Thread: Russia's "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China Now "Only One Digit Away"

Russia's "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China Now "Only One Digit Away"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/18/2014 16:59 -0400

We have previously profiled the "holy grail" gas deal between Russia and China on several occasions, and noted last week how it is expected to be signed this week - pending some final price negotiations. It appears that was spot on as Reuters reports, Russian state-run Gazprom said it was still "one digit" away from finalising a 30-year gas supply deal with Beijing which is expected to crown Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China next week. On the heels of Russia's de-dollarization meetings, the coming week appears a crucial one for the history books of the US Dollar as reserve currency (or will China leverage Russia's need to diversify from Europe and stall the deal once again?)



As we have discussed in detail, Russia has been in talks with China to supply it with 38 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year for more than a decade but the deal has been postponed repeatedly over price disagreements. And as Reuters reports, last week, state China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said that it and Gazprom had reached an agreement to sign a contract during Putin's visit but that the two sides had yet to iron out price differences.

Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller confirmed in an interview on state Rossiya 24 television that the talks were in the final stage and only centred around base price.

"There is just one question - it's ... a starting, base price in the price formula which, it's remarkable, has already been fully agreed upon with our Chinese partners," Miller told news show Vesti on Saturday with Sergey Brilev.

"It's a very little more - to put in only one digit, and a 30-year contract to supply 38 bcm of gas from East Siberia to China will be signed," said Miller.

The question is - of course - will the price disagreements once again spoil the party...

With tensions high with the West over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis, Moscow is eager to divert some oil and gas from European markets, part of its wider push to Asia.

...

About 80 percent of Gazprom's revenue comes from gas sales to Europe and analysts say that failure to clinch a deal with China, the world's top energy consumer, would expose its huge reliance on Western consumers and might strengthen Beijing's bargaining positions in the months to come.

Miller emphasized that the contract would be signed on mutually beneficial terms, adding that the sides had also agreed to start talks on a second route for Russian gas supplies to China after the current deal is signed.

As we noted previously, quid pro quo:

"Observers expect both leaders to take a united stand on major international issues, and Putin may seek China's support on Russia's dealings with Ukraine."

And also on the dollar as we reported in "Russia Holds "De-Dollarization Meeting": China, Iran Willing To Drop USD From Bilateral Trade." In which case expect random Chinese space rockets to mysteriously explode during take off too.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...one-digit-away

Over 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam's Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On "High Alert"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/17/2014 22:33 -0400

China began evacuating hundreds of its nationals from Vietnam (via at least 2 planes and 5 ships) as the anti-China protests have become increasingly deadly following Beijing's attempt to deploy an oil drill in Vietnamese dispuited waters (detailed here, here, here, and here)...

• *CHINA SENDING 5 SHIPS TO VIETNAM TO EVACUATE CHINESE: XINHUA
• *HUNDREDS OF VIETNAMESE SECURITY IN CENTRAL HO CHI MINH CITY
• *VIETNAM PRIME MINISTER ISSUES DIRECTIVE TO PREVENT PROTESTS
• *VIETNAM GOVT TAKES ACTION TO PREVENT RIOTS: BINH

Hundreds of police and security forces are in central Ho Chi Minh city and the Chinese consulate is under heavy guard. Tensions across the ASEAN region are growung as Taiwan is on "high alert" but the bloc’s inability to craft a united response to Chinese aggression signals a further decline in its regional clout.




ST Foreign Desk @STForeignDesk
Follow
Anti-China protests in #Vietnam: ST reader Ben Beo was at the scene last night & took this pix http://bit.ly/1mlW7kq
9:27 PM - 13 May 2014


The Vietnamese government has called for an end to the protests...

Vietnam's prime minister appealed for calm last night ahead of expected anti-China demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City today.

A text message from Nguyen Tan Dung was sent to every cellphone in the country urging citizens not to "commit violations of the law" in defence of the "sovereignty of the sacred fatherland".

His office also ordered the police and local leaders to halt further illegal demonstrations. His plea came after China's deployment of an oil rig in the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea unleashed a wave of deadly protests.

But the Chinese are clearly not leaving anything to chance... (Via PTI)

More than 3,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated so far from Vietnam after the recent deadly violence, China's Foreign Ministry said today.

They returned to China with the assistance of Chinese Embassy to Vietnam, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

China says two of its nationals were killed in the violence and more than 100 others injured while the official death toll was put at 21.

Via 2 Planes...


People's Daily,China ✔ @PDChina Follow China S Airlines on Sun will arrange two Airbus A320 fly btw to Vinh City - Guangzhou to transport about 300 Chinese nationals back to China
7:33 PM - 17 May 2014


and 5 ships...

China is to send five ships to Vietnam today to evacuate Chinese nationals after protests against Chinese in the country last week, the official Xinhua News Agency reports in a one-paragraph report, citing the Ministry of Transport

The official death toll is unclear...

• *VIETNAM CONFIRMS 2 CHINESES DIE IN RIOT, ABOUT 140 INJURED

The tension is spreading across the ASEAN region...
*TAIWAN ON HIGH ALERT OVER PROTESTS IN VIETNAM TODAY

And the lackluster response from ASEAN is extremely serious... (via The Diplomat)

As Vietnamese and Chinese ships jostled and fired water cannons at each other – the best ASEAN could do was issue another summit statement urging restraint and expressing “serious concern,” timidly avoiding any mention of China.

Furious protesters have trashed 15 Chinese factories in Vietnam, forcing Chinese investors and tourists to flee across the border and into the safety of Cambodia. Golfers in Danang reported fighter jets overhead, heading out to sea.

Observers said it was the first time Vietnam had allowed the state-run press to freely cover the protests, which the government also allowed to proceed. However, Singapore-based Channel News Asia was taken off the air after flagging a report on the protests.

At least 200 people have been arrested and the Vietnamese government has pledged to crack down on hooliganism.

“It is clear that China’s new assertiveness is triggering anxieties among its neighbors,” said Ernest Bower, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

ASEAN has long been ridiculed as a toothless tiger and its behavior amid the current standoff between China and Vietnam – perhaps the greatest challenge to face the group – only reinforces the claims.

If ASEAN genuinely wants to be taken seriously, now might be an appropriate time for a united public front on China’s territorial ambitions in the seas that divide the bloc’s 10 nations. If it is unable to do that, then individual member states face the daunting task of dealing with Beijing on their own, further relegating ASEAN to the political sidelines and undermining its diplomatic credentials.

The bloc’s inability to craft a united response to Chinese aggression signals a further decline in its regional clout.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...ate-taiwan-als

Strategist Warns of New Russian Threat: “It Would Be the Greatest Blackout in American History”


Saturday, May 17, 2014 22:36
(Before It's News)

Amid tensions between the United States and Russia in recent months many international analysts have warned of consequences that may include everything from thermo-nuclear detonations to asymmetric warfare such as financial cyber attacks, weapons of mass destruction, or targeting of the national utility grid.
The Obama administration has already begun implementing sanctions against Russian politicians and business interests, but rather than leading to a compromise the controversial geo-political maneuvers may be further fueling the fire. According to Marin Katusa, Chief Resource Strategist at Casey Research, Russia’s control of valuable domestic resources puts them in a unique strategic position against the United States and gives them significant leverage should they choose to implement sanctions of their own. The country is rich in oil and gas, an advantage they have used time and again in negotiations with Europe by simply threatening to shut down gas pipelines if their demands weren’t met. But something most people don’t realize is that the Russians also dominate the rare earth metals sector, namely the mining of uranium.
If Russia were to restrict the export of that uranium, explains Katusa, life as we know it in the United States could come to an abrupt halt.

If that happened America’s lights would go out. It would be the greatest blackout in American history…
The irony is John Kerry is going out there with Obama and talking about all these sanctions they’re going to put on the Russians. If the Russians wanted they could pull the rug out from under the American energy matrix and 20%, one out of every five homes in America, would be in blackout.
You have to remember the facts… You can talk about hope and dreams all you want, but the reality is that one in every five homes in America is powered by Russian fuel.

In the following must listen interview with Future Money Trends, Marin Katusa delves into the facts behind America’s dependence not just on foreign oil, but uranium and other resources, and explains the repercussions should Russia choose to literally “pull the plug” on the United States.

(Watch this video at Youtube)

In 2013 America consumed just over 45 million pounds [of uranium] and in the U.S. last year they produced just under 4.4 million pounds. So, depending on which numbers you want to use and what the actual recoveries are, somewhere confidently less than 10% but more likely somewhere around 6% to 7% [of the uranium Americans use is mined in the United States].
The U.S. imports over 90% of what they consume and that is a strategic issue when you think about the fact that 20% of base-load power is based on nuclear energy and they depend on 90% from imports… Americans should be in shock with that. On of that, half comes from the former USSR, what I call the Soviet influence.
Ironically, what people do forget is that the Russians produced more uranium on American soil than all the American companies combined, so that’s alarming.

For years the Obama administration, as well as their predecessors, have surrendered America’s energy independence to foreign interests. Americans are already familiar with the economic effects of oil embargos such as the one that lead to the 1973 crisis that quadrupled oil prices. Most recently, as tensions in the middle east rose in 2008, the price of gas rose nearly 40% in a single year and threatened America’s domestic strategic oil reserves.
Since the end of the cold war we’ve experienced a relatively stable trade relationship with Russia up until a few months ago when Ukraine exploded in revolution. Now Americans face a new energy threat that could, should Russia choose to exercise this option, lead to rolling blackouts across the United States and cause electricity prices to sky rocket almost over night.
It’s a threat that doesn’t seem to be on anyone’s radar, but one that could have an immediate impact on Americans’ way of life if Vladimir Putin decides he’s had enough of the political showmanship.





Source: http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/strategist-warns-of-new-russian-threat-it-would-be-the-greatest-blackout-in-american-history_05182014


http://beforeitsnews.com/survival/20...y-2522932.html

This Is What Happens When You Leave A Tank Parked On A City Street In Ukraine

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/17/2014 21:30 -0400

As Jalopnik reports, a BMP light tank was reportedly left stalled on a city street near Mariupol... A gassed-up, fully-loaded tank. Ready to roll. Ready to obliterate some separatists. This is what happened next...

Forward to around 46 seconds for when he finds the big red "Fire" button...



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...street-ukraine