Russian Government Ratifies Huge China Gas Pipeline Deal

a reply to: paraphi

1) It's a symbiotic relationship. Russia has the technology, especially militarily (Tiger tanks, first space mission, first space station, strong nuclear arsenal, etc.) and China has the economy and population. Russia gets another income from oil to bolster it's economy and China gets oil to fuel it's massive growth. Both get to break free from US threats and sanctions.

2 and 3) True, the Russian GDP has been less than Italy's. It wasn'the that long ago that the 13 colonies were a financial footnote, though. Russia has vast oil reserves they are just starting to tap.

The key to surviving a depression is not how many zeroes are stored in your banks' computers; it is how self-sufficient you are and how many natural resources you have. China has lacked self-sufficiency in one key aspect:energy. Russia has lacked income. This agreement makes the Russian-Chinese bloc self-sufficient. China has massive rare earth resources necessary for technology, so they can't be ignored economically by industrialized nations, and Russia has the oil they need to refine those resources. Together, they are sitting on massive natural resources.

Compare that to the USA. We have resources, but not rare resources. We manufacture almost none of what we consume. The largest industry has become money: banks, investment firms, insurance companies. Our population has become totally dependant on government assistance. We are about as far from self-sufficiency as we can get!

So yes, I believe a global depression will result in the Russian-Chinese bloc becoming the major economic superpower.

TheRedneck

originally posted by: paraphi
Russia pumping gas to China won't destabilise the democratic developed world.

The US is already pretty much self-sufficient in oil and gas and Europe are well have reduced any reliance on Russia.

The question that is better asked is:

(1) What price is China extracting from Russia for this deal? Russia has made this deal from a position of weakness.
(2) Russia has so far squandered their earnings from oil and gas. They still have a one-track economy. Is there any evidence that Russia will diversify and develop into a "developed" economy?
(3) Why do people "big" Russia up? They have an GDP that is lower than Italy, and Italy is the fourth biggest European economy.

If there is a depression that you are predicting then the countries with depth in economic advancement will fare better. Do you really think China would survive passed Thursday if no-one bought goods from them? If the West goes into depression then China dies too, but more terminally.

For all the back-slapping this thread has spewed about 'logical', your's is the only that ask any questions that are germane to the geo-politics of this pipeline.

a reply to: TheRedneck

I think you are quite mistaken.
Russia wants this natural gas pipeline to China because they know they are about to lose the European natural gas market to the U.S.

The Cheniere Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Sabine Pass, Tx shipped out their 1st load of LNG on a ship to Europe last month.This was from the 1st unit brought on line (there are 5 more being built there over the next 8 years) Combined this plant will produce close to 30 MPTA when complete.

Construction has just begun on another 5 unit LNG plant in Ingleside Tx to produce close to the same amount of LNG destined for delivery to Europe, Japan, and even China.

Putin is trying to get what he can now because Russia is about to lose the European LNG market.

Russia cannot compete with how cheap US natural Gas is ( thank you Eagle Ford Shale).

Our gas is so inexpensive that Austria's Voestalpine is about to fire up their Euro 550 million iron ore refinery that they've spent the last 3 years building in Ingleside.

It's actually cheaper for them to ship ore from Europe to TX, have it refined and pelletized, and then ship it back to Austria for production. Why?

Our natural gas is half the cost of the European gas coming from Russia