A view of Vienna from the author’s terrace. She writes that during the Covid-19 crisis, the authorities have moved quickly to contain the virus and offer free hotline services, including delivering groceries to people who need it. Now, Austria is planning a phased plan to lift some restrictions. MONA ALI KHALIL
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss how Saudi Arabia’s oil price war is bringing the Kingdom to its knees.
OilPrice.com reports () At $30 a Brent barrel, the Saudi wealth fund will deplete fast and reduced government spending will stall projects, and the already suffering private non-oil sector will suffer further. That’s the near-term damage.
I am an avid board game player. I’m not much for the classics like chess or go, preferring the more modern ones. But, regardless, as a person who appreciates the delicate balance between strategy and tactics, I have to say I am impressed with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sense of timing.
Because if there was ever a moment where Putin and Russia could inflict maximum pain on the United States via its Achilles’ heel, the financial markets and its unquenchable thirst for debt, it was this month just as the coronavirus was reaching its shores.
It was quite the game-changing plot twist last Friday in Vienna when relatively polite discussions turned into a de facto OPEC+ meltdown.
Pepe ESCOBAR
Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats ‘n Guns blog:
There is real power in the word “No.”
In fact, I’d argue that it is the single most powerful word in any language.
In the midst of the worst market meltdown in a dozen years which has at its source problems within global dollar-funding markets, Russia found itself in the position to exercise the Power of No.
Multiple overlapping crises are happening worldwide right now and they all interlock into a fabric of chaos.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss meetings held in Vienna for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel and OPEC+, which resulted in an impasse for negotiating production cuts amidst the coronavirus outbreak. Crude prices hit 2017 lows.
OPEC+ leader, Russia, does not want to cut oil production and instead is calling for a “stimulus”. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other OPEC countries are desperate for further cuts, as demand for their own oil is declining.
Via RT…
The drone strike on key Saudi oil facilities could stoke already-flaring tensions in the Middle East, driving crude prices higher amid growing fears of supply shortages, market and industry experts believe.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss Russia’s takeover of OPEC, as a deal is struck with Saudi Arabia to control oil output.
Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend the current output deal to at least the end of 2019. The deal between the two energy powerhouses has made the future OPEC meeting in Vienna redundant.
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Iran will not necessarily look for escalation: to wriggle through will be to win a major symbolic victory. But if it is pushed to the limit, Iran likely will first respond by pushing back in the region and in Afghanistan against US interests.
