Month: April 2022

STARING DOWN THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC BARREL

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August 13th, 2021 – a day before the nation’s 74th Independence Day – a jubilant Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Reza Baqir, hurriedly called a meeting with Islamabad’s economic correspondents corps just an hour before boarding a plane to Karachi. The Governor shared the ‘great news’ that Pakistan’s gross official foreign exchange reserves would for the first time hit the record high figure of $20 billion – beating a 2016 high – and the current account deficit was now sustainable. By April 2022, Dr Baqir – who is going to…

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Fuel for Power Plants

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petrol

Surely, it’s a little late for the ministry of energy to address the issue of fuel shortage in some power plants in time to ensure uninterrupted power supply during Ramazan. Already, there are reports of unscheduled load shedding throughout the country, which means it didn’t take long for the government’s claims to the contrary to ring very hollow. And directing concerned departments to ensure necessary funds in a hurry might make good headlines, but things are rarely so easily handled on the ground. To add to the financial troubles, it’s…

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US Congress votes to suspend Russia trade status, enact Oil Ban

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The United States Congress voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of Russian oil, ratcheting up the US response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine amid reports of atrocities by Russian forces. The measures now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. Action by the House of Representatives came quickly after the Senate approved the two bills with unanimous 100-0 votes on Thursday. Lawmakers strongly supported the substance of the two bills. The House passed the trade measure by a…

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Is Today’s Energy Shortage Worse Than The 1970s Oil Crisis?

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In 1973, after the Yom Kippur war between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries, Middle Eastern oil producers declared an embargo on oil exports to the United States as punishment for its support of Israel. What followed was an energy crisis of epic proportions.  According to Daniel Yergin, the current energy crisis could be worse. In the 1970s oil crisis, the price of oil soared fourfold over three months following the embargo. At the time, the United States had thought that the lost market share would hurt the producer states financially.…

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Japan to Tap 15 Mil Barrels Oil From Petroleum Reserves in IEA Joint Release

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Japan plans to release 15 million barrels of oil from its petroleum reserves, including from the national oil reserves, as part of the International Energy Agency’s joint release, sources at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told S&P Global Commodity Insights April 7. Register Now It was still not clear about the timing and duration of the additional oil release as it is still coordinating with the IEA, the sources said.METI’s confirmation comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier in the day that the country will release…

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