite. For now, the U.S. company has shown more interest in Cypriot blocks, as have European companies like Total of France and Eni of Italy. The latter two companies are also interested in exploring Lebanon’s waters, despite the country’s dysfunctional government, broken electricity supply network, and intrusive Iranian influence – Washington Institute

Chart of the day: World’s top 10 oil-producing countries, 1965–2018
Mark J. Perry | AEIdeas

Animated chart of the day: US energy consumption by fuel source, 1949–2050
Mark J. Perry | AEIdeas

Eastern Mediterranean crisis balloons as Turkish drill ships multiply
Disputes over oil and gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean have caused a spike in tensions between Ankara and Turkish Cypriots on the one side, and the EU and Greek Cypriots on the other.

RUSSIA & OPEC ARE NO LONGER FRIENDS

6/9/2019

OPEC and Russia Are No Longer Friends
Julian Lee, Bloomberg

THE CURSE OF LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS FOR SAUDI ARABIA & TURKMENISTAN

5/31/2019

Saudi Arabia’s new ‘freedom’ gas
Karen E. Young | Al-Monitor
According to the Department of Energy, US policy will support the export of American energy products such as liquefied natural gas as “molecules of US freedom” to the rest of the world. But energy markets are a little more complicated and less nationalistic.

Turkmenistan https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.urdupoint.com/en/amp/business/turkmenistan-hosts-x-international-gas-congre-631340.html
Nord Stream
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/us-sanctions-may-be-too-late-to-stop-nord-stream-2-construction/ Contamination
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1ST1TX

GAS APPROACHES $3 GALLON IN US: ALL EYES ON PERSIAN GULF

5/25/2019

Karen Young in an Al-Monitor op-ed. America’s energy independence attracts competitors, such as Saudi Aramco, as foreign direct investors. And it is unlikely that the American “freedom gas” exported by Aramco will find its way to Saudi Arabia. Find out why here.

Protectionism, the dollar, and US energy ‘dominance’
Benjamin Zycher | The Hill

TAKING IRAN TO ZERO

5/21/2019

HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE US ENERGY REVOLUTION

5/8/2019

The shale revolution isn't just about cheap energy; it's changing geopolitics
Mark J. Perry | Washington Examiner

Want an Energy Revolution? It Won't Come from Renewables
Mark Mills, City Journal

Throughout history, some 60 percent to 90 percent of every nation’s economy has been consumed by food and fuel costs. Hydrocarbons changed the way that humans organize their productive capacity. The coal age, followed by the oil age, and now by the ascendant age of natural gas, has (at least for developed nations) driven the share of GDP devoted to acquiring food and fuel down to around 10 percent. That transformation constitutes one of the great pivots for civilization.
Read more here....

US PULLS BACK ON IRANIAN SANCTIONS REGIME YET SENDS CARRIER STRIKE GROUP TO PERSIAN GULF

5/8/2019

IRAN WANTS TO DISRUPT US SANCTIONS REGIME

U.S. renews some nuclear waivers for Iran, breaking from hard line

Iran Faces Difficult Choice After U.S. Narrows Nuclear Sanctions Waivers

U.S. Deploys Carrier Strike Group to Counter Iran

Reports: Iran to adopt countermeasures as US revokes sanctions waivers
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will reportedly announce countermeasures to the US exit from the JCPOA and its reimposition of sanctions.

Iranian Oil Exports Fall in April – But More Work to be Done

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, cut June pricing for all crude grades to the U.S. and raised most pricing to other regions. The kingdom’s pricing appears to be aimed at easing concerns over supplies to the U.S. after the Trump Administration ended waivers for buyers of Iranian oil, while still benefiting from rising demand for its crude in Asia and Europe. – Bloomberg

Iran Gives Europe Sixty Days to Meet Nuclear Demands
by Seth Frantzman
The Jerusalem Post
May 9, 2019
https://www.meforum.org/58442/iran-gives-europe-60-days-to-meet-demands

New Sanctions Hit Iran’s Multi-Billion Dollar Metal Industries
Saeed Ghasseminejad | Senior Iran and Financial Economics AdvisorMatthew Zweig | Senior Fellow

Energy Sector Waivers Would Undermine the Maximum Pressure Campaign against Iran
Matthew Zweig | Senior Fellow

NIGERIA & THE US: ENERGY BEHEMOTHS

5/1/2019

Nigeria and the US: A tale of two energy economies
Benjamin Zycher | RealClearMarkets

THE SANCTIONS REGIME MOVES ON, IRANIAN STAGFLATION CONTINUES TO RAVAGE & NUCLEAR OPTION AGAINST IRAN

4/24/2019

After oil, Washington weighs sanctions on Iran’s other sources of U.S. dollars

"U.S. Aims Lethal Blow at Tehran’s Finances by Prohibiting Oil Exports,"David Adesnik, FDD Policy Brief

The most important issue for predicting whether the US’s upped-economic pressure campaign on Iran will work is probably knowing whether the US and China are about to strike a major deal ending their trade war.If they cut a deal in the coming weeks, the US’ removal of waivers for sanctions against countries who buy Iranian oil could really bring the Islamic Republic’s oil experts to close to zero and force Tehran to cut a new deal. – Jerusalem Post

Forget oil sanctions, end of nuclear cooperation waivers could quietly kill Iran deal
(Al-Monitor) In Arak, a waiver is necessary to enable Iran to redesign its heavy water research reactor in order to “support peaceful nuclear research and radioisotope production for medical and industrial purposes.” The proposed redesigned Arak reactor would vastly cut the potential for a plutonium path to the bomb.

How incompetence, sanctions jointly hit Iran’s economy
Facing stagflation, the Iranian authorities must shift course and de-politicize economic decisions such as foreign exchange policy and management of the country's money supply.

In the 40 years of Iran’s Islamic Republic, 2019 is shaping up to be among the worst for an economy that’s weathered wars, sanctions and oil slumps. Even before the U.S. decided to tighten oil sanctions against Iran last week, the rial currency had lost two thirds of its value against the dollar, and the International Monetary Fund expected gross domestic product to shrink 6 percent. – Bloomberg

Tighter U.S. sanctions against Iran could fuel inflation to the highest level since 1980, according to the International Monetary Fund, as the Islamic Republic’s economy grapples with a weakening currency and tighter U.S. sanctions on oil exports. – Bloomberg

Karim Sadjadpour writes: If Khamenei believes he can’t do a deal with Trump, and he fears that waiting out Trump projects weakness, he may contemplate restarting Iran’s nuclear program, counter-escalating against U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East, or both. Iran is the only country in the world simultaneously fighting three proxy wars—against the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia—each of which it could further agitate. – The Atlantic

If President Donald Trump succeeds in cutting Iran’s oil exports to almost nothing, one of the main beneficiaries is likely to be Russia. The economic blow to Iran will ease the Kremlin’s efforts to rein in Iranian influence in Syria, bolstering President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to project Russian power across the Middle East. Tehran and Moscow were one-time collaborators in the region, but they’ve found themselves increasingly at odds as Syria’s eight-year-old civil war winds down. – Bloomberg

AZERBAIJAN OIL & BP UNEARTH VAST DEPOSITS

4/24/2019

RUSSIA NORD-STREAM 2 ENCIRCLES & DIVIDES NATO WHILE TEAM TRUMP BRINGS RELIEF TO NATIONS TRADING OIL WITH IRAN

4/18/2019

U.S. Aims Lethal Blow at Tehran’s Finances by Prohibiting Oil Exports
David Adesnik | Director of Research

Russia’s Gas Web Ensnares Europe
New pipeline projects throughout the Middle East could boost Russian influence there while also ensuring the country’s role as the prime supplier of energy to Europe.

OPEC has a new best friend: Russia

US expected to announce end to Iran oil import waivers
The Donald Trump administration is expected to announce today that it is ending waivers for imports of Iranian oil as of May 2 in the latest escalation of its “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. The State Department in November issued 180-day waivers to give eight countries a short time window to end their imports. Greece, Italy, and Taiwan have since done so, while China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea now must follow suit or face US sanctions. A few of the buyers will be granted short wind-down periods but will not receive further waivers as the United States seeks to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. Read More 

Tightening the screws on Iran. And . . . ?
Danielle Pletka | AEIdeas
Sanctions aren’t a goal; they’re tools to get to something else. And it’s high time the president was frank with us about what that something else really is.

US cuts Iran oil waivers in move to force Tehran out of nuclear deal
Washington is letting sanctions waivers for countries that import Iranian oil expire as it tries to make Iran quit the 2015 nuclear deal before a UN arms embargo is lifted next year as part of the agreement.

CYPRIOT-GREEK-ISRAELI CRUDE TAKES OFF & WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF GAS IN EASTERN MED.

4/11/2019

A New EastMed Friendship, with US Support
By Dr. George N. Tzogopoulos, April 10, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The prospective EastMed pipeline would be the flagship project of the Cypriot-Greek-Israeli collaboration, a developing friendship that enjoys deep foundations. The US has now made its support for that partnership official.
Continue to full article ->

The Eastern Mediterranean and the EU Parliamentary Election
By Dr. Spyridon N. Litsas, May 3, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The states of the Eastern Mediterranean should pay close attention to the upcoming European parliamentary election, as its outcome will influence geostrategic and economic developments in that region. Israel, Cyprus, and Greece will have a major role to play in strengthening Western relationships in the region for decades to come.
Continue to full article ->

US OMAN SIGN PORT DEAL & IRANIAN OIL SURGES DESPITE SANCTIONS REGIME

3/30/2019

U.S. and Oman Sign Strategic Port AgreementNicole Salter | Project Manager
Behnam Ben Taleblu | Senior Fellow

Renewables Get the Press, But Natural Gas Is Growing Faster
Robert Bryce, National Review

Iranian Oil Exports Continue to Surge Despite U.S. Sanctions

Why Iran is silent about US military deal with neighboring Oman
Iran has demonstrated no sign of outrage at a recent US-Omani military deal as the American Indo-Pacific Strategy seems not to clash with Iran's interests in the region.

INFECTED US OIL TURNED AWAY IN ASIA & RUSSIAN OIL POLICY IN ARTIC EXPOSED FOR GEOPOLITICAL TIES

3/28/2019

BLOOMBERG

Nikos Tsafos writes: Every move that Russia makes to develop energy resources in the Arctic is seen as further proof for an unsettling proposition: unlike the United States, Russia takes a strategic view toward Arctic energy; it spends serious money to develop the region’s resources; and it is using the Arctic to boost ties with China and, more recently, Saudi Arabia. There is truth in that worldview, but it also leaves much out. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

On March 11, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Russian oil giant Rosneft of defying US sanctions by purchasing oil from the Venezuelan state-owned oil PDVSA, which has been sanctioned since January. Pomepo said: […]the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “The threats coming from the US Secretary of State against the Rosneft company over its cooperation with Venezuela are senseless. It has been hit by sanctions since 2014, but continues successfully working. Meanwhile, its former US partners, whom Washington had forced to curtail cooperation, suffered serious damage.” – Middle East Media Research Institute

GRAPHIC OF WORLD'S OIL SUPPLIES & SQUEEZING SYRIAN SHIA PROXIES FOR OIL

3/26/2019

VISUAL CAPITALIST

Fuel Shortage Persists in Syria amidst Tougher Sanctions Enforcement
David Adesnik | Director of Research