[Mick]

No doubt we will see that at the pump soon...

I kind of assume there was a [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] around that. Realistically, things are so volatile right now nobody is going to lower prices until they are convinced stability has returned. That won't be soon it appears. Let us suppose Ukraine and Russia reach a cease fire agreement of some kind. Does the EU then drop the sanctions? Does the US? I hope not, because if we do, Putin can claim a victory and prepare for his next adventure. However, that could happen I fear. So, even best case, things are going to remain volatile for a while.

Yes, it was sarcasm.  Somehow, the price of gas rises up with the price of a barrel of oil, but recedes at a much slower rate.

I say don't drop sanctions at all, buy as much as we can from Pemex and help Venezuela develop their oil resources...now that Maduro is conveniently embracing capitalism.

Maduro's Switch From Socialism Is Helping Bring Venezuelan Migrants Back - Bloomberg

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On the chess board of this geopolitical re-set we are seeing play out...Putin made some catastrophically bad assumptions. 

I don't see the author of this, but apparently China thinks it's coming out a winner by keeping to the sidelines.

https://dnyuz.com/2022/03/14/china-sees-...war-china/

I don't agree with the author's conclusion.  You have the ideological potential partner -- Putin and Russia -- and the commercial partner/source of your wealth -- United States and the Western countries -- and both sides think you've screwed them over.  How does that make you the winner?

BTW, the Chinese stock market is getting crushed.  I don't see how they're coming out of this as a winner:

Chinese Stock Crash: U.S. Losses Top $1.1 Trillion As Beijing’s Russia Ties Spark Investor Concerns (msn.com)

[Mick]

No doubt we will see that at the pump soon...

I kind of assume there was a [sarcasm] [/sarcasm] around that. Realistically, things are so volatile right now nobody is going to lower prices until they are convinced stability has returned. That won't be soon it appears. Let us suppose Ukraine and Russia reach a cease fire agreement of some kind. Does the EU then drop the sanctions? Does the US? I hope not, because if we do, Putin can claim a victory and prepare for his next adventure. However, that could happen I fear. So, even best case, things are going to remain volatile for a while.

Yes, it was sarcasm.  Somehow, the price of gas rises up with the price of a barrel of oil, but recedes at a much slower rate.

I say don't drop sanctions at all, buy as much as we can from Pemex and help Venezuela develop their oil resources...now that Maduro is conveniently embracing capitalism.

Maduro's Switch From Socialism Is Helping Bring Venezuelan Migrants Back - Bloomberg

---

On the chess board of this geopolitical re-set we are seeing play out...Putin made some catastrophically bad assumptions. 

I don't see the author of this, but apparently China thinks it's coming out a winner by keeping to the sidelines.

https://dnyuz.com/2022/03/14/china-sees-...war-china/

I don't agree with the author's conclusion.  You have the ideological potential partner -- Putin and Russia -- and the commercial partner/source of your wealth -- United States and the Western countries -- and both sides think you've screwed them over.  How does that make you the winner?

BTW, the Chinese stock market is getting crushed.  I don't see how they're coming out of this as a winner:

Chinese Stock Crash: U.S. Losses Top $1.1 Trillion As Beijing’s Russia Ties Spark Investor Concerns (msn.com)