🔹The Mexican 🇲🇽 military captured Ovidio Guzmán, the son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and allegedly one of the country’s top fentanyl traffickers. But in a sign of the cartels’ strength, the arrest sparked a wave of retaliatory violence in western Sinaloa state, with gunmen throwing up roadblocks, seizing cars from terrified residents and firing at planes at the airport ✈️ in Culiacán, the capital.

🔹Flights in the northern state of Sinaloa were canceled after the arrest of Guzmán. Local authorities to ask all residents to stay home and avoid being out on the street. The U.S. 🇺🇸 Consulate General reminds U.S. citizens that Sinaloa is classified as Level 4: Do Not Travel.

🔹Intermittent gunfire continued in Culiacan as Mexican 🇲🇽security forces continued to clash with cartel gunmen and few people ventured out.

🔹Three years ago, he was briefly detained in Culiacán, then set free as Sinaloa cartel gunmen seized control of much of the city.

Video: Mexican Army ambushed in Tamaulipas.

🔹Russia’s 🇷🇺 crude grades from the Arctic, which used to be sold in Europe, are now heading to China 🇨🇳 & India 🇮🇳, being sold at deep discounts. Both countries have refused to join the G7 price cap on Russian oil.

🔹Indian refiners imported last month the first-ever cargo of the Varandey crude 🛢blend from the Russian Timan-Pechora oilfields.

🔹The slowdown in U.S. crude oil production & the prospect that U.S. shale can no longer respond quickly to changing market conditions has emboldened OPEC.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 The US 🇺🇸 Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has not been this low since Dec. 30, 1983.

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 has banned the supply of Russian oil & oil products to countries that impose a price cap.

💠 Chinese 🇨🇳 refiners see refining profit margins jump, due to discounts for Russian crude.

💠 Japan 🇯🇵 in discussions with local refineries to buy oil from Russia's Sakhalin-2 project.

💠 Russia has discretely assembled a "shadow fleet" 🚢 of more than 100 tanker ships.

🔹The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 (KSA) oil giant Aramco & French TotalEnergies plan construction of an $11 billion dollar world scale petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia. At the same time Europe is de-industrializing.

🔹The KSA 🇸🇦 lowered prices for Arab light crude grade 🛢it sells to Asia.

🔹Due to rising world-wide copper demand, the KSA plans to ramp up copper mining.

🔹The market cap of Arab stock exchanges exceeded 📈 $4 trillion ending 2022. The KSA's market cap was $2.63 trillion.

🔹Western media publishes warnings of the KSA's 🇸🇦 growing ties with Russia 🇷🇺 & China🇨🇳.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 The Shanghai Gold Exchange will be used by the KSA 🇸🇦for its yuan to gold transactions.

💠 President Xi Jingping 🇨🇳 boosts cooperation in energy supply chains with the KSA during his state visit.

💠 The KSA leads OPEC+'s 2 million barrels of oil 🛢 per day production cut.

💠 The KSA's 🇸🇦 energy minister warns nations who use emergency oil reserves to manipulate prices.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺 plans to expand cooperation with Venezuela in all areas, including energy sectors.

🔹Iran 🇮🇷 & Venezuela to share technological advances in petrochemicals, oil & gas sectors.

🔹Venezuela's oil exports 🛢declined 2.5% in 2022 due to infrastructure outages & U.S. sanctions.

🔹The Venezuelan embassy in the US 🇺🇸, run by 'interim Venezuelan President' Juan Guaido since 2019, has ended its operations.

🔹Colombia 🇨🇴 to reopen 4 consulates in Venezuela after border blockade removed by Venezuela.

🔹Venezuela plans to re-open an air route with Brazil 🇧🇷.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Trinidad & Tobago 🇹🇹 asked the US for approval to import Venezuelan gas so as to not end up on US sanctions.

💠 Venezuela 🇻🇪 scraps oil-for-debt deals with EU nations.

💠 London's 🇬🇧 High Court has rejected Venezuela's efforts to repatriate over $1 billion of Venezuela's gold reserves stored in the Bank of England.

🔹Finland's 🇫🇮 newest nuclear reactor 🏭 Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) is being tested at full power over this weekend & will then be shut down for about one month. "The tests cover several different conditions, from normal operation to abnormal disturbances. The power generated today is above consumption load💡. (Finland's grid operator data).

🔹When OL3 is down for another month, concerns arise of grid limitations or electricity shortages during winter. Finns have since summer hoarded torches, heat pumps, timers, solar panels and firewood 🪵.

🔹People in Finland have cut back electricity consumption by around 📉10% in Dec. '22 vs Dec. '21. “Finland used to bring a third of its energy from Russia and now we are close to zero,” — Finnish ministry of economic affairs.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Finland 🇫🇮 has proposed a temporary 30% windfall tax on profits from the country's electricity companies.

💠Finland terminated a contract with Russia's 🇷🇺 Rosatom to build a nuclear facility in Finland.

🔹China 🇨🇳 reported an increase 📈 in its gold reserves again after its first reported purchase in more than 3 years. China raised its holdings by 30 tons in December. This follows November’s addition of 32 tons. The recent official purchases bring the nation’s holdings to a total of 2,010 tons.

🔹There has been speculation since 2014 & 2015, that the actual gold reserves of China 🇨🇳are much higher. China went years between announcing official gold reserves, & the updated amounts don’t reflect in-country gold production and imports.

Last reported on this channel:

💠Central banks are scooping up gold 📈at the fastest pace since 1967.

💠 Central banks of China 🇨🇳, Turkey 🇹🇷, Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 & India 🇮🇳 increase gold purchases.

💠 Prof. Everisto Benyera on the shift in relationship between Africa, gold & the USD.

💠 BRICS 🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 plan an international reserve currency based on a basket of the national currencies, backed by commodities such as gold.

Video courtesy Sean Foo

🔹Brazil 🇧🇷 - Supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro has overcome police barriers & stormed the the Brazilian Congress HQ in Brasilia as a demonstration against the new Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

🔹One pro-Bolsonaro group marched from the army HQ in Brasília towards, the Three Powers Plaza, which houses the supreme court, the presidential palace & congress. A report of Federal Police helicopter dropping tear gas bombs towards protesters

🔹Bolsonaro, who flew to Florida 🇺🇸, ahead of Lula’s inauguration, has not yet commented on the ongoing situation. President Lula da Silva, & his wife, are visiting, the city of Araraquara, which is 314 km from the capital of the Brazilian 🇧🇷 state of São Paulo.

Last reported on this channel:

🔹Millions of Brazilians hit the streets as protests erupt in Brazil 🇧🇷over alleged election fraud. President Bolsonaro lost to Lula da Silva, by 50.9% to 49.1%.

Video compilation courtesy Intel Slava Z

🔹The Swiss 🇨🇭 National Bank (SNB) reported a loss of 132 billion Swiss francs ($143 billion) for 2022. It represents the biggest loss in the central bank’s 116-year history & equates to roughly 18% of Switzerland’s projected GDP.

🔹As a result it will not make its usual payouts to the Swiss 🇨🇭gov't & member states, with payments to its shareholders also set to be affected.

🔹The USD/CHF (Swiss Franc) pair is likely to continue its downside journey below the immediate support of 0.9267 as investors have underpinned the risk-appetite theme in the market.

🔹The SNB's foreign exchange reserves fell 📉 in December to 784.006 billion Swiss francs from 791.193 billion francs in November.

Last reported on this channel:

💠Swiss 🇨🇭 based investment bank Credit Suisse, to undergo a multi-year restructuring program partly funded by Saudi Arabia's 🇸🇦National Bank .

Video courtesy Bannon's War Room.

🔹China 🇨🇳 is snapping up cargoes of crude that would normally head to Europe, spooking European physical oil traders as imports from Russia 🇷🇺 is cut due to sanctions and when local demand is rising. China already bought 5 million barrels of mostly-Kazakh 🇰🇿 crude for collection from a port in the Black Sea next month, a grade that is preferred by European refiners.

🔹China issued a second batch of 2023 crude oil 🛢import quotas, raising the total for this year by 20% compared to the same time last year.

🔹"It is naive to think that China will not be seeking to control the price of oil, that it would not want to conduct trade in the currency that it controls." as yuan based trade is rising in Russia, Asia and the Middle East.—Kpler oil analyst

🔹Philippine 🇵🇭 President Marcos has held talks with Chinese 🇨🇳leader Xi Jinping during his 3-day state visit. Mr Xi said China is ready to resume oil and gas talks with the Philippines.

Video courtesy WION

🔹Container shipping 🚢 rates registered a marginal increase at the start of 2023, but now sit below the 10-year average. Drewry’s composite World Container Index (WCI) rose 0.7% in the week ended 5 January, ending 43 weeks of consecutive falls 📉 in the index.

🔹The WCI now stands at $2,135 per feu having plunged 79% from a high of $10,377 per feu in September 2021. (Note: Tanker shipping rates are at record highs due largely due to the sanctions against Russia 🇷🇺).

🔹After a record-breaking boom for ocean carriers during the 'pandemic', a glut in capacity & slowing demand for freight has caused what supply chain management co. Flexport said is a "great recession" for shipping. The average container shipped 🏗 is now about 70% full.

🔹Flexport —This is the result of the "shortage of everything" bullwhip effect.

🔹The cost to send a container from Asia to the US 🇺🇸 on the demand-sensitive spot market has tumbled more than 80% from its Sept. peak above $20,000 for a 40-foot container.

🔹Russia 🇷🇺has ramped up oil production from the Sakhalin-1 project & expects the field to soon pump at the full level of 220,000 bpd, in 3-4 weeks. Currently, oil 🛢production at Sakhalin-1 is around 150,000 bpd, or 65% of its capacity.

🔹US 🇺🇸 supermajor ExxonMobil had withdrew from the project to enforce sanctions & collapse Sakhalin-1. Production fell drastically, but Sakhalin-1 & 2 were put under a new operator by Russia.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Russia 🇷🇺 transferred 20% participation interest in the new Sakhalin-1 operator to India’s 🇮🇳 ONGC Videsh Ltd & 30% to Japan’s 🇯🇵 Sodeco.

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

💠 India’s 🇮🇳 Oil & Natural Gas Corp. 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.

🔹Lukoil, Russia’s 🇷🇺 2nd largest oil company, 100% subsidiary, Litasco S.A., agreed to sell the Italian ISAB refinery 🏭 to Cyprus-based G.O.I. Energy Limited, a private equity firm backed by Trafigura.

🔹ISAB S.r.L. owns a large petrochemical complex in Italy 🇮🇹 combining refining, gasification & electricity cogeneration plants. The deal value was not disclosed.

🔹 The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March 2023 upon fulfillment of certain conditions.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 Italian🇮🇹 gov't placed the ISAB refinery under trusteeship with talks of a possible future nationalisation. Lukoil said it is ready to ensure uninterrupted operation, given the feedstock stored up are of non-Russian origin 🛢.

💠 Russia’s Lukoil has turned down an offer to sell its Italian refinery to US 🇺🇸 private equity, Crossbridge Energy Partners. If a buyer is not found, the refinery will close, because it is not able to receive Russian crude due to sanctions 🚢

Video courtesy the WSJ

🔹USA 🇺🇸- Mass culling of chickens due to Avian influenza (bird flu) causes drop-off in US egg 🥚production, sending retail prices sky-high. Over 43 million of the 58 million birds slaughtered the last year have been egg-laying hens. Eggs are now over $5 per dozen in some states.

🔹Egg prices 'expected to soar' in Japan 🇯🇵 after record cull of 10 million birds.

Earlier bird flu posts on this channel:

💠 US 🇺🇸 - Bird Flu outbreak worsens as over 50 million birds are culled/died.

💠 UK 🇬🇧- Supermarket customers are facing limits on how many eggs they can buy.

💠 Spain 🇪🇸 - Two poultry farm workers tested positive for bird flu, the 1st known human infections in Spain & the 2nd in Europe since 2003.

💠 Millions of chickens euthanized to prevent spread of bird flu at US & UK farms.

💠 Death of seabirds & duck farms in Canada 🇨🇦 linked to bird flu.

💠 US egg 🥚prices increase due to culling of hens across US.

Video courtesy TMJ4 News

🔹BREAKING - A bomb explosion outside the Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan’s 🇦🇫 capital Kabul killed 20 people. Early reports say 20 casualties thus far & maybe more as emergency services are on the scene. This marks the first major attack in the country this year.

🔹Unconfirmed reports that this was the work of a suicide bomber. There is no confirmation yet, that Chinese officials were meeting with the Taliban-led gov't at the Foreign Ministry at the time of the blast. Afghan 🇦🇫authorities & Chinese diplomats met in Kabul last week to sign an oil extraction deal.

🔹No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The Islamic State (IS) terrorists, is one of the Taliban led gov't's main security concerns. Last month IS targeted Chinese 🇨🇳 nationals at a hotel in Kabul, killing or wounding a number of people.

🔹Poland 🇵🇱will seek help from the US 🇺🇸 in its pursuit to claim World War II reparations from Germany — Deputy FM Arkadiusz Mularczyk. The Polish gov't had presented a comprehensive report detailing the material losses suffered by the country during WWII, along with a pledge to demand reparations from Germany amounting to 1.3 trillion euros.

🔹Germany 🇩🇪 has rejected Warsaw's request to enter into talks on compensation for damage caused during WWII. Germany argues that compensation was paid to Europe's Eastern bloc nations in the years after the war.

🔹Poland 🇵🇱 is also addressing the issue to major global organizations such as the UN, the Council of Europe, and UNESCO, as well as 50 member states of NATO, the EU 🇪🇺 and the European Council. Poland has also hinted at making similar reparation demands from Russia.

Video courtesy TVP World

🔹EU 🇪🇺Commissioner for Crisis Management said, Brussels has repeatedly asked Israel to pay for demolished houses in the West Bank that were built using financial aid from the EU or its member states. 24 EU MEPs to the Crisis Management Commission, demanded that Israel 🇮🇱 compensate the EU for the loss of EU taxpayer money.

🔹According to the UN's 🇺🇳 OCHA, in the first eight months of 2022, over 700 people were displaced after Israeli authorities demolished, seized, or forced others to demolish a total of 590 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank.

🔹Israeli 🇮🇱 military has demolished homes, water tanks and olive orchards in 2 Palestinian 🇵🇸 villages in the southern West Bank where some residents are at risk of imminent expulsion.

🔹Palestinian 🇵🇸 structures built without military permits – "nearly impossible to obtain" – are at risk of demolition. 2 days ago, Israeli soldiers raided the town of Kafr al-Dik, located west of Salfit.

Video courtesy MEMonitor & Inquirer.net

🔹US 🇺🇸 Congress passed a bill to ban the sale of oil released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China 🇨🇳. The one-page bill, would prohibit the Dept. of Energy from drawing down the SPR to sell that oil to any entity under the ownership, control, or influence of China. It now heads to the Senate.

🔹US President Biden's economic advisor hints at more SPR releases.

🔹The SPR was established after the 1973 oil 🛢 embargo, for emergency shortages, acts of terrorism, and natural disasters.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 The US 🇺🇸 SPR has not been this low since Dec. 30, 1983.

💠 The US used 📉 218 million barrels of oil from it's SPR.

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

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

💠 OPEC+ defends their role in oil market stability at OPEC+ HQ 🇦🇹.

💠 US reviewing various options regarding its relationship with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ cuts.

🔹A natural gas pipeline exploded 🔥in the village of Pasvalis, Venkemia, Pasvalsky district, Lithuania 🇱🇹. Gas transmission system operator Amber Grid said the explosion took place away from residential buildings. Police officers reported an open fire burning about 50 meters high.

🔹The population of the village is about 50 people. From the village to the pipeline is somewhere 500-700 meters, the situation is under control. The fire stopped burning after about 4 hours. No information yet if this was intentional damage.

🔹The gas transmission system in this area consists of two parallel pipelines, and initial data indicate that the explosion occurred in one of them. The gas pipeline where the fire broke out is used to supply gas to the northern part of Lithuania 🇱🇹 and to transport gas to Latvia 🇱🇻.

🔹Lithuanian broadcaster LRT said that the nearby village of Valakeliai was evacuated by police as a precaution, with its roughly 250 residents asked to leave their homes.

🔹Prime Minister of the German 🇩🇪 state Saxony, calls to repair Nord Stream 1 (NS 1) pipeline for future use. He says Germany will require cheaper gas once the hostilities in Ukraine are over.

🔹"The 🇷🇺 operator must ensure that the pipeline can be repaired. We are running out of time. If the damage is not repaired, NS1 will become unusable for a long time," he said.

🔹"We must have an option to buy something other than the expensive LNG 🚢 after the war.

Event timeline reported on this channel in reverse order:

💠 Gazprom may not restore the pipelines at all, because the sanctioned gas turbines ⚙️ are needed at the Portovaya compression station to send gas via the NS 1 &2.

💠 NordStream 1 & 2 pipeline 🧨 sabotage video report.

💠 Sanctions on Russia prevent gas turbine repairs for NS 1 & 2.

💠 Germany requested Canada 🇨🇦 to waiver sanctions for compressor turbines for NS 1.

💠 German 🇩🇪 Chancellor claims one turbine is ready to be shipped after Gazprom declared 'force-majeure' on NS 1.

🔹Peruvian 🇵🇪 President Dina Boluarte has apologised for dozens of deaths in protests, but insisted that she will not step down. Supporters of the former president have marched and barricaded streets around the country for weeks, demanding that new elections be held and for Boluarte to step down.

🔹Peru‘s attorney general has launched 11 inquiries to identify those responsible for civilian deaths in protests.

Last reported on this channel in December 2022:

💠 The death toll rises in nationwide protests denouncing a coup after installation of US 🇺🇸 backed president Dina Boluarte. She is known for her pro -World Economic Forum policy agenda.

💠 Boluarte, was forced to bring elections forward by 2 years, after the ousting & arrest of former president Pedro Castillo sparked protests.

💠 June 2022: Peru 🇵🇪- the world's no. 2 copper producer - mining been disrupted by protests. Local communities saw little benefit from the wealth generated by the mining .

🔹Swedish 🇸🇪 gov't-owned mine operator LKAB discovers a major rare earth mineral deposit in the northern city of Kiruna. The deposit is the largest such discovery in Europe. It will be at least 10-15 years before mined products is brought to market.

🔹China’s 🇨🇳 exports of rare earths in Dec. '22 rose 5.4% yr-on-yr. The month-on-month increase was 46.2% from Nov.’s 2,949.60 tonnes, a 2-year low. For 2022, China shipped out 48,728 tonnes of the minerals, down 0.4% from 2021.

🔹China has the world's largest reserves of rare earth. 98% of rare earths used in the EU in 2021 was imported from China.

Last reported on this channel:

💠 EU 🇪🇺Commission President mentions threat of China's global share in rare earth elements.

💠 The 🇺🇸 Biden admin lacks the political will to simply mine the needed rare earth elements domestically.

💠 The U.S. military depends almost completely on China 🇨🇳 for the hard to mine 'metalloid element' antimony.