Sunday, April 27, 2014

Russia, India, and China working on $30 billion oil pipeline

Every time we see these BRIC nations working together on massive energy projects, we can assume these are steps to move away from the UD dollar.

This article in the Bodhita (publication) details the progress being made on the pipeline.


Here is the full article linked above pasted below:

"Russia and India are planning to construct a $30 billion oil pipeline through China’s restive Xinjiang province. If successful, the pipeline will be the most expensive in the world.

The groundwork for the project was laid on October 21, 2013, during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Moscow for the 14th India-Russia Annual Summit. Singh and Putin issued a joint statement that said, “Russia and India have agreed to establish a joint group to study the possibility of direct ground transportation of hydrocarbons.”
That announcement reaffirmed the two countries’ joint commitment to implement the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of India on the Enhancement of Cooperation in Oil and Gas Sector, which was concluded on December 21, 2010.
The project has been on the drawing boards for nearly a decade, as Russia and India first began discussing it in 2005.
Four years later, in 2009, the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China agreed to enhance energy cooperation. Sergei Lavrov, S.M. Krishna and Yang Jiechi met in Bangalore to discuss energy security, the fight against terrorism and climate change. In a joint declaration, the diplomats said, “India, Russia and China are seeking to intensify international energy cooperation on a new basis to help make the energy market more open, transparent and competitive and reflect the common interests of all the parties involved.”
At the end of last year, India’s biggest oil and gas company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) confirmed its interest in the pipeline project, saying, “The pipeline from Russia seems appropriate. The details of the project will be clarified with the Russian partners.”
Political support in Russia for the Xinjiang pipeline project has increased in the wake of worsening relations with the U.S. and EU over Crimea. On February 26, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin observed, “This is one of the major infrastructure projects that can be implemented.” But he also added, “I think it has a right to exist, but we should make calculations to see how profitable it can be.”
The pipeline also has political support in China. China’s Center for Strategic Studies in Energy Director Xia Yishan recently said, “The project is beneficial for both India and China, as it would allow China to become an oil transit in addition to its ‘status’ of recipient of the Russian oil.”
The pipeline project will strengthen India’s intention to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), of which Russia and China are charter members.
Meanwhile, as reported by Bodhita earlier while the US is talking with India & China to isolate Russia, Russia & India are planning to go over to transactions in roubles and rupees over the next fifteen years that could very well remove the dollar.
Russia and India may go over to transactions in roubles and rupees over the next fifteen years, the President of the Indian Business Alliance (IBA) in Moscow, Sammy Manoj Kotwani said Monday after a session of the International Council for Trade and Investment, which reports to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE).
Quite naturally, it would be too unrealistic to give up the US at once but a possibility of this kind does exist,” he said. “If there’s a wish to do effectuate this transition, the dollar can be removed.”
Sammy Kotwani said the decision of Visa and MasterCard executives to work with the agents blacklisted by the US Administration was an error on their part.
“It was their error and they’ve already realized it,” he said.
IBA Moscow represents the interests of 150 Indian companies working in Russia.
Moreover, the Yuan may already have become a de facto reserve currency with at least 40 central banks investing in the yuan and several others preparing to do so, putting the mainland currency on the path to reserve status even before full convertibility.
What remains to be answered however is what are the threats that comes with such shifts in Global Power ? And is India prepared to counter such threats much less perceive it ?

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