[jlisenbe]

Russia's Gazprom indefinitely shuts gas flow to Europe. Russia indefinitely cuts gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

If we had someone other than a dull-witted, non-thinker in the WH, we might seize upon this as a way of greatly expanding our natural gas foreign markets and striking an economic blow at Putin and the Russkies. Alas, we do not have that someone.

[tomder55]

So here is the game ..
Russia shuts down Nord Stream claims they can't do maintainance because sanctions etc is cutting them off from part suppliers .

Russia then pivots and sends natural gas to China .

China in turn jacks up the price and sells it to Europe

Russia also goes with the China to help boost the Yuan as a competitor to the dollar as a reserve currency.

We are already the largest LNG exporter to Europe . We could do a lot more by piping it to the Atlantic ports for shipping.

[jlisenbe]

We could do a lot more by piping it to the Atlantic ports for shipping.

But that would require a leader with foresight and vison, and we presently don't have that.

[tomder55]

Instead Clueless tapped into SPR and sold some of that to China. We are not talking a tank full . We are talking 6 million bb ........SOLD FOR LESS THAN THE MARKET PRICE !!! (8 dollars less ) And what is China doing with it ? They are using our SPR to bolster their SPR.
Due to Clueless ' releases our SPR is down to low levels not seen since 1985. He released over 20% of the reserve. Contrast that to Trump who ordered the reserve to max capacity by purchasing almost 8 million barrels in 2020 .

Clueless believed that dumping the oil on the market brings down the price . But every time he released it the price increased .
The price eventually started to drop as the world economy slowed down.

This of course is completely against the intent of the reserve . It should not be used to manipulate the price. And if the goal was to lower the price then the obvious solution is the unshackle the energy industry .

[jlisenbe]

It's just a general mess. Trump might have been a loud-mouthed bore, but he was at least a relatively efficient loud-mouthed bore.

[tomder55]

some of our most effective Presidents have been jerks. I don't pick em because of personality or character .I go with their core beliefs and ability to lead and to deliver .

Jimmy Carter had the personality of a saint . He was one of the worse Presidents . LBJ held press conferences while he skinny dipped . He effectively ushered in Civil Rights while boasting that his goal was the keep the n+++s voting for the Dems for a generation.Both Robert and Bobby Kennedy were unrepentant womanizers . Ike had an ongoing affair through the war . I could go on and on , Bubba of course could not keep his pants up.

[tomder55]