Category Archives: Energy

ISRAEL’S DECADES OLD PLAN TO EXPLOIT GAZA GAS FIELDS

To what extent is the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip intertwined with the region’s oil and gas resources? Since the year 2000, upon the discovery of gas fields in Gaza, the Israeli government has obstructed the Palestinian people and their representatives from harnessing the advantages of their natural resources. Let’s look at the facts.

Continue reading ISRAEL’S DECADES OLD PLAN TO EXPLOIT GAZA GAS FIELDS

Biden Family Worked to Sell American Gas to China | Whistleblower

The Biden family was selling U.S natural gas to China long before Joe Biden became president, who was aware of how his son Hunter Biden was making the sale possible, according to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, citing documents and information provided by a whistleblower.

Hunter Biden had a Chinese Communist Party member as his assistant while dealing with the Chinese side for the shipping of American natural gas to China in 2017, and the Biden family was promising business associates that they would reap rewards once Biden became president, said Comer in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen dated Sept. 20.

“The President has not only misled the American public about his past foreign business transactions, but he also failed to disclose that he played a critical role in arranging a business deal to sell American natural resources to the Chinese while planning to run for President,” Comer wrote.

Joe Biden, Comer said, was a business partner in the arrangement and had office space to work on the deal, and a firm he managed received millions from his Chinese partners ahead of the anticipated venture.

While part of what Comer stated had previously been reported in the news, the letter, citing whistleblower testimonies, as well as emails, a corporate PowerPoint presentation, screenshot of encrypted messages, and bank documents that committee Republicans obtained, provides a more complete picture suggesting Biden’s knowledge and involvement in the plan from at least 2017.

From 2017 to 2021, the Bidens promised business associates that Joe Biden would run for president in 2020 and those who worked with them from 2017 onward would “reap the rewards in a future Biden administration,” according to Comer’s recount of a whistleblower testimony to Oversight Committee Republicans.

“As America now struggles in an energy crisis, it is critical to understand why the Biden family was selling American energy reserves to the Chinese, if that is affecting President Biden’s decision making today, and why President Biden has never disclosed his relationship with the Chinese to the American public,” Comer wrote to Yellen.

“If President Biden has worked to enrich not only himself but his family by promising, in exchange for millions of dollars, access or policy influence in a future Biden Administration, Congress and the American people are entitled to that information.”

‘Good for Both the United States and China’

Emails attached in the letter show that Hunter Biden was actively facilitating the natural gas deal with top executives from the now-defunct CEFC China Energy, at the time one of the largest energy firms in China.

In a November 2017 email to CEFC executive Dong Gongwen, Hunter told his partner he had sent information regarding liquified natural gas opportunities in Louisiana.

“We began to investigate the opportunities in United States well before the public announcement by the Chinese government of its interest in Natural Gas imports from around the world,” Hunter wrote. He offered the prospect of contracts for large quantities of liquified natural gas “at very competitive rates” in the short term, as well as the possibility of acquisition or partnership in a promising natural gas project in Louisiana that would advance CEFC’s long term goals.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 18: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, attends the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 18, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Easter Egg Roll tradition returns this year after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“The proposal I have shared with you has the added benefit of being good for both the United States and China simultaneously,” he added.

According to the letter, Hunter’s Chinese assistant, Bao Jiaqi, who previously worked as the research assistant at China’s macroeconomic management agency National Development and Reform Commission, sent him a detailed presentation containing political and topography maps, along with Chinese annotations, carving up America based on natural gas reserves. The 30-page presentation made particular emphasis on Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.

The emails that accompanied the slides revealed a plan to advance a natural gas sale to China through Hudson West III LLC, a company set up by Hunter and CEFC officials, according to the letter.

Joe Biden’s Alleged Role

By one whistleblower’s account, Joe Biden was an “obfuscated partner” in the transactions with the Chinese, and his son would hold 10 percent of the joint venture to hide his involvement, according to Comer’s letter. The same information was previously confirmed by former business associate Tony Bobulinski to The Epoch Times.

“Don’t mention Joe being involved, it’s only when [you] are face to face, I know [you] know that but they are paranoid,” an associate for Hunter told another partner on May 20, 2017, in a WhatsApp conversation, a screenshot of which was attached in the letter.

“Ok they should be paranoid about things,” the other replied.

In what Comer speculated to be a “mistake” on Hunter’s part, Hunter wrote in a September 2017 email requesting to “have keys made available for new office mates,” who he identified to be the senior Biden, Jill Biden, and the President’s brother, Jim. Hunter gave his father and uncle’s personal cell phone number in case the recipient needed to call for confirmation.

US President Joe Biden (L) waves alongside his son Hunter Biden after attending mass at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Johns Island, South Carolina on August 13, 2022. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Cecilia Browning, the general manager of the office building, responded the same day to Hunter’s request. “We are very excited and honored to welcome your new colleagues!” she wrote, according to a copy of the email from Hunter’s alleged laptop.

The White House has maintained that Hunter and the president “were not office mates.” The senior Biden has said that he’s never discussed Hunter’s business with his son. The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House and Hunter’s lawyer for additional comment regarding Comer’s letter.

During a recent interview on “60 Minutes,” the president was asked if Hunter’s dealings have caused conflicts for him or the United States. The senior Biden answered in the negative.

“There’s not a single thing that I’ve observed at all that would affect me or the United States relative to my son Hunter,” he said.

Democrats, on the same day Comer sent out the letter, voted down a resolution the Republican lawmaker proposed to have the president hand over documents relating to the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.

Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. politics, U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at ev****@ep********.com

Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers US, China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master’s degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.

Europe’s Reaction to the Energy Crisis is Turning Into A ‘Ponzi Scheme’

The leadership of the European Union has been hard at work these days, trying to find a lasting solution to an energy crisis that is worsening by the day. Yet the way they are approaching the solution is unlikely to produce any lasting results. And so far, it has been compared to a Ponzi scheme. 

Continue reading Europe’s Reaction to the Energy Crisis is Turning Into A ‘Ponzi Scheme’

4 Signposts of American Collapse Which Also Occurred in the USSR

In thinking through the (for now) gradually unfolding collapse of the American empire, the collapse of the USSR, which occurred close through three decades ago, continues to perform as a goldmine of useful examples and analogies.

Continue reading 4 Signposts of American Collapse Which Also Occurred in the USSR

Russia Cuts Off Gas Supply to France for Failure to Pay; China Reselling Russian Gas to EU at Premium

Yes, you read it right, Gazprom has announced it will halt gas supplies to Engie following the French company’s failure to pay for gas deliveries in July.

Continue reading Russia Cuts Off Gas Supply to France for Failure to Pay; China Reselling Russian Gas to EU at Premium

Saudi Arabia Boosts Russian Oil Imports, Frees Up its Supply for the West

US President Biden’s visit to Saudi recently was never about Khashoggi, but about how much oil Saudi Arabia can supply US oil companies for profit. It turns out, the House of Salman only needs to import more Russian oil to augment its own production that was hampered from multiple Yemen attacks on its refineries earlier on.

Continue reading Saudi Arabia Boosts Russian Oil Imports, Frees Up its Supply for the West

US Emergency Oil Reserves Sent Abroad, Including to China

With a growing number of people realizing that the Biden administration has drained more oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve, which is meant to be used during real emergencies not fake, made up ones such as Democrats facing a catastrophic failure at the midterm elections…

Continue reading US Emergency Oil Reserves Sent Abroad, Including to China

NATO, Energy Geopolitics and Conflict in Caucasus

Rarely are geopolitical events innocently coincidental, as an old saying goes. Let’s look at a few recent upheavals. First we have the renewed pressure on Germany and Europe to abandon the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia, which the strange Navalny affair and his alleged poison-assassination conveniently gives cover to what would otherwise be an unprecedented backsliding on strategic energy trade.

Continue reading NATO, Energy Geopolitics and Conflict in Caucasus

The Davos’ “Great Reset” Fraud & the Great War that We Must Fight

Like everyone, I would love to live in a pollution-free world. I would love to see human civilization strike a balance with nature and at the risk of sounding like a naïve idealist, I sincerely do believe that this is ultimately our destiny as a species.

Continue reading The Davos’ “Great Reset” Fraud & the Great War that We Must Fight

Oil Wars Between Russia & Saudi Arabia May Destroy U.S. Shale Oil Industry Instead

Oil prices crash 27% and counting, as the new oil wars begin, when Russia decided not to give in to Saudi Arabia and OPEC’s request to cut down production by 1.5 million of barrels per day.

Continue reading Oil Wars Between Russia & Saudi Arabia May Destroy U.S. Shale Oil Industry Instead

Russia is Set to Welcome Africa to Nuclear Age

Russia has been collaborating with many African countries on the “peaceful atom” for quite some time. But Western terror efforts have effectively retarded the African march towards 21st Century development and progress. With a powerful ally, Africans are now assured of their rightful place in the sun.

Continue reading Russia is Set to Welcome Africa to Nuclear Age

Soleimani Fallout Continues to Produce Diplomatic Dividends for Russia

Ahead of this year’s Munich Security Conference, due to begin on February 14th, its chairman Wolfgang Ischinger praised what he called President Putin’s “method” concerning security-issues in the Middle East.

Continue reading Soleimani Fallout Continues to Produce Diplomatic Dividends for Russia

The Real Reason the U.S. is Interested in Iran

The American obsession with Iran is about oil and natural gas. If these two resources had been absent, it is hard to imagine such an intense American focus on the country from the time of a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-backed coup of Iran’s elected government in 1953 to today. The Foreign Policy magazine piece linked above is based on declassified CIA documents and summarizes the coup this way: “Known as Operation Ajax, the CIA plot was ultimately about oil.”

By Kurt Kobb | Resourceinsights.com

This should come as no surprise. Iran was an oil power back in 1953 and it remains one today. Iran is presumed to have the third largest oil reserves in the world and the second largest natural gas reserves. Even if the numbers cited are somewhat inflated, Iran’s reserves are not small, and the country is likely to play a large role in world energy markets for many years to come.

The recent escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran because of the U.S. assassination of a prominent, popular and by all accounts highly effective Iranian general will allow the advocates of war to trot out all manner of excuses for such a war: terrorism, regime change, the credibility of the United States, Iran’s nonexistent nuclear weapons, and the United States’ geostrategic posture vis-à-vis big power rivals such as Russia and China. (Does anyone really know what the last one means?)

What won’t be discussed are the deep historical antagonisms which have developed starting with the 1953 CIA-backed coup. For example, few people remember that the United States supplied economic aid, dual-use (both civilian and military use) technology, training and arms through other countries to Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War. Saddam invaded Iran thinking he could take advantage of the chaos in that country right after the 1979 revolution. In this war Iraq attacked major Iranian cities including Tehran with ballistic missiles and used poison gas on the battlefield. Iran is said to have suffered over 1 million deaths during the eight years of conflict which also created a large class of disabled people.

It turns out that the Iranian focus on America and its worldwide military, intelligence (covert and otherwise) and diplomatic operations is but a mirror image of the American focus on Iran and its worldwide network of intelligence and allied surrogates that Iran uses to strike at the United States and its allies.

Behind it all are the vast stores of hydrocarbons that make Iran’s power possible and its importance substantial in the world. What is strange about this American obsession is that successive American administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have told us that soaring domestic production of oil and natural gas from shale deposits in the United States would free us from foreign sources and lighten our military and security burden abroad. “Energy dominance” became the watchword in the U.S. oil and gas industry.

U.S. net imports of crude oil have dropped from 10 million barrels per day (mbpd) 15 years ago to around 3 mbpd today. And, because of its vast refining capacity, the United States exports about 3 mbpd of refined petroleum products. While the United States remains connected to world markets, the country is far less dependent on foreign sources of oil than in the past.

For natural gas U.S. marketed production now exceeds U.S. consumption. The United States has become an exporter of natural gas.

So, why is the U.S. government and national security establishment still obsessing over Iran? Here are three possible energy-related explanations:

1. There isn’t as much U.S. shale oil and natural gas as we are being told.

This is a real possibility. This independent report—actually an update of previous reports—concludes that forecasts of abundance by the U.S. Energy Information Administration are “extremely optimistic” and “highly unlikely to be realized.” The report is based on actual well histories and not industry hype about future resources.

Others who have started to look closely at the data agree that the industry has overblown the potential from shale. And, investors have finally wised up to the fact that the shale industry as a whole has done nothing but destroy their capital over the last decade, losing 80 percent of its market value as of the middle of 2019.

Free cash flow has been consistently negative for almost all the major players which has forced them time and time again to raise money through the bond and equity markets. Unfortunately for investors, these infusions didn’t stabilized shale players. Investors were just throwing good money after bad. Now those investors are finally pulling back.

In short, the shale boom is not sustainable financially or technologically. The “miracle” technology that is bringing oil and natural gas not previously available out of the ground has never been able to make the industry as a whole profitable. Eventually, that will be reflected in production numbers as investors only finance those few players and few prospects that can actually make money.

2. Iran is a competitor of the U.S. oil industry.

Despite Iran’s vast oil and natural gas reserves, its exports have fallen dramatically due to sanctions placed on it by the United States and forced on other countries whose companies do business in America.

The cuts in Iranian oil exports have kept low prices in the oil markets from getting even lower and affecting U.S.-based oil operations negatively. By keeping sanctions in place and continually working toward zero exports from Iran, the U.S. administration is also helping to keep oil prices higher than they otherwise would be and this helps the domestic U.S. oil industry whether the administration intends this result or not.

3. Iranian energy exports are a way for Iran to extend its influence.

Pakistan backed out of a pipeline project last year because of sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran. The pipeline would have brought Iranian natural gas into the country. The pipeline was originally planned to bring natural gas to India as well before that country pulled out of the project. The U.S. government clearly wants to prevent Iran from using its energy exports to give it leverage with other countries.

No one can say for certain whether current tensions between the United States and Iran will spiral into war. But remember: When they tell you it’s not about oil (and natural gas), you can be certain that these resources are at the center of American motives. Absent these resources it would be difficult to understand the United States’ decades-long obsession with Iran.

Kurt Cobb is a freelance writer and communications consultant who writes frequently about energy and environment. His work has also appeared in The Christian Science…

The Israel Lobby’s Hidden Hand in the Theft of Iraqi and Syrian Oil

The outsized role of U.S. Israel lobby operatives in abetting the theft of Syrian and Iraqi oil reveals how this powerful lobby also facilitates more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor Israel.

Continue reading The Israel Lobby’s Hidden Hand in the Theft of Iraqi and Syrian Oil

Putin and the ‘Biden Memorial Pipeline’ to China

In early 2014 Washington staged a blatant coup d’etat in Ukraine breaking the historic relationship with Russia and setting the stage for the subsequent NATO demonization of Russia. The one in charge for the Obama Administration of the Ukraine coup was then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Continue reading Putin and the ‘Biden Memorial Pipeline’ to China

The new Grand Strategy of the United States

Many people think that the United States is very active, but does not succeed in much. For example, it is said that its wars in the Greater Middle East are a succession of failures. But for Thierry Meyssan, the USA has a coherent military, commercial and diplomatic strategy. According to its own objectives, it advances patiently, and is crowned with success. Continue reading The new Grand Strategy of the United States

Venezuela’s Oil Enough for World’s 30 Year Energy Needs

The long bankrupt fiat financial system is pushing the Deep State to target Venezuela for the latter’s natural resources that dwarfs that of its satellite province Saudi Arabia. However, the age old pretext of “defending democracy” will not fly anymore as the rest of the world no longer tolerate any of these baseless external interference into peaceful countries, which eventually makes failed states out of them. Continue reading Venezuela’s Oil Enough for World’s 30 Year Energy Needs

Pocket-Size Nuclear Free Energy is Almost Here!

After the groundbreaking announcement of an industrial method to transmute elements into gold and silver, or any materials for that matter, in 2016 [here], Russian scientists have been pushing the boundaries of nuclear miniaturization in the last few years by designing, and recently by successfully producing a pocket-sized nuclear battery that can power portable devices for decades without recharging, with as much as 10 times the energy capacity of its predecessor! Continue reading Pocket-Size Nuclear Free Energy is Almost Here!

Trump’s NIAC Advising Americans to Prepare for Deep State Disruptions

In conjunction with the efforts to directly address the abuses of the Deep Swamp filths, the Trump administration has advised the general public to be prepared against an “increasing threats — whether severe natural disasters, cyber-physical attacks, electromagnetic events, or some combination”, which “present new challenges for protecting the national power grid and recovering quickly from a catastrophic power outage.” Continue reading Trump’s NIAC Advising Americans to Prepare for Deep State Disruptions

‘We gave you uranium, you repaid us by bombing Belgrade’ | Putin

When we talk about the Hillary Clinton and Russian company Uranium One transaction, we mostly meant to expose the hypocrisy behind the Deep State Democrat faction’s RussiaGate “election meddling.” It turns out, there’s something more. Continue reading ‘We gave you uranium, you repaid us by bombing Belgrade’ | Putin

What's Behind China's Breakthrough in Atomic Energy Production

China sees the atomic energy boom with the number of nuclear power stations in the mainland soaring. However, the Celestial Empire harbors a more ambitious goal seeking to boost the construction of China-made atomic stations abroad, commentators told Sputnik, shedding light on Beijing’s competitive advantages. Continue reading What's Behind China's Breakthrough in Atomic Energy Production

Saudi Arabia Divesting from Petrodollar to Nuclear Energy Based Economy

Nuclear power is making a debut in Saudi Arabia as it is entertaining bids for building 16 nuclear reactors over the next decade, at a projected cost of $60 billion. As everyone knows already, the fiat dollar derives its perceived value from the fact that OPEC cartel members, including Saudi Arabia, committed themselves to accepting only the dollar and nothing else. Continue reading Saudi Arabia Divesting from Petrodollar to Nuclear Energy Based Economy

1st Loans Approved by BRICS Bank are on Renewable Energy

To underscore the BRICS’s fundamental goals of establishing three development banks to support its “One Belt, One Road” intercontinental economic initiatives, one of its banks, i.e.
the New Development Bank, approves loans for the first time, and these are for renewable energy projects in South Africa, Brazil, India and China.
Continue reading 1st Loans Approved by BRICS Bank are on Renewable Energy

China’s $50 Trillion Global Clean Energy Project Muted by Panama Papers

We have been following how the BRICS would implement their ambitious free energy transition from fossil fuels, and over the last weekend, March 31 to be exact,
China announced that it is planning to interconnect all existing and soon to be constructed solar farms for continuous power supply throughout the globe.
Continue reading China’s $50 Trillion Global Clean Energy Project Muted by Panama Papers