Tainted Saints

T. Boone Pickens told Congress on Wednesday that U.S. energy companies are “entitled” to some of Iraq’s crude because of the large number of American troops that lost their lives fighting in the country and the U.S. taxpayer money spent in Iraq.

Boone, speaking to the newly formed Congressional Natural Gas Caucus, complained that the Iraqi government has awarded contracts to foreign companies, particularly Chinese firms, to develop Iraq’s vast reserves while American companies have mostly been shut out.

“They’re opening them (oil fields) up to other companies all over the world … We’re entitled to it,” Pickens said of Iraq’s oil. “Heck, we even lost 5,000 of our people, 65,000 injured and a trillion, five hundred billion dollars.”

[Interesting argument. By the same token, if China invaded us and some of their people died in the process, would they then be entitled to our land and water as reparations...? - Ed.]

Perhaps the most unusual aspect to oil’s steady march upward is that it is happening while Europe, the U.S. and Japan are still mired deep in an economic slump. A great global rebalancing is occurring, and the price of oil is a key signal warning of this tectonic shift.

Read entire article here…

Hmmm… this doesn’t sound good for the U.S….

 “Russia and China bolstered their close but increasingly imbalanced relationship on Tuesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ushered through a tentative gas supply agreement and deals worth $3.5 billion.

Putin’s talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also covered the international hotspots on which the countries share many views, but with China’s economy steaming ahead while Russia has lagged during the global downturn, they focused on nurturing ties in trade and energy.

The centerpiece of the day was a preliminary agreement on Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom supplying China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

“China is a colossal market. The diversification of supplies is a very important direction for Gazprom,” Putin told reporters after his talks with Wen.

“Our cooperation is growing in many ways: mining, joint work on pipelines, oil supplies and in the future, possibly, gas.” “

“Executives from the Shell Oil Company blasted a floundering, oil-covered sea otter Monday, accusing the small aquatic mammal of grossly exaggerating the effects of last week’s hazardous petroleum spill.”

If corporations, banks, and insurance companies qualify for welfare, why not the Saudis?

Have you noticed that the price of gasoline has been increasing in recent months, slowly but steadily? Have you wondered why that is, given that the “fundamentals of the economy” seem to be getting weaker by the day, and demand is about as low as it can be, with growth at a virtual standstill? Michael T. Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, has something to tell you….

http://tomdispatch.com/post/175117/michael_klare_energy_xtremism