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Venezuelan Government And Opposition Sign ‘Social Agreement’

November 28, 2022 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. , , ,
Following the renewed talks in Mexico, Washington issued an expanded sanctions waiver for Chevron to partly resume its Venezuela operations. The Nicolás Maduro government and the US-backed rightwing opposition have signed a partial agreement focused on social issues following the resumption of the dialogue process. After a year-long hiatus, the government delegation disclosed that the agreement had been “exhaustively discussed” in Caracas with Norway as a mediator. On Saturday, they traveled to Mexico City to present a new deal that relates to the management of US $3 billion in Venezuelan funds seized by Washington. The document established a joint commission to follow and verify the correct implementation of the agreement.

OPEC’s Body Blow To Biden Presidency

October 11, 2022 M.K. Bhadrakumar, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
The Joe Biden administration is swiftly establishing a narrative that the recent OPEC decision to cut oil production by two million tonnes is a geopolitical “aligning” by Saudi Arabia and Russia. It taps into the Russophobia in the Beltway and deflects attention from the humiliating defeat of President Biden’s personal diplomacy with Saudi Arabia. But it is not without basis, either. Foreign policy was reputed to be Biden’s forte but is turning out to be his nemesis. An ignominious end is not unlikely; as with Jimmy Carter, West Asia may become the burial ground of his carefully cultivated reputation. The magnitude of what is unfolding is simply staggering. Biden realizes belatedly that territorial conquests in Ukraine is not the real story but embedded in it is the economic war and within that is the energy war that has been incubating through the past eight-month period following the Western sanctions on Russia.

Exclusive: Tracking The Flow Of Stolen Syrian Oil Into Iraq

September 29, 2022 The Cradle. , , ,
Although the porous Iraqi-Syrian border stretches for over 600 kilometers, about half of it – in practice – is not subject to the authority of either state. Over the years, this lack of comprehensive border control has given rise to a number of security threats to both nations, not least the persistent presence of ISIS elements in border regions. From the Iraqi side, there has been a pro-active approach in countering this low-level terrorism with the establishment of two defensive lines by the Joint Operations Command, in addition to concrete barriers and watchtowers. Smuggling from Syria into Iraqi border towns is another salient feature of current border activities, and one which presents both a threat and an opportunity for the US-led international coalition whose forces operate on both sides of the border.

Washington Moves To Annex North-East Syria By Proxy

May 21, 2022 Vanessa Beeley, Orinoco Tribune. , , , ,
Under cover of media focus on the NATO proxy war in Ukraine and the Zionist assassination of Al Jazeera senior correspondent Shireen AbuAkleh, Washington is making moves to annex Syrian territory. On May 11th during the meeting of the “global coalition against Islamic State” in Marrakech, Morocco the U.S acting assistant Secretary of State, , made an extraordinary move that has largely gone under the radar of even independent media. Everyone is distracted by events in Ukraine and the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Nuland who famously exclaimed “Fuck the EU” during recorded conversations that exposed the US State Department involvement in the 2014 coup in Ukraine and the subsequent massacre in Odessa by the Washington’s Nazi Contras is now turning her attention to Syria’s north-eastern territory.

Western Double-Standards – Russian Oil Bad, Saudi Oil Good

March 16, 2022 Gavin O'Reilly, Popular Resistance. , , ,
On Monday it was reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would travel to the oil-rich desert kingdom in order to seek new supply deals following last week’s announcement that Britain would phase out oil imports from Russia by the end of the year in response to Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine – similar to the United States’ recent announcement that Russian oil imports would immediately be banned outright, with US President Joe Biden also seeking an increase in supply from Saudi Arabia and its’ Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) partner, the UAE; a request that has apparently been snubbed by both Kingdoms. To even request an increase in oil supply from Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in the first place however, demonstrates the hollowness of the United States and Britain’s assertions that their suspension of oil imports from Russia is due to human rights concerns amidst the current military operation in Ukraine...

US Officials Meet Maduro, Fail To Drive Wedge Between Venezuela And Russia

March 8, 2022 José Luis Granados Ceja, Venezuelanalysis. , , ,
Mexico City, Mexico – A high-level United States (US) government delegation that visited Venezuela on Saturday failed to produce an agreement with the government of Nicolás Maduro. News of the delegation was first broken by the New York Times, which described the trip as the highest-level visit by US officials in years. Outlets subsequently reported that no agreement was reached. Caracas had not publicly commented on the meeting at the time of writing. According to Reuters, the US team was led by White House Latin America adviser Juan González and made “maximalist” demands concerning electoral guarantees. Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the US was seeking new presidential elections, a larger participation of foreign private capital in Venezuela’s oil industry and a public condemnation of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

How US Meddling Split Sudan

February 3, 2022 T J Coles, The Grayzone. , , ,
Like most countries, the Republic of South Sudan is a complex nation of shifting alliances and external influences. Recently, President Salva Kiir, who sports a Stetson hat gifted him by George W. Bush, signed a peace agreement with old enemies, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition. Around the same time, the so-called Embassy Troika consisting of the US, Britain, and Norway facilitated International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs for South Sudan. When China proposes investment schemes, US politicians call it “debt-trap diplomacy.” As has been seen in South Sudan, when Western corporations seek to plunder poor, resource-rich nations, they call it “development.” The West’s interest in South Sudan is oil. Invoking the colonial-era “white man’s burden” of 19th century imperialists, the US government-backed Voice of America recently justified foreign interference in South Sudan by pointing out that the country’s 3.5 billion proven barrels of crude cannot be easily exported due to the lack of pipeline infrastructure and financial mismanagement.

Biden’s Forest Service To Facilitate Quadrupling Of Oil Production

October 23, 2021 Center for Biological Diversity. , , ,
Salt Lake city, Utah - In a massive blow to U.S. efforts to address the climate crisis, the Biden administration is poised to approve a right-of-way through the Ashley National Forest that would take the climate-damaging Uinta Basin Railway one step closer to being built. The railway would enable crude oil production in the basin to quadruple to 350,000 barrels a day. Over a year, that much oil would produce planet-warming pollution conservatively estimated at 53 million tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the emissions from six of Utah’s dirtiest coal plants. At an October 22 meeting of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, board members discussed a recent meeting in Utah with U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

Venezuela’s Oil Production Bounces Back

June 12, 2021 Andreína Chávez Alava, Venezuelanalysis. , , ,
Guayaquil, Ecuador – Venezuela’s crude output increased in May, recovering from the previous month’s fall. The latest Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly report placed the Caribbean country’s May production at 531,000 oil barrels per day (bpd), a rebound from April’s 486,000 bpd, according to secondary sources. In contrast, state oil company PDVSA communicated a higher number of 582,000 bpd. The May figures are the highest in 12 months and put the nation back in the steady growth trend it has been experiencing since the beginning of the year after reaching historic lows in the second half of 2020.

Venezuela And Iran Deepen Alliance With ‘Perfect Trips’

March 1, 2021 Ricardo Vaz, Venezuelanalysis. , , ,
The Venezuelan government is shipping jet fuel to Iran as part of cooperation to tackle its gasoline and diesel shortages in the South American country. According to Reuters, state oil company PDVSA and its Iranian counterpart NIOC have agreed to a swap deal that sees Tehran ship gasoline to Caracas, with the vessels carrying jet fuel in the opposite direction. Venezuela currently has a glut of the latter, with air traffic all but ground to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement is described as a “perfect trip” in the maritime industry as the tankers travel fully loaded in both directions. Oil export monitor Tanker Trackers reported that Iran’s handysize Forest tanker docked in El Palito refinery on February 20 and unloaded 44 million liters of gasoline, approximately 277,000 barrels.

US-Backed Militants Steal 140,000 Barrels Per Day Of Syrian Oil

February 25, 2021 News Desk, AMN News. , , ,
Tehran - Militants of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by Washington, steal 140,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis from oil fields in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah, according to a report. Ghassan Halim Khalil, governor of Hasakah, announced the grim news in an interview with the Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday, adding that the SDF militants are plundering Syrian oil in various ways, all with the participation and support of American forces deployed to the region. He stressed that precise intelligence collected and received show that US-backed militants use tanker trucks from the Taramish area in Tigris and al-Malikiyah to smuggle the Syrian oil to neighboring Iraq.

How ExxonMobil Uses Divide And Rule To Get Its Way

February 4, 2021 Vijay Prashad, Peoples Dispatch. , , , ,
Tensions rise between neighboring Guyana and Venezuela over a piece of land that has been disputed since at least 1835. Both Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro have exchanged sharp words about the status of the Essequibo region, which both countries claim. Since 1990, the two countries have pursued their claims through a United Nations “good offices” process; as recently as 2013, President Maduro and Guyana’s then-President Donald Ramotar said that the discussions over Essequibo were “going well” under this UN framework. Everything changed in 2015, and since then the tensions between the two countries have flared up.

Bomb Libya And Take Its Oil

December 1, 2020 Ben Norton, The Grayzone. , , ,
“Unless we take the oil from Libya, I have no interest in Libya,” Donald Trump declared in an April 2011 interview on CNN’s “Newsroom.” The U.S. government was considering military intervention in the oil-rich North African nation at the time. Trump said he would only participate if Washington exploited Libya’s natural resources in return. “Libya is only good as far I’m concerned for one thing — this country takes the oil. If we’re not taking the oil, no interest,” he added. NATO claimed its U.S.-backed bombing campaign was meant to protect Libyans who were protesting the regime of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

Modern Piracy And US Sanctions

October 31, 2020 Orinoco Tribune. , , ,
Washington announced in August that it had confiscated 1.1 million barrels of gasoline from four tankers en route between the two countries, which are both under illegal US sanctions. “We estimate that in excess of $40 million will be recouped by the United States related to the sale of petroleum from those four vessels,” Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters by telephone. He added that a “great portion” of it would be contributed to a US fund for victims of “state-sponsored terrorism,” without providing any details.

UAE, Oman And UK Tell Court US Seized Their Oil

September 5, 2020 By Haik Gugarats, Argus Media. , , ,
Shippers based in the UAE, Oman and the UK told a US court today they hold title to the cargoes seized by the US aboard four tankers that allegedly were transporting petroleum products from Iran to Venezuela. The US Justice Department on 14 August said it took custody of 1.16mn bl of Iranian product aboard four Greek-owned, Liberia-flagged tankers — the Bella, the Bering, the Luna and the Pandi. The vessels were carrying cargoes — interchangeably described by US attorneys as gasoil, gasoline and refined oil — from Iran to Venezuela, the US said. The three companies said they had the right to "title, possession and control" of the cargoes. Today's filing adds a new twist to what the Justice Department described as the first seizure of Iranian cargoes by the US since the re-imposition of sanctions in 2018 banning Iran's exports of crude and products.
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