Russian fossil energy (Oil and Gas and Coal) Industry: News #4

there are a number of projects under implementation, such as Arctic LNG 2, Ust-Luga. We need to work on them and help implement them,” Novak says.

The Arctic LNG 2 project makes sense, but the one at Ust-Luga seems like a pointless waste of time to me. Why build facilities for LNG in the Baltic when the EU will just sanction them in the future as well? The once planned LNG facilities close to Vladivostok to sell to the Pacific nations would make a lot more sense I think.

Based on supplies in 2021, when Russia exported 145 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas to the EU (excluding LNG), it turns out that 100 million tons of LNG (or 140 billion cubic meters of conventional gas) can just cover the losses in the European market.

Yes between the LNG expansion and Power of Siberia 2 it would cover all those lost EU sales.

LNG is delivered to other countries only by sea - special LNG tankers, which are currently in short supply all over the world. “LNG consumption is growing, and the world's capacity to build LNG tankers is not keeping up with demand. Russia does not have its own capacities for the construction of such large-capacity ships; after the sanctions, a number of companies (for example, from South Korea) refused to cooperate. The Zvezda plant produced such ships, but with the help of foreign specialists, who are not currently in the Russian Federation. Of course, Novatek has its own tankers, but they are not enough."

China can build LNG tankers and they have their own membrane technology to make LNG tanks.
http://sinotechm.com/en

large-capacity plants were built with the help of foreign companies, which also withdrew from the projects, in particular from Arctic LNG. There are no own technologies of such a volume in Russia, for the construction of these plants, imports and Western specialists are needed,” Artem Deev points out.

This is basically a giant refrigerator. How hard can it be to replicate really. I bet Roscosmos could do it if they gave them the task.

will China have the need to absorb so much gas from Russia? Now Russian LNG goes mainly to Europe, since there are no sanctions, logistics there is easier and cheaper, especially in winter, than to China via the Northern Sea Route. However, the EU wants to find a way to block Russian LNG imports without the need to impose new sanctions. And if they want, they will invent such a mechanism. Then all Russian LNG will flow to China (where it was originally supposed to go).

Russia should not bother with Europe at all. There are plenty of emerging economies in the Pacific other than China which could be major clients of Russian LNG as well like Indonesia and Vietnam.

gas plays a relatively small role in its energy consumption, and by 2030 natural gas will provide only 15% of the country's energy supply. At the same time, China continues to use coal, build nuclear power plants and develop alternative energy. And this is all energy that can replace gas generation.

"alternative energy" like wind and solar requires backup power and natural gas is the best backup for their variability.

one should not discount the geopolitical and economic confrontation between the United States and China, which can play into the hands of Russia, including Russian LNG. If the US bans its LNG supplies to China, on the one hand, this will jeopardize jobs in America, and on the other hand, Russia, the third largest supplier of natural gas to China, has all the cards to fill this gap

The entire west is about 15% of the worlds population... Russia needs to focus on everyone else... central and south America, Asia, and Africa... countries that don't use a lot of gas because it used to be expensive...

When Russia was selling cheap gas to Europe then Europe spent the money to put in the infrastructure to use the cheap gas, so it was widely used... well now it wont be cheap any more and they are going to have to look at coal and nuke and other energy options.

The introduction of Russian gas to the rest of the world will lead to countries choosing to increase their gas infrastructure, which wont happen overnight, but will expand and increase, the point is that Russia will be able to deliver energy and food and pretty much anything else any country needs to grow and develop, and so the Russian Navy will have to expand to support that.

Rosneft announces major oil deal in India, 03.30.2023.

New Delhi continues to boost Russian crude imports despite Western sanctions on Moscow.

Moscow and New Delhi have agreed to “substantially increase” the supply of crude oil to India and diversify its grades, Russian energy major Rosneft announced on Wednesday.

A deal was reached with the Indian Oil Company during a trip by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin to the Asian country, the Russian firm said in a press release on its website.

Sechin also met with the heads of some of India’s largest oil and gas companies and discussed wider cooperation in the energy sector, the press release stated. Possible trade settlements in national currencies were also on the agenda.

Russia has become one of India’s top five trading partners, with turnover reaching $38.4 billion in 2022, according to statistics from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as cited by Rosneft.

Energy accounts for a major portion of bilateral trade. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, oil purchases by New Delhi surged more than 20-fold last year.

India, the world’s third-largest crude importer, began to boost purchases of Russian oil shortly after the start of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine and the ensuing Western sanctions.

New Delhi has repeatedly stressed that energy security is its top priority. It has chosen not to succumb to Western pressure and has continued to stock up on Russian supplies, even after the G7 price cap on Russian oil came into force late last year.

https://www.rt.com/business/573789-rosneft-major-oil-deal-india/

Europe recognizes impotence before Russia amid record purchases of its LNG, says newspaper, 03.31.2023.

The European Union and the Spanish authorities in particular have become powerless in the face of increased purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), against which no restrictions have been imposed, points out the newspaper El Confidencial.

According to the media, Spain is the country that in Europe imports the most Russian LNG.

"The Russian gas flows in great abundance to Spain, neither the government nor Brussels know how to stop it. The country has increased the purchase of this fuel by 84% since the beginning [of the Russian special operation in Ukraine]. In the first two months of this year, Enagás ' monthly statistical bulletins reveal an increase of 172% compared to the same period last year. An uncomfortable reality that has provoked reactions both in Madrid and in Brussels", highlighted the author of the article, Lucas Proto.

The journalist added that the European authorities tried to put pressure on Spanish fuel importers, despite the fact that Russian LNG is not included in the Western sanctions.

"But the reality is that, both in Spain and in the rest of the European Union (EU), there is no mechanism, beyond words, to put a lid on the flow of hydrocarbon to the West. The importers are private companies and the transactions are completely legal, since, unlike crude oil and its derived products, there are no vetoes or sanctions against LNG coming from Russia," Proto explained.

According to him, the growing attractiveness of Russian LNG is seen throughout the European Union. Imports of this hydrocarbon increased sharply to 19,25 billion cubic meters in 2022, compared to 14 billion cubic meters in 2021.

Yandex Translate from Portuguese

https://sputniknewsbrasil.com.br/20230331/europa-reconhece-impotencia-perante-russia-em-meio-a-compras-recorde-de-seu-gnl-aponta-jornal-28260458.html

https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2023/03/30/vozivshaya-toplivo-iz-rossii-kompaniya-es-rasprodaet-tankery-suda-snova-poydut-v-rossiyu

The EU company that transported fuel from Russia is selling tankers: ships will go to Russia again

European shipowners carrying Russian oil products are selling tankers at record prices. The buyers are unknown persons who will continue to export from Russia. European companies do not risk staying in this direction and are trying to compensate for losses by selling tankers.

Unknown buyers continue to buy up oil and oil product tankers to transport Russian fuel along new routes. The main supplies go to Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia - instead of the European Union, which banned the import of raw materials and fuel from Russia from December 5 and February 5.

According to the reports of the ship broker Xclusiv, in the four weeks of March, 54 vessels for the transportation of oil and oil products were sold on the tanker market. However, only in 12 cases the buyers were known. In other transactions, they remained unknown or only information about their placement is available: Turkey, China, the Middle East and Singapore.

German Tanker Shipping (GTS) also sold ships this week. This shipowner from Germany sold two old tankers at record prices - Seahake (32.5 thousand tons) and Searay (32.3 thousand tons). The ships, which turn 20 and 19 this year, each gave away $15 million, Xclusiv said in a report. The vessels sold to unknown buyers are remarkable in that they have an ice class (1B) and are suitable for the transportation of oil products from the Baltic ports of Russia.

Information about the sale is confirmed by the specialized publication TradeWinds. It indicates that the ships were overpaid. VesselsValue estimates the real value of the tankers at $10.5 million and $11.5 million.

After the transfer of the tankers to the new owner, the German Tanker Shipping (GTS) fleet will be reduced to 13 tankers, and, apparently, the shipowner is trying to compensate for the loss of the Russian market by selling off.

GTS executive partner Frank Jungmann told TradeWinds last week that the company had to abandon its core business of shipping oil products from Russia. Last year, she faced protests against the unloading of her tankers with Russian oil products in ports in Germany and the UK, but the supplies were not affected by the activists. But the threat of an unpredictable effect from trade sanctions, including a price ceiling, forced the GTS to leave the Russian market, said Frank Jangmann.

It is quite possible that the German shipowner stopped shipping Russian oil products, but continued to work through Russian ports. This is evidenced by the data of navigation portals. Thus, the tanker Seychelles Prelude left Ust-Luga on March 19 and plans to arrive in Augusta, Italy on April 5. At the same time, Seychelles Patriot has already arrived from the Baltic port to Italy on March 29. Tankers can carry Kazakh oil products.

As EADaily reported, shipowners from all EU countries, except Greece, have stopped shipping Russian oil products and oil, despite the fact that the current discounted price of the goods is within the price limit, which allows transportation without violating sanctions. At the same time, the Greek fleet is the largest in the world and its share in the transportation of Russian oil in February, as reported by EADaily , could reach 30%.

The rest is carried by Sovcomflot vessels and the gray tanker fleet, which unknown companies began to form under the reorientation of Russian supplies outside the European Union and the G7 countries since last summer.

https://minfin.gov.ru/ru/press-center/?id_4=38432-o_srednei_tsene_na_neft_marki_urals

The average price of Urals oil in January-March 2023 was $48.92 per barrel, in January-March 2022 - $88.95 per barrel.

The average price of Urals oil in March 2023 was $47.85 per barrel, which is 1.86 times lower than in March 2022 ($89.05 per barrel).

Russia abandons Brent brand in oil trade with India, by Olga Ivanova for VZGLYAD. 04.03.2023.

Russia and India switched to Dubai benchmark in oil trading instead of Brent.

Rosneft and Indian Oil Corp have decided to abandon the European benchmark Brent and switch to the Asian Dubai in pricing transactions for the supply of Russian oil, Reuters reports citing sources.

Both benchmarks are denominated in dollars and are set by the American S&P Platts, but European traders and oil companies use Brent when selling oil, while Asian ones use Dubai, Kommersant reports .

Formerly Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin and Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Shrikant Madhav Vaidya signed an agreement to significantly increase oil supplies to India.

https://vz.ru/news/2023/4/3/1205925.html

https://oilprice.com/oil-price-charts/

The price differential is large enough that it is a matter of time until the shippers adjust to it. You will continue to see shippers switch to non-Western insurance and to companies registered outside the West. In fact this has been happening for a couple of months already. And global oil prices continue to rise, now that OPEC+ has cut production.

I think Russia itself should ban oil trade to boats using Western insurers compliant with the price ceiling from its ports, including for Kazakh oil, to speed up this process.

Japan buys Russian oil at prices above$ 60 ceiling: media, 04.04.2023.

Japan is buying Russian oil at prices above the limit set by Western countries of$ 60, The Wall Street Journal wrote.

"Japan persuaded the United States to agree to an exception. [...] This concession shows Japan's dependence on Russia for the supply of fossil fuels," the article states.

According to analysts, this issue was the reason for Tokyo's hesitation to support Kiev in its conflict with Russia.

Japan is part of the coalition of G7 countries and the European Union (EU) that have agreed to limit the purchase price of Russian oil. Companies in these countries are prohibited from transporting oil by sea and taking out insurance if the fuel is sold for more than$ 60.

After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine, the so-called Collective West unleashed a broad sanctions campaign against Moscow.

Actively seeking ways to limit Russia's revenues, primarily those from oil and gas, the EU imposed an embargo in December 2022 on Russian crude oil.

After that, Brussels agreed to the European Commission's proposal to impose a ceiling of US$ 60 per barrel for Russian diesel and US$ 45 per barrel for discounted products such as fuel oil, with the measure coming into force on February 5, 2023.

The sanctions came at a time of rising diesel prices as Europe struggles to secure imports from alternative sources.

In response to the restrictions, Moscow has banned the supply of Russian oil and oil products if the contract directly or indirectly provides for a price ceiling, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, which also allows the issuance of special permits.

Late last December, the Kremlin spokesman warned that Russian oil and gas price ceilings are unacceptable to Moscow and that the country will never agree to manipulation of market prices.

Yandex Translate from Portuguese

https://sputniknewsbrasil.com.br/20230403/japao-compra-petroleo-russo-a-precos-acima-do-teto-de-us-60-segundo-midia-28294505.html

"Japan persuaded the United States to agree to an exception. [...] This concession shows Japan's dependence on Russia for the supply of fossil fuels," the article states.

It also shows the G7 and the EU and Australia that supposedly discussed and debated all this stuff and agreed to all this is just a joke if Japan can go to the US and get a note from Mummy so they don't have to do gym class...

Poland buys almost twice as much liquefied petroleum gas from Russia as the rest of the EU countries, 04.04.2023.

Poland remains the European Union's (EU) largest importer of Russian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Even now, amid restrictions against other fuels from Russia, it has increased its purchases, the newspaper 'Rzeczpospolita' reports. Meanwhile, the government is considering abandoning gas as a transition fuel in favor of coal.

In 2022, Poland bought LPG from Russia worth 710.3 million euros, while the rest of the EU acquired 417 million euros, according to data collected by the media. The authors of the article noted that liquefied petroleum gas, unlike natural gas, is not subject to sanctions.

Among all fuels, propane-butane, which is part of LPG, ranks seventh among the most popular in Poland. Approximately 3 million motorists use it. At the moment, the country is discussing the supply of LPG from Russia through deliveries from other destinations. However, from a logistical point of view, this is a costly process.

On February 7, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated at a conference on support for Ukraine that Europe was extremely dependent on Russian fuel. He added that Europe, "like an addict," comes back for more and accepts any fuel price.

Yandex Translate from Spanish.

https://sputniknews.lat/20230404/polonia-compra-a-rusia-casi-el-doble-de-gas-licuado-de-petroleo-que-el-resto-de-los-paises-de-la-ue-1137698618.html

Hahaha... they do this as a last resort... which means at any time Putin loses his patience he can cut Europe off from Russian energy of all types and really hurt them bad.

They are so lucky he is a nice guy.

Stating the obvious

UKR REPORT
@UKR_Report
·
2h
Replying to
@UKR_Report
#NEW The Swedish prosecutor investigating the attack said on Thursday that a state actor's involvement in the explosion at the Nord Stream pipelines last year was the "definitely main scenario", but that it would be difficult to verify his identity.

That's a Swedish kinda joke. Insipid!

I suppose we should be thankful they are at least not claiming it was Putin.

Spriter
@Spriter99880
The Russian Federation and Turkey believe that the situation in the world confirms the need to create a gas hub, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said after talks with his Turkish counterpart Cavusoglu in Ankara.
In the picture: potential gas suppliers to the hub in Turkey and their opportunities

Novatek has launched the largest production workshop in Russia in Belokamenka, Murmansk Region. This is the world's first plant for the serial production of natural gas liquefaction lines installed on gravity-type platforms.

The structure has impressive dimensions: 93 meters in height, 280 meters in length and 345 meters in width, that is, almost like a 20-storey house. In addition to the final assembly, it is planned to repair and maintain marine equipment at the site, which is involved in the development of offshore oil and gas fields.

The workshop is made of five spans, where three modules of the upper structures of the offshore platform can be assembled simultaneously.

Estimates of investments in the construction of the workshop vary from different sources: from 120 to 350 billion rubles.

The enterprise, which will employ more than 5,000 people around the clock, is part of the Center for the Construction of Large-capacity offshore structures of the Arctic LNG-2 project.

US Hatched Plan to Threaten Russia With Nord Stream Sabotage in Late 2021, Sy Hersh Says, by Ilya Tsukanov for Sputniknews. 04.10.2023.

President Biden publicly warned Moscow in early February of 2022 that the US would bring “an end” to the Nord Stream network if Russia began a military operation in Ukraine. Washington made good on that promise last September, with veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh providing the details in a bombshell Substack piece this past February.

The Biden administration hatched plans to threaten Moscow with the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines about two months before the escalation of the Donbass crisis into a full-blown conflagration between Russia and Ukraine, Seymour Hersh has said.

“The demand was issued just before New Year’s Eve 2021, probably around Christmas,” Hersh said in an interview with independent German media published Monday. “The idea was to find something out of the ordinary that the president could use, a lure or a threat to convince Putin not to attack.”

“Above all, it was a threat. I don’t think this administration is very good at persuasion. They operate more along the lines of ‘you are either with us or against us’. The idea was to tell Putin: if you cross the border into Ukraine, we will blow up the pipelines,” Hersh added.

The veteran investigative journalist also pointed to another interesting detail about the weeks leading up to the conflict in Ukraine, saying he found it interesting that “hardly anyone pays attention” to the fact that the forces Russia had at its disposal in February 2022 numbered about 120,000 men, far fewer than required to defeat a country the size of Ukraine.

“So if people are still saying that Putin wanted to ‘take’ Kiev, you have to tell them: that’s just not the case. That would not have been possible at all. There were at least 60,000 troops in Kiev [in the spring of 2022, ed.]. And because Putin didn’t take the city, people like to say he failed. But I just can’t imagine how he could have done it with so few troops. It’s also worth remembering that the US and NATO greatly increased the numbers and upgraded the capabilities of the Ukrainian army in recent years, making this army at least formidable,” Hersh said.

The journalist suggested that whatever motivated Russia’s actions in the early days of the conflict, “one thing is clear: [Putin] did not use extreme force.” Hersh believes that what Moscow wants in Ukraine isn’t “physical control” or annexation, but its demilitarization and a measure of “political control over an area, particularly as far as foreign policy is concerned.” The “problem” driving the crisis, in Hersh’s estimation, is that Kiev has rejected demilitarization.

Furthermore, he said, even if Moscow and Kiev were willing to negotiate a compromise, “in the end it won’t matter because we [the US, ed.] don’t want it that way. The US has promised new money, including for fighter jets. We could train Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 – which, by the way, is an old plane that the Russians could shoot down relatively easily. But don’t tell that to the newspaper people. What the US and NATO are doing right now lies somewhere between ‘stupid’ and ‘crazy.’”

Whatever comes next with the Nord Stream investigations, Hersh is confident that the Biden administration will “never admit” its responsibility, and that the legacy media in the US would be “perfectly happy” with such a state of affairs. The journalist fears the conflict in Ukraine could drag on for years, although “if Putin deploys his troops more decisively, things might go faster.” The US, he said, has already spent nearly $120 billion on the conflict to date, and will need to spend a lot more – something that might prove difficult as public opinion gradually turns against US policy.

Hersh also reiterated that the Nord Stream attack was just as much an attack on Europe as it was on Russia, pointing out that when the attack took place in September, “winter was just around the corner,” and Germany had proven only “partially successful” in filling up its underground reserves. Unusually mild weather and deliveries of explosively-priced liquefied natural gas helped, but led to a state of permanently high energy prices.

“What happens next? If it gets colder again in the fall and gas prices don’t come down, there will be more resentment against the man who started this crisis, Joe Biden. I don’t know what your chancellor is doing or what he’s done. I don’t know if he knew in advance or not. But by blowing up the pipelines, Biden was telling the Europeans: I don’t have your support, I’m afraid you might falter if it comes to a stalemate with Russia. It was his way of saying: I need more money from the NATO partners, maybe even troops, especially from Germany,” Hersh said. This could prove important for Biden in the long term, the journalist believes, given the threat of a US economic downturn, inflation, high interest rates and bank failures.

Hersh compared the decision to strike Nord Stream to the Bush administration’s decision to respond to 9/11 by invading Iraq, saying there’s a “word for” such policy: stupidity. “Biden certainly has a chance of being included in the list of dumbest post-war US presidents – blowing up an ally’s gas supply, leaving the German chancellor with problems keeping his citizens warm and Germany prosperous is unwise. I don’t know what will happen to Scholz. I really don’t know. I’m speaking to people from the Bundestag, but nothing seems to be happening there. Where is the German report [on Nord Stream, ed.]? When will it be published? In 3,000 years?”

The journalist pointed out that during the German chancellor’s famous visit to Washington in February 2022 about two weeks before Russia kicked off its special operation, where Biden warned openly that if Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, “there will be no longer a Nord Stream – we will bring an end to it,” the German chancellor stayed silent instead of challenging the US president.

“It would have been nice if Scholz had said: I support the president in everything he said, but blowing up the pipelines would be unacceptable. But he didn’t say anything. His biggest problem is that he has become a collaborator since my first Nord Stream story. He denied nothing, protested nothing, investigated nothing,” Hersh said.

Hersh’s bombshell reporting on the Nord Stream attack now serves as the basis of Russian calls for an independent, international investigation into the act of terror. After ignoring his reporting and then trying to smear the Pulitzer Prize winner as a “discredited journalist,” legacy media have come up with alternative explanations about who was responsible, citing a mysterious “pro-Ukrainian group” with no links to any government and a rented yacht purportedly used to carry out the attack. Media tweaked the “yacht” story last week to say that it may have been “only a decoy” in a much larger operation after a backlash about the original story’s unbelievable claims.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230410/us-hatched-plan-to-threaten-russia-with-nord-stream-sabotage-in-late-2021-sy-hersh-says-1109328188.html.

More Russian gas than ever for Spain: "Everything heroic is diluted and reality prevails", by Yarisley Urrutia for Sputniknews.lat., 04.11.2023.

Purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas in January and February 2023 registered strong increases compared to the previous year and consolidate Russia as the third largest gas supplier in the Iberian country. Experts point to a decrease in supplies from Algeria and the United States, they also stress the unviability of the European energy strategy.

On the energy level, 2022 meant a turnaround in Spain's supply policy. Algerian natural gas imports decreased, American liquefied gas imports increased dramatically and, despite the sanctions in force, Russian imports also increased.

Specifically and according to data from the Corporation for Strategic Reserves of Petroleum Products (CORES), Russian gas imports grew by 54.8% in 2022. In January, they soared by 192% compared to the same period of the previous year, then reaching 5,465 Gwh in February. Or what is the same: an increase of 151.4% year-on-year.

As a result, Russia is gaining a foothold with a 17.2% share in the Spanish gas import market. In contrast, the percentage in 2022 was 12.6% and in 2021 it was 8.9%, an index that more or less marked the general trend of Russian gas in Spain until then. That is to say, in 2023 Russia snatches Nigeria the third position in the list of the largest energy suppliers of Spain, surpassed only by Algeria and the USA.

How is it possible?

Despite the imposed sanctions regime, the contracts signed with Russian supply companies remain in force. The European Commission orders national operators not to renew them, so they are not terminated for the duration of their validity.

Given the country's energy needs and the new European supply scheme, could Spain afford for its gas operators not to renew these contracts?  "It would be tricky," warns Antonio Turiel, a researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona, to Sputnik. In the opinion of this specialist in hydrocarbons, Spain's margin of action in this field can hardly vary because "the market does not have much more gas movement capacity", although the increases in Russian imports may be rather apparent, as a result of the decrease in purchases from other suppliers.
"The US and Algeria should not be able to move so much gas right now. Spain has not significantly modified its regasification capacity. Besides, what matters is the absolute annual import volume because from month to month imports can vary a lot", says Turiel.

According to CORES statistics, Spanish gas imports actually fell by 16% in February (31,825 Gwh). 32.5% arrived via pipeline and the remaining 67.5% by methane tankers as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

"Reality prevails"

The supply of Russian LNG to Spain is currently assured for legal reasons: the fulfillment of contracts. Its renewal will attend to an economic reason and its non-renewal to political considerations.

In a context marked by a new European energy supply scheme that presents great complications and with an international panorama where, for example, Russian oil exports to India reach historic levels, it is worth asking whether all this responds to a logic of political game in high spheres.

"No, rather it responds to a reality. Everything heroic is diluted and reality imposes itself. The political game is coming now because we will have to justify what is being done," political scientist and former parliamentarian Manuel Monereo explains to Sputnik. For him, the Spanish acquisitions of Russian gas are also an expression of a duality:

"There are like two worlds: the one in the official narrative, where Putin is very bad, we are all against Putin and we are going to ruin his economy; and also the one in the real narrative, where Europe is still very dependent on gas and has replaced a dependence on Russian gas that was mutually advantageous, with another in which American gas is much more expensive and not enough for the needs of the continent."

"And what happens? It's that the strategy of strangling Russia economically has failed and that the West's energy project is not viable. The official discourse in the EU is still very supportive and heroic with Kiev, but when it comes down to it, it is stuck on pins and needles, because the economic and social cost for Europe is enormous" says Monereo.

Conflict of interest

In this situation, this veteran Spanish political scientist points out a factor that qualifies as "desperation" and affects the leading figure of the United States in the new framework of economic relations of the EU: "Either we continue to escalate the conflict in Ukraine or we sit down to negotiate an honourable exit for Washington."

"For instance, Macron's statements after his visit to Beijing demonstrate the doubts of the French government to continue a strategy that leads France to confront Russia and also China. This accelerates a consequence: that the questioning of American hegemony is aggravated, especially on the economic level. And that leads to a very old issue: that Europe's interests do not coincide with those of the United States," concludes Monereo.

Yandex Translate from Spanish

https://sputniknews.lat/20230411/mas-gas-ruso-que-nunca-para-espana-todo-lo-heroico-se-diluye-y-la-realidad-se-impone-1137988503.html.

"Either we continue to escalate the conflict in Ukraine or we sit down to negotiate an honourable exit for Washington."

How could they have an honourable exit..... honour has nothing at all to do with this conflict and their only exit is like their exit from Afghanistan...

I don't like the fact that Russians are dying on both sides and not nearly enough nazis are getting killed, because those cowards are hovering away from the front lines out of reach like Politiicans and the rich always do... but any surrender from Kiev needs to include their side giving up their arms and Russian troops moving into the entire country while referendums are organised and held for the people to decide their future... options like EU and HATO membership will not be options, but becoming neutral states will be options. Depending on the results the Odessa region might be allowed to join the RF, but not a huge amount of other territory should be considered... Territory that western companies have bought for farmland should be occupied and given to the victims of Kievs oppression and laws about the sale of land and valuable property should be made to prevent foreign buy ups of valuable resources. Oligarch properties and businesses will be nationalised and used to generate funds to help rebuild the neutral regions to get to a reasonable economy and with trade with Russia they should do a lot better than they have for the last decade when trade relations were cut by kiev.

Seymour Hersh: Nord Stream Sabotage Led to ‘Total Breakdown’ Between White House, Intel Community, 04.12.2023.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines and lack of strategic planning with regard to Ukraine have caused a growing rift between the White House and the US intelligence community, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said in a new article on Wednesday, citing an intelligence official.

"There is a total breakdown between the White House leadership and the intelligence community," the intelligence official was quoted by Hersh as saying.

The alleged rift dates back to the covert operation last fall to blow up Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines, a move that was purportedly ordered by President Joe Biden.

"Destroying the Nord Stream pipelines was never discussed, or even known in advance, by the community," the official said.

Another issue dividing the Biden administration and the intelligence community is the lack of planning on Ukraine. The official highlighted Biden’s decision to deploy two brigades a few miles from the Ukrainian border in response to Russia’s special military operation.

The actual manpower of the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions could total more than 20,000, but there is still "no evidence that any senior official in the White House really knows what’s going on in" the brigades, the intelligence officials told Hersh.

"Are they there as part of a NATO exercise or to serve with NATO combat units if the West decides to engage Russians units inside Ukraine? Are they there to train or to be a trigger? The rules of engagement say they can’t attack Russians unless our boys are getting attacked," the official said.

The official said that while the White House lacks clarity on its policy in Ukraine, the Pentagon is somewhat optimistically preparing for an end to the conflict. Two months ago, the US Joint Chiefs tasked members of the staff with drafting an end-of-war treaty to present to the Russians "after their defeat on the Ukraine battlefield," Hersh said, citing a source.

But it remains unclear what will happen if the Pentagon's scenario goes wrong and Ukrainian forces fail on the battlefield: Will the two American brigades deployed close to the war zone "join forces with NATO troops and face off with the Russian army inside Ukraine?" Hersh asks.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230412/seymour-hersh-nord-stream-sabotage-led-to-total-breakdown-between-white-house-intel-community-1109392166.html

Russia boosts gasoline exports to Africa – Reuters, 04.13.2023.

The country shipped over 800,000 tons of the fuel to the continent in the first quarter as it redirected deliveries from the EU.

Russia’s gasoline exports surged by nearly 50% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023, largely due to increased shipments to Africa, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing Kpler ship tracking data.

Russia’s total gasoline exports over January-March amounted to 2.2 million tons, up from about 1.5 million tons in the same period last year, according to the report. Africa imported about a third of these volumes, or some 812,000 tons, the data showed.

The cargoes were delivered directly to the continent, the report states. Prior to the EU ban on Russian seaborne oil products introduced in February, Russia used to export gasoline to Africa via Latvia’s Ventspils Port. Refinitiv data showed that Ventspils imported about 550,000 tons of Russian gasoline intended for Africa in the fourth quarter of last year.

Most of the Russian gasoline delivered to Africa in the first quarter went to Nigeria, amounting to 488,000 tons, up from a mere 38,000 tons in the same period last year.

Russia has been forced to find new buyers for its oil and petroleum products due to the EU ban, as well as the $100 per barrel price cap on Russian gasoline and gasoil introduced this year by a coalition of G7 countries. Russia used to export around 2.5 million tons (60,000 barrels per day) of gasoline to Europe annually.

Russia repeatedly warned that it would not sell its oil and oil products to countries that support or even mention price caps in their supply contracts.

Apart from Africa, Russia has been stepping up deliveries of oil and petroleum products to countries in Asia and the Middle East. Earlier this week, reports emerged that it recently made its first fuel deliveries to Iran by rail, sending about 30,000 tons of gasoline and diesel to the country in February and March.

https://www.rt.com/africa/574661-russia-gasoline-exports-africa/

"For instance, Macron's statements after his visit to Beijing demonstrate the doubts of the French government to continue a strategy that leads France to confront Russia and also China. This accelerates a consequence: that the questioning of American hegemony is aggravated, especially on the economic level. And that leads to a very old issue: that Europe's interests do not coincide with those of the United States," concludes Monereo.

Tough shit, they should have thought about Europe's interests before the war, not 15 months after its start and them having done everything to collapse, strangle, defeat Russia short of declaring war on it - and none of it working. And the only reason that they haven't declared war is because of the presence of nuclear weapons - they've certainly whipped up enough hatred and contempt for Russia to fuel 100 years of outright war against it.

So **** em, there's no going back to business as usual for them, and they will continue to be humiliated in Africa and driven out of everywhere Russia has the means to contest them - which will hopefully be an ever expanding slice of the globe. Because it's a priority for Russia to contain and weaken its enemies. Even if the Ukrainian front would be won tomorrow.
So they can by all means go ahead and think about where their interests coincide with those of the United States and where they don't. It makes no difference for anyone in Russia; both Europe and United States are threats. And the sooner Russia finds alternative buyers for their LNG the better too.

Russian oil exports hit April 2020 record, IEA says, 04.14.2023.

The IEA said that Russian oil exports in March were the highest since April 2020.

MOSCOW, April 14 - RIA Novosti. Exports of Russian oil and oil products in March were the highest since April 2020, according to the monthly report of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

"Russian oil exports in March rose to the highest level since April 2020. <...> Total supplies increased by 0.6 million barrels per day to 8.1 million barrels per day," the document says.

Including the supply of petroleum products increased by 450 thousand barrels per day compared to February - up to 3.1 million.

The revenues that Russia, according to the IEA, could receive from oil supplies increased by a billion dollars by the previous month to 12.7 billion, but were 43 percent lower than a year ago.

In 2022, OPEC and OPEC+ excluded the IEA data from their calculations, replacing them with information from analyst firms Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak explained that this was due to the bias of the agency.

In February, the Deputy Prime Minister reported that oil exports from Russia in 2022 reached 242 million tons, an increase of 7.6 percent. According to the Federal Customs Service, in monetary terms, the country increased the export of mineral fuel, oil and distillation products by 42.8% compared to 2021, to $383.7 billion.

https://ria.ru/20230414/neft-1865269968.html