Some "Wednesday News" Posted by Samson at KTFA 3-23-2022

KTFA:

Samson:  Putin: Russia will only accept payment in rubles for gas shipments to Europe

23rd March, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries to "unfriendly countries", including all members of the European Union, after imposing tough sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

"I decided to implement a set of measures to make payments for gas supplies to unfriendly countries in Russian rubles," Putin said during a government meeting, broadcast on television, and directed the changes to be implemented within a week.  LINK

Samson:  Brent crude jumps above $120 a barrel

23rd March, 2022 – UPDATE

Oil prices jumped, today, Wednesday, exceeding $120 per barrel.

According to the data, "oil futures increased their gains and jumped to 120.50 dollars per barrel, while US crude rose to 113.9 dollars."

Oil prices continue to rise due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which reduced supply and increased demand globally.  LINK

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Samson:  Stock trading resumes on the Russian Stock Exchange after a month-long hiatus

23rd March, 2022

The Russian Central Bank announced, on Wednesday, that shares will resume trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange tomorrow, Thursday, after being suspended for about a month, as part of measures to ensure financial stability in Russia.

The suspension of the Russian Stock Exchange came against the backdrop of a series of "unprecedented" economic sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia against Russia, in addition to the mobilization of military support for the "NATO" countries bordering Ukraine, in response to Putin's military move inside Ukrainian territory.

The Russian Central Bank said in a statement that "33 stocks included in the MOEX index have been traded, and another trading session will be held at a later time."

This comes at a time when Russian military operations in Ukraine have completed their first month under the slogan "Protecting the Donbass Territory", which includes Donetsk and Lugansk, the two countries recently recognized by Putin. LINK

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Samson:  A storm in the oil market and expectations of a rise in prices to 150 dollars a barrel

03/23/2022 12:56:44

Experts expected oil prices to rise to $150 a barrel, after an accident this week at an oil pumping station in the Russian port of Novorossiysk caused a halt in crude supplies along this path.

Reports stated that a severe storm hit the Russian port of Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea, which damaged the crude pumping station of the "Caspian Sea Pipeline" consortium, which affected the supply of black gold.

According to reports, the accident occurred on March 20, and caused two-thirds of the station's capacity to be disrupted for at least a month. Yesterday, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin warned that the suspension of the offshore station would have serious repercussions on oil supplies and reduce them by about one million barrels per day.

The Russian Deputy Energy Minister indicated that maintenance work is likely to take a month, pointing out that the accident will affect oil exports from Russia and Kazakhstan through the Caspian Sea pipeline.

Regarding the repercussions of the incident on global oil markets, Igor Yushkov, a senior analyst at the National Energy Security Fund and an expert at the Russian Government's Financial University, believes that this may push the price of oil to a sharp rise. He pointed out that the incident came at a time when the global oil market recovered from a shortage of supply, as demand exceeds supply, so it may push the price to 140-150 dollars per barrel.

Earlier, the "Caspian Sea Pipeline" consortium explained that the storm damaged the pipeline's loading equipment. The Caspian Sea pipeline is one of the largest oil pipelines in the world and transports oil from Kazakhstan and Russia to world markets.  LINK

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Samson:  The Russian oil minister warns of a collapse in global markets

03/23/2022 13:56:19

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned today, Wednesday, that global oil and natural gas markets may collapse in the event of imposing sanctions on Russian energy, and said that an increase in energy prices would not be expected.

Speaking before Russia's lower house of parliament, Novak also said that a ban on the Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project to Germany was "foolishness" and an underestimation of energy balances and would fuel inflation.

On Monday, TASS news agency quoted Novak as saying that oil prices could reach $300 a barrel if the West stopped buying Russian crude, but added that such a scenario was unlikely.

Trade sources say some buyers are reluctant to buy Russian oil to avoid exposure to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

It is impossible for Europe to avoid buying Russian oil and gas at present, Novak said, adding that Western calls to halt purchases are political gestures to attract attention. LINK

Samson:  Chinese Expert: A Saudi Decision Could Lead To A "Real Explosion" For The Oil Market

23rd March, 2022

A Chinese expert said that the conversion of the Saudi oil company "Aramco" to the yuan instead of the dollar in trade with China would be a "real explosion" for the oil market, with serious consequences for the global financial system.

In an article published on the website "Huánqi Shíbào", Zhang Yujui, dean of the School of International Finance and Trade at Shanghai University, said, "Saudi Aramco's shift to adopting the Chinese yuan currency instead of the dollar in trade with China would be a "real explosion" for the oil market with dire consequences for the system. current financial.

This came after media reports that Saudi Arabia is considering using the yuan to settle oil deals with China, and the dialogue between Russia and India about establishing a commercial payment mechanism in the Indian rupee and the Russian ruble, and Western public opinion in general began talking about weakening the dominance of the dollar in the global oil market.

The expert Yugoi believes that Saudi Aramco, a company with revenues of more than 350 billion dollars annually, will have an impact on the global energy commodity trading market if it moves with China from the dollar to the yuan in dealing in the oil sector.

Yugoi noted that according to some studies, a country's currency cycle, which serves as the dominant international currency, is usually around 100 years old. “If this view is correct, then from the moment the Bretton Woods system was created in 1944 for the dominant dollar dividend cycle, there is little time left before that system collapses,” he said.

On the other hand, the expert pointed out that the “petrodollar” system dates back to 1973, when the United States succeeded in integrating the dollar into the “central nervous system” of the global economy and became the “dominant power” in it. “However, any dominant monetary system will one day collapse. As the saying goes, “A currency is doomed for its own fault,” which means that if the currency’s strength is excessively inflated, it will eventually lead to an inevitable change in the global monetary system and a rebalancing cycle.”

In the short term, the main problem of the dollar, in his opinion, is the increasing cost of maintaining the current system of the United States, and due to the relative deterioration of national power, it is difficult for America to satisfy and satisfy at the same time many oil-producing countries in the Middle East.

As for the medium term, the main problem facing the United States is that oil itself, as a source of fossil energy, is gradually losing its hegemony in the context of “carbon neutrality”, and this will lead to the fact that the petrodollar system will change its shape to remain in place, or accept the fate of partial replacement.

In the long run, according to the expert, it is likely that the United States will cease to be the most important economy in the world by the middle of the twenty-first century, which will inevitably lead to the emergence of new centers of monetary power.

The expert concludes that by then, the world is likely to have a trilateral or even multilateral currency balance model.  LINK

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Samson:  Al-Kazemi's advisor talks about the possibility of providing "millions of job opportunities"

23rd March, 2022

Adviser to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, presented, on Wednesday, a proposal to establish a fixed committee for the productive partnership between the public and private sectors, while indicating the possibility of providing "millions of job opportunities" within the investment package program.

In an interview with the official news agency, Mawazine News, Saleh said, "It has become necessary to integrate the national market as a productive force, market makers and its pioneering forces on the one hand, and the productive labor force on the other."

He explained, "The current financial leverage of the state as a result of tangible financial accumulations can be directed towards integration with the productive market forces and by generating strong partnerships between the relevant sectoral government interfaces in terms of specialization and division of labor with the private sector to advance productive activity and make a tangible transition in priority activities." 

He added, "Among the activities, investing in agriculture with high cash returns, digital services, and operating factories that are capable of generating millions of job opportunities, and within the program of the pioneering investment package in the economy."

He continued, "We may propose the establishment of a fixed committee for the financing and productive partnership between the state and the private sector to draw the map of the future in a thoughtful, accurate and accelerated manner that pushes the wheel of the economy and its growth forward."  LINK