Europe’s mid-terms campaign gift to Trump
German government agrees to release some of its emergency diesel reserves to lower world prices – under pressure from Trump and at the expense of Germany’s energy security.
BERLIN/WASHINGTON (our own report) – The German government is releasing a part of Germany’s emergency diesel reserves - unnecessarily. This coordinated move by Europeans to ease market tensions will boost US President Donald Trump’s flagging campaign for the American mid-term elections. Trump is keen to avoid a painful fuel crisis shortly before the elections because significant sections of his voter base are threatening to defect. US farmers, for example, are facing record-high diesel prices and are threatened with economic ruin. The chief cause of an unprecedented hike in diesel prices is the US-Israeli war on Iran. While 19 per cent of all global diesel exports came from the Middle East last year, the Iranian response to being attacked means that a large proportion of this supply source is missing. At the same time, Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian refineries are damaging Russian diesel production. Although German politicians regard these hits with schadenfreude, it is bad news for the global economy. Moscow has now moved to halt exports. As the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, Russia is making the diesel market even tighter. Trump reacted last week by forcing Europe’s G7 economies, including Germany, to release part of their emergency reserves under the threat of the US cutting of all future American diesel supplies to Europe. Europe’s, and especially Germany’s, dependence on the US is also acute when it comes to crude oil and liquefied natural gas imports. The US share of European LNG imports has risen to around 60 per cent. Read more
Europe’s mid-terms campaign gift to Trump
German government agrees to release some of its emergency diesel reserves to lower world prices – under pressure from Trump and at the expense of Germany’s energy security.
BERLIN/WASHINGTON (our own report) – The German government is releasing a part of Germany’s emergency diesel reserves - unnecessarily. This coordinated move by Europeans to ease market tensions will boost US President Donald Trump’s flagging campaign for the American mid-term elections. Trump is keen to avoid a painful fuel crisis shortly before the elections because significant sections of his voter base are threatening to defect. US farmers, for example, are facing record-high diesel prices and are threatened with economic ruin. The chief cause of an unprecedented hike in diesel prices is the US-Israeli war on Iran. While 19 per cent of all global diesel exports came from the Middle East last year, the Iranian response to being attacked means that a large proportion of this supply source is missing. At the same time, Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian refineries are damaging Russian diesel production. Although German politicians regard these hits with schadenfreude, it is bad news for the global economy. Moscow has now moved to halt exports. As the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, Russia is making the diesel market even tighter. Trump reacted last week by forcing Europe’s G7 economies, including Germany, to release part of their emergency reserves under the threat of the US cutting of all future American diesel supplies to Europe. Europe’s, and especially Germany’s, dependence on the US is also acute when it comes to crude oil and liquefied natural gas imports. The US share of European LNG imports has risen to around 60 per cent. Read more