The average price of a gallon of regular gas increased 1.5 cents nationally to $3.84 in AAA's latest reading Tuesday, the first significant move in gas prices since late August. The August run-up in prices was caused by Gulf Coast refinery disruptions as Hurricane Isaac approached.
Prices were expected to retreat quickly once the Gulf region's facilities came back online. But Tom Kloza, chief analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, said the retreat in prices following the storm is being delayed because Isaac hit so close to Sept. 15. That date is important because it is when the
United States switches from a more expensive summer blend of gasoline to a cheaper winter blend. As that date approaches, refineries don't want to be caught with too much of the more expensive gasoline. So in the week before the changeover, they cut back on their summer blend production, tightening the supply. Read more >>
Showing posts with label Persian Gulf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Persian Gulf. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
USS Ponce Heads Towards Persian Gulf
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| The amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce |
The ship began approaching Suez on Thursday and is expected to enter the canal shortly on its way to the Persian Gulf. The ship will function as a staging base for special operations forces and small patrol boats, including mine countermeasure vessels, in gulf waters that Iran has previously threatened to shut down.
Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, had long pressed for the conversion of the Ponce in order to have a mobile platform from which troops could quickly deploy at a time when budget cuts are restricting large-scale deployments. Read More >>
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Pentagon: War Planning for Iran is Now The Most Pressing Scenario
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| USS George H.W. Bush transits through the Strait of Hormuz. |
War planning for Iran is now the most pressing scenario, or what the Pentagon calls a contingency.
U.S. Central Command believes it can destroy or significantly degrade Iran’s conventional armed forces in about three weeks using air and sea strikes, according to a defense source familiar with the discussions.
Such strikes are an option in a response to Tehran’s striking U.S. and international ships in the Persian Gulf and attempting to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil is transported. More...
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Fear and loathing in the House of Saud
Image via WikipediaPepe Escobar Early last week, US President Barack Obama sent a letter to Saudi King Abdullah, delivered in person in Riyadh by US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon. This happened less than a week after Pentagon head Robert Gates spent a full 90 minutes face to face with the king.
These two moves represented the final seal of approval of a deal struck between Washington and Riyadh even before the voting of UN Security Council resolution 1973 (see Exposed: the Saudi-US Libya deal, Apr 1, Asia Times Online). Essentially, the Obama administration will not say a word about how the House of Saud conducts its ruthless repression of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain and across the Persian Gulf. No ''humanitarian'' operations. No R2P (''responsibility to protect''). No no-fly or no-drive zones.
Progressives of the world take note: the US-Saudi counter-revolution against the Great 2011 Arab Revolt is now official.
Those 'pretty influential guys'
The wealthy, truculent clan posing as a perpetual absolute monarchy that goes by the name House of Saud wins on all fronts.
Last month's ''Day of Rage'' inside the kingdom was ruthlessly preempted - with the (literal) threat that protesters would have their fingers cut off.
With the price of crude reaching stratospheric levels, and with Saudi refusal to increase production, it's a no brainer for Riyadh to dispense with a few billion dollars in pocket change to appease its subjects with some extra 60,000 ''security'' jobs and 500,000 low-rent apartments. More...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Attack On Iran Imminent, Warns Fidel Castro
Last Friday, June 25, an international press agency known for the attention to details in its reports, published a statement by the “…Navy Commander of the elite Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution General Ali Fadavi…,” warning “…that if the United States and its allies inspect Iranian ships in international waters ‘they will have their response in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.’”
The information was taken from the local news agency Mehr of Iran.
According to the press dispatch, said news agency reported that “Fadavi added that ‘the Navy of the Revolutionary Guardians currently has hundreds of vessels equipped with missile launchers.’”
The information, produced approximately at the same time of what Granma published or perhaps before, seemed at some points an exact copy of the Reflections elaborated on Thursday June 24th and ran by that paper on Friday 25th.
The coincidence can be explained by the simple use of a logical reasoning. I was completely unaware of what the Iranian local agency had published.
I have absolutely no doubt that as soon as the American and Israeli warships are deployed –alongside the rest of the American military vessels positioned off the Iranian coasts– and they try to inspect the first merchant ship from that country, there will be a massive launching of missiles in both directions. At that moment exactly the terrible war will begin. It’s not possible to estimate how many vessels will be sunk or from what country.
Knowing the truth timely is the most important thing for our people.
It doesn’t matter if almost everybody, I’d dare say 99.9% or more of my compatriots, instinctively cling to hopes and agree with my sincere wishes to be wrong. I have talked to people close to me, and I have also received news from many noble, selfless and hardworking people who have read my Reflections and do not challenge my considerations in the least but rather absorb, believe and swallow my reasoning through a dry throat; however, they immediately go back to the tasks to which they devote their energies.
That is precisely what we expect of our compatriots. But it would be worse to suddenly become aware of extremely gave events without having heard as much as a news about such possibility. Then there would be confusion and panic, and that would be unworthy of our heroic Cuban people, which was very close to becoming the target of a massive nuclear strike on October 1962, and still did not hesitate for a second in discharging its duty. More...
Obama to meet Saudi King Abdullah at White House
Let's see, King Abdullah at the WH followed by Netanyahu in a week. Talk of shared Arabian airspace to Israel, a build up of US and Israeli war ships in the Persian Gulf; with rumors of a pre-emtive attack on Iran by Israel circulating the web, show time looms in what may escalate to our final war. Even Fidel Castro has chimed in pronouncing an attack on Iran is imminent.
AFP via Raw Story:
President Barack Obama welcomes Saudi King Abdullah to the White House on Tuesday, as he seeks to reinvigorate his Middle East peace drive and crank up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.
The meeting will likely also focus on US policy in Afghanistan, following the sacking of top war general Stanley McCrystal and mutual national security efforts, including the drive to combat Al-Qaeda.
Abdullah, 86, will be at the White House just a week before Obama is due to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following Israel's decision to allow some "civilian" goods into Gaza following its deadly flotilla raid.
Obama, who pushed for such a step, may try to use the Israeli move to as a spur to intensify US-brokered indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians, as he seeks to open a direct channel between the two sides. More...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Breakdown in the Gold Market
Jim Willie
A great disconnect exists in the gold market between the exchange futures contract price (the paper price) and the gold bullion paid price for transactions (the physical price). The differential in price is growing wider, enough to place tremendous pressure on the gold market itself. Look not to the gold premium paid for purchases, but to high volume purchases in the tens of million$. In mid-December, almost every demand for gold contract delivery was matched by a cash delivery, complete with 25% bonus premium offered. The officials even produced a new ledger item called 'Cash For Delivery' that was necessary to balance their badgered books. It prompted little attention. Some call it a basic bribe. Others call it a technical default.
Fast approaching is the event of GAME OVER for London, a condition that has already reached critical level, according to a key reliable source of information with London connections and direct experience with its market events. How long can a major metals exchange sell contracts but have miniscule supply of gold in their vaulted possession? The paper gold market and the physical gold bullion market have finally separated in a practical manner, meaning actual gold has almost no role anymore in London paper contract settlement. The absence of gold in London requires extraordinary tactics to settle contracts and to obtain gold bullion. Red tape procedures delay delivery for individuals, and bribes accompany gold delivery demands as standard practice. The London Bullion Market Assn has almost zero gold, its supply having been drained in high volumes since early December, a process currently in acceleration. The opportunity to convert fiat money into precious metal at prices considered reasonable is also vanishing. The London gold banker said,
"There is going on a lot more than meets the eye. The physical system is actually consolidating bigtime and is organizing itself with lightning speed, totally hidden from pretty much anyone, even the so-called insiders. The paper precious metal market and the physical precious metal market have defacto disconnected. The paper and physical gold markets currently operate in parallel universes. The outflow of physical metal from bank vaults is happening at a mind bending pace."
Notice the reference to consolidation and re-organization in a manner not apparent to those fixated on the existing cockamamy corrupted system that is permitted by loyalist regulators. The officials in the LBMA, COMEX, USDept Treasury, and elsewhere are struggling to maintain the current system, and reportedly are not in step with awareness of the newly devised structures coming into place. In the background, far from view, new systems are being fabricated from scratch. Some involve complex barter systems soon to emerge and hit the scene with a splash, with impressive vertical integration. At the same time, new currencies for usage are still undergoing planning, foundation setup, contract latticework, and more for actual implementation.
The true gold price might very soon become unknown, an extremely positive development. Telltale events such as bankruptcy, lawsuits, and arrests are likely to come, all in time, since the breakdown in order has led to extraordinary reactions. Right now, we see extremely strong tactics using naked gold short contracts at the London metals exchange (LBMA) and the COMEX in the United States to drive down the gold price. It is all illegal and permitted. Margin calls have hit, forcing further selling of paper contracts. Gold investor sentiment among the naive and less informed has been dragging, ever since early December.
The world is approaching a climax event. Sure, many analysts have made such a claim for months. But with Europe in flux, the USCongress in flux, the Persian Gulf in flux, the US-China trade battles escalating, and USTreasury debt finance recognized more and more as monetized printing press activity, we are truly approaching a climax event as gold metal has exited the London market. The trigger event is unknown. It will likely not be directly related to the above event fronts. It will probably be a typical garden variety event pertaining to the far from ordinary stresses tied to the ongoing crisis in the credit market, gold market, and currency market.
The financial press is critically important precisely now, for not spilling the facts on the current gold market breakdown and divergence. Much of the pressures are hidden though, since the financial press networks report only the official paper-based prices. Do not expect to read in Reuters or Bloomberg or the Associated Press or Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or Investors Business Daily or Barrons that a grotesque gold shortage exists in the London metals exchange or at the COMEX in New York and Chicago. They will not report that London is virtually drained of gold, yet still sells gold contracts. Accurate news reporting would accelerate the breakdown and remove the possibility for time extension. The press will not report that billionaires are emptying their gold bullion accounts at rapidfire pace, out of gross distrust of the bankers, since gold leasing has illegally been standard practice for many years. Imagine selling lumber contracts without wood delivered. Imagine selling mortgages without home titles delivered. Actually, Wall Street did precisely that from 2003 to 2007. More...
A great disconnect exists in the gold market between the exchange futures contract price (the paper price) and the gold bullion paid price for transactions (the physical price). The differential in price is growing wider, enough to place tremendous pressure on the gold market itself. Look not to the gold premium paid for purchases, but to high volume purchases in the tens of million$. In mid-December, almost every demand for gold contract delivery was matched by a cash delivery, complete with 25% bonus premium offered. The officials even produced a new ledger item called 'Cash For Delivery' that was necessary to balance their badgered books. It prompted little attention. Some call it a basic bribe. Others call it a technical default.
Fast approaching is the event of GAME OVER for London, a condition that has already reached critical level, according to a key reliable source of information with London connections and direct experience with its market events. How long can a major metals exchange sell contracts but have miniscule supply of gold in their vaulted possession? The paper gold market and the physical gold bullion market have finally separated in a practical manner, meaning actual gold has almost no role anymore in London paper contract settlement. The absence of gold in London requires extraordinary tactics to settle contracts and to obtain gold bullion. Red tape procedures delay delivery for individuals, and bribes accompany gold delivery demands as standard practice. The London Bullion Market Assn has almost zero gold, its supply having been drained in high volumes since early December, a process currently in acceleration. The opportunity to convert fiat money into precious metal at prices considered reasonable is also vanishing. The London gold banker said,
"There is going on a lot more than meets the eye. The physical system is actually consolidating bigtime and is organizing itself with lightning speed, totally hidden from pretty much anyone, even the so-called insiders. The paper precious metal market and the physical precious metal market have defacto disconnected. The paper and physical gold markets currently operate in parallel universes. The outflow of physical metal from bank vaults is happening at a mind bending pace."
Notice the reference to consolidation and re-organization in a manner not apparent to those fixated on the existing cockamamy corrupted system that is permitted by loyalist regulators. The officials in the LBMA, COMEX, USDept Treasury, and elsewhere are struggling to maintain the current system, and reportedly are not in step with awareness of the newly devised structures coming into place. In the background, far from view, new systems are being fabricated from scratch. Some involve complex barter systems soon to emerge and hit the scene with a splash, with impressive vertical integration. At the same time, new currencies for usage are still undergoing planning, foundation setup, contract latticework, and more for actual implementation.
The true gold price might very soon become unknown, an extremely positive development. Telltale events such as bankruptcy, lawsuits, and arrests are likely to come, all in time, since the breakdown in order has led to extraordinary reactions. Right now, we see extremely strong tactics using naked gold short contracts at the London metals exchange (LBMA) and the COMEX in the United States to drive down the gold price. It is all illegal and permitted. Margin calls have hit, forcing further selling of paper contracts. Gold investor sentiment among the naive and less informed has been dragging, ever since early December.
The world is approaching a climax event. Sure, many analysts have made such a claim for months. But with Europe in flux, the USCongress in flux, the Persian Gulf in flux, the US-China trade battles escalating, and USTreasury debt finance recognized more and more as monetized printing press activity, we are truly approaching a climax event as gold metal has exited the London market. The trigger event is unknown. It will likely not be directly related to the above event fronts. It will probably be a typical garden variety event pertaining to the far from ordinary stresses tied to the ongoing crisis in the credit market, gold market, and currency market.
The financial press is critically important precisely now, for not spilling the facts on the current gold market breakdown and divergence. Much of the pressures are hidden though, since the financial press networks report only the official paper-based prices. Do not expect to read in Reuters or Bloomberg or the Associated Press or Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or Investors Business Daily or Barrons that a grotesque gold shortage exists in the London metals exchange or at the COMEX in New York and Chicago. They will not report that London is virtually drained of gold, yet still sells gold contracts. Accurate news reporting would accelerate the breakdown and remove the possibility for time extension. The press will not report that billionaires are emptying their gold bullion accounts at rapidfire pace, out of gross distrust of the bankers, since gold leasing has illegally been standard practice for many years. Imagine selling lumber contracts without wood delivered. Imagine selling mortgages without home titles delivered. Actually, Wall Street did precisely that from 2003 to 2007. More...
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