Supported by all these bullish factors, Brent crude spot prices rose. Yet oil markets also face bearish pressures
Faced with gloom and some good news at the same time, crude oil markets continue to be in a quandary. Retrenchment and lack of capital investment could eventually lead to crude shortages, argued David Messler in a piece in Oilprice.com in June. The shortage could result in firming up of oil prices. Messler also points…
Iran, Venezuela and Libya have virtually been forced out of production. But that hasn’t made the lives of other producers easier
An uneven playing field exists in the crude oil marketplace. Two major producers, Iran and Venezuela, face sanctions on their oil sales from the United States. Meanwhile, Libya is in the midst of civil strife. These circumstances mean a considerable volume of oil isn’t available to the markets. Yet the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries…
New U of A graduate Asal Andarzipour found herself in a leadership role in the wake of the Flight 752 disaster
In the days following the tragedy of Flight 752, Asal Andarzipour desperately held things together. Two missiles struck the Ukraine International Airlines flight on Jan. 8, killing 13 Iranians with connections to the University of Alberta among the 176 victims. As president of the Iranian Students’ Association, Andarzipour was suddenly thrown into crisis management, fielding…
He needs to do something to boost his electoral fortunes, with the presidential election looming in November
Is American President Donald Trump beating war drums in the Middle East to prop up the ailing crude oil industry? After having failed to turn around the oil markets by engineering an unprecedented output cut deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia, Trump seems to be looking desperately at other options. The crude oil industry is…
The daily news cycle often contains items of interest. In 2020, this would include the Senate impeachment trial involving U.S. President Donald Trump, the signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, the tragic death of National Basketball Association legend Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash, and the passing of inspirational London,…
We’ve allowed market forces to replace a host of political-economic goals and considerations, and we’re far worse for it
Pax Americana, the long-standing U.S.-inspired post-war world order, is unravelling like a cheap carpet. Apart from catastrophes like Venezuela, Britain's chaotic retreat from the European Union, or the threat from President Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, there’s the shocking rise of anti-western authoritarian regimes in Iran,…
And are the Leafs negotiating with Auston Matthews? Are the Calgary Flames the real deal? Where does that leave the Oilers?
Huawei did they go? That was the question on Saturday as Hockey Night In Canada hit the airwaves. The financial world has been roiling since Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested by Canadian officials in Vancouver on Dec. 1. She faces extradition to the United States, where she is accused of helping Huawei circumvent…
Arguments that Iran has already violated the agreement and that the U.S. should pull out and immediately reinstate sanctions have consequences
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump described the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, as “the stupidest deal of all time” and vowed that if he became president he would “rip it up.” Now, as president, Trump’s posturing suggests he’s ready to do just that. The deal…
In Hillary Clinton’s mind, it’s everyone else’s fault. So she’ll continue to hog centre stage and suck up the political oxygen
Two topics jump out from the current news. One is the continuing Democratic Party angst over the 2016 U.S. election. The other is the recurrent propensity for independence movements to stir things up. On the Democratic front, Hillary Clinton’s promotion of her new book What Happened is Exhibit A. There’s nothing wrong with authors promoting…
Russia is banking that a new U.S. administration will give it a way out of the hole it has dug for itself
If Vladimir Putin ever writes his autobiography, he must call it The Art of the Bluff. No Russian leader since Catherine the Great’s prime minister, Grigory Potemkin, has done a more masterful job of blending guile, audacity and bluff to project an undeserved illusion of power and success. Whether that strategy ultimately bears fruit will…