The New Head Of OPEC..A Senior Commander Of Iran's Revolutionary Guard

As Barry Rubin puts it:

"It’s not every day when a high-ranking official of a revolutionary Islamist group that seeks world revolution, wiping Israel off the map, the widespread use of terrorism, and the destruction of the United States becomes head of the world’s most powerful energy organization on whose supplies America is dependent.

The man he's talking about is Rostam Ghasemi, a senior commander of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who runs one of its big military-industrial operations. He's in charge of manufacturing armaments, some of which are sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to kill Americans an dothers which go to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. He's also Iran’s oil minister and apersonal favorite of Iran's Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Khamenei. Ghasemi also has the distinction of being personally named in sanctions against Iran by the United States and EU because of his involvement in Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program.

Ghasemi being named head of OPEC - no election was involved, it's simply Iran's turn - ought to give you a good idea of what those sanctions are worth.

This could actually trigger a certain amount of dissension in OPEC. Iran has severe econ0mic problems, is spending massive amounts on its military and on supporting proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas and the Mahdi Army and other Shi'ite militias in Iraq and need the price to be as high as possible. Also, Iran's output is decreasing by about 12-15% each year because of corruption, inefficiency and antiquated facilities, and lowered production not only helps the regime stretch out its supplies but increases prices.

The Saudis and the Gulf states, on the other hand, want to see more moderate prices and increased production because they have a financial interest in keeping western economies healthy because of their investments there, and to fulfill their inherent bargain with the West, especially America - they keep the oil flowing and the US protects them.

Or at least we did. As they see President Obama's weakness and fecklessness demonstrated almost daily, that protection becomes worth a lot less to them.

Another factor worth mentioning is that thanks to the Saudis and the Gulf States, the international oil trade is conducted in dollars, which means the oil producers import our inflation. The Iranians, among other OPEC nations have been screaming for years to end this practice, and if they get their way it will result in sharply higher oil prices and less leverage over OPEC by the US.

Of course, the reason we're so dependent on Persian Gulf oil is because our president refuses to allow us to drill for our own oil, plain and simple. Ghasemi is not going to just be able to do whatever he wants, but in view of the situation President Obama might want to reconsider that particular bit of stupidity on his part and make a few changes.

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Israel..The New Oil Super Producer?

Apparently, Israel isn't only rich in natural gas.

The above map shows huge deposits of shale oil located in Israel...at least 250 billion barrels of oil in Israel’s Shfela basin, comparable to Saudi Arabia’s entire reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil. And some experts believe there may be double that amount available.



( h/t Joshua's Army member Louie Louie for the vid)

An American consortium named IDT owns the Shfela concession through its subsidiary, Israel Energy Initiatives and now has a team in place that includes Lord Jacob Rothschild, hedge fund investor Michael Steinhardt, Rupert Murdoch, former president of Mobil Oil Eugene Renna, former president of Occidental Oil Shale Allan Sass, and the former president of Halliburton Dick Cheney, all of whom are not only savvy investors knowledgeable when it comes to oil but long time Zionists and friends of Israel. Legendary oil man Harold Vinegar is also part of the team, Shell Oil’s former chief scientist with some 240 patents to his name who revolutionized the shale oil industry.

Vinegar was a key player in making the extraction of shale oil environmentally friendly and far more profitable. The heat needed to extract the shale from the rock is provided by natural gas, which Israel, just by coincidence, also has in abundance. The new technology provides oil at about $35-$40 a barrel, produces greenhouse gas emissions less than half that from conventional oil wells and does not use water.

The geopolitical impact is also not without interest.

Right now, Russia has an iron grip on all of the natural gas pipelines coming from Central Asia into Europe, and both China and the EU are deferential to OPEC regimes like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and the Sudan because they desperately need the oil.

The ability of Israel to export natural gas in large quantities to the EU in the next year or so is going to break the gas stranglehold and change the political climate in Europe towards Israel significantly. And as Israel's shale oil comes online, expect China and India, both of whom Israel already has significant commercial ties with to want a share of the action as well.

Unlike the gentleman in the above video, I don't expect the 'Palestinians' to peacefully enjoy a little piece of the action from increased trade, especially since the 'Palestinians' now have a de facto boycott on Israeli-made goods. In fact, I expect one cost of doing business is going to be protecting the shale oil and the offshore gas facilities from terrorist attacks. But then, the Israelis are used to that and should be able to cope.

Imagine a world in which OPEC no longer has a stranglehold on the world's economy, and where low cost energy promotes prosperity globally.

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OPEC Meeting Ends In Disagreement; Saudis Unable To Get Production Increased

For the first time in it's history, the Saudis were unable to get the other members of the OPEC oil cartel to agree to increase production to lower prices.

The meeting reportedly ended in considerable turmoil and acrimony, and Ali al-Naimi, the oil minister for Saudi Arabia was quoted as saying, "We were unable to reach an agreement—this is one of the worst meetings we have ever had."

The Saudis are OPEC's biggest producer, and normally have enough clout to sway the others to go along with them. But the meeting degenerated into a stand off between the Gulf Arab countries, who had undoubtedly trying to fulfill a request from the White House to get prices lowered before the oncoming election and anti-US forces in the coalition led by Iran and Venezuela.

In addition, Qatar has given support to the Libyan rebels fighting Mummar Khaddaffi's government, while the Saudis have angered Shi'ite Iran and Shi'te dominated Iraq by sending troops to support the Sunni Bahraini government against a Shi'ite rebellion.

Opposing production increases were Libya, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iraq ( such gratitude) and Iran, and they had enough clout to oppose the Gulf states and prevent an agreement. The Saudis and the UAE are reportedly going to try unilaterally increase production.

Crude prices immediately spiked to $118 per barrel.

What this means in the political realm here in the US is that prices at the pump aren't coming down anytime soon,which definitely has an effect on President Obama's chances for re-election next November, since the Obama Administration still effectively has a de facto ban on offshore drilling.

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