The Paradigm Shift Channel ⏳

2022-05-06 22:03:17 USA- NOPEC legislation is passed by a Senate panel, after being bandied about for some 20 years and rejected time and again. The legislation, if signed into law by Biden would give the U.S. a pathway to sue OPEC for price-fixing and market manipulation. The White House's reaction to the Senate panel’s NOPEC vote so far has been extremely cautious and cognizant of the implications, so there is a fair amount of optimism that it will not go further than the panel. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have rebuffed requests by the US to boost oil production beyond gradual amounts. Opposition to NOPEC by major trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute (API) has intensified in recent weeks and months. They fear it could backfire on America’s oil and gas industry. Open / Comment

2022-05-06 14:08:09 Turkey’s annual inflation came in at nearly 49% on Thursday, hitting a nearly 20-year high and further eroding people’s ability to buy even basic things like food. The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index increased by just over 11%… Open / Comment

2022-05-05 13:59:50 The European Union has paid some $50 billion for oil, gas, and coal imports from Russia since late February. Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria have asked for exemptions from the oil embargo discussed by the EU. Few producers that could increase their oil output quickly and the biggest of them, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates appear unwilling to do it.

The world’s third-largest oil importer, India, is negotiating steep discounts for the Russian oil it is prepared to buy, asking for below $70 per barrel price to compensate for logistics, financing, and sanctions troubles for buying crude.

Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, is shipping the first-ever cargo of Russia’s ESPO crude blend to the United Arab Emirates. Open / Comment

2022-05-05 13:57:49 An investigation is underway to determine what sparked a fire at a food processing plant in northwest Fresno, California, USA. The fire broke out at the Saladino's plant on Sunday night. Open / Comment

2022-05-05 13:56:30 Policies, corruption and water wastage are underlying factors affecting Pakistan’s battle with food shortages.

97% of Afghans are experiencing food shortages. The Taliban-controlled government has been cut off from the international economy, resulting in a currency crisis & widespread poverty.

Tunisia’s recent emergency importation of grain has stayed off the emptying of shelves, but as the country’s treasury is drained, eventually products begin to disappear from stores again.

Despite Ethiopia’s declared humanitarian cease-fire with Tigrayan rebels, aid groups said they are struggling to get food and medicine to those in need. North of the Amhara region, in Tigray where journalists are banned from entering, there are famine-like conditions. Open / Comment

2022-05-05 13:54:15 Australian public health expert, warns not to conflate food production with food security. Distribution/resilience and prices are major factors to differentiate. Obesity is an early sign of poor-quality food consumption. Just five multinational companies control the bulk of the world’s food production and distribution. And we’re increasingly reliant on fewer strains of wheat, barley and rice. Not to mention breeds of beef cattle, pigs and chicken. As a result of this efficiency drive, a single disruption or disease could decimate the world’s production. Open / Comment

2022-05-04 13:36:22 US- The cost of diesel hit a new high. The national average for a gallon of diesel now stands at a record $5.37. Prices in Maine and Connecticut passed the $6 per gallon mark. Prices are driven up by a shortage of refining capacity globally; rising demand for jet fuel, which competes with diesel for refining capacity; and higher fuel demand in diesel-reliant Europe. Western sanctions on Russia has amplified the diesel crisis (Infographic 1). The US continues to release 1 million barrels of crude every day from its strategic petroleum reserves.

The US White House and mainstream media blames the war in Ukraine, branding gasoline price increases as “Putin price hikes”. Gasoline prices have been steadily increasing since early 2021 (Infographic 2). Profit margins from products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel have now reached the highest since the freak oil collapse of April 2020, confirming that shortages in fuels like gasoline and diesel are greater than in crude oil. Open / Comment

2022-05-02 16:08:14 India's wheat output looks likely to fall in 2022 after five consecutive years of record harvests, as a sharp, sudden rise in temperatures in mid-March cut crop yields. The drop could curb Indian exports of the staple. Most of India's wheat is consumed domestically. It’s also raising concerns for the domestic market, with millions depending on farming as their main livelihood and food source. Weaker production will lead to a drop in farmers’ income, squeezing margins just as costs of fertilizer and fuel have soared. The government also buys wheat for its food aid program. Open / Comment

2022-05-02 16:00:43 NZ SeaRise website, launched to track sea levels in New Zealand was hit by a cyberattack on April 30, leading to false reports showing sea levels rising twice as fast as previously thought in some parts of Aotearoa. The first day it went live. Cybersecurity experts said it appeared to be a denial-of-service (DDoS) attack which aimed to overload websites causing them to crash. Open / Comment

2022-05-02 15:39:32 Fire extinguished at Perdue Farms facility in the South Norfolk area of Chesapeake, Virginia USA. A soybean processing tank caught fire just before 9 p.m. Saturday, and it burned for roughly an hour. Once the fire was brought under control, firefighters had to empty the entire processing tank to ensure there was no residual burning. All employees from the area were evacuated. All employees from the area were evacuated. According to a plant manager, the damage from the fire will have minimum impact on their operations. Open / Comment