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No one political group invented international, "global," trade in raw, intermediate, and finished goods yesterday or when the USSR devolved into its several sovereign nation-states' governments and treasuries. Neither was the allocation of resources for subsistence, surplus (stored value), nor profit by one  extracted from another's instant want and poverty. Two sides of every trade is the ancient union.

At this juncture in world history, in some regions, 'consumer' segments, households, accustomed to instant gratification, the 500 ticker symbols, the face of any one business executive, or any one politician masks the fallacy of market equilibrium and ineluctable free trade, paradoxically, enforced by intra-government selections of "trading partners" among nations and corporate trusts among domestic industries.

At this juncture, while some people fret over the significance of any one politician's motive for apparently upsetting "international norms" of free trade, sovereign states, and political divisions said to constitute a "rational system of government", let us recall that the opening act of Europe's energy "crisis" began in Washington DC to benefit "US-based" oil and gas producers and international investors. U.S. Senators Introduce Expedited LNG for American Allies Act, 2012
archived Mr Juncker Goes to Washington, EU-U.S. Joint Statement: Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports from the U.S.

reference
Liang et al., "The role of natural gas as a primary fuel in the near future, including comparisons of acquisition, transmission and waste handling costs of as with competitive alternatives" (2012)

EIA | Drilling natural gas wells and producing natural gas; wet Natural gas processed for sale and consumption

Council of Foreign Relations | The Shale Gas and Tight Oil Boom (2013)
"Rising oil prices help the U.S. petrochemicals industry as long as natural gas prices remain low. If enough domestic natural gas were exported such that U.S. natural gas prices again moved with oil prices, the U.S. petrochemicals industry would no longer benefit from rising oil prices."

wikiwtf | North Dakota oil boom, 2006-2020
rig count and pipelines, yanno, like Keystone
The Atlantic | A North Dakota Oil Boom Goes Bust (2015)

WorldBank | Rising efficiency gains in U.S. shale oil
"Booming U.S. shale oil production played a significant role in the oil price plunge from mid-2014 to early 2016. Efficiency gains in the sector lowered break-even prices considerably, making U.S. shale oil the de facto marginal cost producer on the international oil market. "

BLS | The 2014 plunge in import petroleum prices: What happened? (2015)
"After peaking at $107.95 a barrel on June 20, 2014, petroleum prices plunged to $44.08 a barrel by January 28, 2015, a drop of 59.2 percent in a little over 7 months"

by Cat on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 at 01:24:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Now would be a good time to lift the embargo on Iranian oil. Just declare a pause on Iranian sanctions, or declare a breakthrough.


"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 at 02:48:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The year 2014 was a critical year with the coup d'etat in Kyiv and crisis in Middle East, the quagmire of allied forces in Syria and rise of more extreme IS ... the outrage.

As I recall US shale oil in those years upset the OPEC markt and in Europe Ukraine was a prime target for future production .. think Burisma. The Gulf States added production to get global price below $60 a barrel to make shale production not profitable.

Today it will be LNG transport for the immediate future. As I had written it will bite the EU state hard, starting with Germany.

Life for everyone would be so much better when nations do not let economic competition lead to war, but use diplomacy to settle differences. Ever since the Soviet Union fell apart, that seems a bridge too far for the sole global military power.

The grievances of Russia were well defined and known. The US didn't much care starting under the Clinton years.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 at 05:37:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Wall Street stock markets are at an inflection point ... Dow 10% down from highs, NASDAQ even worse, with debt level quite high, due to inflation the FED needs to raise interest rates that will bite government budget for coming years ... a bit of recession will cool the market down, employment and in the EU at least will squeeze household budget for many as income will lag behind rising cost of living.

A look at what history shows about past stock market corrections

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed Feb 23rd, 2022 at 06:28:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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