73 pointsby tartoran2 hours ago8 comments
  • OgsyedIE2 hours ago
    It's important to clarify that these are the trading prices at the main oil futures exchange in London. The spot prices in the landing hubs like Gujarat, Odisha and Singapore are significantly higher.

    If you or your firm handles trucking or mining or tractors or something like buses, stock up on additives where the vast majority of production (like brake fluid, AdBlue (DEF) and gear oil) is Asian now before they get even more expensive. To give a sense of perspective, I've seen prices for transmission fluid and antifreeze almost double month-on-month in England where I am.

  • fpolingan hour ago
    With this prices it is cheaper to make fuel from coal, the break even price was about 80-90 USD/barrel. And if this continues for months this will pushes wind and solar and electrical cars making natural gas and oil much less relevant. Maybe that was the plan.
    • Fomitean hour ago
      Nowhere in deciding to attack Iran was "maybe this will help wind, solar and electric cars."
    • pickleglitch28 minutes ago
      > And if this continues for months this will pushes wind and solar and electrical cars making natural gas and oil much less relevant. Maybe that was the plan.

      This is one of the most batshit insane things I've ever read. What on Earth would make you think this?

      • seanmcdirmid26 minutes ago
        "Trump started the war in Iran to make green energy and EVs more desirable" is an actual conspiracy theory that is going around, although, ya, definitely an unintended consequence.
    • overfeedan hour ago
      > Maybe that was the plan.

      Whose?

    • H8crilAan hour ago
      The Mossad and various abrahamic apocalyptic cults will finally push us into green tech. Maybe I judged them too harshly.
  • ChrisArchitectan hour ago
    Earlier:

    Iran's South Pars Gas Field Is Attacked by Israel, Sending Energy Prices Soaring

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47428611

  • jmclnx2 hours ago
    Again the US admin proves how dumb they are, even Pres. Bush II knew it would be real stupid to attack Iran.

    But one thing, higher oil prices may get the US to really get working to avoid Climate Change. Yes, some progress has been made, but real CO2 emissions is increasing. The only time it decreased a bit was during the Covid Shutdown.

    But one plus may occur, higher price of oil.

    Yes, higher prices will cause suffering with the poor and middle classes, but that suffering pales in comparison to what +1.5C will cause. We are already on track for more then 2C. Suffering from that will be far worse than $150 USD price per barrel. Better to take a small hit now and hope it can keep us below 1.5C then trying to live with 2C.

    Yes, I posted this knowing it will be down-voted, but cheap oil only makes +3C guaranteed to happen. Who cares about the young anyway /s

    • reillysean hour ago
      I think you are failing to understand how (some) people think in the US. Expensive oil for some means that we should drill more oil wells. There is money sitting under the ground and we stick a pipe down and get it - AMAZING.

      That is how people think about high oil prices.

      If oil was to go to zero people would stop pumping it and burning it (for that to happen the alternatives have to be cheaper/better). That is what will fix climate change in the US.

      • SauntSolairean hour ago
        The demand for oil will likely never truly go to zero; too many products (outside of energy generation) rely on their byproducts.

        As for the bigger picture — yes, higher prices for oil might spur extraction in regions outside of the middle east, but that's a local only viewpoint. Globally, higher oil prices reduce consumption and make green alternatives more attractive on net.

        • esseph16 minutes ago
          > Globally, higher oil prices reduce consumption

          When oil is high, GDP takes a hit. Less is happening.

  • ck22 hours ago
    btw fertilizer prices are now 40% higher

    this is going to destroy world economy on every angle

    fuel and now food

    it's like the Israeli's figured out the answer to their problem was to make it everyone's problem

    how about we stop giving them offensive weapons, defensive only or we'll be going through this every decade

    • snickerbockersan hour ago
      We shouldn't even be giving them defensive weapons because that only enables them to wage war without consequence. In this specific case its a moot point since we joined this war in the most direct way possible but in general every time we shoot down one country's missiles but not the other we are participating in the war, especially when the side we protect is the aggressor.
    • trimboan hour ago
      > this is going to destroy world economy on every angle

      Oil prices were around $100 for a lot of the early 2010s. It's been three weeks. Calm down.

      • mkoubaa31 minutes ago
        Its going to get a *lot* worse.
    • bluGillan hour ago
      Why are you blaming Israel? Iran has been fueling the fires for year by send piles of money and weapons to anyone who had a serious plan to attack Israel.

      Not that Israel is perfect, but there is plenty of blame to go around and recognizing that reality is required before we can even try to think of a solution. (I don't have one)

      • cwilluan hour ago
        Because they're the ones that poured water onto the burning pan of oil. Nobody is claiming that they created the problem in its entirety, but they have made it significantly worse this month.
      • bdangubican hour ago
        and why do we care? we elected “America First” President, not “Isreal First, America who gives a hoot”
      • pphyschan hour ago
        There are vague allegations of Iran being the "leading state sponsor of terror" on one scale, and then Israel openly doing a genocide and starting wars of aggression and assassinating countless civilian and military leaders on the other scale, with a growing number of American bodies as cannon fodder.

        It is up to you to decide where justice lies.

        • cwilluan hour ago
          Nah, there's nothing vague around their funding and training of various militaries and militias in the area. There's more than enough war crimes on both sides to go around, and any concept of justice that is predicated on prosecuting one side exclusively is simply bankrupt. If Israeli civilians are fair game because of Israel's war crimes, then American civilians are fair game for the same reason. And I reject any theory of justice that bites that particular bullet.
        • krioran hour ago
          Are you blaming Israel for american troops in Iran? Is the US not a sovreign nation anymore?
          • josefritzisherean hour ago
            This is a valid question, and the answer is unfortunately no. There's a lot to unpack there but basically the president is acting unilaterally and in a manner which advance the interests of foreign nations.
    • giraffe_ladyan hour ago
      Any effective defensive weapon is an offensive weapon, in that it allows you to commit other resources to offense, or defend against a retaliation in response to an escalating offense on your part.
      • cousin_itan hour ago
        Yeah, any kind of aid (e.g. food or medicine) allows the people you're aiding to spend more on the military if they want. I guess the only way around it is to set limits on someone's military capability and make aid conditional on not crossing these limits.
  • fla102122 hours ago
    The natural gas field strike very conveniently increases the EU dependencies on US LNG. The diversification via Qatar had already been shut down, now Israel drives the Iranian gas buyers to compete on the world market.

    It is a great plan. The Gulf Monarchies are weakened (that is what you get for your Trump bribes ...), the EU is weakened, and the US controls all energy flows.

    China can use the land route to Russia. The EU is going to commit economic suicide instead.

    • loudmax2 hours ago
      > It is a great plan.

      Let's be real here. Nothing this administration ever does is planned.

      • fla102122 hours ago
        The plans to destabilize Syria and Iran have existed since the Obama administration. Trump is just the hatchet man.
        • krioran hour ago
          There is a stark difference between planning something and actually doing it.
          • fla10212an hour ago
            The Syria part was quietly executed under Biden, whose administration deserves full credit. "Destabilizing" means fragmenting, I'm not saying that Assad was any good of course.
      • onedognightan hour ago
        > Nothing this administration ever does is planned.

        You are joking, right? Project 2025 has achieved 50% of its goals in record time[0]. Trump disavowed both it and invading Iran, but make no mistake. Both were “the plan”.

        [0] https://www.project2025.observer/en

    • epistasis2 hours ago
      Great plan for whom? Trump is headed towards Nixon levels of popularity and Nixon methods of ejection with this sort of stuff. The war is hugely unpopular, Trump is less popular, and if gasoline prices stay high and we get involved in a ground war there may be a popular revolution even before Democrats get elected and are able to impeach.

      Deals done in Yuan will still get through Hormuz. EU could switch currencies for fossil fuels, get their energy, and further lessen their dependence on a US that expresses nothing but hate and disgust for the EU.

      • spankalee2 hours ago
        Popularity doesn't matter. The only thing that will remove Trump from office is Jan 20th 2029.
        • bluGillan hour ago
          That is probably when he leaves office - but congress can stop a lot of things he is doing if they try.
      • mkoubaa2 hours ago
        Nixon method of ejection indeed.

        He did say he wanted regime change after all

    • SV_BubbleTime2 hours ago
      EU has had a lot of time to recognize the situation they have been in regarding energy.

      Sorry, but this will never not be not amusing. Where Trump being a stopped clock warns the UN about relying on foreign energy and the German delegation laughs as they were shutting down their nuclear and increasing reliance on Russia for energy.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FfJv9QYrlwg

      • 1718627440an hour ago
        > EU has had a lot of time to recognize the situation they have been in regarding energy.

        There is no case of they just needed to pay attention earlier. The problem is known. There is just no good solution. Drastically scaling back energy consumption isn't going to happen any time soon and would harm the economy. So we can choose between Russia, the Middle East and the USA. Best would be of course to reduce fossil use, but that is orthogonal.

      • fla102122 hours ago
        Trump? The same Trump that threatened Greenland while the EU is relying on US LNG? Indeed the EU should not rely on US energy.

        Trump is completely inconsistent anyway. First he blamed the EU for wanting to continue the Ukraine war. Then he periodically floats lifting Russia sanctions. But if the EU were to lift Russia sanctions, that of course would lead to severe repercussions.

        Trump is about economic suppression of the EU.

        If you say "nuclear energy". The US has imported Russian uranium to at least 2025.

    • cyberax2 hours ago
      If I were the EU, I'd send a covert ops team to assassinate Putin. Then start talking with his successor and re-establish the Nord Stream deliveries.
      • WJW2 hours ago
        You could do this whole plan without needing to do the assassination part, as long as you are willing to throw Ukraine under the bus. Conversely, even if the assassination scheme goes exactly as planned, there is no way of guaranteeing that the new Russian leader would be willing to restart gas deliveries until the war in Ukraine has wrapped up. Given that especially the eastern EU countries have absolutely no intention of allowing Ukraine to lose, this seems like a very tall order.

        Finally, both Nordstream 1 AND Nordstream 2 still have a gaping holes in them from the bombings so restarting deliveries will probably take several years at least.

        All in all, this plan gets only a 2 out of 10 for being impractical, too slow AND depending on factors outside our control. 1 point because it does at least sound spy-ish and proactive.

        • Theodores16 minutes ago
          The problem for Europe is that they have nothing to trade with Russia. They can get better prices elsewhere.

          Before 2022 we had the big EU auto companies in Russia, we also had nice handbags, shoes and outfits to sell to Russia. Plus we could have them hide their money in London property. Machine tools were also a brisk trade.

          Nowadays Russia needs nothing from Europe. Nothing apart from peace and their 300 billion back. But we have gone past that stage. The Russians have never broken any energy contracts in this, the West has cut themselves off.

          Regarding the EU not wanting the former Ukraine to lose, there is a difference between what the officials want and what the people want. From Finland to Portugal I am sure most people would want no war and cheap energy, however, their 'leaders' are just doing what Washington tells them to do.

      • mlsu2 hours ago
        That could work really well, or it could fail in a humiliating public way and totally confirm+legitimize that regime's paranoia. Huge downsides.
      • DanTheManPR38 minutes ago
        The West is getting very cavalier about murdering the government officials of other countries.
        • lazzurs29 minutes ago
          A window in Russia is likely far more deadly than any of the western security services.
      • reillysean hour ago
        A terrible idea, you think the Russians are going to appreciate you killing their leader?

        A better idea is to try to get Russia to join the EU and use an open market to exert control over the more extreme behaviors and tendencies in Russia. A lot of Russian behavior is based on paranoia (completely justifiable paranoia when you see the way the US is behaving) so perhaps having them in the European fold will chill them out a bit - obviously this is far fetched but it's at least a way to fix this long term.

      • OgsyedIE2 hours ago
        Wouldn't they reciprocate the tactic instead?
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      • _trampeltier2 hours ago
        I I where the EU, I would send ops teams to assassinate Bibi.
        • M3L0NM4Nan hour ago
          That would be on-brand for European leadership. It's a good thing European countries aren't shutting down nuclear power plants and increasing dependence on Russian oil and gas...
      • badpun2 hours ago
        Putin is not a mad dictator ruling against everyone’s wishes. He’s a leader of a large establishment elite which shares his views and gets very rich. If you replace Putin, most likely outcome is his replacement will not be very different (and probably worse, since the country will be even more anti-Western after the assassination)
        • joezydecoan hour ago
          Except, like Trump, they get more stupid as you go.
          • jjgreenan hour ago
            There must limits to stupidity, mustn't there?
      • mkoubaa2 hours ago
        Real life isn't a James Bond movie. The next guy in line is more belligerent than Putin
        • CamperBob22 hours ago
          Then kill him too.

          Eventually nobody will want the job.

          • jkestner2 hours ago
            I don't feel like that's working out so great in Iran.
          • mkoubaa35 minutes ago
            That goes for both parties involved in the assassination game, and I'm pretty sure the Russians won't tap out first
          • 2 hours ago
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      • pphysch2 hours ago
        These "decapitation" strikes can't be much more than narcissistic projection. Trump and Netanyahu are "unilateralists" (de facto dictators) and narcissists, and think everyone else must be as well, ergo decapitation strikes must be successful.

        It may have been true in the case of Maduro, but the jury is out (we also "decapitated" Hugo Chavez in the early 2000s but he came roaring back).

        It is emphatically not true in the case of Iran, Russia, China, DPRK or any state that has been truly sovereign for a couple generations. These states have deep political power structures that don't rely on the whims of one individual.

        • skeeter2020an hour ago
          It really feels like we need to re-read or Orwell to understand how these countries operate. Trump believes the narrative you spelled out above because it's simple and reinforces his personal view, but it's just not true of these long-lived autocratic states. You may see power concentrated in a single individual but the entire system behaves the same way. "Kill the body and the head will die" takes a lot more work & discipline then lopping off a few necks of the hydra and hoping they don't multiply.
        • thenthenthenan hour ago
          This^, also quite bizarre to read all the blood thirsty comments above… what is this, 4chan?
  • thow7987922o2 hours ago
    Israel bombed the main Iranian Gas Field in Pars.

    This will likely lead to destruction of energy infrastructure across the Gulf from tit-for-tat attacks leading to the worst case scenario that everyone has been warning about - the complete destruction of all energy infra across the Gulf. Iran's trump-card was exactly this - they've given written letters that this is what their response would be if their energy infra was harmed.

    This is extremely serious - this is going to wreck Asia. I'd not be surprised if significant percentage of people in places like India die from famines (think 100s of millions), lack of electricity and supply-chain issues if this goes where the mad apocalypse-obsessed suicidal Zionists in Israel/US are pushing this.

    Do you really need the "blood-sacrifice" of the Asian "pagans" for your silly eschatological larping ? Eesh.

    • yyyk33 minutes ago
      Nobody forced Iran to bomb gas and oil fields that aren't even of their enemies, and to start doing it before Pars was bombed (e.g. Shah gas field was targeted 2 days ago). Place the blame on Iran who is actually 'wrecking Asia' and not the ones fighting it.
    • 10xDevan hour ago
      Relax, go outside, touch grass. The sun will rise again.
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      • bigbadfelinean hour ago
        > Relax, go outside, touch grass. The sun will rise again.

        Yeah, and don't forget, this is all about helping the environment and the Iranian people, freeing them from that pesky and unnecessary for life energy by releasing some much needed smoke. /

      • Theodores27 minutes ago
        That 'touch grass' phrase is interpreted differently outside of America. It is yet another detestable Americanism. Just saying.

        Besides, grass is part of the problem, particularly for the arid South West, where these ecological deserts known as lawns, golf courses and landscaping are grass, which is the only plant that grows when the place is covered with RoundUp.

        I digress. However, man has a point. It would be easy to say Trump is a clown without a clue or a plan, however, we as I see it, we are switching over from the empire controlling the world with the petro-dollar, to controlling the world with bombs.

        The empire can't blockade China directly as that would be an act of war, and the Chinese would have a right to respond with force, sinking all of Uncle Sam's battle ships with hypersonic missiles before you get to touch your beloved and utterly toxic HOA-approved grass.

        However, just blow up the entire Middle East and cut the Chinese off from the oil that is needed for their manufacturing requirements. China has a lot of coal, solar and nuclear going on, plus they are best buddies with Putin, but we have a lot of the Russian shadow fleet going up in flames at the moment.

        The grand plan has been going on from PNAC and 9/11. Iran is the last one to be ticked off in the Middle East, so you can see it as the finishing line. Iran just has to be destroyed and it seems that Satan and his little Zionist helper have plenty of experience at that.

        The EU has been fully Stockholm Syndromed, so there is a true Iron Curtain between Russia and Europe now, only Hungary are allowed some of the good Russian hydrocarbons, Germany and every other country in Europe now has to pay in dollars for American LNG, or Qatari LNG, but that latter option has just gone.

        Yes, the sun will rise again. Americans will be touching grass for the 'gram once again. Everything will be fine in the USA, although it won't be petrodollar dominance giving the exorbitant privilege, instead it will be bombs all the way. Note that Cuba is next, and DJT is going to Chy-naaa soonly and bigly. They should arrest him for war crimes, but you know they won't.

        Any objectors or rabble rousers will be Charlie Kirked. It will just be another era of terror. This is the normal state of affairs.

        Meanwhile, we have crazies in the WH wanting some Biblical End Times outcome to this. They are serious about Jesus coming back, which is not exactly likely, and, even if he did step foot on planet earth again, do you think he would save a single Zionist? As if!

        Anyway, we will see if touching grass works out. I mean, in the UK, during the Blitz, people were touching grass all the time. I think the Andy Groves quote applies, 'only the paranoid survive'.

      • u8vov8an hour ago
        I doubt hundreds of millions will die, but go fuck yourself regardless
      • thow7987922oan hour ago
        Do you have any idea what has happened ? This is the literal end of civilization.
        • criddellan hour ago
          Civilization is ending and you took time out of your apocalypse preparations to make a new account here? To write this? Where are your priorities?

          A couple years from now when you are shivering in a cave you aren't going to be thinking "I may not have hoarded enough ivermectin but at least I got the last word on that HN thread".

        • rwyinusean hour ago
          End of civilization takes a lot more than high oil/fertilizer prices, even if it causes famine in poorer countries.
          • bigbadfelinean hour ago
            > End of civilization takes a lot more than high oil/fertilizer prices,

            Energy prices factor into everything else, so there literally will be a lot more than higher oil/fertilizer prices.

            The end of civilized relations between countries is a sign of sick and dying civilization and we are there already, plenty of other evidence too.

            > even if it causes famine in poorer countries.

            So compassionate of you.

            • 171862744040 minutes ago
              In the worst there will be some people dying, a lot of people get poor and maybe democracies will be replaced by feudal structures. It's still far away from the end of civilization.
        • jasonjayran hour ago
          The sun will still rise after civilization ends too.
    • an hour ago
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  • RobRiveraan hour ago
    I read this to mean a labor-strike at first glance