Parliament Approves Contracts for Hydrocarbon Drilling in Western Greece

Greece's parliamentary Standing Committee on Production and Trade on Tuesday approved with a majority vote the three contracts for concessions to carry out exploratory drilling for hydrocarbons in Katakolo, Ioannina and the Gulf of Patras - all in western Greece - sponsored by the ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change.

A fourth contract was also introduced, amending an existing contract for hydrocarbons exploratory drilling in the Thracian Sea, northern Greece.

Main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) has said that this is the only contract it is going to approve because all the rest constitute a sell-off of Greece's underground wealth through fast-track procedures.

(ANA-MPA )

Will The South Stream Pipeline Place Serbia in Conflict With EU?

With the decision by Bulgaria to suspend construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline, there is more pressure on Serbia, which is balancing its longstanding ties with Russia against its desire to join the European Union.”The Serbian situation is the most difficult because it ‘paid ‘ the entrance to the pipeline by giving to Gazprom low prices for NIS (Naftna Industrija Serbia – Oil Company of Serbia) and Banatski Dvor (and underground gas storage in Vojvodina),” Jelena Milic, director of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies for Belgrade, told SETimes recently.

    “It is not regulated by the energy agreement with Russia what will happen if Russia gives up the project or if it will not be able to realise its obligations. Serbia counts on incomes of transit and to pay back its debts to Russia,” Milic said.

Following the instructions of the European Commission (EC), Bulgaria froze construction plans for South Stream, a 2,380-kilometre long pipeline that would transport Russian gas to Eastern Europe and beyond, bypassing Ukraine and putting additional financial pressure on Kiev in its dispute with the Kremlin.

Bulgaria ended its participation after the EU said the project does not comply with its competition and energy legislation. But Serbia still plans to participate in the project.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who met with Russia Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev in Moscow on July 7th, said the two countries plan to sign a South Stream agreement soon.

Milic told SETimes that it is important for Serbia to sync its legislation with the EU as well as implement its Third Energy Package, with which South Stream is in conflict.

Vucic said that Serbia would like to become a member of the European Union.

    “I have never concealed that Serbia wants to become a part of the EU, but at the difficult moment Serbia does not want to damage good, friendly relations with Russia,” he said.

Read full article: South Stream puts Serbia in conflict with EU (Turkish Weekly)

IT'S ALL CLEARER NOW - Hillary Tells EU to Use MH17 Crash As Excuse To X Gazprom (VIDEO)

Hillary Clinton (Photo credit: SEIU International)

Now the agenda of the NWO or as we so lovingly call them the neocons is starting to become clearer and make a bit more sense. Former State Secretary Hillary Clinton doesn't want a good crisis to go to waste, much like her neocon buddy Henry Kissinger, who has always taken advantage of a crisis to execute his plans for a one world order. Recently she told Charlie Rose on a live televised talk show that her recommendation to the European Union is to take advantage of the shot-down MH17 tragedy so as to "immediately accelerate efforts to find alternatives to Gazprom."

(So is it safe to assume that the US wants to capitalize on the plane crash because of the ongoing East West energy race? OBVIOUSLY Frappers... Just turn back the clock to when Costas Karamanlis landed a deal to extend Russia's South Stream pipeline through Greece, remember all the Wikileaks cables that claimed that the Americans were furious with him and wanted him out of power. Who did we get after him? George of course... who led us right into the natural resource sucking vampires of the IMF. Wake up Frappers. When we say its always about the oil... we mean it is almost always about the damn oil!!!)

Moscow-based Gazprom is the largest producer of natural gas in the world and one of the globe's largest companies. A few weeks back on June 26th they announced that they would settle contracts with China using yuan or rubles instead of dollars. This move came about one month after Russia and China announced a record $400B gas deal and between you and us that is a whole lot of dollars that won't be needed in the international economy. Place that with the launch of the BRICS development bank (which is much like the IMF and/or the World Bank), and there is ample motive that explains why the West is so steadfast on accusing Russia about this tragedy.

What a shocking geopolitical chess game it is. The big players, or in this case the superpowers are literally killing off innocent civilians to save their currencies. The events that we are witnessing dear Frappers are unprecedented. Is it a conspiracy? Hell no. Watch the video for yourselves! It is more than obvious that the Western powers are making morally questionable moves to secure resources that are not in their control, a practice commonly known as expanding corporate empire by force.

Armies should not be defending corporate interests, they should be defending nations from national threats.

Shame Mrs. Clinton...

Gov't To Launch Tender In Early July For Hydrocarbon Exploration in Ionian

Greece's Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Changeon Wednesday announced that it will proclaim an international tender for hydrocarbon exploration concessions in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete will be launched in early July.

The features of the areas involved, based on seismic survey data collected by PGS last year, are going to be presented to oil companies at a special conference in London on July 1-2 titled “Western Greece and South Crete: A new area for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the heart of the Mediterranean”.

According to press reports, the areas that are expected to be presented by Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, who is scheduled to outline the government’s strategic plan for developing Greece’s hydrocarbon potential and also have individual meetings with company representatives and investors to answer any questions.

7Bln Euro Energy Projects In Fast Track Procedures

Greek authorities on Monday decided to include 12 energy investments worth 7.0 billion euros to a fast track legislation procedures for strategic investments. According to the state news agency ANA/MPA the decision was reached during a meeting of the inter-ministerial commission headed by Development and Competitiveness Minister Costis Hatzidakis. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Minister said that this development underlined the country's ability to attract investments.

All 12 projects were included in the fast track procedure on the recommendation of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, who apparently stated that these project were already in an implementation stage and are set to generate at least 17,000 new jobs.

The projects have been characterized by the European Union as Projects of Common Interest and are basically energy interconnections with the Caspian region and the Eastern Mediterranean region (Cyprus-Israel).

More analytically, the projects noted include:

Electricity Energy -NSI East Electricity (interconnections of electricity energy North-South in centraleast and southeast Europe).

• - Interconnection Israel-Cyprus-Greece between Hadera (Israel) and Attica, known as Euro-Asia-Interconnector.
• - Interconnection between Maritsa East 1 (Bulgaria) and Nea Santa (Greece).
• - Hydro-pumped storage in Amphilohia.

Natural Gas

• - IGB Interconnector pipeline Greece-Bulgaria (Komotini-Stara Zagora)
• - Terminal (permanent reverse flow) at the Greek-Bulgarian borders (Sidirokastro and Kula).
• - Floating storage and processing terminal of LNG in Alexandroupoli.
• - Floating storage and processing terminal Aegean LNG import terminal.
• - Storage facility in Kavala.
• - TAP pipepline.
• - ITGI pipeline.
• - Natural gas pipeline from Cyprus to Greece (through Crete).
• - Natural gas compression terminal in Kipi, Evros.

The interministerial commission meeting also agreed to issue a new presidential decree on the operation of The Mall shopping centre, following a court decision saying that the shopping center's license was illegal as no environmental survey had been drafted.

Conspiracy or Truth - Russian Military To Protect Oil Giants In America Against Obama

CLICK ON BOLD LINKS TO CROSS REFERENCE ARTICLE WITH THE MAINSTREAM NEWS

A stunning report prepared by the Ministry of Energy (MoE) on the recently signed agreements between Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft,  Exxon Mobil Corporation and British Petroleum says that additional memorandums of understanding (MoU) agreed upon by these three global energy giants allows for the deployment of tens-of-thousands of Russian military forces to protect their “mutual vital interests” in the Americas should they come under attack by Obama regime forces.

According to this report, these new agreements were signed last week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) where President Putin declared: “The challenges in the energy sector are clearly of global nature, and we can only meet them together, by means of co-operation. It is important that this is exactly what the major companies are doing.”

These agreements were made despite the Obama regime and EU sanctions imposed on Russia and on Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin over the Russian annexation of Crimea, this report notes, and clearly shows that these multinational energy giants are now operating independently of any sovereign government.

The MoU’s attached to these agreements, this report continues, notes the Obama regimes continued “war on oil” that has caused petrol (gasoline) prices to rise to historic levels throughout the world while at the same time equally historic new oil finds have been made. 

Another factor being added into these MoU’s, this report says, has been the Obama regimes continued stalling the completion of the Keystone XL Pipeline projects northern leg which is further adding to the artificial increase of petrol prices in the United States.

Being feared most by the Obama regime and its oligarch supporters, this report notes, is that the ever growing world “oil glut” may push the global economy into deflation, which would effectively destroy the Western banking system, but at the same time greatly benefit the lower and middle classes by giving them the lowest energy prices many of them have seen in their lifetime.

And as, perhaps, best explained by London’s Telegraph News Service:

“One piece of the jigsaw puzzle is missing to complete the deflation landscape across the West: a slide in oil prices. This is becoming more likely each month.

Turmoil across the Middle East and parts of Africa has choked supply over the past two years, keeping Brent crude near $110 a barrel despite a broader commodity slump. Cotton and corn prices have halved, as has the UBS index of industrial metals. Such anomalies rarely last.

"We estimate that crude oil is now the mostly richly priced commodity in the world," says Deutsche Bank in a fresh report.

Michael Lewis, the bank's commodity strategist, said markets face an "new oil supply glut" as three forces combine. US shale will add 1m barrels a day (b/d) to global supply for the third year running; Libya will crank up shipments after a near collapse in 2013; and Iran will come out of hibernation. "This will push OPEC spare capacity to levels last seen in the depths of the financial crisis in 2009," he said.

America is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the top global producer of oil by 2016. It will account for more than half of non-OPEC world supply this year. The US Energy Department says US oil imports will drop to 5.5m b/d by next year, half the level a decade ago. This turns the world's 89m b/d market upside-down.

Deutsche Bank said Saudi Arabia may have to slash its output by a quarter to 7.5m b/d this year to stop the bottom falling out of the market. The Saudis no longer have such money to spare. They are propping up an elephantine welfare nexus to keep a lid on explosive tensions in the Eastern Province, home to Saudi oil and its aggrieved Shia minority. A cut of this size would push the budget into deep deficit.

This comes as Iran makes its peace with the West. Its 30-year vendetta with US - Iran's natural ally in many ways - no longer makes sense.  Bank of America says a simultaneous return of Iran and Libya could add up to 3m b/d. Just a third of this "positive supply shock" could shave $20 off the world oil price.”

Most feared by global energy giants, however, this report continues, are the “deadly lengths” the Obama regime will go through to keep oil prices artificially high, and which include last weeks CIA-backed coup attempt in Libya which (of course) prevents Libyan oil from reaching its fullest capacity.

In seeking to prevent the Obama regime from attacking the “mutual vital interests” of Rosneft-Exxon Mobil Corporation-British Petroleum like they have in Syria, Libya and now Ukraine, this report further explains, was the main reason behind Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu engaging in talks with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Algeria, Cyprus, the Seychelles, Vietnam and Singapore this past February to expand Russian military forces to these critical energy regions.

And in the most explicit MoU agreed upon by these global energy giants, the MoE states Russian military forces are to be allowed “total and unimpeded access” to all of their facilities (either jointly or separately owned) in the Americas (North-Central-South) should they come under “attack or threat of attack” by the Obama regime or its allies.

This report grimly notes too, that in order to fulfill its obligations under these MoU’s, and at its “most extreme”, they could possibly involve the use of tens-of-thousands of Russian military forces in the American region, which includes Rosneft’s access to its fields in North America and the Gulf of Mexico, along with Rosneft-Exxon Mobil fields in the Arctic and Black Sea… and, in essence, means both Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum are giving their backing to the deployment of Russian forces in the Americas.

Note: Other Conspiracy or Truth articles explaining the Crisis In Ukraine, Russian-EU relations, the revival of the Cold War, the mystery surrounding the Malaysian plane disappearance, the geopolitical events that are unfolding in the East Med as well as in Europe as well as all the threats that were made from the Saudis to the Russians, etc -and how all these stories more or less tie into one another-  include: Moscow Astounded As Top Mob Boss Becomes Ukraine Leader,   Putin Orders Feared Alpha Troops To Ukraine, Declares “Red War”,  US Refuses To Take Back 13 Dead CIA Spies Killed In Ukraine,    Armageddon Warned Near As Russia Orders “All-Out War” On Petrodollar,    Ukraine “Rape-Murder” Squads Approved By Obama Horrifies Russia,    US Spy Drone Shot Down Over Northern Fleet Base Alarms Russia,    Furious Putin Orders “Project Double Eagle” To Destroy US, EU Economies,    Malaysia Flight 370 Pilot Confirmed As CIA “Asset” As Plane Exploded Over Indian Ocean,    Russia “Puzzled” Over Malaysia Airlines “Capture” By US Navy,    Obama In Shock After US Oil Giant Sides With Putin; Declares “No Ukraine War” ,   Was Ukraine’s Gold Reserves Secretely Confiscated by the New York Federal Reserve?,    Putin In “Fury” After Saudis Brand Obama Regime Terrorist Organization,    ,Putin Orders Massive War Moves To Protect Iraq After Saudi Threats,    Putin Orders Largest Air Defense Drill In History As War Fears Accelerate,    Putin Orders Russian Troops And Ministries To Atomic Shelters Over NATO Threat Of War,    800,000 Ukrainian Refugees Flood Into Russia As Nazi Forces Continue Eastern March,    Putin Sends Feared Shock Troops, Division Into Ukraine, Warns Obama Is “Unstable”,    Putin Orders Military Alert To Defend Ukraine Against Western-Backed Fascists,    Ukrainian Mob Call To “Kill All Jews” Horrifies Russia,    Russian Threat Of War Over Ukraine Stuns Obama,    US In “Shock And Turmoil” After Snowden Info Lets Russia Tap Top Obama Officials,    Is Super Bowl 9/11 "Staged Warning" Setting Up A False Flag

Sorcha Faal
WhatDoesItMean

Greece's DESFA Ready to Reverse Gas Flow to Bulgaria

(Novinite) - Greece's gas transmission network operator DESFA has guaranteed its readiness to reverse gas flow through the reverse-flow gas grid interconnection Kulata/Sidirokastro. As a result, Bulgaria will be able to receive gas supplies from Greece, in the case of a gas crisis.

The gas company specifies in a statement that it has concluded the first stage of the upgrade of the existing gas grid interconnection, installing valves which allow the reverse flow of natural gas, according to reports of investor.bg.

Remote control of the Kulata/Sidirokastro station has also been introduced. The investment amounts to EUR 3.3 M and was fully covered by DESFA.

The Greek gas company argues that the upgrade contributes to the development of the regional gas markets in Southeastern Europe.

DESFA expects gas traders in Bulgaria and Greece to express interest in the new capacity of the gas grid interconnection.

The finalization of this stage of the upgrade of the gas grid interconnection comes against the backdrop of the threats of Russian Gazprom to cut gas shipments to Ukraine on June 3.

Gas deliveries to Ukraine will be suspended if the country fails to pay in advance for June deliveries or if the talks between the EU, Russia and Ukraine collapse. The trilateral talks are to determine the liabilities of Ukraine and the price of natural gas. There are fears that Russia may suspend gas deliveries to the whole of Europe in a repeat of the 2009 gas crisis.

Reversing the gas flow from Greece to Bulgaria has already been tested. Bulgaria can receive up to 3 million cubic meters of gas a day through this gas grid interconnection.

According to data of Bulgarian gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz, no gas quantities have been taken out of the Chiren underground gas storage since March and the depot has only received new supplies.

Guess Who Is Concerned Over Hydrocarbon Exploration Due To Sunday's Elections: FORBES!

When we here at HellasFrappe continually say that its all about the oil (meaning the present crisis and who will get their hands on Greece's natural reserves), we know exactly what we are talking about. This is one of the reasons that our blog continually publishes articles about this industry and also why we feature many articles that focus on geopolitical issues that directly and indirectly affect Greece.

Concern over the day after (the Euro and municipal elections) was expressed by Forbes magazine at the weekend in an interesting article that forecasts that the notes that Sunday's elections are not going to directly affect the current Greek parliament, but they can "work against” the current leadership and policies of prime minister, Antonis Samaras.

Commenting on the licenses that were awarded last week to several consortiums for exploration, Forbes says that “Greece moved to kick-start its dormant energy exploration effort with the approval of three exploration licences, each allocated to consortiums led by domestic companies,”.

Two of these licenses, underlines the article, were awarded to Energean Oil & Gas, which announced that it is going to cooperate with Canada’s Petra Petroleum Company (in the area of Ioannina) and the UK's Trajan Oil Company (in the area of Katakolo). The third license was given to a consortium of Hellenic Petroleum, Edison and Petroceltic for offshore surveys in the Gulf of Patras.

Forbes describes as “positive” the developments of these exploration licences, while expressing concern for “further delays” in implementing the research projects, since the licenses should be ratified by the Parliament, where “turmoil” is expected to occur as a result of the European elections.

Commenting on the stance of SYRIZA, Forbes says that the far-leftist party has until now ignored making any official statement about these licenses, but in the past had noted that they want to nationalize Greece's natural resources. Forbes then argues that the “threat of nationalization will make it difficult to appeal to foreign investors already wary of the country’s financial landscape,”.

Quite interestingly, and not surprisingly, the same article includes a statement from Energean CEO Mathias Rigas who more or less expressed the confidence that these projects will be ratified by the Greek parliament without any complications.

(So is it safe to conclude that he has already begun buttering up the political elite to forward the interests of his company? Dahhh.... This only once again proves that in Greece the ruling elite help each other, and only push forward each other's interests rather than focus on the interests of the nation.)

NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE - Son of Biden Joins Ukraine Gas Company

When we here at HellasFrappe say that it's all about the oil... We know what we are talking about. The latest BUSTED report claims that the youngest son of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, has been appointed head of legal affairs at Ukraine’s largest private gas producer, a move that he actually said would be in the benefit of Ukrainians as well as that country’s economy.

In a statement published Monday on its website, Burisma Holdings announced Hunter Biden would join its board of directors and head the company’s legal unit, as revealed by the Moscow Times.

Here is a small taste of the article that has definately raised some eyebrows in the global energy industry and which goes to show that security -as NATOists claim- is nothing more than business as usual for large multinational companies.

    “As a new member of the board, I believe that my assistance in consulting the company on matters of transparency, corporate governance and responsibility, international expansion and other priorities will contribute to the economy and benefit the people of Ukraine,” Hunter Biden said in the statement.

Read full article titled: Son of U.S. Vice President Biden Joins Ukraine Gas Company at the Moscow Times by clicking HERE

First Agreements for Hydrocarbons Survey & Mining Finally Signed

Three contracts were signed on Tuesday at the Ministry of Environment regarding the location and mining of oil and natural gas in the areas of Ioannina, the Western Gulf of Patra and Katakolo. The contracts, according to local press reports, are going to be effective as soon as they are ratified in the Greek Parliament.

Present at the signing were Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Minister of Environment Yannis Maniatis.

The contract in Ioannina was signed with the Energean Oil and Gas / Petra Petroleum group, the contract for Katakolo was signed with Energean Oil and Gas / Trajan Oil & Gas Ltd, while in the Gulf of Patra, the deal was sealed with the Hellenic Petroleume / Edison / Petroceltic group.

All the aforementioned companies have committed to investing a minimum of 60 million Euros, while estimations regarding the volume of hydrocarbons in the three areas suggest that there could be up to 300 million barrels of oil.

The government estimates that it will collect up to 18 billion dollars over 30 years.

THE BEAR IS MAD - Russia To Exclude Dollar From Energy Trading

(Voice of Russia) - Russian press reports that the country's Ministry of Finance is ready to greenlight a plan to radically increase the role of the Russian ruble in export operations while reducing the share of dollar-denominated transactions. Governmental sources believe that the Russian banking sector is "ready to handle the increased number of ruble-denominated transactions".

According to the Prime news agency, on April 24th the government organized a special meeting dedicated to finding a solution for getting rid of the US dollar in Russian export operations. Top level experts from the energy sector, banks and governmental agencies were summoned and a number of measures were proposed as a response for American sanctions against Russia.

The"de-dollarization meeting” was chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov, proving that Moscow is very serious in its intention to stop using the dollar. A subsequent meeting was chaired by Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev who later told the Rossia 24 channel that"the amount of ruble-denominated contracts will be increased”, adding that none of the polled experts and bank representatives found any problems with the government's plan to increase the share of ruble payments.

It is interesting that in his interview, Moiseev mentioned a legal mechanism that can be described as"currency switch executive order”, telling that the government has the legal power to force Russian companies to trade a percentage of certain goods in rubles. Referring to the case when this level may be set to 100%, the Russian official said that "it's an extreme option and it is hard for me to tell right now how the government will use these powers".

Of course, the success of Moscow's campaign to switch its trading to rubles or other regional currencies will depend on the willingness of its trading partners to get rid of the dollar. Sources cited by Politonline.ru mentioned two countries who would be willing to support Russia: Iran and China. Given that Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing on May 20, it can be speculated that the gas and oil contracts that are going to be signed between Russia and China will be denominated in rubles and yuan, not dollars.

Samaras - Greece's indications of energy resources "extremely auspicious"

Addressing a forum on "The Future of Greek Gas and Power Markets: Looking Ahead with Optimism and Realism" on Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said that "indications of the country's energy resources are extremely auspicious", adding that more and more Europeans are stressing the importance of the country's wealth of energy sources.

     "From energy alone we can achieve growth that will meet every target," Samaras noted.

He said that of course Greece does not plan to rely on energy alone and added that all this necessitates investments, stability, serious planning, consistent implementation, trust in our country, open communication by Greece with the rest of the world and a stabilising role of our nation in our region instead of isolationist behavior.

"Energy is the outstanding issue that reflects distortions of the Greek economy," he added.

He also touched on the developments in Ukraine noting that they prove the need for Europe's energy security. He then said that the TAP pipeline secures an alternative passage of Caspian gas to be channeled to Europe.

      "For the first time, Greece is entering the global energy map", Samaras said. 

Conspiracy or Truth - Armageddon Warned Near As Russia Orders “All-Out War” On Petrodollar

CLICK ON BOLD LINKS TO CROSS REFERENCE ARTICLE WITH THE MAINSTREAM NEWS

An ominous new report prepared by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on President Putin’s order on Monday to accelerate the opening of the St. Petersburg Exchange (SPE), where prices for Russian oil and natural gas will be set in rubles instead of US dollars, is warning that this “catastrophic blow” to the petrodollar amounts to nothing less than “all-out war” against the West and that an “Armageddon response” from the Obama regime should be expected to swiftly follow.

According to this report, Putin’s order regarding the SPE was in direct response to the Obama regimes placing sanctions upon Igor Sechin the CEO of the Russian energy giant Rosneft and a nominated board member of the SPE, and of which Deputy Minister for foreign relations, Sergey Ryabkov, had warned: “A response of Moscow will follow, and it will be painfully felt in Washington DC.”

Sechin, this report notes, was directly threatened by the Obama regime earlier this month due to his October 2013 remarks at the World Energy Congress in Korea where he called for a “global mechanism to trade natural gas” and went on suggesting that “it was advisable to create an international exchange for the participating countries, where transactions could be registered with the use of regional currencies”.

Sechin, as one of the most influential leaders of the global energy trading community now has the perfect instrument to make this plan a reality with the SPE where reference prices for Russian oil and natural gas will be set in rubles instead of US dollars and could literally destroy the petrodollar.

The use of this “Financial Nuclear Weapon” (the sale of oil in a currency other than the US dollar) which was previously deployed by Saddam Hussein, this report continues, resulted in the total destruction of Iraq, but it failed to deter other countries angry with the highhandedness of the US.

Libya made another attempt and it resulted in the destruction of the country and the brutal murder of its leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Next was Iran. The US and the global financial war party found it much more difficult to isolate and annihilate Iran, even when it was threatened with outright nuclear attack by US and Israel. And in spite of unprecedented sanctions against Iran (which constitute economic warfare and are war crimes in itself), Iran stood defiant.

The leading members of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Russia and China restrained themselves so as to preserve global stability.

However, the war party faction of the Obama regime (the leftovers of the Bush regime) took such restraint as weakness and went on a spree of regime change throughout the world to undermine the growing strength of BRICS.

The “straw that broke the camels’ back” was the unbridled and reckless coup against the elected President of Ukraine by US and NATO and orchestrated by the US State Department and led by war-monger Victoria Nuland, who openly admitted that the US had disbursed through such organizations as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) over $5 Billion to facilitate the coup.

Critical to understand about the current Ukrainian Crisis, this report says, is that it has “absolutely nothing” at all to do with either Ukraine or its people, but should be understood for what it really is… a “sledgehammer” the Obama regime is attempting to use against Russia to prevent the opening and expansion of the SPE.

By perpetually expanding the US money supply, it’s important to note, America’s standard of living for its elite classes increases as well.  The only problem with this situation is that the only way that it can be sustained is if the demand for the dollar and for US debt securities remains consistently strong.

Grasping this last point is extremely important. For if the artificial global US dollar demand, made possible by the petrodollar system, were ever to crumble, foreign nations who had formerly found it beneficial to hold US dollars would suddenly find that they no longer needed the massive amounts that they were holding.

This massive amount of dollars, which would no longer be useful to foreign nations, would come rushing back to their place of origin… America.

Obviously, an influx of dollars into the American economy would lead to massive inflationary pressures within their economic system and collapse it, along with that of the EU too.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of this concept as the entire American monetary system literally hinges on this “dollars for oil” system. Without it, Washington would lose its permission slip to print excessive numbers of dollars.

With thousands of NATO-backed Romanian troops now moving to the Ukraine border, along with British and French fighter jets now being deployed to Lithuania and Poland to join their recently arrived US military allies, this report grimly continues, it cannot be ruled out that the Obama regime will attempt to start a war with Russia in order to protect their petrodollar scheme.

In spite of the fact that all Russian military forces have returned to their permanent bases and Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu assured his US counterpart Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Monday during an hour long phone conversation that Russia had no intention of invading Ukraine, this report notes, Moscow has become increasingly “alarmed” by the combined US-NATO military buildup on its borders that Minister Shoigu called “unprecedented”.

As for the Ukrainian people themselves being used as pawns by the Obama regime against Russia in this “petrodollar war”, this report concludes, their lives are quickly turning from despair to outright misery as they are forced to swallow the “bitter pill” being forced upon them by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is forcing their fuel and energy costs to skyrocket and taxes being raised on everything from alcohol to tobacco, not to mention the tens-of-thousands of public jobs being made redundant (layoffs and firings) and the nearly 5% cut in payments to pensioners. 

Even worse for these “Obama Pawns”, wages now in Ukraine are, as a rule, not enough to feed a family, and the devaluation of their currency will make it totally impossible for these people to absorb these costs.

On the other hand, Western currency speculators will be able to profit from fluctuations in Ukraine’s currency and multinational corporations stand to benefit from privatization of those state assets that haven’t already been sold off.

And though not mentioned in this MoF report, it is critically important to note that back in 2008, when the US brought to world to the very brink total economic collapse, then Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia should seize opportunities created by the weak US dollar. “Today, the global economy is going through uneasy times,” he said. “The role of the key reserve currencies is under review. And we must take advantage of it.”

Six years later that is what Putin is doing… nobody can say that they weren’t warned.


Note: Other Conspiracy or Truth articles explaining the Crisis In Ukraine, Russian-EU relations, the revival of the Cold War, the mystery surrounding the Malaysian plane disappearance, as well as all the threats that were made from the Saudis to the Russians, etc -and how all these stories more or less tie into one another-  include: Ukraine “Rape-Murder” Squads Approved By Obama Horrifies Russia,  US Spy Drone Shot Down Over Northern Fleet Base Alarms Russia,  Furious Putin Orders “Project Double Eagle” To Destroy US, EU Economies,  Malaysia Flight 370 Pilot Confirmed As CIA “Asset” As Plane Exploded Over Indian Ocean,  Russia “Puzzled” Over Malaysia Airlines “Capture” By US Navy,  Obama In Shock After US Oil Giant Sides With Putin; Declares “No Ukraine War” , Was Ukraine’s Gold Reserves Secretely Confiscated by the New York Federal Reserve?,  Putin In “Fury” After Saudis Brand Obama Regime Terrorist Organization,  ,Putin Orders Massive War Moves To Protect Iraq After Saudi Threats,  Putin Orders Largest Air Defense Drill In History As War Fears Accelerate,  Putin Orders Russian Troops And Ministries To Atomic Shelters Over NATO Threat Of War,  800,000 Ukrainian Refugees Flood Into Russia As Nazi Forces Continue Eastern March, Putin Sends Feared Shock Troops, Division Into Ukraine, Warns Obama Is “Unstable”,  Putin Orders Military Alert To Defend Ukraine Against Western-Backed Fascists,  Ukrainian Mob Call To “Kill All Jews” Horrifies Russia,  Russian Threat Of War Over Ukraine Stuns Obama,  US In “Shock And Turmoil” After Snowden Info Lets Russia Tap Top Obama Officials,  Is Super Bowl 9/11 "Staged Warning" Setting Up A False Flag

Sorcha Faal
WhatDoesItMean

OPINION - Decoding Tony Blair: Energy, Geopolitics & The Struggle with 'Islamist Extremism'

(Former UK Premier Tony) Blair's (recent) speech on the need to combat 'Islamist extremism' on a global scale is both deluded and dangerous. For a start, Islamism is a broad political trend. By adding the flexible word 'extremism' as a means to differentiate which Islamists are acceptible (or extreme) is a formula for open ended conflict.

Far from Blair being an irrelevance in this sense, the former Prime Minister is advocating a foreign policy that many are in fact pursuing at present but with a more robust attitude. As with anything Blair proclaims, the aim is to safeguard His Legacy and to make out that he was Right All Along about the need for a 'Global War on Terror'.

In order to do that Blair empahasises the need for correct propaganda and framing of the global conflict, one quite obviously about western access to resources such as oil and gas from the Middle East and Africa. Thereby, opinion can be mobilised on the basis of a moral cause and purpose instead of being seen as ruthless realpolitik.

    "The important point for western opinion is that this is a struggle with two sides. So when we look at the Middle East and beyond it to Pakistan or Iran and elsewhere, it isn't just a vast unfathomable mess with no end in sight and no one worthy of our support. It is in fact a struggle in which our own strategic interests are intimately involved; where there are indeed people we should support and who, ironically, are probably in the majority if only that majority were mobilised, organised and helped.

Amidst the evident absurdity ( a struggle by definition involves two sides and not one, though it may involve more than two ), Blair is agitating for western intervention ( i.e meddling ) in the affairs of all states where Islamism is a force to try and impose the right ( i.e pro-western ) government.

The Orwellian doublethink inherent in this strategy means supporting Qatari and Saudi Arabian use of Islamist jihadists in Syria to fight Assad but backing the Egyptian military against the Muslim Brotherhood, even when it carries out a coup and guns down protesters in the streets of Cairo.

The reason why that freedom to define Islamists as 'extremists' or not is important for Blair is clear; those Islamist militants who threaten western oil and gas interests across the globe ( Algeria, Somalia, Yemen, Egypt ) are 'extremists' who pose a danger to energy security. However, those Islamists in lands such as Syria who are used as proxies to remove leaders such as Assad who leans towards Russia and Iran are not 'extremists'. No, the jihadists in Syria are part of a battle for freedom. Not least, the pipeline interests Qatar and Turkey have for a Syria without Assad.

This is what is meant when Blair opines,

    'what is absolutely necessary is that we first liberate ourselves from our own attitude. We have to take sides. We have to stop treating each country on the basis of whatever seems to make for the easiest life for us at any one time. We have to have an approach to the region that is coherent and sees it as a whole. And above all, we have to commit. We have to engage".

Whether British people like it or not, Blair still represents the way global politics is heading ( at least as far as British politicians are concerned ). Spouting 'warmonger' or 'Bliar' is both boring and doltish. The need is to understand what Blair means and what interests are truly at stake.

For the fact is that Blair joined the 2003 invasion of Iraq as part of a geopolitical move to control it's large oil reserves in the period before shale oil and gas had become big business in the US and energy independence a goal. Put bluntly, unless alternatives to oil and gas are found, western intervention in the Middle East is set to go on.

Blair, after all, makes energy security the first and foremost of his reason to 'engage' with the Middle East, as,

    'it is still where a large part of the world’s energy supplies are generated, and whatever the long term implications of the USA energy revolution, the world’s dependence on the Middle East is not going to disappear any time soon. In any event, it has a determining effect on the price of oil; and thus on the stability and working of the global economy.'

While Blair can be criticised for Iraq, it's no use turning him into a hate figure as though British people could pretend their high octane consumer lifestyles where somehow disconnected with the need for stable and falling oil prices. That's a lesson Blair learned after the road haulier's strike of 2000 over petrol prices threatened his government

karl-naylor.blogspot.ca

Last Stages For Contracts For Hydrocarbon Research in Western Greece

Greek authorities are at the last stages of a process to sign concession contracts for hydrocarbon research in Western Greece regions.

According to AMNA from the Environment, Energy and Climate Change ministry, the ministry has overcome all technical-legal hurdles in negotiations with the joint ventures which have been declared preferred investors in the project in the framework of an "open door" tender launched in 2012.

The concession contracts cover the regions of Ioannina and Patras Gulf and will be followed by the region of Katakolo. Hydrocarbon researches had been made in these regions back in the 1990s without success.

According to official estimates, the estimated reserves in the Patras Gulf (underwriter is the joint venture of Hellenic Petroleum-Edison-Petroceltic) are 200 million barrels, in Ioannina (underwriter is the joint venture Energean-Petra) the estimate is for 50-80 million barrels and in Katakolo (underwriter is the joint venture Energean Oil & Gas-Trajan Oil & Gas Ltd/Schlumberger) the estimate is 3.0 million barrels.

The Greek state estimates that revenues from the first two regions would total 11 billion euros in a 25-year period.

capital

Conspiracy or Truth - Obama Shocked - US Oil Giant Sides With Putin; Declares “No Ukraine War”

CLICK ON BOLD LINKS TO CROSS REFERENCE ARTICLE WITH MAINSTREAM NEWS

A report prepared by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) outlining the agenda of Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov for his meeting on Monday with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Hague Nuclear Security Summit reveals that US President Obama is still in “shock” after being ordered by the Chairman, President, and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corporation, Rex Tillerson, to allow Russia’s annexation of Crimea or face “immediate domestic political annihilation.”

According to this report, Tillerson is the head of this giant American multinational oil and gas corporation, headquartered in Irving, Texas, that is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and is the world's third largest company by revenue.

Important to note, this report continues, is that Exxon Mobil has long charted a course separate from that of the United States government as evidenced by Tillerson’s predecessor, former CEO Lee Raymond, once stating, “I’m not a U.S. company, and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.”

Tillerson, this report further notes, has in many ways merged Exxon Mobil with Russian energy giant Rosneft. Not only are they exploring for oil together in the Arctic as part of a $500 billion joint venture formed in 2011, these two companies are planning to frack shale fields in Siberia, drill a well in the Black Sea, and start construction on a natural gas export terminal in eastern Russia.

Exxon Mobil has such a good relationship with Russia, this report says, that last summer (2013) Putin awarded Tillerson the Order of Friendship during an economic forum in St. Petersburg.

As to Tillerson’s actions in averting a war over Ukraine, this report says, was his ordering Obama to abandon all support for Japan’s claim to the resource-rich Sea of Okhotsk before the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in order to prevent an all-out Russian invasion.

Obama immediately obeyed Tillerson’s demand, this report continues, and on March 15th, after all US objections were dropped, the UN awarded the Sea of Okhotsk to Russia thus opening the way for massive oil and gas exploration on this continental shelf of which both Exxon Mobil and Rosneft will be the beneficiaries of.

This report also notes that Tillerson further ordered Obama to immediately allow Russia’s annexation of Crimea as both Exxon Mobil and Rosneft are currently investing billons to recover the over 1.25 trillion cubic meters of conventional gas recently discovered in the Black Sea, and which many of the world’s energy giants are now, also, rushing deep-water drilling rigs to the area to recover too.

With Crimea now being brought back into Russia, this report continues, the formerly Ukrainian state-owned Chornomornaftogaz oil and gas company, located in Simferopol (capitol of Crimea), which stands to make billions from the Black Sea gas bonanza, can now be nationalized and sold to Exxon Mobil and Rosneft as opposed to being “looted by Kiev.”

Critical to note, this report notes, is that the February 23rd Ukrainian coup d’etat was instigated by the US and EU after the Yanukovych government turned down US Chevron Corp’s and EU’s Shell’s “fuzzy-edge but claimed-as-enticing proposals” to accelerate investment in shale gas and shale oil E&P (exploration & production) in Ukraine.

Should the Yanukovych government have accepted the Chevron-Shell offer, this report warns, both Exxon Mobil and Rosneft stood to lose billions, but which (obviously) Tillerson was not about to let happen.

Most intriguing about this report are the excerpts of the conversations held between Tillerson and Obama where the Exxon Mobil CEO appears to have lectured the American leader on the realties of both Ukraine and Crimea stating that without them being split apart, stability could never be realized due to the advantage held by Russian language voters over their Western-leaning counterparts.

In fact, with Crimea and its over 1 million Russian voters now out of Ukraine, it is now assured that this economically bankrupt nation will become yet another “financial black hole” to both the US and EU after its citizens vote, on May 25th, for what they mistakenly believe will be a Western-style government that will lift them out of their poverty and misery.

And with Ukraine’s new Right Sector leader, Igor Mazur, railing against “Jewish Oligarchs” he has vowed to wipe out, this report concludes, the Western targeting of the business interests of these oligarchs does nothing more than open the doors for the takeover of a sizeable portion of Ukraine’s private sector by EU and US corporations.

Even worse, MoFA experts in this report say, with Ukraine’s external debt now on the order of US $140 billion, the US-EU-IMF aid package (said to be on the order of US $15 billion) doesn’t even approach this troubled nations outstanding short-term debt which is US $65 billion, more than four times the amount promised by these Westerners.

In other words, this loan is “fictitious money” as not one dollar of this money will enter Ukraine, but will, instead, go to its main creditors… two of whom are Exxon Mobil and Rosneft.

Sorcha Faal
WhatDoesItMean

Forbes article on pipeline project vindicates Karamanlis energy policies

The following article appeared in Forbes recently and simply vindicates the policies that were adopted by the Costas Karamanlis government which wanted to transform Greece into an energy hub for all of Europe. It should be reiterated that the pipeline projects were more or less sabotaged under the George Papandreou government, who also once said that natural gas and oil does not exist in Greece (of course today, we know that this statement was a complete lie). Also, we know today that specific American diplomats (such as Mathew Bryza) worked hard against this development (because he was endorsing Turkish interests which want the pipelines running through Turkey instead).

Here is the article:

     As much of Europe spent the last month worrying about what might happen if Russia decided to shut the valve on its gas supply, Athens has apparently decided the time is right to push a new energy role. This week, Greece’s Energy Ministry launched an international tender for a pipeline project that would transport about 8 billion cubic meters of gas into the European market from offshore fields controlled by Cyprus and Israel. According to a Reuters report, the project would link Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field to Europe by way of Greece through the IGI-Poseidon pipeline, managed by Italy’s Edison and Greece’s state-backed utility, DEPA.
     For Israel, the pipeline would provide the country’s first long-distant export option. Israel has recently announced a series of export agreements for its offshore efforts, 40 percent of which is allotted for sale outside of the country. However, so far, they have all been local, including sales to Jordan, Palestinian utilities and talks with both Egypt and Turkey. For Greece, a successful pipeline would help them carve out a long-sought energy role in the area.
     Over the last three years, Athens has made a concerted effort to lay claim to the Eastern Mediterranean’s recent energy rush, both as a potential transport hub for Israeli and Cypriot gas reserves and as a producer itself. The latter role, which has included studies suggesting offshore reserves near Crete, has failed to catch fire beyond political rhetoric. Meanwhile, after this week, it appears the country’s transport aspirations may have some potential.

Continue reading article by clicking HERE

150 billion euros from hydrocarbon deposits in Western Greece

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is strong evidence of significant hydrocarbon deposits in Western Greece, Epirus and the Ionian Sea, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Wednesday night, after chairing a meeting at the environment, energy and climate change ministry. Based on estimates, their exploitation may generate to 150 billion euros in revenues for the Greek state in the next 25-30 years, the premier said.

In addition to chairing the meeting, Samaras also visited the ministry's data room, where all the data collected so far in hydrocarbon exploration throughout Greece is held. In statements, he also referred to Tuesday's agreement with Gazprom to lower the price of natural gas and said this must be passed on to consumers, lowering energy costs for households and giving a strong boost to the economy's competitiveness.

The prime minister outlined plans for a new national energy strategy along five main axes, including:

Hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, which he stressed will be conducted with transparency, respect for the environment and with the employment of as many Greek technical staff as possible

Exploiting the geopolitical consequences arising from the country's position and the role it can play in the movement of energy resources to Europe.

Boosting social cohesion by directing revenue from hydrocarbons to the country's social insurance system, along the same lines as the system used in Norway, and to build infrastructure.

Establishing synergies with other sectors of the economy, so that the country's energy resources become a springboard for an overall improvement in competitiveness.

Establishing the country as an energy hub in the research, production and distribution of energy products.

According to Samaras, the implementation of this strategy would require daring, planning and international alliances. He said that all contracts relating to hydrocarbon exploration and drilling, starting with that for the Patras Gulf and Ioannina that are due to be completed soon.

With regard to a 15 pct reduction in the natural gas price negotiated with Gazprom, the prime minister said that the new price for Greece was much closer to the European average and lower than prices in the surrounding region, changing the picture that had existed before.

Statements were also made by Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister Yiannis Maniatis, who outlined the progress made in hydrocarbon exploration efforts so far and said that Greece now had reasons to feel optimistic. He also thanked Samaras for his contribution to efforts to exploit the country's hydrocarbon reserves.  (AMNA)

Related articles

• FINALLY - Rigs Ready For Hydrocarbons in Ionian!
• SPECIAL REPORT - US: Cyprus Natural Gas Via Turkey Not Greece! - "Yes" to Nabucco "No" to TAP!

Gov't meeting on hydrocarbon exploration

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras would on Wednesday participate in a meeting on the data obtained from the seismic surveys for hydrocarbons in the Ionian Sea and in the south of Crete. The meeting would be held at the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Ministry.

According to reports, the surveys, which were conducted by the Norwegian PGS company, and which were completed at the end of 2013, will now make way for the tender and the concession of 10-15 research areas later on this year.

Other topics at discussion at the meeting are expected to focus on the agreement between Greece's natural gas corporation DEPA and Russia's Gazprom for a 15 pct retrospective reduction in natural gas prices.

Related articles

• FINALLY - Rigs Ready For Hydrocarbons in Ionian!
• SPECIAL REPORT - Subject Oil Exploration - Truth And Many Many Lies

Soccer Team Owner From Fuel Smuggling Scandal Given Extension to Testify

The 15 people arrested over charges of participating in a fuel smuggling ring were given extensions starting this weekend to testify in groups; they are scheduled to appear before prosecutors on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

According to a dispatch from the state news agency, the suspects are to be detained at the Greek Police headquarters in Athens until their testimony.

Officials claim that the leader of the criminal organisation is the president of the ETEKA petroleum company and president of the Atromitos Athens soccer team George Spanos, together with an employee and an associate of the company who have also been arrested. The arrests were made earlier this week.

Press reports note that about 24 people are involved in this case, 9 of which are still at large.

The same reports claim that the ring was illegally selling fuel on the market, for the past two years, (and estimated that this could be as much as 4.5 million litres of contraband oil). The loss in duties and taxes from this exchange apparently exceeds more than 3.5 million Euros.

The members of the ring, through the company involved in the smuggling, stole marine fuel that was destined for the supplying of ships. With the cooperation of fuel truck drivers. They would withhold a quantity of marine fuel after supplying the ships and then channel this to cooperating fuel stations where they would then mix it with diesel oil and sell it on the market. In many cases they even resold it to the shipowners from whom they had withheld it.

Investigations were carried out at the company's installations as well as at a gas station and this apparently allowed authorities to collect the evidence needed in order to bust the ring. They discovered and confiscated more than 8,000 litres of illegally withheld marine diesel, five fuel trucks and 18,400 Euros in cash.

The suspects are charged with the creation and participation in a criminal organisation, fuel smuggling, fraud, money laundering, bribery and abuse of authority.

Responding to the charges, Mr. Spanos said that the charges against him are stale and groundless and do not even touch him, nor the company that he represents.

In a statement that was published by many online media news outlets, he said that his company contributes greatly to the national economy by more than 300,000,000 Euros paying in taxes, duties and contributions every year to the state, while he employs a staff of well over 150 people.

The Secretary General for Transparency and Human Rights George Sourlas had a difference of opinion. In an interview to the state owned ANA-MPA agency he said that "these are rings that looted public money for decades", stressing that former prime minister Lucas Papademos had also mentioned in Parliament in January 2012 that the Greek state suffered annual losses of one billion euros in revenues, and at least 25 billion over the past 25 years, from fuel smuggling.

     "Over the past 15 years three reports had been prepared on how the smuggling is carried out and how it can be handled; however, they were never utilised, Sourlas said.

He added that although the issue was not under his jurisdiction now, he had dealt with it for 10 years, since a chemical analysis of the General Chemistry office on fuel at the Fire Brigade came to my knowledge...

     "I have submitted 49 files on proven fuel adulteration to both regular Justice and the military and I have never received a reply, for over a year now."

Related articles

• BUSTED - Police Make 16 Arrests In Fuel Smuggling Ring - Head Of ETEKA Group Charged!