Trump Says US Will Lift Sanctions on Turkey

Iraq Tells Buyers To Collect Crude Which Can Now Cross Hormuz, While US Boosts Ship Reinsurance Guarantees To $40BN Over the long weekend, we reported that with traffic across the Hormuz strait continuing to rise, and reaching the highest since the war began, one particularly favorable development was Iran's permission for Iraqi ships to use the Strait. We also noted that this declaration had the potential to unleash as much as 3 million barrels a day of Iraqi oil cargoes. That said, there was the caveat that it was not immediately clear...

Another OPEC Exit? Iraq Warns It Could Abandon Oil Cartel If Quota Hike Rejected Iraq is sending a warning shot to OPEC: raise Baghdad's oil production quota to better reflect its capacity and fiscal needs, or risk yet another defection from the oil-producing cartel. "The ministry currently has no intention of withdrawing from OPEC, and we remain committed to operating within the organization's framework and mechanisms," Oil Ministry spokesman Salim Al-Rikabi told Bloomberg via a text message. Al-Rikabi warned, "Of course, taking into consideration that the Ministry is moving forward with...

Call it what it is: a heist. The corruption, cronyism, and self-dealing that now define the American government—under Donald Trump in particular—amount to a slow-motion stick-up carried out in broad daylight. But here’s the trick: it’s a heist hidden behind spectacle. The Trump administration is flooding the stage with noise so “we the people” don’t […]