From a political standpoint, Biden is trying to reap the benefits of the industry he tried to kill. Joe Biden is counting on the industry that he derided, slandered, and tried to destroy to help the E.U. unleash the bondage of its energy-dependent slavey on Russia. A slavery that E.U. leaders sold themselves into stupidly. At the same time, Biden’s policies that restrict U.S. production and transportation could have made an even bigger difference to the European continent.
Yet Biden proudly pledged energy supply to Europe that was produced by private and publicly traded companies despite his efforts. He has sucked capital from them, made it harder to drill, put smaller independent producers on the verge of being shut down because of proposed methane rules to reduce “leaks of methane from oil and gas industry operations” that for small producers does not amount to anything but will make them go insolvent.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Biden was meeting with European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels, where crafting a trans-Atlantic plan to slash Europe’s purchases of Russian energy is a central topic. On Friday, the U.S. and the E.U. said they would work to ship an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG for the 27-nation bloc this year, using supplies from the U.S. and elsewhere. The E.U. imported a record 22 billion cubic meters of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) last year. That happened because they decided to close nuclear plants and gas fields and increase their unreliable wind and solar use.
Bloomberg reported that the U.S. has already provided more LNG to Europe, with shipments doubling to record 4.4 billion cubic meters in January and a similar level in February. Supplying another 15 billion cubic meters could be feasible as long as Europe continues to pay a premium for cargoes compared to Asian buyers. A significant boost to global LNG supplies will only come from 2025 when new projects are scheduled to come online.
Yet these projects would not be coming online if it were not for the determination of the U.S. oil and gas industry. Biden stated that these steps would increase energy and national security. Yet while he is starting to understand the importance of energy to national security, he still is not showing any signs of using his Presidential power to make it easier for the U.S. energy industry to do its job. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen famously told investors they should not invest in fossil fuels but now is saying that the high price of oil is risking global growth. Yet now, the White House is calling for more oil production. Biden said that this sudden epiphany was not a sign that he was giving up on his green agenda but was getting ready to double down on it. God help us all.
The Russia/Ukraine war, which is primarily funded by bad European and U.S. energy policy, drags on. Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons and energy policy, and America’s lack of leadership has the world still flirting with a Third World War. Russia is already making threats that they will respond to NATO shoring up its defenses on the Feast of the Annunciation.
Today Pope Francis will look to reconsecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in keeping from the requests made by Our Lady of Fatima. For those that do not know, our Lady of Fatima was a Marian apparition that happened during World War I that predicted World War II and also warned that if the world did not repent, Russia would spread its errors throughout the world. A great book on this is the Pope and a President by Paul Kengor, which goes over the parallels of these prophecies and the fall of the Soviet Union.
Germany is also looking to get out of Russian oil, but India and China are sopping up those discounted Russian barrels. According to Der Spiegel, Germany looks to cut purchases of Russian oil by 50% in the summertime. The magazine quotes an internal memo from the German Ministry of Finance.
Still, despite signs that the U.S. is being called on to restore global energy and geopolitical stability, oil prices are falling. One reason is margins. Reuters is reporting that ICE has increased the margins for May brent crude futures by 19% effective Mar. 25, the third margin update this year. ICE increased margins for front-month brent crude futures to $11,902 per 1,000 barrels, from $10,030 previously, and follows updates effective Jan. 6 and Mar. 14. According to ICE, this is the third margin update to brent futures by ICE (NYSE:ICE) in 2022. The move relates to initial margins, which are collateral paid by investors in futures markets to a clearinghouse to cover the risk of default by that investor.