Two bits of news to do with oil.
First Argentina’s president Kirchner said Argentina will enforce control over all shipping to the Falklands. This is polite language for a blockade.
Argentina already ‘detained’ one ship the Thor Leader, saying it was transporting oil pipes to the Islands. Detaining ships is blunt as messages go.
The reason, of course is oil. Recent estimates are that there could be 60B barrels of Oil round The Falklands/Malvinas. That’s comparable to the North Sea fields!
Now in one of life’s little coincidences the US inflation report just out contained, buried in the detail, that US petrol prices rose year-on-year 65% 65% in one year at the pump. Crude oil price went up 132%. These are fantastic increases. Especially when Saudi is selling more now than a year ago.
WHat we have is a clear Oil bubble. ANd guess who has the large positions holding Oil futures and even holding the stuff off-shore in rented oil tankers? Yes, you guessed it – our fold friends THE BANKS. JP Morgan for one has a tanker full of oil moored off NY.
Just one more way the banks are screwing you.
The Argentinian situation is a good one for Brown. Since the guy never had an original thought as far as I know, provoking Argentina to do something is in fact great for him. With the election looming, he can repeat the great turnaround by Thatcher, who before that was reviled by the country. After the 1982 Falklands War, she was the most popular PM ever.
If its also true that there really is that amount of oil there, it can also hope to help the balance of payment defecit and lower the price of oil. In the meantime, its in the large banks interest and oil producers to see the UK go to war, so im sure they are out to buy as much as they can.
Also, the oil reserves are still speculation, its not confirmed. And funnily enough the same had been speculated about Cyprus offshore drilling. How is it that all these Uk outposts suddenly have oil?