Selling Cheap Oil So Someone Else Can Sell It for More” A Tale of Two Oil Markets In theory, oil is a global commodity. In practice, it often behaves like two completely different products depending on where you stand. One version of oil is priced in future contracts and benchmarks such as WTI. The other […]
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The customer as a child Spoiler alert: this is written with a touch of satire—not to provoke, but to make sense of something that doesn’t always lend itself to clean, academic explanation. Human behavior is messy, inconsistent, and often surprising. If this were written as a traditional paper, it would sound clinical. But the subject matter […]
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With a Side of Strategy for Would‑Be Influencers. We like to imagine leadership as a clean, logical process. The smartest person presents the best arguments, everyone nods thoughtfully, and influence naturally follows. It’s a comforting idea. It’s also mostly fiction. Leadership is not a debate club. It’s a psychological system shaped by identity, attention, and […]
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The Hidden Consequences of Stillness A Simple Question That Opens a Complex System What begins as a straightforward question—how long gasoline can sit in a tank before degrading—quickly expands into something far larger. Beneath that question lies an entire system: chemistry, industrial infrastructure, and global economics. Oil is not just a substance; it is a […]
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This is the most dangerous policy decision since WWII. From an engineering standpoint, disruptions like the Western attack on Russia are not linear events — they’re chaotic system shocks. Once the system starts to break, no one controls how it cascades. Just look at Brexit. It’s still unclear whether Brexit was “good” or “bad” for England. Yes, the UK […]
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The evolution of oil production in the Gulf can be understood as a continuous progression from simple reservoir exploitation to highly managed, capital-intensive systems deeply embedded in national economies. What began as relatively straightforward production from vast fields like those in the Arab‑D formation has become a complex interplay of engineering, economics, and political strategy. […]
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The shift in oil prices from 1982 to 2026 caused a radical change in home affordability as interest rates fell, the cost of driving fell and the US had a massive buildout of “far suburbs.” That system seems to be reversing itself. The structure of U.S. housing demand is closely tied to energy costs, especially […]
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As of April 17, 2026, amid the ongoing 2026 Iran war, Platts physical oil benchmarks (e.g., Dated Brent and Dubai) have decoupled sharply from futures prices. Platts Dated Brent and Middle East spot assessments, which reflect actual traded cargoes for near-term delivery, remain elevated—often in the $130–$157 range (with Dubai hitting records near $157–$166/bbl in March). […]
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The media account is biased leaving the public uninformed. (As usual) In early January 2026, U.S. forces executed a daring military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, marking a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward the troubled South American nation. President Donald Trump announced the capture triumphantly, declaring that the United States would temporarily […]
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On January 3, 2026, a U.S.-led military operation successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a large-scale strike on Caracas and other targets. President Donald Trump announced the operation, which removed the couple from the country to face U.S. charges, including narco-terrorism. While the intervention has drawn international criticism and […]
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