Global and Mail: "The agreement is still under development, but the problem is already very serious"

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Business magazine Forbes analyzes the market of Russian oil and concludes that Russia still keeps up with world leaders. Despite the pessimism of European analysts on the prospects for the Russian oil industry and the statement by the director of Lukoil about a possible overall decline in output of up to 8%, Moscow's position in this sector is still one of the leading ones.

The fact is that the oil industry is a very capital-intensive industry, it does not tend to spike down as well as up. In Russia, a large number of projects have been developed and continue to be funded even despite quite serious economic problems related to sanctions. The largest oil companies in Russia are confident in their prospects and intend to increase oil production by 160% in the near future.

Even if in the near future oil prices will remain at a low level, Russia has enough reserves as financial and industrial power to maintain oil production to remain steady and even increasing.

In support of the Russian oil industry's prospects, the US news agency UPI reported today about the energy agreement between Russia and Vietnam. The partner countries signed a contract on joint oil and gas production in the northern waters of the Pechora Sea.

The orientation of Moscow towards the Asian economy is very beneficial for the country, however, a concern of Western countries, which continue to seek ways out of a possible energy crisis in the near future. In recent years, the global economy is a shift of poles towards the development of the East, while the West remains in the rear.

According to the British newspaper the Telegraph, another world power, a member of the European Union is increasingly focused on the East, ignoring its European neighbors. We are talking about Greece. After unsuccessful attempts to solve the economic problems with the help of Germany, Prime Minister Tsipras is going to Russia in hope for cooperation between the two Orthodox states. In addition, there are more and more indications each day that Greece is moving closer to China and Iran.

Europe accuses officials in Athens, saying that "the dead-end policy" of Tsipras will lead to a split within the community, but such talks unlikely to affect the decision of the country to determine its own political course. Austerity policies adopted in the EU are not satisfied with a number of countries, which causes them to seek partners among governments in countries such as Russia, China and Iran. European analysts have come to the conclusion that such a reorientation of forces on the world political and economic arena may lead to the fact that the feasibility of the EU, which is already in serious doubt among some member countries of the European community, may face the threat of re-formation.

The Canadian publication Global and Mail writes today about the prospects of an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. Despite all the attempts by Obama to sign an agreement, mutually beneficial to all countries participating in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, he faces very tough opposition within his own country. The agreement is still under development, but the problem is already very serious.

Firstly, the decision to reduce the number of centrifuges producing nuclear energy in Iran led to the resentment of the US Congress, which believes this measure is not tough enough and gives Iran the opportunity to continue its development of nuclear weapons.

Secondly, between Iran and the «Group of Six» there is no trust. The parties cannot rely on each other in the agreements reached, as if Iran agrees to all the terms of the agreement it will be continuously monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is an interference in the internal affairs of Iran. And for the leaders of Iran this is not acceptable.

Thirdly, the United States continues to fear, despite all the assurances of Tehran, that the country is still developing nuclear weapons. And this point is a very fine line between a diplomatic settlement of the problem and the military intervention advocated by most Western countries, including Iran. However, Iran juggles on ongoing negotiations, defending its interests and not giving the US an opportunity to  triumph. Also, do not forget the fact that Iran has a very important influence in the Persian Gulf, and another war in the Middle East could be disastrous for the US economy.