Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — A leading Western energy major has halted purchases of Iranian crude oil. Royal Dutch Shell has stopped all new purchases of Iranian oil in wake of Western sanctions on the Teheran regime. Shell said current contracts were expected to be concluded by May. Shell is believed to have been delivering […]
Sol W. Sanders There is a terrible poignancy to the current Greek crisis. Its essence does not revolve around Greece’s role in the European Union or the Eurozone, per se. After all, before the fall, Greece contributed only 1.8 percent of the gross national product of the world’s largest trading bloc. Nor, indeed, as time […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — Iran, facing Western sanctions and attack threats, has been quietly storing millions of barrels of crude oil in the Gulf. Industry sources said the Teheran regime, which oversees production of 3.5 million barrels per day, was preparing for an international embargo on fuel exports to Iran. They said the Iranian […]
Sol W. Sanders Looking around the world, the striking characteristic is waiting out a number of crises. Their outcome seems almost artificially suspended, and their interaction on one another and their ultimate effect on the world is at issue. We start with the Euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s supplications in Beijing were perhaps laudable but a […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Amidst the swirl of the presidential primary season in the United States and thus the blurring of the international news focus, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been on a political campaign swing of his own throughout Latin America. But while the Islamic Republic relentlessly pursues the nuclear genie, and […]
Sol W. Sanders President Barack Obama has launched new international diplomatic poker with “a trailing hand”. It is impossible to exaggerate the forces at play, economic as well as political, foreign and domestic, and their interplay. When he signed Dec. 31st the latest Iran provisos, Mr. Obama was handed new clout to cut Iran’s energy […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has renewed crude oil purchases from Iran. Industry sources said Turkey’s state-owned Tupras has contracted to purchase the same amount of crude oil in 2012 as during the previous year. They said Tupras would purchase nearly eight million tons of Iranian oil. “Iranian oil has become cheaper amid sanctions […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — After the heady and often dizzying political changes optimistically described as the Arab Spring, many of these same Middle Eastern states may be heading for what sadly looks like an Arab Winter. The seasonal political shift was predictable, but the end results remain in flux. The three great Middle […]
Sol W. Sanders An old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times”, has become a bromide. I suspect those old Chinese savants were smarter: Confucius [and his St. Paul, Mencius] codified rules and ceremonies for all princes for all eternity, undoubtedly suspecting, rightfully, all eras would have many if not most of the same […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Syria has reported a significant drop in crude oil production amid Western sanctions. Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alaw reported oil production at no more than 270,000 barrels per day, down from 380,000 barrels in early 2011. Alaw attributed the sharp decline to sanctions imposed by the European Union and the […]