BartBlog

Iran is finally going to open its oil bourse, a market for trading its oil in Euros. The bourse was originally scheduled to open in May of 2006. Here is my analysis from that time…everything I said then still applies.

The Empire is Crumbling – from breadwithcircus.com

Though the opening of the Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB) and the series of events that are sure to follow will perhaps be the most significant events of our times, news of the IOB has been hard to find. On the internet and in the media, talk of Iran’s plans to open a new oil market had existed only in whispers. I learned about the IOB from unnamed sources, from the journal of a Bulgarian Economist, from a speech given by an obscure Texas Congressman, and from websites usually devoted to conspiracy theories. A big shout-out to Information Clearing House for getting this story right from the beginning.

Try as I might, I could not find official sources confirming the existence of plans to launch the IOB…until now. On May 5th, Iranian State Television announced that the IOB had been granted a license to operate. This was confirmed by several news organizations in Persian Gulf nations (Qatar, Bahrain, UAE) and later by the Associated Press in an article titled “Analysts Skeptical About Iran Oil Plan.” This is for real.

The opening of the IOB marks a real paradigm shift. The “American Way” of life is over. The launch of the IOB gives the United States a choice between two disasters. It is time for America to pick its poison; Iran has the USA over a barrel, pun intended. In the coming months, the United States can either start World War Three, or helplessly watch as its economy collapses. In light of all the sabre-rattling about the phantom Iranian nuclear weapons program, the smart money is on the former.

Currently there are only two markets where oil can be purchased, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London. On these markets, oil can only be traded for US Dollars. The result of this policy has been that the nations of the world, friend and foe alike, have had no choice but to buy and hold a reserve of US Dollars. (Petro-Dollars) This “Dollar Hegemony” has kept the American economy afloat since the 1970′s. Now with the IOB, Tehran wants to change the status quo, and by doing so, shift the world’s economic order. The Iranian Oil Bourse will trade oil for Euros instead of US Dollars. Why is that significant? Ask Saddam Hussein, he tried to get Euros for Iraqi oil just before…well…you know what happened.

US debt is spiralling out of control. America owes about nine trillion dollars. (that’s trillion with a T) Nearly half of US debt is owned by foreigners. Nearly two thirds of foreign owned debt is held by the Central Banks of foreign nations. All of this debt makes the US Dollar unstable, and therefore, unreliable. This makes a potential “Petro-Euro” look very attractive. Will it become a reality? Naturally, the nations of Europe would want to buy oil
with their own currency. Also, oil exporters in the Middle-East, (the “Marg Bar Amrika” crowd in particular) would want to use something other than US currency to sell its oil. Then there is Asia. Japan holds $1.2 trillion of US debt, China holds $325 billion. (Who do you think is paying for George Bush’s tax cuts for the super rich?) It makes
sense for these countries to diversify their holdings. What if they wanted their money back?

With a need to import oil, and a need for US Dollars to buy it, the world had a reason to prop up the US economy. If the Iranian Oil Bourse opens, this may no longer be the case. With the ability to import oil using a stable Euro rather than a shaky Dollar, China, Japan, and a host of other nations could dump their Dollar reserves. This would send the Dollar into a tailspin, the result of which would be devastating to the US economy. Think 1929,
only worse. It is certain that America would go to war to prevent this from happening. The thing is, they can’t really afford to do that either. Here again is the likely outcome of a war between the US and Iran.

America will choose war over economic ruin. It should be noted that empires tend to fall when they fight one war too many. Read your history. The IOB is for real, which means that things are about to change. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not simply a raving madman; his anti-American/anti-Semitic posturing comes from a position of strength. The American Empire is crumbling and he knows it. Death does not deter the radical Islamist. The big war is coming. Pray that you won’t be there when the bombs go off. Khoda Hafez. Peace.