EFÉctive

Monday, 5 March 2018

Efe's Thoughts in March



THE PETRODOLLAR SHOULD CRASH






They caused it.”

This is something my father will say in his diluted Nigerian accent any time we're watching the news together and something tragic has happened that is linked to terrorism.


The 'they' that my father is referring to will be America and its Western allies (though Israel may also be included in the mix too for obvious reasons.)


The US government and its Western buddies are expert deceivers, manipulators and attackers of foreign affairs whilst using corporate media outlets to propagandize its aims and demonize nations who dare put up resistance to their bullish ways.


In a recent RT article, it was reported that the Russian parliamentary commission had listed up to 102 ways that the US government had dabbled into domestic affairs of other nations since World War 2. 102 ways people – and still counting.


America currently has 800 military bases in over 130 countries around the world. I beg the question why? 


Of course it has to do with oil and gas. Always will be.


They come bearing the title of 'World's Police' but under their disguise they are complete violators and hijackers of world peace, freedom and diplomacy. The best example I have of a wolf in sheep's clothing.


Nations are safe until they decide to guard their natural resources from the greedy, whorish eyes of the US government.


During my A-level Politics class, I was always so deeply irritated when my teacher would reiterate that America is the most powerful nation on Earth. And I would ask, “Says who?” and she would give me some biased bull-filled answer that I didn't bother paying attention to.


The first concept I had of the damaging affects that the petrodollar has had on the global economy was when I was about thirteen years old. My father, whilst driving me to school, would give me lectures about the atrocities that the West have caused in Africa.

Without a shadow of doubt Nigeria is guilty of mismanagement of its natural resources. One being the shortsightedness of the government to diversify their income instead of relying mostly on its oil reserves. And two, not utilising the four oil refineries as opposed to outsourcing that job to countries overseas namely the US. Despite this, Nigeria, has fallen victim to the West's blood sucking ways due to its colonial past.

What has always boiled my system in all the history lessons that my father gave me is to learn that America is the one that puts the price tag on the oil that Nigerians produce and export, only for it to be sold back to Nigeria in their dirty dollars.

Is that not an insult?

Going a little further back in history, we have the petrodollar system which was created under President Nixon's adminstration in a strategy to recover from the Great Depression and fund its military operations in the Vietnam War. The US at that time held two-thirds of the world's gold reserve, but in 1971 decided to forego the Bretton Wood's gold standard agreement, and instead implement the fiat currency. This basically gave the Federal Reserve license to print as much money as they wanted with no fixed value. Prior to that the dollar was set at $35 per ounce of gold.

America allied with Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War by providing them with military aid. As a consequence the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members placed an oil embargo on them that eventually led to the Oil Crisis. This would not end until the following year after a handful negotiation trips to Saudi Arabia headed by Secretary of State William Simon and his deputy Gerry Parsky.

Under the leadership of King Faisal Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the oil-rich Arab nation was eager to attract many exporters of their crude to fund the development and modernisation of their land. And America knowing the massive reserves that the Saudis were standing on knew that this could be a huge game-changer for them. Finally in 1974 a deal was struck: oil bought from Saudi Arabia will be paid for in dollars in exchange for weapons and military protection.

Shortly after, OPEC members followed suit by trading their oil in dollars and the 'petrodollar' was born.

Profit from oil sales is invested back into the US treasury - so basically majority of the world has been buying America's debt hence the reason why they can call themselves 'the Richest/Most Powerful Country on Earth'.

As it stands, Saudi Arabia currently owns an estimated $117bn worth of US debt. And it is also estimated that 30-60% of dollars is in circulation outside 'The Land of the Free'.

If my anger could be liquified, it'd be a nuclear weapon against the US government, the CIA, the Federal Reserve, plus the MI5, MI6 and the French Intelligence.

The US government and its allies love to suck dick until there are no sperms in the ball sac of nations that they are going after and consequently are rendered impotent.

Look at what they did to Saddam Hussein, look at what they did to Gaddafi. They have turned Iraq and Libya to No Man's Land. The method to their manipulation is always to cause instability in order to undermine the nation's sovereignty and take control of the oil fields.

They did this too in Afghanistan (only in this case it's the poppy fields) by overthrowing the Taliban – is it really a coincidence that America is suffering from an opiate epidemic? You want to talk about drug dealers, mate, you should be looking at your Heads of State. They're the real pharmacists. But I digress.

Back to the petrodollar.


Our dependence on crude is undeniable with ninety million barrels of oil used daily globally. But as with all things, nothing lasts forever. America's 43-year dominance and monopolization of this highly lucrative market will be no different when it comes to an end.

Presently we have Russia, who for the last few years have really been showing some teeth in their strategy to move away from the dollar. Back in 2014, Putin said he wanted to leave the 'dollar dictatorship' of the market and in September 2017 he made good on his word by vetoeing the payment of goods in dollars on Russian ports in order stregthen the rubles. On which I say, good on 'em.

The Chinese are one smart bunch too. According to the GFMS Gold Survey China was the largest buyer of gold with over $84bn purchased in 2017 as part of a long-term effort to mitigate against the risks of having $1 trillion worth of US reserves knowing full well that should there be an inflation of the dollar they will be severely impacted. But Sami Hamdi, editor-in-chief of The International Interest believes that China, “lacks the economic reputation of the US as a sturdy and stable economy which impacts trust in the currency.”

Yet at the beginning of 2018, the Bank of France admitted to holding some if its foreign reserves in the Chinese yuan. This was only after Germany's Central Bank also said they were looking into diversifying their reserves, so that only goes to show that the Chinese renmibi should not be underestimated.

And then we have Iran and Venezuela. These two countries are currently under heavy sanctions from the US.

As of last month, Venezuela, the country with the largest proven oil reserve in the world at 300 billion barrels on standby, has created a cryptocurrency called the Petro that is backed up by its oil reserves. This move will most certainly make Washington unhappy but I don't think that Maduro really gives a shit despite there being many concerns on the credibility of the currency and the likelihood of investors being attracted to the return on investment of the economically volatile country.

And we come to Iran – the last country that the US want to mess with according to General Wesley Clark. In a 2007 interview he disclosed that there were seven countries that the US government was planning to go into war with which included Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Sudan.

As of the end of February, it has been reported that Iran will start selling their crude in the euro. This simple move will be enough for Washington to sound the call of duty to its soldiers under the pretext that the Iranians are sponsorers of terrorists. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

In 1999, US Vice President Dick said in a 1999 speech at the Institute of Petroleum:
The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world’s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies; even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow.”

So how is it that the big decisions made on behalf of the world's economy does not include the countries in which their main source of wealth originates from?

One thing which I find outrageous about this whole thing is that there are no African or Middle East countries within G7. Saudi Arabia just about made it into G20. Regardless of it being about it being about only the wealthiest countries, as Africa's biggest economy and most populous country and one of the largest exporters of oil producing 2 millions barrels a day, Nigeria should be a Group member.

Please be reminded that without Africa, the world is nothing.

The Romantic in me wishes that there would be a time when payment would be made in Naira in order to buy Nigerian produce, along with all the other OPEC members trading in their own currency but my father tells me he does not think that's ever going to happen, which is sad, as I think it's only fair.

But alas, we don't live in a 'fair' world.

And because the likelihood of that is slim, I am eagerly anticipating the fall of the petrodollar. Yes that may be the genesis of World War Three, but with a global economic crash worse than '08 well on its way, something will have to give.

And when oil is no longer fun to play with, soon they will be coming for our water, all in the name of “privatisation”. I'm looking at you Nestle and Coca-Cola – Brazil watch out. But anyways, that's a story for another day.

Caterina's Honorable Mentions: 

Insightful articles and essays that I read related to this month's topic

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