Blog
Should the U.S. and Canada shore up an industry whose future is questionable? What about the banks saddled with bad loans?
Caption: A U.S. sailor stands watch on a Mark VI patrol boat before a weapons sustainment exercise in the Arabian Gulf, April 16, 2020 (U.S. Navy) Canada, black swans and oil Fossil fuels can be produced much more cheaply outside North America. But war and sanctions...
Venezuela Shows Courage in Challenging US power
Venezuela Shows Courage in Challenging US power When Iranian tankers were delivering gasoline to Venezuela in May, the situation was tense. With United States sanctions against both countries and the United States naval fleet hovering in the Caribbean, President Trump...
The geopolitics of Trump’s “Freedom Gas”
The geopolitics of Trump's ‘Freedom Gas.’ Posted: CCPA Monitor, Nov/Dec 2019 issue. Retitled, Trump’s Anti-Climate Agenda Bolsters his Ambitions for ‘Freedom Gas’. Reprinted : Juan Cole’s Informed Comment, 17 Nov 2019. By John Foster | – (Monitor) – When Washington...
How petroleum politics are driving the actions of the ‘big three’ nations.
Posted: Ottawa Citizen, July 29, 2019. Reposted Canada.com, a division of Postmedia, July 29, 2019. Events in the Persian Gulf show how fraught the world of big oil is becoming. Going along with U.S. policy aids the American quest for hegemony today, but diminishes...
Oil lurks beneath the surface of several world conflicts
Posted: Ottawa Citizen, July 3, 2019. Reposted: London Free Press, London ON; The Guardian, Charlottetown, PEI; Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS; The Telegram, St John’s, NL. With tankers ablaze in the Persian Gulf, and sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, what are the real...
Oil and world rivalry
Posted: CCPA Monitor, 1 May 2019. Reprints: Juan Cole’s Informed Comment, 10 May 2019; and Global Research, 18 May 2019. At the UN General Assembly in 2018, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl broke an unwritten taboo by talking about oil and war. “The recent wars...
Pipelines will not solve the big problems with Alberta oil
Posted: Rabble.ca, 10 December 10, 2018. Alarm bells are sounding in Alberta with the collapse in oil prices. Bitumen especially has hit rock bottom. Producers are pressing anew for faster action on expansion of export pipelines. Last week, Premier Rachel Notley...
Are actions against the Venezuelan government really about oil?
Last week, on September 26, Canada and five Latin American countries referred Venezuela to the International Criminal Court, citing “numerous, credible reports alleging the commission of serious international crimes.” The announcement comes after several years of...
Myanmar a short cut to China
China has built oil and gas pipelines across Myanmar to southwest China, enabling shipments to avoid the Strait of Malacca. Washington and Ottawa highlight human rights violations in Myanmar and rarely mention oil. Of course, if the US could prise Myanmar from Chinese...
The disconnect between pipelines and transparency
Special to The Globe and Mail - View Article on the Globe and Mail Both Liberals and Conservatives have mused about staying in Afghanistan post-2011 to assist with training and development. The United States, meanwhile, is expanding Bagram into a mega-base outside...