Russia and Iran Moving to Corner the Mideast Oil Supply

By Steve Chambers

It looks like Vladimir Putin and the ayatollahs are preparing to corner the world’s oil supply – literally.

Last May I wrote on this site that Iran was in the process of surrounding the Saudi/Wahhabi oil reserves, along with those of the other Sunni Gulf petro-states. I added that, “Iran’s strategy to strangle Saudi/Wahhabi oil production also dovetails with Putin’s interests. As the ruler of the second largest exporter of oil, he would be delighted to see the Kingdom’s production eliminated or severely curtailed and global prices soar to unseen levels. No wonder he is so overtly supporting Iran.”

We’ve now seen Putin take a major, menacing step in support of the Iranians by introducing combat forces into Syria. Many analysts argue that he’s doing this both to protect his own naval base at Tartus and as some sort of favor to the Iranians. Are those really sufficient inducement for him to spend scarce resources and risk Russian lives, or does he have bigger ambitions in mind? Given the parlous state of Russia’s economy, thanks in very large part to the recent halving of oil prices, he must relish the opportunity now presented to him, in an axis with Iran, to drive those prices back to prior levels.

The Iranians, for their part, must welcome this opportunity as well, for two huge reasons: first, when sanctions are finally lifted, thanks to their friend in the White House, Iran’s oil production will only aggravate the current global excess oil supply, reducing their cash flow (although they will still repatriate the $150 billion released by the nuclear deal). They and the Russians must both be desperate to find a way to prevent further oil price declines. And second, Iran’s mortal sectarian enemies and rivals for leadership of all of Islam are the Saudi/Wahhabi clan, so the prospect of simultaneously hurting them while strengthening themselves must seem tremendously tantalizing.

To achieve this, the Russian-Iranian axis can pursue the encirclement strategy of the Arabian Peninsula that Iran has already been overtly conducting, as I described in May, and is evident by referring to the map below.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/10/russia_and_iran_moving_to_corner_the_mideast_oil_supply.html#ixzz3ogUqsrv9