US Engaging In Petrodollar Warfare?

Discussion in 'Current Events' started by Woogs, Nov 21, 2011.

  1. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    The US, along with Canada and Britain, has placed sanctions on Iran, supposedly for Iran's nuclear program. On Monday the US named Iran and its Central Bank as a 'money laundering concern', along with sanctions already in place.

    In addition, some officials have been openly calling for' regime change' in Iran.

    Is Iran's nuclear program really the reason for this? There is evidence to the contrary if one will connect the dots. Here is some info that presents a case for war over the dollar's supremacy.

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    Item (background):

    After World War II, most of Europe and Japan lay economically prostrate, their industries in shambles and production, in general, at a minimum level. The U.S. was the only major power to escape the destruction of war, its industries thriving with a high level of productivity. In addition, prior to and during WWII, due to extreme political and economic upheaval, a considerable amount of gold from European countries was transferred to the U.S. Thus, after WWII the U.S. had accumulated 80 percent of the world's gold and 40 percent of the world's production. At the founding of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1944-45, U.S. predominance was absolute. A fixed exchange currency was established based on gold, the gold-dollar standard, wherein the value of the dollar was pegged to the price of gold-U.S. $35 per ounce of gold. Because gold was combined with U.S. bank notes, the dollar note and gold became equivalent, which then became the international reserve currency.

    Initially, the U.S. had $30 billion in gold reserves. But the United States spent more than $500 billion on the Vietnam War alone, from 1967-1972. During these years, the U.S. had over 110 military bases across the globe, each costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year. These expenses were paid in paper dollars and the total number given out far exceeded the gold reserve of the U.S treasury. By then (1971-72), the U.S. Treasury was running out of gold and had only $10 billion in gold left. On August 17, 1971, Nixon suspended the U.S. dollar conversion into gold. Thus, the dollar was "floated" in the international monetary market.

    Also in the early 1970s, U.S. oil production peaked and its energy resources began to deplete. Its own oil production could not keep pace with growing home consumption. Since then, U.S. demand for oil continually increased, and by 2002-2003 the U.S. imported approximately 60 percent of its oil-OPEC (primarily Saudi Arabia) being the main exporter. The U.S. sought to protect its dollar strength and hegemony by ensuring that Saudi Arabia price its oil only in dollars. To achieve this, the U.S. made a deal, some say a secret one, that it would protect the Saudi regime in exchange for their selling oil only in dollars.

    Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s the Arab world was in ferment over an emerging Nasser brand of Arab nationalism and the Saudi monarchy began to fear for its own stability. In Iraq, the revolutionary officers corps had taken power with a socialist program. In Libya, military officers with an Islamic socialist ideology took power in 1969 and closed the U.S. Wheelus Air base; in 1971, Libya nationalized the holdings of British Petroleum. There were proposals for uniting several Arab states-Syria, Egypt, and Libya. During 1963-1967, a civil war developed in Yemen between Republicans (anti-monarchy) and Royalist forces along almost the entire southern border of Saudi Arabia. Egyptian forces entered Yemen in support of republican forces, while the Saudis supported the royalist forces to shield its own monarchy. Eventually, the Saudi government-a medieval, Islamic fundamentalist, dynastic monarchy with absolute power-survived the nationalistic upheavals.
    Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer with the largest known oil reserves, is the leader of OPEC. It is the only member of the OPEC cartel that does not have an allotted production quota. It is the "swing producer," i.e., it can increase or decrease oil production to bring oil draught or glut in the world market. This enables it more or less to determine prices.

    Oil can be bought from OPEC only if you have dollars. Non-oil producing countries, such as most underdeveloped countries and Japan, first have to sell their goods to earn dollars with which they can purchase oil. If they cannot earn enough dollars, then they have to borrow dollars from the WB/IMF, which have to be paid back, with interest, in dollars. This creates a great demand for dollars outside the U.S. In contrast, the U.S. only has to print dollar bills in exchange for goods. Even for its own oil imports, the U.S. can print dollar bills without exporting or selling its goods. For instance, in 2003 the current U.S. account deficit and external debt has been running at more than $500 billion. Put in simple terms, the U.S. will receive $500 billion more in goods and services from other countries than it will provide them. The imported goods are paid by printing dollar bills, i.e., "fiat" dollars.

    Fiat money or currency (usually paper money) is a type of currency whose only value is that a government made a "fiat" (decree) that the money is a legal method of exchange. Unlike commodity money, or representative money, it is not based in any other commodity such as gold or silver and is not covered by a special reserve. Fiat money is a promise to pay by the usurer and does not necessarily have any intrinsic value. Its value lies in the issuer's financial means and creditworthiness.

    Such fiat dollars are invested or deposited in U.S. banks or the U.S. Treasury by most non-oil producing, underdeveloped countries to protect their currencies and generate oil credit. Today foreigners hold 48 percent of the U.S. Treasury bond market and own 24 percent of the U.S. corporate bond market and 20 percent of all U.S. corporations. In total, foreigners hold $8 trillion of U.S. assets. Nevertheless, the foreign deposited dollars strengthen the U.S. dollar and give the United States enormous power to manipulate the world economy, set rules, and prevail in the international market.

    Thus, the U. S. effectively controls the world oil-market as the dollar has become the "fiat" international trading currency. Today U.S. currency accounts for approximately two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all the world exports are denominated in dollars and U.S. currency accounts for about two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. The fact that billions of dollars worth of oil is priced in dollars ensures the world domination of the dollar. It allows the U.S. to act as the world's central bank, printing currency acceptable everywhere. The dollar has become an oil-backed, not gold-backed, currency.

    If OPEC oil could be sold in other currencies, e.g. the euro, then U.S. economic dominance-dollar imperialism or hegemony-would be seriously challenged. More and more oil importing countries would acquire the euro as their "reserve," its value would increase, and a larger amount of trade would be transacted and denominated in euros. In such circumstances, the value of the dollar would most likely go down, some speculate between 20-40 percent.

    http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iraq/Iraq_dollar_vs_euro.html

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    Item:

    In 2002 I wrote an award-winning online essay that asserted Saddam Hussein sealed his fate when he announced in September 2000 that Iraq was no longer going to accept dollars for oil being sold under the UN’s Oil-for-Food program, and decided to switch to the euro as Iraq’s oil export currency.[4]

    Indeed, my original pre-war hypothesis was validated in a Financial Times article dated June 5, 2003, which confirmed Iraqi oil sales returning to the international markets were once again denominated in U.S. dollars – not euros.

    The tender, for which bids are due by June 10, switches the transaction back to dollars -- the international currency of oil sales - despite the greenback's recent fall in value. Saddam Hussein in 2000 insisted Iraq's oil be sold for euros, a political move, but one that improved Iraq's recent earnings thanks to the rise in the value of the euro against the dollar.

    Concerning Iran, recent articles have revealed active Pentagon planning for operations against its suspected nuclear facilities. While the publicly stated reasons for any such overt action will be premised as a consequence of Iran's nuclear ambitions, there are again unspoken macroeconomic drivers underlying the second stage of petrodollar warfare – Iran's upcoming oil bourse. (The word bourse refers to a stock exchange for securities trading, and is derived from the French stock exchange in Paris, the Federation Internationale des Bourses de Valeurs.)

    In essence, Iran is about to commit a far greater “offense” than Saddam Hussein's conversion to the euro for Iraq’s oil exports in the fall of 2000. Beginning in March 2006, the Tehran government has plans to begin competing with New York's NYMEX and London's IPE with respect to international oil trades – using a euro-based international oil-trading mechanism.

    http://www.energybulletin.net/node/7707

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    CONTINUED........
     
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  2. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    Item:

    A shift away from U.S. dollars to euros in the oil market would cause the demand for petrodollars to drop, perhaps causing the value of the dollar to plummet. A precipitous drop in the value of the U.S. dollar would undermine the U.S. position as a world economic leader.

    The more likely outcome of an Iran invasion would be that, just as in Iraq, Iranian oil exports would dry up, regardless of what currency they are denominated in, and China would be compelled to abandon the dollar and buy oil from Russia-likely in euros. The conclusion is that U.S. leaders seem to have no idea what they are doing. Clark points out that, “World oil production is now flat out, and a major interruption would escalate oil prices to a level that would set off a global depression.”

    http://www.projectcensored.org/top-...-new-oil-trade-system-challenges-us-currency/

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    Item (2010):

    Iran has made arrangements to start selling its oil in any currency rather than just the US dollar, central bank chief Mahmoud Bahmani said in a report on Friday.

    "We will do our trade in any currency possible," said Bahmani, quoted by the ISNA news agency, without giving a launch date for the policy or specifying if Iran would refuse to be paid in dollars.

    "Maybe a country wants to use its own currency in trade -- we will accept that," he said, adding that the Islamic republic would have to absorb any "additional cost" associated with the switch.

    The governor did not say whether or not Iran, the second largest exporter in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, would snub both the dollar and the euro, as announced by a top official earlier this week.

    First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said the policy would affect the single European currency as well as the greenback in a report on Tuesday by leading economic daily Doniye e-Ektesad.

    "We are going to remove the dollar and euro from our foreign currency basket and replace them with (the Iranian) rial and all other currencies of the countries which accept to cooperate with us," he said.

    Rahimi said the move was being made in retaliation for economic sanctions which Western nations have slapped on Iran.

    The UN Security Council hit Iran with a fourth set of sanctions on June 9 over a nuclear programme which the international community fears is geared towards making an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran has consistently denied.

    The United States and European Union have since followed that up with tougher punitive measures targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors.

    http://articles.economictimes.india...news/27570340_1_currency-isna-dollar-and-euro

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    Item (2010):

    International Oil Daily reported on July 15 that Iran is considering switching to the United Arab Emirates’ dirham from the euro for oil sales to Europe, citing two unidentified industry executives.

    “We have different contracts with different countries, but what is important is to move away from euro and dollar,” Rahimi said when asked about reports that Iran wants to sell some of its oil for dirhams. The U.A.E. is an ally of the U.S., and it pegs its currency to the dollar.

    The U.S. Treasury Department has threatened international banks that are accepting dollars transactions with Iran from being banned from the U.S. banking system. The measure has been “successful” and is pushing Iran to turn to smaller, more local banks and to diversify its accounts, Malesa said.

    For Iran having accounts in dollars is increasingly problematic and the same will apply with euros, he added.

    The UN Security Council passed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on June 9 that include restrictions on financial transactions, on concerns that Iran may be developing a capacity to build nuclear weapons. The Iranian government insists it is developing nuclear energy for civilian use.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...-from-euro-for-oil-sales-oil-daily-says.html#

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    CONTINUED.......

    Item (On Gadaffi's Overthrow):

    According to more than a few observers, Gadhafi’s plan to quit selling Libyan oil in U.S. dollars — demanding payment instead in gold-backed “dinars” (a single African currency made from gold) — was the real cause. The regime, sitting on massive amounts of gold, estimated at close to 150 tons, was also pushing other African and Middle Eastern governments to follow suit.

    And it literally had the potential to bring down the dollar and the world monetary system by extension, according to analysts. French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly went so far as to call Libya a “threat” to the financial security of the world. The “Insiders” were apparently panicking over Gadhafi’s plan.

    “Any move such as that would certainly not be welcomed by the power elite today, who are responsible for controlling the world’s central banks,” noted financial analyst Anthony Wile, editor of the free market-oriented Daily Bell, in an interview with RT. “So yes, that would certainly be something that would cause his immediate dismissal and the need for other reasons to be brought forward [for] removing him from power.”

    According to Wile, Gadhafi’s plan would have strengthened the whole continent of Africa in the eyes of economists backing sound money — not to mention investors. But it would have been especially devastating for the U.S. economy, the American dollar, and particularly the elite in charge of the system.

    http://beyondmoney.net/2011/11/16/did-libyas-gadhafi-threaten-the-global-power-structure/

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

    Item (On Libyan 'Revolution'):

    Several writers have noted the odd fact that the Libyan rebels took time out from their rebellion in March to create their own central bank - this before they even had a government. Robert Wenzel wrote in the Economic Policy Journal:

    I have never before heard of a central bank being created in just a matter of weeks out of a popular uprising. This suggests we have a bit more than a rag tag bunch of rebels running around and that there are some pretty sophisticated influences.

    Alex Newman wrote in the New American:

    In a statement released last week, the rebels reported on the results of a meeting held on March 19. Among other things, the supposed rag-tag revolutionaries announced the "[d]esignation of the Central Bank of Benghazi as a monetary authority competent in monetary policies in Libya and appointment of a Governor to the Central Bank of Libya, with a temporary headquarters in Benghazi."

    Newman quoted CNBC senior editor John Carney, who asked, "Is this the first time a revolutionary group has created a central bank while it is still in the midst of fighting the entrenched political power? It certainly seems to indicate how extraordinarily powerful central bankers have become in our era."

    Another anomaly involves the official justification for taking up arms against Libya. Supposedly it's about human rights violations, but the evidence is contradictory. According to an article on the Fox News website on February 28:

    As the United Nations works feverishly to condemn Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi for cracking down on protesters, the body's Human Rights Council is poised to adopt a report chock-full of praise for Libya's human rights record.

    The review commends Libya for improving educational opportunities, for making human rights a "priority" and for bettering its "constitutional" framework. Several countries, including Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia but also Canada, give Libya positive marks for the legal protections afforded to its citizens - who are now revolting against the regime and facing bloody reprisal.

    http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD14Ak02.html

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    So, in the case of Iraq was it to fight the GWOT?

    In the case of Libya was it due to humanitarian reasons?

    In the case of Iran is it about a nuclear program?

    Or is it just a case of dollar supremacy at any cost???
     
  3. squidward

    squidward Well-Known Member

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    sad that america can't introduce a currency that can compete on its own merits.
     
  4. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    Sad doesn't even begin to describe it. America seems to be telling the world, "Play by our rules or else!!"

    Very dangerous.
     
  5. squidward

    squidward Well-Known Member

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    then we like to talk about "democracy" and "freedom"
     
  6. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    In looking into this, I didn't realize that Saddam had wanted take the Euro as payment instead of the dollar. I was mostly suspicious of our stated reasons for our saber rattling with Iran. I had already found out about Gadaffi and that was one of the flimsiest reasons I've ever heard for taking down a government. The establishment of a Central Bank in Libya while still fighting sticks out like a sore thumb.

    I was quite surprised, though, to find a common thread with all three countries. The only conclusion I can draw is that there is nothing we won't do to protect the dollar from being the world's reserve currency.

    NOTHING....AT ALL.
     
  7. NetworkCitizen

    NetworkCitizen New Member

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    Accusing them of money laundering from a central bank? That's like a crackhead calling a crackhead a crackhead.

    Iran is one of the very few nations not part of the world banking scheme. Insert General Wesley Clark's statement after 9/11 about the 7 nations we planned to attack.
     
  8. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    Rather than going to war for oil, we are going to war for oil dollars. And you have the rest of the world just sitting back and let us do it (so far). Wonder how long that will last?

    China and Russia have signed agreements to use their own currencies in trade with each other. This is a threat to the dollar as the reserve currency. What will we do about that?

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    China and Russia have agreed to allow their currencies to trade against each other in spot inter-bank markets.

    The motive is to "promote the bilateral trade between China and Russia, facilitate the cross-border trade settlement of [the yuan], and meet the needs of economic entities to reduce the conversion cost," according to Chinese officials.

    This latest move -- a continuation in a series of efforts by both countries to move away from U.S. dollar usage in international trade -- further threatens the dollar's reserve currency status.


    http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/85424/20101124/china-russia-drop-dollar.htm
     
  9. NetworkCitizen

    NetworkCitizen New Member

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    Start WWIII?

    I don't know. It's a big issue and you are on the right track as to the real reasons why we choose to attack or "liberate" the nations that we do, even if they are brutal regimes, as we ignore others.

    Currency wars give me a headache. I just want my steak and eggs.
     
  10. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    To add another wrinkle to this, China is Iran's biggest customer for oil and the two countries have just signed major trade agreements. Trade between the two countries has increased ten-fold in the last decade.

    Item:

    Under a trade agreement in 2007, China's state-owned oil giant, Sinopec, gained a 51 per cent stake in developing Iran's Yadavaran oil field, and Iran agreed to supply China with 150,000 barrels of oil a day for 25 years at market price.

    http://topics.scmp.com/news/iranshe...-Iran-drive-up-China-trade-tenfold-in-decade1

    http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-07/16/c_13989112.htm

    Kind of makes me yearn for the good old days when the US and USSR just divided up the world and followed the MAD policy. Things were simpler then.
     
  11. NetworkCitizen

    NetworkCitizen New Member

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    Good stuff, Woogs. Seems that China would not take kindly to an attack on Iran. They don't seem to flex their muscles very often. I don't expect that to last much longer but I recently read that they are still about a decade behind America in military tech.
     
  12. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    Well, you have to factor in The Russia-China Friendship and Cooperation Treaty.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    On July 16, 2001 the presidents of Russia and China signed a Treaty for Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation in Moscow. This treaty is the first such agreement between these two Eurasian powers since Mao Tse-tung signed a treaty with Joseph Stalin of the U.S.S.R. in 1950, four months before the outbreak of the Korean War. That treaty had been driven by anti-Western sentiments.

    The motivations behind this new treaty are much more complex and involve serious geopolitical, military, and economic considerations. In a sense, this treaty is a logical product of the improvement in Sino-Russian relations that began under the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and continued under Boris Yeltsin. The treaty should signal to the Western world that a major geopolitical shift may be taking place in the Eurasian balance of power, with serious implications for the United States and its alliances.

    The 2001 Russia-China treaty covers five important areas of cooperation:

    Joint actions to offset a perceived U.S. hegemonism;

    Demarcation of the two countries' long-disputed 4,300 km border;

    Arms sales and technology transfers;

    Energy and raw materials supply;

    The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia
    .

    http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2001/07/the-russia-china-friendship-and-cooperation-treaty

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Gets complicated quick, huh?
     
  13. Leffe

    Leffe New Member

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    Not only he "wanted", he traded his oil for three years in Euros, making massive profits. And what was the first thing that GWB did on the very day the USA had control of Iraq? That's right, changed trade back to USD.

    But it's all very inoccent I'm sure *coughs*.
     
  14. liberalminority

    liberalminority Well-Known Member

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    yes its petrodollar warfare because all the top oil producing countries are working in the interests of the biggest buyer the US

    iran is a top oil producer but they are against those interests which is bad because oil is very important to developed nations functions
     
  15. Leffe

    Leffe New Member

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    Was it simply coincidence that all the countries who either were or were planning to trade oil in non-USD were in the Axis of Evil that GWB defined?

    Iran I beleive has set up its own oil bourse (sp?), where oil can be traded in any currency... Oh the coincidences keep on coming...
     
  16. squidward

    squidward Well-Known Member

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    awesome, another liberal supporting war as a tool to maintain monopoly.
     
  17. waltky

    waltky Well-Known Member

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    Obama hittin' `em inna pocketbook...
    :fart:
    Moscow, Tehran Denounce New Western Sanctions on Iran
    November 22, 2011 - Iran and its powerful ally Russia have denounced new Western sanctions on Tehran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors, calling them illegal and futile.
     
  18. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    ...and so do the wars.

    Yes, I posted something that had a mention of Iran's bourse..

    Action against Iran will make 3 phony wars in 10 years. Is that a new record?

    So, here we are, a country that has bankrupted itself in order to protect its dollar. And now we want to double down with Iran? The irony is overwhelming.
     
  19. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Saudi Arabia is China's biggest oil supplier.
     
  20. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    I think most are surprised to see Obama behaving much as Bush did in the ME. He has, in effect, become Bush redux. Who would have thought that such a left leaning candidate would have upped the ante in our aggressive posture in the ME?

    It strikes me that candidates, no matter what political stripe they are, change their tune once in office due to the reality of our oil-backed currency. It doesn't have to be that way, but they all choose the bully's way in conducting our foreign policy. The alternative would be to let the dollar float and find its true level of value. No president wants to face that ugly reality so they choose military action to prop up the dollar.

    With the world's power structure shifting, this game cannot go on forever.
     
  21. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Top Ten Oil Exporting Countries


    * Saudi Arabia (8.73 million barrels per day)
    * Russia (6.67)
    * Norway (2.91)
    * Iran (2.55)
    * Venezuela (2.36)
    * United Arab Emirates (2.33)
    * Kuwait (2.20)
    * Nigeria (2.19)
    * Mexico (1.80)
    * Algeria (1.68


    Read more at Suite101: Top Ten Oil Countries: Leading Oil Importers & Exporters | Suite101.com http://daniel-workman.suite101.com/top-ten-oil-countries-a2088#ixzz1eRiPPDpw


    Top Ten Oil Importing Countries


    * United States (11.8 million barrels per day)
    * Japan (5.3)
    * China (2.9)
    * Germany (2.5)
    * South Korea (2.1)
    * France (2.0)
    * Italy (1.7)
    * Spain (1.6)
    * India (1.5)
    * Taiwan (1.0)
     
  22. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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  23. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    Do you have a comment, Margot, along with the stats you posted? What does this have to do with the US Dollar being the currency of OPEC?
     
  24. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    You are making too much of these bourses and the Petrol dollar as motivation for war.



    From the FT:

    Tehran and Beijing are in talks about using a barter system to exchange Iranian oil for Chinese goods and services, as US financial sanctions have blocked China from paying at least $20bn for oil imports.

    The US sanctions against Iran, which make it extremely difficult to conduct dollar-denominated business, mean that China could owe the oil-rich nation as much as $30bn, according to people familiar with the problem.

    They said the unpaid oil bills had built up over the past two years and the governments, which are in early-stage talks, were looking at how to “offset” the debt.

    Some Iranian officials are growing increasingly angry about the inability of the country’s largest oil customers to pay cash, a problem that has contributed to a shortage of hard currency and has hindered the central bank from defending the Iranian rial, which has been sharply devalued over the past month.

    China and India together buy about one-third of Iran’s oil, the country’s economic lifeblood. China’s oil imports from Iran have risen 49 per cent this year, according to Reuters.
     
  25. Woogs

    Woogs Well-Known Member

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    And I would say you're not seeing the whole picture. Look at Iraq and Libya if you don't think we will go to war to protect our dollar. It's detailed in the OP.

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    From 7-24-2011

    Iran is currently China's third largest supplier of crude oil, providing China with nearly one million barrels per day." Still, the perceived provocation to Uncle Sam should China go ahead and slap America in the face by accepting the existence of the Kish exchange, would echo around the world. Which is why many don't think much if anything will happen. Until today, that is: according to the FT, China has decided to commence an barter system in which Iranian oil is exchanged directly for Chinese exports. The net result: not only a slap for the US Dollar, but implicitly for all fiat intermediaries, as Iran and China are about to prove that when it comes to exchanging hard resources for critical Chinese goods and services, the world's so called reserve currency is completely irrelevant. The implications of this are momentous, especially for US debt, whose indomitability is only predicated upon the continued acceptance of the currency it backs as a global reserve. If China is now openly admitting to the world that it does not need US monetary intermediation, and by implication, the "debt" backing said intermediation, what then? And who will follow China next?

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/china...ter-system-and-deeper-dive-iranian-oil-bourse
     

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