"The "Switch Off Putin" campaign, an immediate European-wide boycott of all Russian oil and gas imports" by James Corbett ...or..."The Greatest Trick of All"

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

EXCERPTS:  ...the homepage of switchoffputin.org, a website that has been set up to promote "Switch Off Putin," a report that purports to show how Europe could "switch off Putin" by completely boycotting Russian oil and gas and thus bringing peace and harmony to the world...  ...the team behind the "Switch Off Putin" campaign is advocating an immediate European-wide boycott of all Russian oil and gas imports...

...Under the heading, "War Economy in Europe," they write:

Achieving these cuts will require a previously unimaginable level of cooperation and solidarity within Europe. We may need a state of emergency declared, and an explicit political recognition that European economies are now on a war footing in terms of the rapidity of the energy transition. In some ways the speed of the change will resemble the Covid lockdowns, but with a different trajectory in the longer term. [Emphasis added.]

Lest there be any confusion as to what they're advocating or how it will be achieved, they go on to state:

Rationing via fair shares is the only alternative: governments will need to introduce price caps and guaranteed minimum supplies at the household levels so that everyone gets a basic amount and those with less ability to pay are not simply cut off. Turning down thermostats will be difficult to mandate and enforce, but with only a certain amount of gas allowed per household the incentive to stick to it will be substantial. As with Covid lockdowns, social pressure to abide by national restrictions will also play a big part. [Emphasis added.]

https://www.corbettreport.com/the-greatest-trick-of-all/

https://corbettreport.substack.com/p/the-greatest-trick-of-all?s=w

https://www.corbettreport.com/the-greatest-trick-of-all/

The Greatest Trick of All

by James Corbett
corbettreport.com
April 24, 2022

Magic is the ability to make someone believe something that isn't true. It follows, then, that most great magicians are keen observers of human psychology and that magic routines are, at base, a skillfully arranged set of techniques for preying on our cognitive biases.

As impressive as the rabbit-from-hat illusions and the sleight-of-hand deceptions of the masters of stagecraft can be, however, these parlor tricks pale in comparison to the societal manipulations that are conducted by the masters of statecraft every day.

Case in point: martial law. I have long said that when martial law actually comes to the "free and democratic" West, people will be cheering it on. In case you didn't believe me, I present the phenomenon of the public cheering on the most egregious abuses of medical martial law over the past two years as evidence for my contention. All it took was a concerted campaign to get people to fear coronavirus and suddenly the very same people who once denounced those warning of martial law as "conspiracy theory" were loudly applauding the jackbooted thugs of the COVID-1984 police state in their harassment of elderly women and innocent children and random citizens.

Yes, it's one thing to theorize about the Stockholm Syndrome that allows—in the memorable words of Aldous Huxley—"the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and presumably will always exist to get people to love their servitude." It's another thing to actually see it taking place.

This ability to get the public on board with policies and practices that are self-evidently against their own interest is not just surprising. I am here to argue that it is a type of magic trick.

I mean this in two key senses of the idea of a "magic trick." Firstly, the would-be social engineers' ability to reliably martial support for ideas and actions that would have been dismissed as lunacy mere moments before is, at first glance, so incredible as to be magical. But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this magic, like all such sleight-of-hand, is, at bottom, precisely that: a trick.

Today, let's take a look up the sleeve of the magicians of social control, expose the tricks they use to garner public support for their agenda, and see how we can break the spell they have cast over the masses.

The Trick

Although there are many, many different types of magic tricks, most of them rely on a handful of techniques for misdirecting the audience while the sleight-of-hand is performed. Whether it's smoke and mirrors or a beautiful assistant or a stream of well-rehearsed patter, magicians are masters at keeping attention focused elsewhere while the real "magic" is taking place out of their audience's line of sight (or, even more daringly, in plain sight but out of their field of attention).

Let's look at an example from mentalism, that branch of magic in which the performers "read the mind" of the audience or use their mental powers to "predict" the audience's reaction to certain questions. There are many ways that these tricks can be pulled off: it can be as simple as asking a question in a certain way in order to encourage a particular response or as complex as meticulously planting a series of subliminal suggestions in order to elicit certain pre-determined responses from a mark.

This is how a master mentalist performs the trick on (ironically enough) a pair of advertising execs:  [6 minute VIDEO]

And this is how a master social engineer performs the same trick on the gullible masses:

No, that's not the blog of a deranged psychopath with a Putin obsession. It is the homepage of switchoffputin.org, a website that has been set up to promote "Switch Off Putin," a report that purports to show how Europe could "switch off Putin" by completely boycotting Russian oil and gas and thus bringing peace and harmony to the world.

Actually, come to think of it, maybe it is the blog of a deranged psychopath with a Putin obsession.

As an idea for bringing peace to the world, it's self-evident claptrap. But as a demonstration of how to successfully influence an audience, it's an example of real-world "magic" that would make any mentalist jealous.

You see, the architects of the New World Order have a problem: most people recognize that the Big Oil version of "environmentalism"—that is, the imposition of a technocratic system of energy rationing and resource restrictions in the name of "saving Mother Earth"—is a crock. Year after year, poll after poll shows that, despite an unprecedented 52-years-long-and-counting propaganda campaign designed to instill fear of climate catastrophe in the public, the threat of global warming still ranks near the bottom of most people's priority lists. And, when push comes to shove, most people are not willing to pay even token amounts of carbon indulgences to the Al Gores of the world in order to appease the weather gods.

Enter the social engineer magicians (related to, but not to be confused with, the "cyber magicians"). They know that getting the public to "spontaneously" and "voluntarily" hit upon the "right" answer—a fervent desire for carbon credits and energy rationing and climate lockdowns and all the other elements of top-down neofeudal control—requires employing the old mentalist trick of posing the right question in the right way.

I covered the magicians' first attempt to pull off this reframing in my #PropagandaWatch episode, "The Pandemic is a Test Run." In that video, I documented the ways in which the successful scamdemic fear campaign was being used as leverage to reframe the climate agenda. Suddenly, the public was being asked to equate the climate "emergency" to the scamdemic "emergency" and to prepare for "climate lockdowns" and other emergency measures commensurate with those that they had just happily accepted in the name of saving the world from the scourge of COVID-19.

Unfortunately for the would-be social engineers, the COVID hysteria is wearing off. In 2022, appealing to people's warm and fuzzy feelings regarding lockdowns and COVID restrictions is far less likely to get them on board with the globalist agenda.

And so, like the skilled magicians they are, the proponents of this agenda are simply taking advantage of the current mania: Russophobia. And—wouldn't you know it?—it turns out that the public's desire to "Switch Off Putin" can be satiated by strict energy controls and resource rationing by a technocratic elite!

Yes, the team behind the "Switch Off Putin" campaign is advocating an immediate European-wide boycott of all Russian oil and gas imports. While such a blanket ban has hitherto been dismissed as impossible, the authors of this report argue that it can be achieved after all . . . if emergency measures are implemented and the entire economy is put on a war footing, that is.

Under the heading, "War Economy in Europe," they write:

Achieving these cuts will require a previously unimaginable level of cooperation and solidarity within Europe. We may need a state of emergency declared, and an explicit political recognition that European economies are now on a war footing in terms of the rapidity of the energy transition. In some ways the speed of the change will resemble the Covid lockdowns, but with a different trajectory in the longer term. [Emphasis added.]

Lest there be any confusion as to what they're advocating or how it will be achieved, they go on to state:

Rationing via fair shares is the only alternative: governments will need to introduce price caps and guaranteed minimum supplies at the household levels so that everyone gets a basic amount and those with less ability to pay are not simply cut off. Turning down thermostats will be difficult to mandate and enforce, but with only a certain amount of gas allowed per household the incentive to stick to it will be substantial. As with Covid lockdowns, social pressure to abide by national restrictions will also play a big part. [Emphasis added.]

The blatant manipulation here—the shameless piggybacking on the biggest news story of the moment to further an already-existing agenda—is not even hidden. The magicians who are using this cheap stage trick on the public openly brag about it. The Bezos Post, for example, just published a piece explicitly linking the IPCC-invented "climate crisis" to the current geopolitical crisis and admitting that the tenuous connection is just a convenient way to repackage an otherwise unpalatable agenda:

The only glimmer of hope is that Putin may have inadvertently simplified the politics of such a global quest [switching over to 100% renewable energy]. Convincing voters requires communicating the need for sacrifice—from sleeping colder in the winters to flying less and paying more when you do. But now politicians can make that case in two ways—as necessary to fight both Russian aggression and climate change.

But as crude as this latest attempt to reframe the old dream of neofeudalism is, it seems to be working. The "Switch Off Putin" campaign, boasting its own polling, claims that "Nearly 70% of Europeans want to 'Switch Off Putin' by boycotting Russian oil and gas." And what, specifically, would these people be prepared to put up with in order to bring peace to Ukraine? The Guardian supplies an answer in its "report" on the figures:

Just over 40% said they would be prepared to accept energy rationing to manage demand, and 52.7% that they would eat less meat to reduce demand on Ukrainian exports.

Or, as Klaus Schwab and his cronies might observe: "You will eat ze bugs and ration ze energy, and you will like it!"

The worst part is, this poll (unlike most "polling" hyped by the MSM liars) probably isn't even far off the mark. Do you doubt for a second that the hypnotized hordes who just spent two years cheering for you to be locked up for the crime of not taking an experimental medical intervention and then dutifully switched to hating Russia and waving blue-and-yellow flags because the media told them to wouldn't go along with whatever their neofeudal lords suggested in the name of "Switching Off Putin"?

Breaking the Spell

This type of trick is, of course, not limited to the climate agenda, and it is not simply a question of reframing old ideas to make them more acceptable to the gullible masses. All of the techniques of misdirection in the magicians' arsenal are employed by the social engineers on a daily basis. But that is a topic for a future examination.

For today's purposes, it suffices to understand this: the greatest trick of all is the ruling elitists' ability to make you desire your own enslavement.

As I have asserted for years, however, the manipulations of the media mockingbirds and the lying politicians and the salesmen of the globalists' agenda are not that hard to spot once you learn what is happening. Exactly as a magician's entire stage show can be ruined by someone explaining how the trick is performed, those who are able to explain the tricks of the social engineers are thereby breaking the spell that has been cast over the credulous public.

In some ways, this is exactly what the independent media has been doing online for the past two years: exposing the false flags and propaganda operations of the establishment for the crude magic tricks that they are. The deceivers, are, of course, adapting to this and adjusting their behaviour accordingly. But there are only so many ways to present the same old ruses; their bag of tricks is not bottomless.

At this point, it is a race against time. Will those who can see through the manipulations succeed in laying bare the lies and breaking the spell before the masses are tricked into supporting the neofeudal, technocratic Great Reset? This is the existential question that the human species is facing.

Whatever the answer, one thing is for certain: only those of us who recognize the magic show as a magic show can hope to see the illusions for what they are. It is our task to educate those who do not yet realize that the daily news feed is in fact a magic show put on to entertain, distract and mislead them. Only then can we reveal the card up the magician's sleeve and bring the show to an end.

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

How & Why Big Oil Conquered the World

Technocracy Study Course

How & Why Big Oil Conquered The World with transcripts
https://www.corbettreport.com/bigoil/
Episode 310 – How Big Oil Conquered The World – 12/28/2015
https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-310-rise-of-the-oiligarchs/
Episode 321 – Why Big Oil Conquered the World – 10/06/2017
https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-321-why-big-oil-conquered-the-world/

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Economists-Warn-Of-A-Recession-In-Europe-If-Russia-Halts-Gas-Supply.html

Economists Warn Of A Recession In Europe If Russia Halts Gas Supply

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Apr 25, 2022, 6:00 PM CDT

• Germany’s industry leaders warn of the negative consequences of a gas import ban.
• The EU’s refusal to pay directly in rubles tests Putin’s threat to cut off the gas supply, and buyers in Europe “would be running a very real risk of their supplies being cut.
• If Russian gas supplies are immediately interrupted, Germany will lose as much as $237 billion in economic output both this year and next.

 

Join Our Community

Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off the gas supply to Europe if the “hostile” nations—including all of the EU—do not start paying in rubles for gas. Flows from Russia continue, but the EU and its biggest economy, Germany, are bracing for a potential disruption to gas supply either because of an energy embargo on Russia or Russia halting supplies.   Without Russian gas, Europe faces gas rationing, recession, and sky-high energy prices—higher than recent record-highs, economists and analysts say. 

The EU has rejected Putin’s demands for payments in rubles, while Russia did not immediately cut off the gas supply to Europe after April 1, partly because it is dependent on revenues from gas and partly because payments for gas delivered after April 1 are not due until later this month or early May.  

The Kremlin, however, has signaled the gas-for-rubles demand is just the beginning of a switch to the Russian currency for Russian exports.

Last week, the European Commission said that companies in the EU may have a way to pay for Russia’s gas in rubles without violating sanctions on Moscow. The companies would need to pay in euros or dollars, which would then be converted into rubles, although the transactions would also have to be accompanied by a statement explaining how the companies consider their contractual obligations to be complete once they submitted the euros or dollars. 

Related: Why Are Big Oil Execs Dumping Millions Of Dollars Worth Of Stock?

“It would be advisable to seek confirmation from the Russian side that this procedure is possible under the rules of the decree” about payments in rubles, the EC said in an advisory document sent to member states on Thursday and cited by Reuters.  The EU’s refusal to pay directly in rubles tests Putin’s threat to cut off the gas supply, and buyers in Europe “would be running a very real risk of their supplies being cut,” Katja Yafimava, a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, told Bloomberg. 

If Russian gas supply is halted, the worst-hit EU member will be none other than its biggest economy—Germany—which risks rationing and recession, the German central bank and German analysts and industry say. 

For Europe, the repercussions of a recession in its biggest economy cannot be understated—the snowball effect of surging energy prices would drag most other economies into recession. 

Germany depends on Russian gas for around half of its needs, with many industries using gas and about half of all households heating with gas. The Russian war in Ukraine exposed Germany’s—and Europe’s—vulnerable reliance on gas and other energy flows from Russia. Europe banned coal imports from Russia—as of August—but is still divided on a possible oil embargo, and hasn’t even started a serious discussion on a gas embargo yet. 

Germany’s industry has been warning for weeks that an immediate ban on Russian gas would have severe negative impacts on competitiveness, business, and economy.

Related: U.S. Rig Count Inches Higher As Oil Rally Halts

Martin Brudermüller, chief executive at Europe’s largest chemicals group, Germany’s BASF, has warned that a halt in Russian oil and gas supply “could throw the German economy into its biggest crisis since the end of World War Two.” 

If Russian gas supplies are immediately interrupted, Germany will lose as much as $237 billion (220 billion euros) in economic output both this year and next, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy said earlier this month. 

“If gas supplies were to be cut off, the German economy would undergo a sharp recession,” said Stefan Kooths, vice president and research director business cycles and growth at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. 

An embargo on Russian energy trade with Germany “could lead not only to price effects but also to a rationing of energy use,” Bundesbank, the central bank of Germany, said in a monthly report last week.  

“If only energy production and supply sectors were to be cut off from Russian energy deliveries, this could lead to an additional short-term real GDP loss of 1% for the current year,” Bundesbank economists say. 

“Should the shock in addition directly hit energy-intensive industries which use fossil energy sources to power their production plants or which process fuels as raw materials, the loss could climb to 3¼%,” the German central bank warns.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• What’s Keeping China From Buying More Russian Crude?
• India’s Russian Dealings Have Left Biden’s Geopolitical Oil Strategy In Tatters
• Tight Oil Markets Are Sending Fuel Margins Through The Roof

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

7 hours ago, Tom Nolan said:

James Corbett says:  For today's purposes, it suffices to understand this: the greatest trick of all is the ruling elitists' ability to make you desire your own enslavement.

 

[Boat + 1,315]

Yea that’s quite the trick. Meanwhile back at the ranch NATO is bringing in bigger guns? Is Russia so incompetent they have lost the air? If Russia still dominated the air would NATO sacrifice this equipment. I thought Putin was the stupid one. If that equipment goes poof, NATO joins Putin at the stupid table. If Putin has lost the air them Russians would be in trouble. In the next two, three weeks we should get a sense of how this new equipment performs. 

[Boat + 1,315]

4 hours ago, Tom Nolan said:

 

You ride that fine line of loving Putin and Trump. There is only room for one loyalty without getting in larger than life trouble. Who is it. Who you loyal to. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

https://community.oilprice.com/topic/28682-heres-whats-next-on-the-globalist-calendar-by-james-corbett/

EXCERPT

The United Nations states:  "(global) structural changes to the legal, economic, social, political, and technological spheres will be required..." "...require a permanent system of effective governance to reliably manage our interactions with the Earth System as a whole."  ...and...  ...more power to the WHO to dictate global health policy.

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/The-Oil-And-Gas-Industry-Is-Booming-Despite-Net-Zero-Ambitions.html

The Oil And Gas Industry Is Booming Despite Net-Zero Ambitions

By Irina Slav - Apr 25, 2022, 7:00 PM CDT

• Oil and natural gas investments are on the rise despite the global push toward renewable energy.
• The global transition to green energy will need the help of fossil fuels to meet soaring energy demand. 
• “We need fossil energy as part of this transition. This is a long transition. This is not overnight.”

Join Our Community

Both the European Union and the United States are firmly on the path to a net-zero economy. This much has been made clear by officials from both sides of the Atlantic despite the EU’s hunt for more gas and the Biden administration’s calls for more oil production.

Yet before net-zero is achieved—if it is ever achieved—both the EU and the US will need more fossil fuels, including coal. And this means that despite calls for more renewables from both governments and the renewable energy industry, despite the active demonization of the fossil fuel industry, investments in more oil, gas, and coal production are likely to rise—at least in the short term.

A recent report from Reclaim Finance, an anti-fossil fuel campaign organization, for instance, named and shamed asset managers investing in oil, gas, and coal. According to the report, 30 of the world’s leading asset managers had $82 billion invested in companies developing new coal supply, and $468 billion in 12 major oil and gas companies.

“Is the asset management industry changing its investment practices in line with climate science, reducing investments in coal, oil, or gas expansion? Unfortunately, the answer is an emphatic ‘no,’” said one of Reclaim Finance’s campaigners, Lara Cuvelier.

“Let’s be clear: drilling a new oil well or opening a new coal mine is not a normal thing to do in a widespread climate catastrophe,” the campaigner added.

Related: EU In Talks With Alternative Suppliers As It Considers A Russian Oil Ban

Unfortunately for Reclaim Finance and all other climate campaigners, drilling a new oil well or opening a new coal mine is the normal thing to do when demand for energy exceeds the available supply. And this is exactly what companies are doing in some parts of the world where climate campaigning is not such a force to be reckoned with. Even in Europe, some countries are reconsidering their climate plans, notably the UK and Germany.

The UK earlier this year reconsidered its intention to gradually suspend all oil and gas drilling in the North Sea amid an energy crunch that began last autumn, caused the price of energy to soar, and pushed millions of households into energy poverty. The change of stance from the government naturally caused protests from environmentalists.

In Germany, plans to gradually move toward a 100-percent net-zero energy system were revisited in light of potential gas shortages amid the war in Ukraine. The German government’s response to that potential danger was to plan on speedily building several import terminals for liquefied natural gas to replace Russian gas. The biggest economy in Europe and the EU, in other words, is replacing one source of fossil fuels with another, rather than replacing fossil fuels with renewables.

In the United States, a similar shift is underway. Despite the decidedly green, pro-transition agenda with which President Joe Biden came into power, now that same president is calling on all oil producers willing to lend an ear to pump more because retail fuel prices are high and there are elections to be won—or lost—in November.

The administration in the face of the president himself, the Energy Secretary, and the White House Press Secretary has repeatedly said that the transition agenda and the current calls for more oil production are not at odds because the latter is just a temporary measure until, presumably, renewables come into their own. Temporary or not, greater production will require greater investment.

“We need fossil energy as part of this transition. This is a long transition. This is not overnight,” said Keo Lukefahr, the head of energy derivatives and renewables trading at Motiva, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Not only is the transition not going to happen overnight, but it will also take a lot of effort. And investments. Last month, for instance, a CRU analyst warned the mining industry needed to invest some $100 billion in new copper mines if it was to avoid a supply deficit that could reach 4.7 million tons by 2030. All other transition metals and minerals are in potentially short supply based on demand projections. 

The situation at the moment is this: the world needs more energy than it is getting. People, for the most part, do not really care where their electricity comes from as long as it is there. And they tend to become rather unhappy when the prices of everything rise because fuels used to transport goods from one place to another are so expensive because the oil supply is tight.

It is obvious that nobody, not even the most renewable-happy EU member, can build enough wind and solar farms to eliminate the need for additional oil and gas supplies. Investment in oil and gas production, therefore, will increase despite the grim warnings of climate campaigners.

Some argue that the increase will only be needed for the medium term, but energy companies tend to plan ahead for long periods of time. If there is no point in making such a long-term commitment to additional production, they will probably not make it. If they have made this commitment, maybe they expect that demand for fossil fuels will remain steady for more than the next three or four years.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Libya May Reach Full Oil Production Within Days
• Can Lebanon Repair Its Failing Energy Sector?
• Is Global Oil Production Growing Fast Enough?

[Boat + 1,315]

Just think if no oligarch was allowed to own energy stocks. We could have avoided all these wars and death. Big money wags the dog/governments starting with Putin. Go read the top investors in the Texas ERCOT grid and you’ll see who didn’t push for weatherization resulting in the death of hundreds and losses in the 10’s of billions. While I love capitalism and you love capitalism we still have work to do making the system work for all without death and billions on damages. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

James Corbett writes:

Breaking the Spell

This type of trick is, of course, not limited to the climate agenda, and it is not simply a question of reframing old ideas to make them more acceptable to the gullible masses. All of the techniques of misdirection in the magicians' arsenal are employed by the social engineers on a daily basis. But that is a topic for a future examination.

For today's purposes, it suffices to understand this: the greatest trick of all is the ruling elitists' ability to make you desire your own enslavement....

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

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Record-Insider-Selling-Could-Signal-An-Oil-Price-Peak.html

Record Insider Selling Could Signal An Oil Price Peak

By Alex Kimani - Apr 26, 2022, 9:00 AM CDT

• More U.S. energy executives have been selling rather than buying stock at the fastest pace since 2012.
• U.S. oil and gas executives sold shares worth $1.35 billion during the quarter, with a record number of company heads dumping their holdings.
• Net-Insider selling is a bearish signal for oil markets.

Join Our Community

Over the past few years, American companies have been repurchasing their own shares at a record clip, helping to fuel a raging bull market. After a brief pullback in 2020, buybacks hit a record $881.7 billion in 2021, good for a 69.6% Y/Y increase and nearly 10% higher than the previous record $806.4 billion set in 2018.

That trend shows no signs of reversing even in the current downmarket, with firms in the S&P 500 outlining buyback plans valued at $238 billion through the first two months of 2022, according to data from Goldman Sachs. The S&P is down 10.4% year-to-date compared to a 45% climb by the 21-member S&P 500 Energy Index in what is shaping up as a bear market for stocks. Companies tend to buy their own shares more when they believe they are significantly undervalued.

It is, therefore, somewhat ironic that insider selling has become rampant in one of the few bright spots in the market: the energy sector.

According to VerityData via Rigzone, more U.S. energy executives have been selling rather than buying stock in their companies at the fastest pace since 2012. Insider selling is typically viewed as being bearish for stocks because executives have better knowledge of their industry's cycles than most retail investors and are able to time their actions to harvest the most profit.

Insider Selling

According to Bloomberg calculations based on regulatory filings, Hess Corp.'s (NYSE:HES) chief executive officer John Hess sold stock worth $85 million in the first quarter, marking his largest quarterly sale since 2011. Hess is one of the largest operators in the Bakken Shale, with 800,000 net acres and net production forecast to average between 330,000 and 340,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022, excluding Libya.  Related: Bearish Momentum Grows, But Traders Remain Bullish On Crude

Interestingly, Hess is one of the companies that have been vocal in opposing a proposed carbon tax that could raise fuel prices and eventually hurt demand, but more of that later.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO) CEO Lee Tillman sold shares worth $34.3 million during the first quarter. 

Meanwhile, Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) CEO Mike Wirth sold $12.3 million in the quarter, the bulk of which appear to be from share options granted in 2013 that were due to expire next year. Chevron Corp. had the highest selling volume since 2008, and Marathon the most sales since at least 2004.

Overall, U.S. oil and gas executives sold shares worth $1.35 billion during the quarter, with a record number of company heads dumping their holdings.

"Historically, oil executives are really good at getting maximum value from selling stock at the right time. The message is that the cycle here isn't going to be a long one," Ben Silverman, head of research at VerityData, has told Rigzone in an interview. 

Earlier this month, Congressional Democrats accused oil bosses of "profiteering" from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has caused crude and U.S. natural gas prices to hit the highest levels since 2008. They have responded by saying they play no part in setting global oil and gas prices and pointed out that current low production volumes responsible for sky-high prices are largely in response to pressure to act on climate change.

At the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 6, Lori Trahan, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused executives of "profiting personally" from stock sales, and highlighted selling by Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Co.(NYSE:PXD).

Carbon Tax

In other news, the WSJ has reported that the American Petroleum Institute has drafted a proposal urging Congress to adopt a carbon tax, although members of the biggest U.S. oil industry trade group want to delay action until after the midterm elections, fearing it could alienate Republican lawmakers.

The API proposal calls for assessing gasoline wholesalers, power plants and others a tax starting at $35-$50/ton for carbon dioxide generated by the fossil fuel they sell or use, with adjustments for inflation and other factors. The draft says a carbon tax is "the most impactful and transparent way to achieve meaningful progress on the dual goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously ensuring continued economic growth."

Some API members, including Shell Plc. (NYSE:SHEL) and Equinor (NYSE:EQNR), reportedly want fast action, while U.S. Big Oil companies, including Hess, Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC), and  Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) have said that a delay is needed to help the industry avoid political blowback because a carbon tax has become unpopular among both conservatives and liberals.

Currently,  69 countries have adopted a carbon price ranging from $1 to $139 per metric ton, but the U.S. has never had a nationwide system.  California, which nearly a decade ago introduced a carbon pricing system aimed at raising the cost of fossil fuel, recently saw gasoline prices top $6/gallon, leading to Gov. Gavin Newsom to propose giving consumers $400 tax rebates for each car they own. 

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• EU In Talks With Alternative Suppliers As It Considers A Russian Oil Ban
• Libya May Reach Full Oil Production Within Days
• Can Lebanon Repair Its Failing Energy Sector?

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

James Corbett writes:

Breaking the Spell

This type of trick is, of course, not limited to the climate agenda, and it is not simply a question of reframing old ideas to make them more acceptable to the gullible masses. All of the techniques of misdirection in the magicians' arsenal are employed by the social engineers on a daily basis. But that is a topic for a future examination.

For today's purposes, it suffices to understand this: the greatest trick of all is the ruling elitists' ability to make you desire your own enslavement....

 

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

Regarding:

"The "Switch Off Putin" campaign, an immediate European-wide boycott of all Russian oil and gas imports" by James Corbett ...or..."The Greatest Trick of All"

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/russia-halts-natural-gas-supplies-poland-european-energy-prices-spike-local-reports

Poland Confirms Russia To Halt All Gas Delivery Wednesday If Payment Not Settled In Rubles

by Tyler Durden

Tuesday, Apr 26, 2022 - 02:50 PM

Update(1550ET): The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a statement of solidarity with Poland as Russia is poised to suspend all natural gas supplies to the country over Warsaw's refusal to settle payments in Rubles, as President Putin previously demanded of "unfriendly countries" taking anti-Kremlin action amid the Ukraine conflict.

"Gazprom's move to completely shut off gas supplies to Poland is yet another sign of Russia's politicization of existing agreements and will only accelerate European efforts to move away from Russian energy supplies," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement posted to social media.

This following on the heels of Polish Climate Minister Anna Moskwa, who oversees coordination of the country's energy needs and response to changing conditions, asserting that Poland is well prepared for such a scenario of Russia cutting off the taps...

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[surrept33 + 609]

1 hour ago, Tom Nolan said:

Update(1550ET): The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a statement of solidarity with Poland as Russia is poised to suspend all natural gas supplies to the country over Warsaw's refusal to settle payments in Rubles, as President Putin previously demanded of "unfriendly countries" taking anti-Kremlin action amid the Ukraine conflict.

Russia cut off bulgaria as well - one step towards Russian economic suicide. What happens when Russia swiches itself off?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/russia-to-halt-gas-supply-to-poland-government-told

 

Bulgaria is a supplier of 152mm ammunition and the largest producer outside of Russia I believe.

Also, notably 122mm rounds which is the mainstay of Ukraine's artillery. 73mm RPG rounds for the BMP-1/SPG-9, 122mm Grads, and a whole host of other Soviet-era ammunition.

Lots of planes flying from Sofia to Rzeszow, Poland. It's amazing how anti-Russian the entire east europe is. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by surrept33

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

27 minutes ago, surrept33 said:

Russia cut off bulgaria as well - : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/russia-to-halt-gas-supply-to-poland-government-told

surretpt33, Thanks for this update.  OilPrice.com journalist/writer Irina Slav lives in Bulgaria.

Russia begins ‘gas blackmail’ halting supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, governments told

[Tom Nolan + 2,441]

"The Greatest Trick of All" by James Corbett

The following famous quote jives with Corbett's article about tricking the masses.

Via The Ron Paul Institute For Peace & Prosperity, 

"War is a racket," wrote US Maj. General Smedley Butler in 1935. He explained: "A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. .”It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."

Gen. Butler’s observation describes the US/NATO response to the Ukraine war perfectly.

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,131]

23 hours ago, surrept33 said:

Russia cut off bulgaria as well - one step towards Russian economic suicide. What happens when Russia swiches itself off?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/russia-to-halt-gas-supply-to-poland-government-told

 

Bulgaria is a supplier of 152mm ammunition and the largest producer outside of Russia I believe.

Also, notably 122mm rounds which is the mainstay of Ukraine's artillery. 73mm RPG rounds for the BMP-1/SPG-9, 122mm Grads, and a whole host of other Soviet-era ammunition.

Lots of planes flying from Sofia to Rzeszow, Poland. It's amazing how anti-Russian the entire east europe is. 

Hmm something to do with being brutally subjugated by Russia for the last ~100+ years and Russia's stated goals of reconquering most of them?  Who knew even the dictators you know aren't as bad as someone else's dictators? 

Believing anyone in Eastern Europe loves Russia is like asking Americans of African descent if Segregation was wonderful and why don't you trust us and why "x"..... and why "y"....or put away the legitimate built up generational hate ... a mere 1 generation after it ended 🙄

[footeab@yahoo.com + 2,131]

23 hours ago, surrept33 said:

Lots of planes flying from Sofia to Rzeszow, Poland. It's amazing how anti-Russian the entire east europe is. 

This is like saying Tibetan, Central Asians, Mongolians, Southern Canton, etc peoples love the Han ruling class and wouldn't do all in their power to stay AWAY from them if given the chance. 

[Ron Wagner + 643]

On 4/26/2022 at 5:51 PM, surrept33 said:

Russia cut off bulgaria as well - one step towards Russian economic suicide. What happens when Russia swiches itself off?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/russia-to-halt-gas-supply-to-poland-government-told

 

Bulgaria is a supplier of 152mm ammunition and the largest producer outside of Russia I believe.

Also, notably 122mm rounds which is the mainstay of Ukraine's artillery. 73mm RPG rounds for the BMP-1/SPG-9, 122mm Grads, and a whole host of other Soviet-era ammunition.

Lots of planes flying from Sofia to Rzeszow, Poland. It's amazing how anti-Russian the entire east europe is. 

Thanks for your expertise!

 

[Tomasz + 1,608]

Well you have structural shortege of oil and NG coming in next few years even without rejecting Russian oil and gas.

You pay now $ 5-6 for gasoline and even more for diesel.

Biden is probably the most unpopular POTUS in recent memory because of current high fuel price.

If you want you can always count on full global  energy and food crisis coming this year because currently there is global shortage both of diesel and fertilizers. Ukraine food industry is locked under blockade.

If western world is going to make economic suicide you can always do that.

Because Putin is extremely lucky it's not 2014  end of oil supercycle but just the begining.

I think Democrats that hates Putin for Russiangate are going to loose Midterms badly.

Maybe with Trump and Republicans this can be solved in some ceasefire for proxy war between Russia and NATO.

But prepare for really  extremely high oil price global recession and maybe even hunger for part of poorer countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tomasz + 1,608]

Sorry dear friends you froze Russian euros made exacly by selling oil and gas.

Do you really want Russia to sell you all commodities  for free when you just  froze previous currency reserves made by selling oil and NG? Really?

Do you really want to talk about some strict contract clausures about euro but not rouble in this environment?

If you want sanctions please don't cry for getting some moderate countersanctions by extremely high oil and NG or all commodities prices coming this year as natural result of such policy. 

You can reject Russian oil and gas. 

The only problem is that LNG global shortage is looming in next few years.