🔹 Cambodian 🇰🇭 PM Hun Sen said, the 40th & 41st ASEAN Summits & Related Summits in Cambodia achieved fruitful results for greater regional cooperation.

🔹 A total of 70 outcome documents and declarations covering the three pillars of ASEAN 🇧🇳 🇰🇭 🇮🇩 🇱🇦🇲🇾 🇲🇲 🇵🇭 🇸🇬 🇹🇭 🇻🇳 communities were adopted and noted at the summits, with various cooperation frameworks with dialogue partners endorsed.

🔹 Leaders who attended the meetings all appreciated Cambodia’s efforts of the ASEAN chair’s Special Envoy on Myanmar in seeking a solution to the Myanmar crisis through the implementation of ASEAN’s five-point consensus.

🔹 On the South China Sea 🇨🇳 dispute PM Hun Sen said that the meeting had noted the importance of the promotion of peace, security, safety, stability and freedom of navigation and flight over the sea. “We are optimistic and happy with the progress on the ongoing negotiations on the South China Sea.

Video: US President confuses Cambodia with Colombia.

🔹Some EU 🇪🇺 leaders are insisting that the EU impose a price cap on all natural gas imports. 🇺🇸 U.S. LNG has been more expensive than pipeline gas coming from Russia 🇷🇺 in real terms.

🔹Four EU 🇧🇪🇬🇷🇮🇹🇵🇱countries are threatening to derail a package of energy measures over the natural gas price cap.

🔹Pakistan's 🇵🇰 gas supplies will be very limited this winter as Europe outbids Asian customers for LNG. Pakistan left unable to afford bids for LNG.

🔹Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 asked the US to authorize Venezuelan 🇻🇪 gas imports. Under U.S. sanctions, co.s & gov'ts need to request authorization from the U.S. 🇺🇸 to do business with Venezuela's PDVSA.

Video: Qatar's Energy Minister says EU's price caps are hypocritical.

Last reported on this channel.

💠 Norway's 🇳🇴 Equinor CEO: "Any price cap is not really solving the fundamental problems".

💠 EU 🇪🇺 plans to use joint purchasing power as leverage in gas negotiations.

💠 Hungary 🇭🇺 would not support a price cap on Russian gas.

🔹The Dec. 5th G7 price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 oil with EU 🇪🇺/ UK 🇬🇧 bans on shipping /insurance for Russian crude is facing obstacles. Refineries scramble to secure term contracts, as OPEC+ has already agreed to impose a major production cut.

🔹India 🇮🇳 continues to have no interest in joining the US-led initiative as it gets a steep discount on oil from Russia & wants to maintain the relationship with a long-time strategic partner.

🔹The G7 plans are likely to send oil prices higher (despite US 🇺🇸 Treasury Secretary claiming the opposite) & reduce tanker availability.

🔹Washington is pressuring New Delhi to comply with the price cap, since it is importing from India more vacuum gasoil, which is mostly used at refineries 🏭 to produce other products such as gasoline & diesel.

🔹India joins a list of countries – Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦, Serbia 🇷🇸, and Turkey 🇹🇷– that are causing problems for Washington.

Video: India's Petroleum Minister schools CNN journalist on oil price cap.

🔹The Russian 🇷🇺 gov't authorized the transfer of 20% participation interest in the new Sakhalin-1 operator to India’s 🇮🇳 ONGC Videsh Limited & 30% to Japan’s 🇯🇵 Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd. (Sodeco).

🔹Sakhalin Energy LLC sold three LNG 🚢 cargoes for loading in December in the last week at roughly current market prices, with one at a premium. While some long-time Asian customers, such as Japan and South Korea 🇰🇷, stopped buying additional spot shipments from Russia earlier this year, China 🇨🇳 has boosted purchases.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 G-7 member Japan 🇯🇵, decided to officially backtrack on sanctions, & remain involved in the Sakhalin-1 oil & gas project in Russia. 🇷🇺

💠 India’s 🇮🇳 Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) is considering increasing its stake in the Sakhalin-1 project as the US's Exxon Mobil exits.

💠 Russia’s 🇷🇺 Sakhalin-1 oil & gas project, will be transferred to a local entity. The same was done for the Sakhalin- 2 project earlier.

🔹Poland 🇵🇱- Warsaw is set to confiscate the assets of Russian energy major Gazprom. The move will target Gazprom's 48% stake in EuroPolGaz, which owns the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline that carried Russian gas to the EU. Polish PGNiG (currently Orlen Group) also owns a 48% stake in EuroPolGaz, and Gas-Trading SA the remaining 4%.

🔹The Yamal-Europe gas pipeline passes through Russia 🇷🇺, Belarus 🇧🇾, Poland 🇵🇱 & Germany 🇩🇪, and used to carry nearly half of Gazprom’s westbound gas deliveries.

🔹Poland’s sanctions against the Russian gas producer have deprived the company of its shareholder status in EuroPolGaz since April, blocking its voting rights and the ability to repatriate dividends.

🔹Polish 🇵🇱 media report use EU confiscation of Gazprom assets as a justification: The European Commission (EC) via Germany, agreed to takeover Russia's Gazprom Germania (its current name is SEFE GmbH). The EC 🇪🇺 claims this decision is intended to "secure gas supplies to the German economy.

🔹Western media report two 'Russian rockets' landed near the border with Ukraine in 🇵🇱 Poland, in the village of Przewodów with a population of 413, as of 2021.

🔹Sadly, 2 people have been killed. Warsaw 🇵🇱 is understood to be considering invoking Article 4, which calls for Allies to consult together.

🔹Polish 🇵🇱 media lublin112.pl report:
"However, as our reporter has determined, it cannot be said for now that they are Russian rockets. Gov't spokesperson Piotr Müller also called for not to publish unconfirmed information in connection with the situation. The Pentagon also assures that there is no information yet that would confirm reports of Russian 🇷🇺 rockets that fell into Poland."

🔹Open source intel compare the debris found at the site & observed the resemblance of parts to the S-300 anti-aircraft missile, possibly fired by Ukrainian air defense systems, located in Kamianka-Bugskaya, 🇺🇦 Lviv region.

Video: US 🇺🇸 Army Colonel (retired) Douglas Macgregor recently on Poland and NATO.

🔹Oil supply via a section of the Druzhba 🛢 pipeline has been temporarily suspended by Ukraine 🇺🇦. Russia's Transneft has been notified by Ukraine.

🔹Slovakia's Transpetrol confirmed, citing "technical reasons on the Ukrainian side". Ukraine told Hungary's MOL a power station that provides electricity for a pump station, is offline due to Russian missile strikes.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Slovakia’s 🇸🇰 Slovnaft and Hungary’s 🇭🇺 MOL paid Ukraine the August transit fees for the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba. The payment Russia's 🇷🇺 Transneft had made to 🇺🇦 Ukrtransnafta for the transit fees didn’t process.

💠Hungary 🇭🇺 & Serbia 🇷🇸 have agreed to build a connection to the Druzhba oil pipeline.

💠 Slovakia 🇸🇰 & Hungary 🇭🇺 warn, that sanctions on Russia can negatively affect oil flow through the Druzhba pipeline. Later, granted exemptions by EU.

💠 PERN, the operator of the Druzhba oil pipeline (across Poland 🇵🇱) reported a leak on Oct 12th, switching off oil to Germany.

🔹USA 🇺🇸 - Former US President Donald Trump announces that he is running for president in the 2024 elections.

🔹In his speech he cites the dire economic situation of the US, drug trafficking across the US southern borders and escalation of war. He mentions that North Korea, China and Russia had respect for the US during his presidency.

🔹He claims that the US has lost respect on the world stage. He reminded the crowd of his admin's successes in fighting the Islamic State terrorists, that there were no terrorist attacks on the US during his tenure.

🔹He says despite losing the Senate in the midterms all hope is not lost, Congress is Republican controlled.

🔹Australia 🇦🇺 - Logistics / Supply Chain nightmare. Empty shelves and high prices set to get worse following a train derailment 🚂🚋🚋🚋 & flooding that has essentially cut Australia’s rail network in half.

🔹The main Melbourne-Adelaide train line is now cut off following an enormous train crash near Inverleigh (Geelong area), after heavy rain had undermined a piece of track. No one was injured.

🔹Workers have started clearing the wreckage of the train derailment amid a union call for Victoria's rail safety rules to be urgently assessed. "Rail workers are increasing concerned that Australia's 🇦🇺 rail safety regime is no longer fit for purpose and not enough is being done to ensure that tracks are safe,"

🔹The train line that runs from Sydney to Adelaide is currently cut off due to flooding ⛈ at Condobolin cutting the Broken Hill-Parkes line. The Lachlan River in Condobolin has risen to 7.36m, just below the 1952 record of 7.37m.

🔹Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level since 2004. OPEC has cut its oil 🛢 demand growth forecast, 5th time since April.

🔹OPEC cited significant economic uncertainty. OPEC now sees global oil demand growth at 2.5 million bpd in 2022 after slashing the Q4 demand projections by nearly 400,000 bpd. 2022 global oil demand is projected to avg. 99.6 million bpd.

🔹Hedge funds and other investors have increased bullish bets, 📈 positioning themselves for a potential large market disruption. On Dec. 5th, the EU 🇪🇺 embargo on Russian 🇷🇺 sea borne oil 🚢 & G7 oil price cap comes into force.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Historical charts showing US SPR depletion 📉 & declining refinery capacity.

💠 American oil refiners 🏭 are enjoying the best-ever diesel margins/profits.

💠 Saudi Arabia's 🇸🇦 energy minister warns nations' that use emergency oil reserves to manipulate prices.

💠 OPEC+ defends their role in 🛢 oil market stability at JMMC of the OPEC+ group HQ 🇦🇹.

🔹 UK 🇬🇧 consumer prices saw a surge of 11.1% in October, smashing a 41-year high 📈 as the nation continued to struggle with soaring food, transport and energy costs. The annual increase in the consumer price index (CPI) is attributed to surging prices for electricity, gas and other fuels.

🔹The number of working days lost to strikes in the UK has risen to the highest in more than a decade as pay growth in the public sector falls behind the private sector at the sharpest rate on record.

🔹Talks between Britain's Royal Mail 📮& the Communication Workers Union (CWU) aimed at averting strike action have been extended.

🔹The Bank of England says Brexit is hurting the UK economy. The UK gov't says the Russia 🇷🇺 & Covid 🦠are to blame. Paris stock market value has surpassed that of London.

🔹UK Chancellor plans to hike taxes 📈 on energy firm profits to 35% from 25%. This would send the oil 🛢 & gas sector’s effective tax rate on UK profits rise to 75%. The extra windfall tax could be extended to 2028.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 is “allowing a technical prolongation” of the Black Sea grain initiative, which is set to expire later this week.

🔹The terms of the grain 🌾 deal agree to facilitate exports of crucial harvest from the region for another 120 days. Turkish 🇹🇷President Erdogan confirmed the extension.

🔹Russia expects the UN 🇺🇳 to deliver on its promise to lift restrictions on Russian exports of food and fertilizers. Russia 🇷🇺 noted: Any use of the Black Sea for provocative military ops. will be stopped.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 resumes participation to the Black Sea grain deal after Türkiye's 🇹🇷 guarantees.

💠 Russia suspends grain deal after ships 🚢 in the Black Sea were attacked by Ukraine.

💠 Grain 🌾 deal hypocrisy by western countries, exposed.

💠 Chairman of the African Union visits Russia & asked President Putin for help with solution to food 🌾 crisis in Africa.

💠 Grain deal signed with safe routes 🚢 made in Black Sea. Previous deal was botched by Ukraine.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 & China 🇨🇳 are shifting to payments in national currencies - in rubles and in yuan - for supplied energy resources, to mutual settlements performed in particular for supplies of equipment from China.

🔹Payments for supplies of oil and petroleum products are also being proactively shifted to national currencies. Trade turnover between Russia and China in the energy sector increased by 64% in monetary terms and by 10% in physical terms.

Video courtesy Sean Foo.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russian 🇷🇺bank, VTB launches money transfers to China in yuan, bypassing SWIFT.

💠 Gazprom move payments for gas exports to China 🇨🇳 away from USD/Euros.

💠 "Interested SCO member states" 🇷🇺🇨🇳🇮🇷🇮🇳🇵🇰🇰🇬🇰🇿🇹🇯🇺🇿 agreed a "roadmap for the gradual increase in the share of national currencies in mutual settlements".

💠 Ruble-yuan 📈 trade up 1067% in Q2 of 2022.

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 added grain, sunflower oil and extracted meal to the list of exports that must be paid for in rubles.

🔹Iran 🇮🇷 has lost $450 billion in oil revenues in a decade due to US sanctions, causing a serious economic crisis. In absence of sanctions, Iran was exporting anywhere between 2.2-2.5 million bpd. But when sanctions were imposed exports were as little as 200,000 bpd.

🔹About half of Iran's state budget depends on oil 🛢revenues, while at a $30 billion annual shortfall, the annual inflation rate is 40% in the past 2 years.

🔹Iran decided to allow individuals & co.s to sell crude so as to bypass US 🇺🇸 sanctions. Iran's FM says EU🇪🇺 sanctions are unconstructive act out of miscalculation.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Iran & Armenia 🇦🇲 signed a MOU on energy / economic cooperation.

💠 Russia & Iran working out mechanisms to implement oil 🛢 & gas swap deals. Iran's First VP calls Caspian littoral states to create an oil & gas cooperation committee.

💠 Iran & Russia 🇷🇺 unifying banking systems for trade in ruble/rial currency pair.

💠 Iran🇮🇷 signs MOU's at SCO meeting in Samarkand.

🔹The 🇫🇷 French electricity grid is at higher risk of strained power supplies in Jan. 2023 due to lower nuclear power generation. Delays in routine maintenance at 🏭 stations will lead to a slightly lower nuclear availability this winter.

🔹Credit Agricole had signed a 1 billion euro loan 💶 to finance EDF's maintenance of nuclear plants.

🔹France 🇫🇷 won’t dismantle EDF after buyout- Finance Ministry.

🔹France will spend 8.4 billion euros to help co.s pay their energy bills, cutting a special tax on electricity💡to the minimum allowed under EU 🇪🇺 rules.

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💠French utility EDF said that it had lowered its nuclear output target for 2022 due to the impact of strikes on its reactor maintenance schedule.

💠France's EDF is rushing to get nuclear power stations 🏭 online. 20 of 56 offline due to strikes & corrosion issues. (Last reported 6 of 12 with corrosion issues being repaired).

💠The French 🇫🇷 gov't to fully nationalize the EDF. which runs a 29 billion Euro loss.

🔹Police in Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 fired tear gas to disperse angry protesters who attempted to storm the French embassy in the capital Ouagadougou. The protesters, are demanding the expulsion of the French 🇫🇷 ambassador. French President Macron blames Russia for feeding anti-French propaganda in Africa.

🔹Burkina Faso's 🇧🇫 interim President last month, called for a stop to the attacks on the French Embassy following Burkina Faso's 2nd coup this year. Citizens express hope in the new gov't to fight terrorism, as 🇷🇺 Russia's Wagner Group may be invited to help fight jihadists.

🔹The country faces an Islamic insurgency, a crisis that has forced 2 million people from their homes in recent years. Jihadists have dynamited 🧨 bridges & mounted deadly attacks against supply convoys, blockading towns to starve out the population there.

🔹Recently, the US 🇺🇸 plans to terminate Burkina Faso's designation as a beneficiary under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) citing a lack of political pluralism.

🔹 Pakistan 🇵🇰 has asked Russia to introduce a currency swap arrangement to strengthen economic ties. Now the ball is in Russia’s 🇷🇺 court. It can be any mechanism – trading in rubles or barter trade.

🔹Russia to enter the $62 billion China 🇨🇳–Pakistan 🇵🇰 Economic Corridor (CPEC). Russia’s vision for its Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) passes through the CPEC, as part of China’s BRI.

🔹Pakistan participated in the 4th meeting of the ”Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan” 🇦🇫 with an emphasis on regional security & military-political stability.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Pakistan's 🇵🇰 former PM, Imran Khan, shot & wounded in an assassination attempt.

💠 Iran 🇮🇷 proposed a new currency for trade with SCO members including Pakistan.

💠 Pakistan's gas supplies will be very limited this winter as Europe outbids Asian customers for LNG 🚢.

💠 Pakistan approved a plan to buy 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat 🌾 from Russia.

Video courtesy The Print.

🔹European traders are rushing to fill tanks in the region with Russian diesel before an EU 🇪🇺ban begins in Feb., as alternative sources remain limited.

🔹The EU will ban Russian oil 🛢 product imports, (includes diesel), by Feb. 5, following a ban on Russian crude taking effect in Dec. Russian diesel loadings destined for the Amsterdam 🇳🇱 (ARA) storage region rose to 215,000 bpd from Nov. 1 to Nov. 12, up by 126% from Oct.

🔹“The EU will have to secure diesel coming from the US, the Middle East & 🇮🇳 India. Diesel prices & cracks (differential to crude oil price) soared to record levels in Oct. & are now 70% and 425% above year-ago levels, respectively.

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💠 Ireland 🇮🇪 - Diesel at its second-highest price on record.

💠 The front-month East-West swap, a measure of the premium for diesel in Europe over Asia, widened to $60.50 a ton. It averaged $7.40 a ton in 2021.

💠 Diesel ⛽️ shortages in France 🇫🇷 due to worker strikes at oil refineries.

Video courtesy The Print.

🔹China 🇨🇳 signed a landmark $60 billion agreement for purchases of LNG from Qatar 🇶🇦. Qatar Energy will send Sinopec 4 million tons of LNG a year starting in 2026. The deal will last for 27 years, making it China’s longest LNG supply agreement to date.

🔹The global LNG 🚢 market is all but maxed out in terms of supply and there is little new production coming online before 2026. EU talks with Qatar have stalled amid reluctance from the likes of Germany to commit to long-term contracts.

🔹The gas for Sinopec will come from the North Field East expansion, which will cost Qatar 🇶🇦 and investors including Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. almost $30 billion. Is China planning to rely less on US exported LNG? (photo)

🔹In Sep., Germany's 🇩🇪 Chancellor visited Qatar & failed to come to any long term LNG contractual agreement.

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💠 Qatar's Energy Minister said that the EU's 🇪🇺 price caps on Russian 🇷🇺 energy are hypocritical. He said the free market is the best solution.

🔹Bulgaria 🇧🇬 will allow a Black Sea refinery owned by a Russia's Lukoil to keep operating & exporting oil products to the EU until the end of 2024 despite warnings by Brussels that it is against the bloc’s sanctions.

🔹The deal between Bulgaria 🇧🇬 & Lukoil will give an additional 350 million-euro (dollar) boost to Bulgaria's budget.

🔹From Jan. 1, 2023, Lukoil will transfer all production, revenues & taxes to be paid in Bulgaria, & not, as it was before, in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 or Switzerland🇨🇭. The refinery cannot work if exports are curtailed.

🔹Bulgaria’s sole refinery is the main source of gasoline & diesel ⛽️fuel sold on the Bulgarian market.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Video courtesy the WSJ: How the sanction avoidance process works for Russia's 🇷🇺 Lukoil in Italy 🇮🇹.

💠 Hungary 🇭🇺 & Bulgaria 🇧🇬 were the most vocal in opposing sanctions on Russian uranium.

💠 The EU's highest monthly increase in industrial producer prices for September was recorded in Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (+9.2%).

🔹Part 3 to previous posts covering the attack on the Russian Orthodox Church 🙏.

🔹 The Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the largest Orthodox Christian monastery in Ukraine, was raided on the 22nd Nov. by the Ukrainian 🇺🇦 security agency, SBU.

🔹Russian Orthodox Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev was recently killed by shrapnel, in Kherson.

🔹Recently, vandals smeared paint over the Russian 🇷🇺 Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Geneva 🇨🇭.

The west politically created the Orthodox Church of Ukraine 🇺🇦 (OCU) to undermine the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) (Russian connected).

💠 Link to 👉 Part 1: The West’s silence about multiple attacks against Russian Orthodox Churches around the world.

💠 Link to 👉 Part 2: Ukrainian militants shell St. Nicholas Monastery, shot 3 monks in the Svyatogorsk Monastery, while holding 700 civilians & 800 monks hostage & seizes Popelnya Orthodox Church.

Video courtesy IntelRepublic: Clip outside church compound at today's raid & recent speech by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.