🔹 OPEC+ agrees to stick to its existing policy of reducing oil production ahead of the G7/EU🇪🇺 oil price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 seaborne crude.

🔹Led by Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & Russia in OPEC+, a 2 million barrels per day production cut was started in November.

🔹An OPEC+ statement yesterday, (Dec 4th) pushed back against criticism of OPEC+'s decision, saying the cut had been "recognized in retrospect by the market participants to have been the necessary and the right course of action towards stabilizing global oil 🛢markets."

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level 📉since 2004.

💠 India 🇮🇳 continues to have no interest in joining the EU/G7 led oil price cap on Russian crude.

💠 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 🇦🇹.

Video courtesy Algeria's 24News

🔹French 🇫🇷 President Macron said there was no reason to panic about possible power cuts this winter. He called on citizens to use less energy & on state utility EDF 💡to restart nuclear plants 🏭 to prevent outages in case of cold weather.

🔹France is accused of helping to fund Russia 🇷🇺 by continuing to import Russian nuclear fuel. EDF has revealed plans for a massive recruitment drive to bolster ageing nuclear reactors.

🔹The U.K. 🇬🇧 will become a 50% shareholder in EDF's new nuclear power plant project after China's 🇨🇳General Nuclear Power Corp. exited the project.

Last reported on this channel:

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

💠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.

🔹Brent ($82.40) & WTI ($88.19) crude prices up over 3%, as EU/G7 price cap of $60 🛢 on Russian 🇷🇺 seaborne crude comes into effect.

🔹Russian Urals crude trails WTI & Brent price trajectory. Urals-Brent differential (usd/bbl) has been $23 avg. in the past 3 months. Urals 🛢 crude is trading today above the imposed price cap on international markets of $60.62.

🔹Some anticipated a price drop today, but this has not happened. Western media claim OPEC+'s confirmation to continue an already implemented production cut decision & China 🇨🇳 oil buying as the reasons for todays oil price increases.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russian 🇷🇺 Deputy PM Novak warns of an unpredictable surge in oil prices due to the EU/G7 oil price cap.

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level 📉since 2004.

💠 India 🇮🇳 continues to have no interest in joining the EU/G7 led oil price cap on Russian crude.

💠 Oil inventories in developed economies are at their lowest level since 2004.

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 ESPO oil blend from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino selling for around US$79 a barrel in Asian markets, (well above EU/G7 price cap).

🔹Russia's Deputy PM confirms Moscow will only deal with nations that will work on market conditions. Russia is looking to bolster its exports to China 🇨🇳, India 🇮🇳, Turkey 🇹🇷 & other countries that have greatly boosted their purchases of Russian oil.

🔹Russia has discretely assembled a "shadow fleet" 🚢 of more than 100 tanker ships. The largely anonymous tanker purchases can be tracked by the big increase in unnamed or new buyers appearing in registries.

🔹Russian Urals crude trails WTI & Brent price trajectory, that is up 3% 📈 this morning as detailed on this channel's previous post.

🔹India 🇮🇳 bought about 40% of all Urals seaborne export volumes loading in November.

🔹Russia will sell crude oil to Pakistan 🇵🇰 at a discounted price.

🔹Hungary 🇭🇺 got exemptions from the EU's oil price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 crude. Hungary vetoed the price cap embargo on Russia & negotiated an exemption.

🔹The EU withholds both Hungary's budgeted allocation of 7.5 billion euros & it's post-pandemic recovery funds of 5.8 billion euros.The country is accused of corruption, lacking judicial independence & discrimination against LGBTQ citizens. Slovakia 🇸🇰 may support Hungary for release of EU funds.

🔹Hungary does not intend to train Ukrainian 🇺🇦 military as it believes it will only escalate the conflict. Lithuania accuses Hungary of being immoral for refusing approval of funding for Ukraine.

🔹Hungary is facing a partial shortage of fuel ⛽️ stocks across its network of filling stations.

Previous posts on this channel:

💠 Hungary denied it’s holding up the NATO entry bids of Finland 🇫🇮 & Sweden 🇸🇪 .

💠 EU 🇪🇺 declares Hungary is no longer a democracy.

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

Video courtesy FirstPost.

🔹Pension funds & other 'non-bank' financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt in FX swaps, —— Bank for International Settlements 🇨🇭.

🔹Foreign currency exchange swaps allow banks & large institutions to swap interest payments on one loan made in a local currency with another in a foreign currency. Hence, 2 companies can swap their debt amounts, paying the interest in dollars 💵 other than their own.

🔹The $80 trillion-plus "hidden" debt estimate exceeds the stocks of dollar 🇺🇸 Treasury bills, repo and commercial paper combined. For both non-U.S. banks and non-U.S. 'non-banks' such as pension funds, dollar obligations from FX swaps are now double their on-balance sheet dollar debt.

🔹Like all derivatives, the market for swaps is very complex. Other banks & large institutions use swaps for hedges or relatively cheaper financing. But when done through unregulated banks 🏦 (shadow banks), the risks of these hedges can outweigh the value they provide.

🔹Iran 🇮🇷 has discovered new oil 🛢 reserves in the country’s southwest, using new tech & methods, details to be announced. Iranian experts have also carried out well-logging on an offshore exploratory block in the Persian Gulf with gas reserves estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet.

🔹 Iran's 🇮🇷 oil sales rose by 20% 📈 in H1 '22 to reach 1.2 million barrels per day, despite US sanctions that bar countries from buying Iranian oil. Iran has been prevented from paying its dues to the OPEC because of US 🇺🇸 sanctions.

🔹Iran and Tajikistan 🇹🇯 have signed 25 cooperation documents in a joint economic cooperation commission over the past year.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Iran 🇮🇷 has lost $450 billion in oil revenues in a decade due to US sanctions.

💠 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.

🔹A crucial section of the East Route natural gas pipeline between Russia & China is completed. The section will allow gas to be transported to China's 🇨🇳 eastern economic powerhouse Shanghai.

🔹The 5,111 km cross-border pipeline runs through nine provincial regions, supplying natural gas to areas along the route, including Beijing, Shanghai, & Tianjin. It is part of the East Route project, connecting to Russia's 3,000 km Power of Siberia pipeline🇷🇺.

🔹The East Route was partially launched in December 2019, becoming the first pipeline to supply Russian gas to China. The designed annual natural gas transmission volume of the pipeline is 38 bcm. By 2025, the volume of channeled natural gas will meet the demand of 130 million households.

Last reported on this channel:

💠China is getting nearly 30% more gas from Russia so far this year via the Power of Siberia pipeline & discounted Russian LNG.

💠Gazprom 🇷🇺 move payments for gas exports to China 🇨🇳 away from USD/Euros & shift to rubles & yuan.

🔹China's 🇨🇳President Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh & received a warm Saudi welcome. When the president's plane entered Saudi 🇸🇦airspace it was escorted by 4 Saudi fighter jets & at lower altitudes by 6 concierge aircraft.

🔹Xi is expected to attend a Saudi-Chinese summit, the Gulf 🇧🇭🇰🇼🇴🇲🇸🇦🇶🇦🇦🇪-China Summit, & the Riyadh Arab-China Summit during his 3-day visit. Talks on a free trade agreement between China and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are entering a “final stage,”. Saudi Aramco revived discussions to build a multi-billion dollar refining and petrochemicals complex in China.

🔹Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & China 🇨🇳 would seek to boost cooperation in energy supply chains by establishing a regional centre in the Gulf Arab state for Chinese factories. More than 20 initial agreements worth SR110 billion ($29.26 billion) will be signed during Xi’s visit.

🔹The US 🇺🇸 White House warns that China’s attempts to exert its influence worldwide were “not conducive” to the international order.

🔹UK 🇬🇧 gov't won’t improve a pay offer to NHS staff in England, despite the threat of widespread strikes. As many as 100,000 nursing staff are planning walkouts on Dec. 15 & 20. Three ambulance unions in the UK will strike for 2 days.

🔹UK Border Force workers at several major British airports ✈️, will go on strike for eight days this month in a dispute over pay.

🔹UK's National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport says more than 40,000 workers will strike for 4 days, demanding higher wages in line with the rising cost of living. The dockworkers at Felixstowe, the UK's largest port 🚢 🏗 have started an eight-day strike in protest over their wages & inflation.

🔹UK Royal Mail 📮 postal service workers will stage at least six strikes in December.

🔹More than 70,000 teachers in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 will strike this month.

🔹Conservative Party chairman says ‘NHS strikes help Putin’. UK 🇬🇧 PM Sunak is working on “new tough laws” to protect people from strike action.

Video courtesy Aljazeera

🔹Part 4 on Ukraine's attack against the Orthodox Church 🙏.

🔹 Ukraine proposes a bill to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) (Moscow 🇷🇺 Patriarchate) by claiming it poses a threat to national security. The bill will be voted on tomorrow (Dec 9th). This law, if enacted, will allow Ukraine to confiscate the lands & churches of the UOC.

🔹Ukraine's SBU raids churches in Cherkasy, Volyn Region & Poltava region. Ukraine missile strike hits church in Donetsk.

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.

💠 Link to 👉 Part 3: Ukraine's 🇺🇦 SBU, raids the largest Orthodox monastery in Ukraine.

🔹Questions arise over Germany's 🇩🇪raids on "far-right extremists". A possibility now exists that it was staged, to be used as pretext to restrict political opposition in the future.

🔹3,000 officers were involved in the raids conducted at 150 sites in 11 of Germany’s 16 states. The accused coup plotters were planning to install a regime similar to the German Reich of 1871.

🔹25 people were arrested in Germany, Austria 🇦🇹 & Italy 🇮🇹 for planning to overthrow the political system in Germany. Allegedly the leader is 71-year old, Henry XIII. He is 1 of 6 children of Heinrich I. Prince Reuss (1910-1982) & was arrested at his home in Frankfurt.

🔹In 2019 he claimed, Germany has not been a sovereign state since WWII, but is administered by the Allies.

🔹Germany's 🇩🇪 AfD party MP, Eugen Schmidt, pointed out that the majority of the suspects are in their 60s or even 70s.

🔹The 'elite troops' actually served before 1990, in the German Democratic Republic. These 'soldiers' are "long past their prime."

🔹Western officials are blaming Türkiye 🇹🇷 over disruption of oil shipments from the Black Sea, after Ankara stopped 22 oil tankers from crossing its territorial waters, citing fears about insurance.

🔹The vessels were detained days after the EU 🇪🇺/G7 $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian 🇷🇺 seaborne 🚢crude exports. The measure bans Western enterprises from providing brokerage, shipping and insurance above the cap. The delays of these tankers has already incurred 📈 about $13 million of extra freight costs.

🔹Crude oil 🛢 tankers that cannot provide proof of valid protection & indemnity (P&I) insurance are barred from passing through the Turkish straits. Many tankers loaded with Kazakh crude are currently waiting to cross the strait, which are not subject to the price cap.

🔹15 tankers 🚢 were banned from entering the straits due to invalid insurance as a result of EU/G7 sanctions on Russia.

🔹The Montreux Convention authorizes Türkiye 🇹🇷 to regulate all marine traffic through Turkish Straits.

🔹Europe 🇪🇺- A continuing cold blast ❄️, has led to higher energy prices & drawn down natural gas inventories. Average temperatures across Northwest Europe are expected to continue sliding well below a 30-year trendline to around 27 degrees Fahrenheit by Dec. 18.

🔹Gas storage sites are still relatively full for the time of year, but risks still linger that a severe cold spell could quickly deplete stocks, leaving the continent exposed to any new supply curtailments. Dutch TTF natural gas futures are trading around 150 euros per megawatt-hour.

🔹Higher bids for domestic natural gas (for heating) in the US 🇺🇸 are coming as , parts of the US are about to see below-average temperatures between Dec.15-21. This will increase the prices of US LNG 🚢 to Europe.

🔹The European Central Bank warns that the natural gas price cap rules could achieve the exact opposite. The cap may increase volatility and related margin calls & challenge central counterparties' ability to manage financial risks.

🔹Egypt 🇪🇬 has officially become a member of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 group of major emerging economies. The NDB was established to finance infrastructure in member states & other emerging economies.

🔹Egypt & China 🇨🇳 have created the ECEA to encourage Chinese investments in Cairo. Egypt had previously expressed an interest in becoming a BRICS member, along with Turkey 🇹🇷 & Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦.

🔹The NDB is boosting infrastructure investment in India 🇮🇳. Bangladesh 🇧🇩, the United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪 , Egypt 🇪🇬 & Uruguay 🇺🇾 are also members of the NDB.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 China 🇨🇳 laying groundwork for better trade relationship with Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 & GCC countries.

💠 BRICS plan an international reserve currency based on a basket of the national currencies, backed by commodities such as gold.

💠 BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 nations open to bypassing SWIFT using Russia's SPFS.

Video courtesy Redacted with Clayton Morris.

🔹Mongolia 🇲🇳 reported coal destined for China 🇨🇳 has "disappeared". Massive protests have erupted over the past week in Ulaanbaatar, demanding accountability of the gov't.

🔹The allegations center on coal being mined by 🇲🇳 state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi & two other companies. At least 385,000 tonnes of coal is unaccounted for between 2013 & 2019.

🔹This was discovered after comparing China's import data & Mongolian export data with import data reported by China 🇨🇳, its main buyer. China says they are willing to provide any lawful assistance requested & believes Mongolia is capable of doing their investigation.

Recently on Mongolia 🇲🇳:

📌 Russia stepped up ongoing discussions over the future Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline via Mongolia to China.

📌 Russia 🇷🇺 & the EAEU are considering the possibility of creating free trade zones with Mongolia 🇲🇳.

📌 China 🇨🇳 & Mongolia intend to renew their joint effort to stop the spread of land desertification.

Video courtesy The Duran.

🔹A Summit of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council 🇷🇺 🇦🇲 🇰🇿 🇰🇬 🇧🇾 took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Armenian PM Pashinyan & Russian President Putin met on the sidelines to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh.

🔹Iran 🇮🇷 announced the finalisation of negotiations the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) on bilateral free trade of over more than 7,500 commodity items. President of EAEU observer state, Cuba 🇨🇺, gave a speech on further EAEU integration for economics and trade.

🔹Russia's 🇷🇺 FM Lavrov reported, intense discussions are underway to work out protective mechanisms that will reduce dependence on the whims of the west, to serve trade & investment activities using our own methods, including the transition to national currencies, the creation of their own logistics chains.

🔹Kazakhstan 🇰🇿called for further interaction with Iran, Vietnam, & Serbia with which the EAEU has signed a preferential trade agreement. Kazakhstan notes the beginning of talks with the UAE 🇦🇪 on an free trade zone agreement.

🔹Belgian 🇧🇪 prosecutors investigate allegations that allegedly Qatar 🇶🇦 has sought to influence EU policy by bribing EU parliament officials. Four officials are charged with money laundering & corruption. The arrests followed raids in Brussels which turned up 600,000 euros 💶 in cash.

🔹The vice-president of the EU 🇪🇺 Parliament, Eva Kaili, has been charged with corruption after Belgian 🇧🇪 police found 'bags of cash' in her home. She would normally enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution but there is an exception in cases where a suspect is caught red-handed in the act of committing an alleged crime.

🔹It is suspected that parties in political positions within the EU 🇪🇺 parliament were paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to influence parliament’s decisions in respect to support of labour reforms in Qatar.

🔹Qatar 🇶🇦 has come under heavy international pressure to introduce labour reforms as it sought to build new World Cup stadiums using migrant workers.

Video courtesy WION

🔹A 🇷🇸 Belgrade rally against the harassment of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo was held to urge the Serbian gov't to stand strong. Kosovo police & EULEX (EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo) seized electoral commission premises & blocked Serb areas without permission.

🔹Serbs erected barricades along a highway in protest. KFOR (NATO-led force in Kosovo) & EULEX demanded the barricades removed. Serbian 🇷🇸 President Vucic plans a request to KFOR, to deploy 1,000 Serbian policemen in Kosovo, to protect Serbs in accordance with UNSC resolution 1244.

🔹KFOR will likely decline & ignore UNSC resolution 1244, since the German 🇩🇪 FM has done so. Serbia says US & EU ignore international treaties. “Radical” Albanian extremists & Kosovo authorities, backed by the US & EU are escalating tensions.

🔹Netherlands 🇳🇱 call for EU suspension of 🇷🇸 Serbia's Schengen visa-free regime for failure to implement sanctions on Russia.

🔹US 🇺🇸 & EU 🇪🇺 pretend not to violate the Serbia/Kosovo Brussels & Washington Agreements.

🔹Peru’s 🇵🇪 new president, Dina Boluarte, forced to bring elections forward by 2 years, after last week’s ousting of former president Pedro Castillo sparked protests that have left at least six dead - mostly teenagers.

🔹Boluarte, previously the VP, was sworn in after Castillo was removed by Congress & arrested for trying to dissolve the legislature. Lawmakers had previously tried twice to impeach him since he took office in July 2021.

🔹Boluarte has declared a State of Emergency in several provinces which has suspended several constitutional rights as protestors now call for her resignation.

🔹President Boluarte, a Davos Forum 2022 attendee has been pushing for Peru's closer ties with the WEF. US 🇺🇸 Ambassador to Peru 🇵🇪 encourages the Peruvian public to remain calm during this uncertain time.

🔹Castillo is accused of corruption. The former teacher denied the allegations & said political opponents were trying to subvert the will of voters who elected him.

🔹EU 🇪🇺 fails to agree a gas price cap again, amid divisions over price, whether the cap should only apply to the TTF index or all European gas trading hubs and ECB concerns that it may jeopardise financial stability in the euro area.

🔹EU ministers cannot agree on a maximum cap to pay for gas due to fear that global suppliers will simply bypass Europe when others offer more money.

Last reported on this channel.

💠 Poland 🇵🇱, Spain 🇪🇸 & Greece 🇬🇷 are eager to implement the cap at a much lower price.

💠 Some EU 🇪🇺 leaders are insisting that the EU impose a price cap on all natural gas imports.

💠 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.

Video courtesy Firstpost