Alexander Novak: Pressure Point

      Russya(the largest country in the world) and friends(?) have made a pact to control oil production within limits.  Key OPEC members have not signed on to this agreement.  Mr. NOvak, Minister of Energy Resources made the announcement amid withering criticism of the Kremlin's (Putin's) actions in Syria this week.  Doctors Without Borders lambasted the Russyan Air Force's bombing of two hospitals in Aleppo as Assad's government forces make progress in the area against regime rebels.
     Locals on the ground observed air assets directing their bombs at the hospitals.  This comes against oil production reports placing Russya's production at the top of the list of producing countries.  Little can be done to reduce the storage of 300 million barrels of oil around the world nor curtail production of Iran which is attempting to regain market share against that of Saudi Arabia, the USA, Iraq, and Venezuela.  The desperate situation in Venezuela speaks volumes of the situation: an oil rich country with a failed econometric model that has fostered populist style of governance ala Hugo Chavez, the late president.
     Russya's economic recession will try the Kremlin's efforts to maintain political credence. Given the state of affairs in the Middle East and Putin's habit of being a bald-faced liar, does not bode well for his country and countrymen.  Will the citizenry rebuke the former KGB colonel?  Or will they rollover and absorb his international gambits that produce headlines and little else but heartache for widows and orphans?
     As the price of oil continues to slide, the future of oil producers is, at best, cloudy, and at worst, a warning of impending disaster.

Vladimir and his friend: Nice Kitty Kat