| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Hurricane attacks windmills in China. |
| 2024-09-09 |
| [X] Has Halliburton been playing with that prototype chaos field again? It looks like they’re getting their butterfly wings really narrowly calibrated. |
| Link |
| Cyber |
| US's Largest Oil Company Faces Cyberattack |
| 2024-08-23 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] In the United States, the largest oilfield services company Halliburton has faced a cyberattack that affected a number of systems and is trying to eliminate the consequences. This was reported on August 21 by Reuters.  A company spokesman said Halliburton is aware of an issue affecting certain systems and is working to assess the cause and impact of the problem. The company has engaged "leading external experts" to help resolve the issue. |
| Link |
| Fifth Column |
| Portland State rioters blocked ambulance responding to medical emergency |
| 2024-05-26 |
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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| Link |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| US, Israel believe up to 80% of Hamas tunnels intact after 114 days of war – report | |
| 2024-01-29 | |
| [IsraelTimes] Israeli official estimates 20%-40% of network damaged or put out of order during war; military reports ‘high-intensity fighting’ in Khan Younis, skirmishes elsewhere in Strip After 114 days of fighting, as much as 80 percent of Hamas  ...a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...’s tunnel system beneath the Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... Strip could still remain intact, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. "could"
Amid the fighting in Gaza, US-led diplomatic efforts were taking place to develop a two-part plan for the release of over 130 hostages still held in the Strip who were kidnapped from Israel, in exchange for a pause in fighting of up to two months. The Journal report cited Israeli and US officials and noted that it is difficult to assess how much of the subterranean labyrinth has been destroyed by Israeli troops so far, but estimated that 20% to 40% of it has been damaged or rendered unusable. Since launching a ground offensive in the wake of the October 7 massacre, in which Hamas-led bully boyz killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages, Israeli forces have worked to destroy the tunnels, uncovering more and more of the Gaza-ruling terror organization’s underground network.  Some of the tunnels have been bombed, while others have been flooded. However,if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... progress is slow as underground passages must be mapped and checked for booby traps and hostages before Israeli forces can destroy them. A senior Israeli military official told the Journal that the IDF was focused on eliminating "nodes" within the tunnels where Hamas operatives are hiding, instead of demolishing entire networks. "It’s a very hard mission. It’s done slowly, very carefully. It’s urban warfare unseen globally," the official said. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other terror commanders are believed to be hiding underground. The report cited Israeli officials who said that the Gaza terror chief is believed to be in a command center in a tunnel under Khan Younis, along with some of the hostages. Earlier this month it was reported that senior Israeli defense officials now assess that Hamas’s Gaza tunnel network is between 350 and 450 miles long, far longer than previously believed. The estimate reported by The New York Times  ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... is markedly higher than an Israel Defense Forces assessment last month that there are some 250 miles of Hamas tunnels under the Gaza Strip, and an astounding figure given the enclave is only some 140 square miles in total size. In the largest operation in a month, Israeli forces over the past few days encircled and pushed through Khan Younis, where many Paleostinians had sheltered after leaving northern Gaza, the early focus of the war. In recent operations in Khan Younis, the Egoz commando unit spotted and eliminated a Hamas cell armed with RPGs and found weapons nearby; the Paratroopers Brigade killed several button men and located weapons; and the 7th Armored Brigade directed ... KABOOM!... s on two Hamas operatives in the city, the IDF said. In northern Gaza, the IDF said reservists of the 5th Brigade located a tunnel network and destroyed it. The troops also killed several button men and located weapons in the area, it added. In central Gaza, the IDF said the Nahal Brigade directed a drone to strike a Hamas operative who was spotted nearby. The brigade killed several more button men in battles over the past day, the IDF added. Paleostinians, meanwhile, have been fleeing further south from Khan Younis toward Rafah, close to the Egyptian border, where the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... says most of Gaza’s estimated 1.7 million displaced people have gathered. Many of them live in the street in "conditions of desperation conducive to a complete breakdown in order," said Ajith Sunghay of the UN Human Rights Office. AFP images showed people wading through ankle-deep water around plastic shelters in Rafah, where bombardment still threatens. The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group has said surgical capacity at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis was "virtually nonexistent." The World Health Organization and MSF have issued urgent warnings about Nasser Hospital, saying the remaining staff could barely function with supplies running out and intense fighting nearby. WHO footage showed people in the crowded facility being treated on blood-smeared floors as frantic loved ones shouted and jostled. Cats scavenged on a mound of medical waste. The Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy Society said the al-Amal hospital was also "under siege with heavy gunfire." The Israeli military accuses Hamas of operating from tunnels under Gaza hospitals and of using the medical facilities as command centers. It has issued footage from Hamas tunnels discovered underneath several hospitals. Vowing to destroy the terror group, Israel launched a wide-scale military campaign after the October 7 massacre, which the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says has killed over 26,000 people and maimed some 64,000 people. The figures are unverified and are believed to include close to 10,000 Hamas operatives Israel said it has killed during fighting in the Strip, as well as civilians killed by misfired Paleostinian rockets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing growing domestic pressure over his handling of the conflict, doubled down on his vow to remove Hamas from Gaza. "If we don’t eliminate Hamas terrorists... the next massacre is only a matter of time," he said in a televised statement on Saturday. | |
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| Economy |
| Dow surges over 700 points as corporate earnings pour in |
| 2022-07-20 |
 [NYP] Wall Street had one of its best days in weeks Tuesday as the Dow jumped more than 700 points and investors pored over how much profit companies made during the spring.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 754.44 points, or 2.4%, to 31,827.05, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 353 points, or 3.1% higher. The S&P 500 was 2.8% higher, a day after an early 1% gain gave way to a loss. Stocks have dropped roughly 20% so far this year on worries about rising interest rates and high inflation, which puts an even brighter spotlight than usual on how much profit companies are making. If earnings hold up, it would provide a major support for markets. But if CEOs warn about troubles ahead, another tumble may be on the way. More types of companies are reporting how much they earned during the spring, broadening out from the banks that dominated the earliest part of the reporting season. Toy company Hasbro jumped 2.9% after it reported stronger profit than analysts expected. Oilfield services provider Halliburton rose 0.9% after its profit and revenue topped forecasts. Health care giant Johnson & Johnson added 0.6% after it likewise beat expectations. |
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| Iraq |
| Kurdistan Region pockets over three billion dollars in oil revenue in first quarter of 2022 |
| 2022-07-08 |
Is that enough to be self-supporting? [Rudaw] The Kurdistan Region has pocketed over three billion dollars in the first three months of 2022 from oil revenue, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) media and information department, reaching a net income of over one billion dollars.The data from the KRG stated that the Region had exported over 34.3 million barrels of oil since the start of the year, at the average price of 85.4 dollars per barrel. The total revenue for the first three months of 2022 was estimated to be over three billion dollars, while the net income, following the repayment of debts to oil companies, operation costs, and pipeline costs, was placed at over 1.3 billion dollars. The KRG exported a total of nearly 80 million barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2021, collecting a net $1.7 billion, from a total revenue of 4.1 billion dollars. Iraq’s oil ministry claimed on Monday that US energy giants Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton had informed them of their decision to stop tendering for projects in the Kurdistan Region, adding that this comes in compliance with the Iraqi top court’s decision to outlaw the Region’s oil and gas law. It is unclear what effect this will have on the Region’s future revenue. The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court  ...the political football known as The Highest Court in the Land, home of penumbrae and emanations...in February found the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law to be "unconstitutional," therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Region’s oil and gas sector. The KRG responded to the decision, saying that the court’s ruling is not only "unconstitutional" but also "unjust." According to the KRG’s annual report audited by Deloitte, ...a nice touch — very professional... over 152 million barrels of oil were exported throughout 2021 via the Kurdistan Export Pipeline. Sold at an average $59.459 per barrel, the Region’s oil made a revenue of nine billion dollars, with a net income of 3.965 billion dollars. |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| ‘Digging In’: Koch Bros., also Oilfield & Agribusiness Giants Remaining in Russia (Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bayer) |
| 2022-03-22 |
| [LATimes] The “hall of shame,” as Yale business professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his colleague Steven Tian have labeled the roster of corporate responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine they’re maintaining, includes 24 companies that are “digging in, defying demands for exit or reduction of activities.” The list also includes 80 companies that are scaling back some but not all activities or deferring new investments. Among the consumer companies identified as “digging in” are the fast-food chain Subway; Reebok; Bacardi (maker of its eponymous rum, Dewar’s Scotch and Grey Goose vodka, among other brands); the electronics companies LG and Asus; and Natura, owner of Avon cosmetics. Some of those firms and others that have scaled back operations have asserted that they’re remaining in place to avoid harming their innocent Russian employees. That’s the argument made by Dave Robertson, president and chief operating officer of Koch Industries, which is known for its support of far-right politicians in the U.S. Robertson said that the Koch subsidiary Guardian Industries employs 600 workers at two glass factories in Russia, which will continue to operate. “We will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them,” he said Wednesday in a statement. “Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.” Others say business models that involve licensing or franchise agreements preclude them from promptly or fully shutting down. That’s the story told by Subway, which says it has about 450 restaurants in Russia, “all independently owned and operated by local franchisees,” Subway says. “We don’t directly control these independent franchisees and their restaurants, and have limited insight into their day-to-day operations.” The change in the political atmosphere in Russia under Putin seems to have caught Western corporate managements by surprise. That shouldn’t have happened. It was always clear that Russia’s post-Soviet economic and political landscape was unstable at best. Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika, or restructuring, yielded to financial lawlessness and the rise of a privileged class of oligarchs resembling organized crime capos. Corporate managements didn’t know how to react when Putin’s behavior began to inject even worse instability into the Russian environment. “Putin had his pouts and tantrums, but they thought they could just glide through them, that they wouldn’t be a serious threat,” Sonnenfeld says. “The spirit of perestroika was wildly optimistic,” he says. “These brands — Levi Strauss and Pepsi and McDonald’s — thought they were representing Western values and a spirit of freedom and global harmony. They were blind to the signals because of perestroika ideology and the religion of the free market.” The harvest has been a sudden rush to the exits that could mean the loss of billions of dollars in long-term investments. The most notable companies identified by Sonnenfeld as “digging in” are three major oil-field services firms, all based in Houston: Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger. Russia’s oil and gas industry isn’t currently subject to the full panoply of international sanctions, but it’s dependent on those firms for drilling and production. The U.S. has banned imports of Russian petroleum products and forbidden U.S. companies to make new investments in the Russian industry; the European Union has also banned new capital investments. Of the three, only Halliburton has commented publicly about the sanctions. The comments came during a meeting with securities analysts on Jan. 20, when Chief Executive Jeffrey Allen Miller was asked whether the prospect of sanctions would affect “the trajectory of the business in Russia.” Miller replied, “These are things we’ve seen and done before. Always unfortunate in so many ways for so many people. But from a business perspective, we’ve managed these sorts of things up and down for, I hate to say, nearly 100 years. So these are the kinds of things that we would manage through.” |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| From Ukrainian Perspective: Russian invasion of Ukraine, March 21st, 2022 |
| 2022-03-21 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Korrespondent] 21:20 A temporary ban on the use of video recorders in cars and motorcycles has been introduced throughout Ukraine , said the head of the Public Relations Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Bogdan Senik.  21:05 Russia has given Belarus a 5-6 year grace period on government loans, the Belarusian Finance Ministry has said. 21:02 The Ukrainian military eliminated the commander of the reconnaissance company "DPR" Sergei Mashkin with the call sign "Cannibal", reports the operational-tactical group Skhid. 20:51 Six countries have already begun investigating Russian war crimes , said Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova. These are Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. 20:49 In Chernihiv, the occupiers fired on a car that was delivering water to local residents. As a result, two people died and several were injured, reports Suspіlne. 20:25 Thousands of people rally in support of Ukraine in Tel Aviv. In particular, the people of Israel demand to unblock the reception of refugees from Ukraine, to impose sanctions against Russia, to allow the sale of weapons to Ukraine. 20:22 The media write that the official VKontakte group was hacked - users are sent messages with information about Russia's war against Ukraine. 19:42 In the Nikolaev region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine recently captured a supertrophy: a new command and staff vehicle R-149MA1 of the Russian army. The vehicle is part of an automated command and control system for Russian troops known as the Constellation, Gerashchenko writes. According to him, the capture of the R-149MA1 most likely indicates the liquidation of the headquarters of the enemy unit to the level of at least a battalion. 19:35 The White House announced Biden's trip to Europe next week, while specifying that he is not going to Ukraine. 19:33 From March 21, Ukrzaliznytsia launches Darnitsa-Svyatoshino shuttle flights in Kyiv, which will help residents of the left bank of the capital to get to the right. 19:23 In one day, the entire leadership of the Vladimir SOBR was destroyed in Ukraine: Lieutenant Colonel Ilya Pyatkin, Lieutenant Colonel Roman Ryabov, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Savvateev, Deputy Commander of the SOBR of the Department of the Russian Guard in the Vladimir Region, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Rodionov. The Vladimir SOBR said that they had not had any losses in the previous 30 years. 19:22 In Kherson, the occupiers have begun replacing military units with units of the National Guard and the police, the General Staff reports. 19:18 During the next attempt to attack Kiev, the invaders lost the combined detachment of the 6th tank regiment, the General Staff reports. In some areas in the Brovarsky district, enemy units remain cut off from the supply of fuel and food. 19:14 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the visit of the head of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar to Moscow, agreements were reached on sending Libyan "volunteers" to Ukraine. The transfer of military mercenaries will probably be carried out at the expense of the private military company Liga (formerly Wagner), by aircraft of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation. 19:11 The military commissariats of the Kuban, Primorsky Territory, the Yaroslavl Region and the regions of the Ural Federal District of the Russian Federation are carrying out covert mobilization activities, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. However, the population, according to available information, does not seek to participate in the war. Mass cases of evasion from service take place. Also, Russian propagandists have begun preparing the population of the Russian Federation for a long war. In addition, mobilization continues in the temporarily occupied territories of Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The management of educational institutions (technical schools, institutes) calls students over the age of 18 for registration. 18:42 Zelensky addressed the people of Israel and the government of the country: "Moscow says that without the destruction of us there will be no security for them. They said the same 80 years ago. People of Israel, you know what kind of land Babi Yar is. They hit on him, they hit Uman. What will be left of this land?" The Ukrainian president turned to Israel for help: "Everyone in Israel knows that your missile defense is super-powerful. You can definitely help protect the lives of Ukrainians and Ukrainian Jews." Zelensky recalled that "Ukrainians saved Jews 80 years ago," "so you have that choice." 18:17 For the first time since the capture at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on March 20, a partial rotation of personnel and the evacuation of people who were on the territory of the station were carried out. A total of 64 people were taken out. 46 volunteers - workers of the station went to replace them to perform their official duties and ensure the functioning of the enterprise, Energoatom reports. 17:46 From next week, Ukrzaliznytsia introduces paid travel by trains in directions from west to center, east and south, as well as abroad. At the same time, evacuation trains and electric trains will remain free. 17:43 The command of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that the 80th Airborne Assault Brigade defeated the invaders from the 126th Coastal Defense Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the southern direction. This military unit is based in the occupied Crimea in the village of Perevalnoye - before the occupation, there was a point of permanent deployment of the 36th coastal defense brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, part of which betrayed Ukraine and remained in the occupied territory in 2014. 17:31 The UN Food and Agriculture Organization plans to provide assistance to almost 23 thousand Ukrainian agricultural producers. As of March 18, FAO has received about 10% of the $50 million earmarked for Ukraine's Rapid Response Plan. These funds will help villagers and farmers in Donetsk, Lugansk, Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions. 17:00 Deputy mayor of Dnipro Mikhail Lysenko said that the Kadyrovtsy, who are killed in the region, will be buried in pig skins - this is the official decision of the city. "Thanks to meatpacking plants," he wrote. 16:52 Zelensky in an interview with CNN: “I am ready for negotiations with him [Putin]. I have been ready for the past two years. And I think that without negotiations we cannot end this war. We must use any format, chance, to negotiate, to talk to Putin. But if these attempts are in vain, it will mean World War III." 16:51 The Russian army turns the occupied and surrounded settlements into concentration camps, where it starves the civilian population, Denisova said. 16:49 The Russians are shelling Kiev to figure out the location of the air defense system and intimidate people, Klitschko said. 16:44 The Russian invaders once again failed to build their checkpoint near the police post at the exit from Izyum - they are being destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As reported in the city council, the colonel of the engineering troops of the Russian Federation was liquidated. 16:37 Conflict Intelligence Team reports that Russia continues to deploy troops for the war with Ukraine. In particular, a video filmed on March 17 in Rostov-on-Don shows a train with tanks, which, according to the Russian Railways database, is coming from the Sibirtsevo station in the Primorsky Territory, where the 60th motorized rifle brigade of the 5th combined arms army is stationed. Armored personnel carriers and trucks, engineering vehicles are traveling in the echelon. CIT journalists consider the intensity of the transfer to be less than a month before the invasion. In their opinion, the Russian forces may have another 40 unused battalion tactical groups, the total number of which may exceed 20,000 fighters. 16:33 Podolyak urged officials not to voice information about the supply of weapons to Ukraine, as well as about the redeployment of Ukrainian troops and the directions in which the Armed Forces of Ukraine are going to counterattack. 16:27 The Swiss oilfield services company Weatherford has become the latest of the "big four", which decided to suspend the supply of equipment and new investments in Russia, as well as the deployment of new technologies in the country. Previously, Baker Hughes, Halliburton and Schlumberger announced the termination of work or the stoppage of investments. 16:05 Podolyak said that the Russian Defense Ministry General Staff had absolutely no objective analytics in relation to Ukraine. Hence the total miscalculations in strategy and tactics. According to him, this is the first reason for the stunning fiasco of the "second army of the world." “Obviously, all the staff analytics of General Gerasimov’s subordinates was built on the theses from the Russian propaganda about nationalist battalions,” wrote the adviser to the head of the OP. The second reason, which has already been mentioned, is the extreme mortality among the high operational command of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. This is a sign of the total unpreparedness of the army, the weak coherence of military units, the lack of understandable logistics support, and the unwillingness to fight in modern conditions. "All this, of course, demoralizes the Russian army - contract soldiers and conscripts, although they do not understand human language and writing well, however, they realized that their top leadership is completely mediocre. Thus, further - only mass deaths of Russian military personnel in Ukraine," Podolyak emphasized. 16:02 Vereshchuk said that along the route of the agreed humanitarian corridor Kharkiv-Malaya Rogan in the temporarily uncontrolled territory, there are signs of Russians preparing to capture a humanitarian convoy with mining the way. 16:01 Residents of Energodar went to a rally demanding the release of the kidnapped deputy mayor. 15:49 Pope Francis, in his Sunday address, spoke about the war in Ukraine: "This is a senseless massacre, where murders and atrocities are repeated daily. There is no excuse for this. I implore all participants in the international community to truly participate in putting an end to this intolerable war." 15:48 Zelensky signed a law extending martial law in Ukraine for 30 days from March 26. 15:43 Kakhovka journalist Oleg Baturin, who was held captive by the Russians for eight days, was released. He said that all this time he was beaten, humiliated and threatened to kill him. He was not given food and for several days - not even water. 15:39 Ukrainian-Russian negotiations are held at the level of expert groups on a daily basis, and a meeting of official delegations is scheduled for Monday, March 21, the UP reported, citing its sources. 15:37 French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the country has frozen Russian assets in the amount of 172 billion euros. Of these, 22 billion euros are funds from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, 150 billion euros are accounts of individuals, 500 million euros are real estate owned by about 30 Russians. 15:35 Klitschko said that five people were injured in the Svyatoshinsky district of the capital as a result of a shell hitting a residential building, two of them were hospitalized. There are no dead. 15:32 In the Svyatoshinsky district of Kiev this afternoon, fragments of a shell hit a residential building, resulting in a fire. According to the State Emergency Service, a fire broke out on the balcony of the fourth floor of a 10-storey residential building and two private cars. Residents are being evacuated and no casualties have been reported. 15:30 In Berdyansk, civilians who went to the rally were detained and beaten by the invaders, eyewitnesses report. 15:26 Podolyak about the Russian army: "Impressive is the high mortality rate among the top command staff of the Russian Federation. Six generals were killed. Major Generals Tushaev, Gerasimov, Kolesnikov, Sukhovetsky, Mityaev, Lieutenant General Mordvichev. Dozens of colonels and other officers. Total unpreparedness, fighting quantity and cruise missiles". 15:15 Arestovich warned about the beginning of the third phase of psychological fatigue from the war, the main components of which are apathy and disappointment. He warns that it will be even harder further, because the enemy will soon attempt a new offensive. In addition, many politicians and public figures are beginning to "disperse evil", criticizing the decisions of the country's leadership and accusing them of surrendering the interests of Ukrainians. Arestovich calls not to succumb to despondency. A good army, he said, "fights for as long as it takes." 15:13 France has frozen the assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation for 22 billion euros, the Russian Ministry of Economy reported. 15:08 Military intelligence of Ukraine records an increase in the number of refusals of Russian soldiers from further participation in the war. They also turn to their relatives en masse with a request to help them return home. The commanders of the occupation units are trying to isolate the "refuseniks" and keep them in custody. They threaten criminal liability and reprisals against relatives. At the same time, on the territory of Russia, after the relatives of "refuseniks" appeal to military units, they are assured that everything is fine with the soldiers and they are in Crimea. 14:31 Arestovich on the current situation: the situation on the fronts is frozen because Russia has no resources; the number of shelling and airstrikes on Ukrainian cities has significantly decreased; according to Ukrainian intelligence, repressions began in the Russian army after the command failed to fulfill its tasks. 14:15 The flow of migrants in Lviv has decreased from 60 thousand people to 10 thousand people a day. There are almost no queues at the borders with EU countries, Sadovyi said. 14:03 Podolyak writes that due to failures in the offensive, Russia has switched to more destructive artillery: the Kinzhal and Bastion systems are used in peaceful cities. Also, the enemy is panicking looking for reserves of manpower - pulling everything from the Pacific direction and continues to persuade the CSTO countries. 13:37 Russian invaders threw a grenade at civilians in the city of Trostyanets, Sumy region, as a result, two men died, the regional prosecutor's office reported. 13:33 In Kakhovka, Kherson and Berdyansk, local residents went to a rally against the Russian occupiers. 13:29 In Energodar, Zaporizhia region, Russian invaders kidnapped the first deputy mayor Ivan Samoydyuk , Mayor Dmitry Orlov said. 13:26 The Russians have significant losses among the top leadership and command staff, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. So, the commander of the 346th separate special forces brigade from Prokhladnoye was wounded, the commanders of the 331st Kostroma airborne assault regiment, the 247th airborne assault Caucasian Cossack regiment from Stavropol and the 6th Red Banner Guards Tank Regiment from Chebarkul were destroyed. 13:25 The General Staff reports that the invaders have resumed aerial reconnaissance and shelling of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the use of aviation and artillery. On the territory of the Belgorod region of Russia, positions of high-capacity artillery were found near the border. 13:21 The Azov Regiment destroyed the special forces of the GRU military unit from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. 13:18 The head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Serhiy Gaidai, said that on March 11, in the city of Kremennaya, Russian invaders shot at point-blank range from a tank at a nursing home, as a result of which 56 people died, 15 survived. The Russians abducted the survivors and took them to the occupied territory in Svatovo to the regional geriatric boarding school. It is still impossible to get to the place of the tragedy. 13:06 The NBU recognized the shareholders of Alfa-Bank Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven as having lost their impeccable business reputation, and therefore deprived them of their voting rights in the bank. 13:02 In the Kiev region during the war, motorists were forbidden to use video recorders, the Vyshgorod Regional State Administration reported. This is due to the possibility of divulging information that can help the enemy. In particular, it is prohibited to use DVRs in motor vehicles and motor vehicles to film public roads, general purpose facilities and infrastructure, roadblocks, fortifications, the location or movement of military units. 12:58 In the Zaporozhye region, cases of the use of the form of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the occupiers for carrying out sabotage actions were recorded, the regional administration warned. 12:56 The Ministry of Health has banned the sale and use of Belarusian medicines in Ukraine. The department clarified that all Belarusian factories whose products were presented in Ukraine produced generics, that is, non-original drugs. Similar funds are produced by Ukrainian pharmaceutical companies, so the rejection of Belarusian drugs does not pose any threat to Ukrainians. 12:47 Ukrainian intelligence reports that Shoigu signed an order to involve members of the military-patriotic social movement Yunarmiya in conducting a "special operation on the territory of Ukraine." The document refers to the preparation of reports on the potential human reserve at the age of 17-18 to be involved in hostilities in Ukraine. 12:43 Another group of militants associated with a propagandist close to Putin and the owner of PMC Liga (Wagner) Yevgeny Prigozhin began to arrive in Ukraine today . The main task of the criminals is the elimination of the top military-political leadership of Ukraine , the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense reported. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Putin personally ordered the next attacks to one of the few confidants. All previous attempts ended in failure and the elimination of terrorists. Key "targets" of mercenaries, in particular: Zelensky, Yermak, Shmyhal. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense assured: "The Ukrainian army, special services and law enforcement agencies are well aware of the plans of the Kremlin. We are ready to repulse the aggressor both at the front and in the rear. No terrorist attacks will be successful." 12:42 According to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian elite is considering the possibility of removing Putin. A group of influential people is being formed, in opposition to the Russian president, who seeks to preserve the country's economy. Among the candidates for the new leader, in particular, the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, is being considered, with whom Putin is angry because of the failure of the "operation" in Ukraine. The information came from the Russian side, added to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Probably, this is how the leadership of the FSB is trying to weaken the influence of Kadyrov, or this may be an attempt to establish cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities in advance, bypassing the current Russian leadership. 12:33 Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said that there are no law enforcement agencies in the city now, except for rescuers and municipal guards, where everyone has signed up. "Without law enforcement and the judiciary, it is very difficult. There is looting, but we are fighting it as best we can," the mayor added. 12:26 Mariupol was fired upon by four ships of the Russian Navy , Azov reports. Now the city is being stormed by the Russian army and the DPR, there are urban battles. 12:25 The authorities of the Kiev region have banned residents from visiting the forests. According to the Vyshgorod Regional State Administration, entry into the forests (except for transit routes) of vehicles and other self-propelled equipment is prohibited. 12:21 The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation again stated that it fired a hypersonic Kinzhal missile across the territory of Ukraine - this time at a large fuel and lubricants storage near Konstantinovka, Mykolaiv region. A military base near Ovruch, Zhytomyr region, was also allegedly attacked. 12:16 The Ministry of Defense named the approximate combat losses of the enemy on March 20: personnel - about 14,700 people, tanks - 476, armored combat vehicles - 1487, artillery systems - 230, MLRS - 74, air defense systems - 44, aircraft - 96, helicopters - 118, automotive equipment - 947, ships/boats - 3, tanks with fuel and lubricants - 60, UAV operational-tactical level - 21, special equipment - 12. 11:55 First Deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania Mantas Adomenas believes that Putin can attack the Baltic countries despite their membership in NATO: "We are not dealing with a realist strategist, but with a half-crazy visionary." According to the Lithuanian diplomat, if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, the dictator may want a new military adventure, which is explained by his maniacal idea to restore the Soviet Union. And the USSR without the Baltic countries "will not be complete," Adomenas explained. 11:38 The Russian Navy School acknowledged the death in Ukraine of a high-ranking naval officer, Captain 1st Rank Andrey Paliy. 11:16 Australia will send Ukraine 70,000 tons of coal. Kyiv will also receive $22 million in humanitarian aid and $15.5 million in military aid. 11:05 Over the past week, despite constant shelling, more than 39,000 people were able to leave Mariupol by personal transport, the City Council reported. 10:59 According to Reuters, the United States offered Turkey to transfer S-400 missile systems to Ukraine, which it had previously bought from Russia. 10:56 Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says that Kiev and Moscow managed to bring their positions somewhat closer on important issues, including critical ones. 10:33 The head of the Lugansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said that Rubizhne and Popasna remain under the control of Ukraine: "We did not lose a single centimeter of Ukrainian cities overnight. A cleansing is being carried out in the central part of Rubizhne." 10:32 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appealed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a tougher stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 10:19 According to a new survey by the Rating group, 93 percent of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine will be able to repel a Russian attack. At the same time, 47 ercent of respondents hope that Ukraine will be able to win the war with Russia in the next few weeks. There are practically no those who do not believe in victory at all. 10:00 Humanitarian corridors will work today in the following areas: Donetsk region: Mariupol - Zaporozhye Kyiv region: Bobryk - Brovary, Tarasovka - Brovary, Borodyanka - Bila Tserkva Food and medicine will be sent from Kharkov to the city of Volchansk and the villages of Rogan and Novaya Rogan. 09:43 Australia will provide evacuated Ukrainians with temporary humanitarian visas, allowing them to work and receive medical care in the country for three years. About five thousand Ukrainians have already received such visas. 09:22 Ukraine is provided with food until the end of next year, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostislav Shurma said: "Stocks of wheat, corn, oil, basic products today in warehouses will last for 3-5 years. We will definitely feed ourselves." 09:08 The day before, the occupiers dropped bombs on art school No. 12 in the Left Bank district of Mariupol, where about 400 residents of the city - women, children and the elderly - were hiding. The building is destroyed, people are still under the rubble. Information about the number of victims is being specified, the city council said. 09:06 British intelligence assumes that Russia will continue heavy shelling to support troops in attacks on urban areas, as it seeks to reduce its already significant losses at the cost of further civilian deaths. 09:01 The Kadyrovtsy were returned to Chechnya from Ukraine, Radio Liberty reports with reference to the counterintelligence of the SBU. In the war, they suffered significant losses and played almost no role, but were engaged only in self-promotion. 09:00 In Rubizhne and Severodonetsk over the past day, the invaders destroyed 24 houses, three people died, including two children. They managed to save seven people, said the head of the Lugansk OVA Serhiy Gaidai. 08:59 Consolidated detachment of the 331st Guards Parachute Assault Regiment of Kostroma, which participated in the battles in the Kiev direction, was destroyed. One military man survived, and he is in the hospital, the General Staff said. 08:56 In ORDLO, Russian curators announced another wave of mobilization. The age limit for those mobilized has been raised to 65!, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 08:54 British intelligence reports that Russia was never able to gain an advantage in the sky, which significantly halted its offensive. According to the British, the Ukrainians effectively protect the airspace with the help of aircraft and air defense forces, while the Russians are forced to use their aircraft from a relatively safe distance. 08:39 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that his country is "on the right side of history", speaking out against anti-Russian sanctions. At the same time, he assured that Beijing is not considering the supply of weapons to Moscow. China, he said, intends to continue to adhere to an independent position on Ukraine. And he considers the role of the United States in this conflict destabilizing. 08:27 As a result of the night shelling of the Industrial District of Kharkiv, five civilians were killed, among them a nine-year-old boy, the National Police reported. 06:50 Zelensky signed a decree on a unified information policy under martial law. According to him, now all informational TV channels must show the marathon of One News #UAraz around the clock . 06:29 Zelensky said that during martial law, the activities of a number of political parties are prohibited: Opposition Platform for Life, Sharia Party, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, Power, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialists, Volodymyr Saldo Bloc . The reason for the ban is ties with the Russian Federation. 04:28 According to the General Staff, the head of the 652nd Information and Psychological Operations Group of the Russian troops received a severe reprimand for poor work on the creation of the so-called "Kherson People's Republic" - the local population did not even allow to create a conditional "picture". 04:23 In Russian Belgorod, an investigation is underway against ten servicemen of the 138th motorized rifle brigade who attacked Kharkov, but because of heavy losses, they refused to continue fighting and incited others to return back to the Russian Federation, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. 02:14 The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia had significantly reduced air activity, so over the past day, air defense forces shot down only three Russian helicopters. 01:02 Adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Vadim Denisenko says that Belarusian troops are approaching the border and will try to cross it. Also, according to him, an alarming signal is the fact that Belarusian diplomats have left the territory of Ukraine. Denisenko assesses the probability of introducing Belarus into a military conflict as 60/40. |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Peter Zeihan on Halliburton Exit |
| 2022-03-20 |
Most of Russia’s oil fields are both old and extraordinarily remote from Russia’s customers. Fields in the North Caucasus are either tapped out or were never refurbished in the aftermath of the Chechen Wars, those of Russia’s Tatarstan and Bashkortostan provinces are well past their peak, and even western Siberian fields have been showing diminishing returns since the 2000s. With few exceptions, Russia’s oil discoveries of the last decade or three are deeper, smaller, more technically challenging, and even farther from population centers than the older fields they would be expected to replace. Russian output isn’t in danger of collapsing, but maintaining output will require more infrastructure, far higher up-front costs, and ongoing technical love and care to prevent steady output declines from becoming something far worse. While the Russians are no slouches when it comes to oil field knowledge, they were out of circulation from roughly 1940 through 2000. Oil technology came a long way in those sixty years. Foreign firms—most notably supermajors BP and Shell, and services firms Halliburton and Schlumberger—have collectively done work that is probably responsible for half of Russia’s contemporary output. |
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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| End of Russian oil |
| 2022-03-18 |
 [Zeihan] This newsletter is an adapted excerpt from Peter's upcoming book, The End of the World is Just the Beginning.Think the Europeans will need to get by without Russian crude? You are 100% correct. But you are not thinking anywhere near big enough. Most of Russia’s oil fields are both old and extraordinarily remote from Russia’s customers. Fields in the North Caucasus are either tapped out or were never refurbished in the aftermath of the Chechen Wars, those of Russia’s Tatarstan and Bashkortostan provinces are well past their peak, and even western Siberian fields have been showing diminishing returns since the 2000s. With few exceptions, Russia’s oil discoveries of the last decade or three are deeper, smaller, more technically challenging, and even farther from population centers than the older fields they would be expected to replace. Russian output isn’t in danger of collapsing, but maintaining output will require more infrastructure, far higher up-front costs, and ongoing technical love and care to prevent steady output declines from becoming something far worse. While the Russians are no slouches when it comes to oil field knowledge, they were out of circulation from roughly 1940 through 2000. Oil technology came a long way in those sixty years. Foreign firms—most notably supermajors BP and Shell, and services firms Halliburton and Schlumberger—have collectively done work that is probably responsible for half of Russia’s contemporary output. The Western supermajors have left. All of them. Just as the Ukraine War began, Exxon and BP and Shell have walked away from projects they’ve sunk tens of billions of dollars into, knowing full well they won’t get a cent of compensation. Halliburton and Schlumberger’s operations today are a shadow of what they were before Russia’s previous invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Between future sanctions or the inability of the Russians to pay them with hard currency, those operations now risk winding down to zero. The result is as inevitable as it is damning: at least a 50% reduction in the ability of Russia to produce crude. (No. Chinese oilmen cannot hope to keep things flowing. The Chinese are worse in this space than the Russians.) The outstanding question is how soon? Sooner than you think. It’s an issue of infrastructure and climate. First, infrastructure. All of Russia’s oil flows first travel by pipe—in some cases for literally thousands of miles—before they reach either a customer or a discharge port. Pipes can’t . . . dodge. Anything that impedes a single inch of a pipe shuts the whole thing down. In the post-Cold War globalized Order when we all got along, this was something we could sing-song-skip right by. But with the Russians dropping cluster bombs on civilian targets — as they started doing on Feb 28 — not so much. Whether the Russians destroy the pipes with their indiscriminate use of ordinance (like they damaged a radiation containment vessel at Chernobyl!!!) or Ukrainian partisans target anything that brings the Russians income, much of this system is doomed. Second, climate. Siberia, despite getting cold enough to literally freeze your nose off in October, doesn’t get cold enough. Most Russian oil production is in the permafrost, and for most of the summer the permafrost is inaccessible because its top layer melts into a messy, horizon-spanning swamp. What the Russians do is wait for the land to freeze, and then build dike-roads and drill for crude in the long dark of the Siberian winter. Should something happen to consumption of Russian crude oil or any of the millions of feet of pipe that take that crude from wellhead to port or consumer, flows would back up through the literally thousands of miles of pipes right up to the drill site. There is no place to store the stuff. Russia would just need to shut everything down. Turning it back on would require manually checking everything, all the way from well to border. The last time this happened was the Soviet collapse in 1989. It took millions of manhours of help from the likes of BP and Halliburton — and thirty-two years — for Russia to get back to its Cold War production levels. And now, with war on in Ukraine, insurance companies are cancelling policies for tankers carrying anything Russian on Seas Black and Baltic while the French seize Russian vessels, and the Russian Central Bank under the strictest financial sanctions ever, it is all falling apart. Again. Even in the sunshine and unicorn scenario that Putin duct tapes himself to a lawn chair and throws himself into a pool, and a random band of kindly kindergarten teachers take over the Russian government, we should not expect the energy supply situation in Russia to begin to stabilize before 2028, and for us to return to what we think of as the status quo before 2045. In the meantime, the debate of the moment is expanded energy sanctions. Once everyone concludes that Russian crude is going away regardless, there’s something to be said about pre-emptively sanctioning Russian energy before reality forces the same end result. Moral high road and all that. Bottom line: Uuuuugh! The disappearance of some four to five million Russian barrels of daily crude production will all by itself kick energy prices up to at least $170 a barrel. A global energy-induced depression is in the wind. But probably not an American one. In the bad ol’ days before World War II there wasn’t a "global" oil price. Each major country or empire controlled its own production and maintained its own — sequestered — market. Courtesy of the American shale revolution and preexisting legislation, the U.S. president has the authority to end American oil exports on a whim and return us to that world. An American export ban would flood U.S. refiners with relatively cheap shale oil. Those refiners will certainly bitch — their facilities have a taste for crude grades different from what comes out of Texas and North Dakota — but having a functional price ceiling within the United States of roughly $70 a barrel will achieve precisely what Joe Biden is after: cheaper gasoline prices. The rest of the world? They’ll have to grapple with losing Russian and American crude at the same time. If the "global" price stays below $200, I’d be shocked. The first rule of geopolitics is place matters. To populations. To transport. To finance. To agriculture. To energy. To everything. The second rule is things can always get worse. The world is about to (re)learn both lessons, good and hard. |
| Link |
| Economy |
| World Economy Entering Period of Oil Scarcity, Halliburton CEO Says |
| 2021-12-11 |
 [Business & Economy VIA ET] Halliburton CEO and president Jeff Miller made waves on Monday predicting that the world is due for a period of oil scarcity in comments at the World Petroleum Congress in Houston, Texas."I think that for the first time in a long time, we will see a buyer looking for a barrel of oil, as opposed to a barrel of oil looking for a buyer," Miller said. Since 2014, the oil industry has generally deemphasized building new infrastructure in the face of low prices. However, that trend may now catch up with the industry, which now finds demand for oil exceeding the available supply given current infrastructure. Some analysts have speculated that it is increasingly likely that oil prices will soon climb to $100 per barrel, a price unseen in the past seven years and which has serious potential to disrupt the economy. An additional factor contributing to predicted oil scarcity is a labor shortage in the fossil fuel industry surpassing that in the general economy. The widespread perception that fossil fuels will be marginalized in the future of energy and transportation makes long-term careers in petroleum unattractive to young workers, with many oil workers seeking to switch to renewables or leave the energy industry outright. A recent survey revealed that 43 percent of oil industry employees sought to transition to other sectors in the next five years, as reported by Reuters. As baby boomer employees retire, the industry struggles to replace them with young workers, who see the oil industry as unfavorable to long-term careers because of concerns about climate change models, and pressure by politicians, environmentalists, and investors to transition to renewable energy sources. This combination of infrastructural underinvestment and labor shortages is likely to result in an oil supply stretched thin to meet demand, resulting in higher prices and possible shortages. With oil extraction occurring at a significant time lag from industry investment and the skill shortage in the labor industry showing no signs of abating, there are major reasons to believe that any scarcity in oil supplies could last long into the future. |
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| Iraq | |
| Explosion in an ammunition depot belonging to PMF in Najaf | |
| 2021-07-27 | |
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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