[rockdoc123]

Probably more to do with the surge in oil stocks in the US...up 3.3 MMB opposed to a general analyst expectation of a 3.5 MMB drop.
Whether this has a good explanation or not there will be some pressure on WTI over the next few days.

[GoghGoner]

Qatar Shuts Off Helium Plants

The two plants have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 2 billion standard cubic feet of liquid helium and can meet about 25 percent of total world demand for the gas, according to RasGas' website.

Among its uses, helium is used to cool superconducting magnets in medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, as a lifting gas in balloons and airships, as a gas to breathe in deep-sea diving and to keep satellite instruments cool. It is derived from natural gas during processing.

[onlooker]

http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/06/07/t ... order-war/

The Machiavellian Plot to Provoke Saudi Arabia and Qatar into a “Blood Border” War

[onlooker]

https://www.theatlantic.com/internation ... se/463212/

Preparing for the Collapse of the Saudi Kingdom

It can’t last. The U.S. better get ready.

[onlooker]

http://www.atimes.com/article/coup-house-saud/
KSA coup

[ROCKMAN]

Goner - Interesting tidbit about helium. I wonder how many are aware:

"The National Helium Reserve, also known as the Federal Helium Reserve, is a strategic reserve of the United States holding over 35 billion cubic feet of helium gas. The helium is stored at the Cliffside Storage Facility about 12 miles northwest of Amarillo, Texas, in a natural geologic gas storage formation, the Bush Dome reservoir. The reserve was established with the enactment of the Helium Act of 1925. The strategic supply provisioned the noble gas for airships, and in the 1950s became an important source of coolant during the Cold War and Space Race.

The facilities were located close to the Hugoton and other natural gas fields in southwest Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma, plus the Panhandle Field in Texas. These fields contain natural gas with unusually high percentages of helium—from 0.3% to 2.7%—and constitute the United States' largest helium source. The helium is separated as a byproduct from the produced natural gas."

I wonder if they mean 2 billion standard cubic feet of liquid helium if it were gasified or 2 billion cf of liquid? Looked all over and can't find an easy way to convert a volume of LIQUID helium to a volume of gaseous helium.

And there's this recent news:

"The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which accounts for about 20% of global helium supply, has ramped up production at its Cliffside facility in Texas to help offset the loss of the Qatari helium. However, technical problems capped additional supplies, notes Walter Nelson, vice president for helium at Air Products & Chemicals, which operates two helium refining plants tied to BLM operations. Thus, a continuation of the Qatar embargo will impact prices, Nelson says."

And the story gets more interesting, such as the govt will soon NOT BE SELLING helium to the public. Wonder if that's at the request of the DoD?

"The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held its FY 2018 Crude Helium Auction in Amarillo, Texas yesterday, the fourth crude helium auction conducted by the BLM since passage of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013.

The FY 2018 auction was the penultimate crude helium auction by the BLM as the Federal Reserve of crude helium will reach the minimum level of 3 billion cubic feet mandated by the legislation after the FY 2019 auction and Conservation Helium Sale, at which time, no further sales of crude helium will be allowed to private industry.

The BLM auctioned off a total of 500 million cubic feet (MMscf) of crude helium in 30 individual lots. There were 13 lots of 25 MMscf each, 9 lots of 15 MMscf each and 8 lots of 5 MMscf each.

The overall result of the auction was that 500 MMscf of crude helium was sold for total proceeds to the BLM of $59,655,000, or an average price of $119.31/Mscf (thousand cubic feet). The average price represents an increase of $12.21/Mscf or 11.4% from the average price of $107.10/Mscf that resulted from the FY 2017 auction."

Hmm? If the numbers are correct at one time we had 35 billion cf but we will soon be at 3 billion cf? If so I can see why the govt will reserve the remainder for the military. Need to keep those spy satellites flying. LOL.

[onlooker]

Wow some dissension within NATO ranks
http://www.newsweek.com/us-israel-saudi ... ays-770728

[vox_mundi]

Widespread Unrest Erupts In Southern Iraq Amid Acute Shortages of Water, Electricity

BAGHDAD — Widespread unrest is engulfing southern Iraq as Iraqis frustrated by shortages of electricity, water and jobs vent their anger, setting fire to political offices, attacking government infrastructure and deepening uncertainty about the country’s shaky political future.

The government on Saturday cut off Internet access across much of Iraq in an apparent bid to contain further violence. The Defense Ministry ordered security forces on high alert after demonstrations that erupted six days earlier in the southern port city of Basra spread overnight to many other parts of the overwhelmingly Shiite south, where a heat wave has aggravated poor living conditions.

This is not the first time that demonstrations, triggered at least initially by the lack of electricity during the hot summer months, have destabilized southern Iraq. Persistent power shortages since the U.S.-led invasion leave people sweltering without fans or air conditioners. This year conditions have been worsened by a severe drought, which has reduced the availability of water, and a decision by Iran to cut off the electricity it exports to Iraq because of a dispute over payments, further reducing the supply.

Internet has been shut down in southern and central Iraq, including Baghdad, as protests continue to spread

Iraq Declares State of Emergency Amid Ongoing Violent Protests

Kurdistan Indefinitely Blocks Social Media Networks at Baghdad’s Request: Ministry

The Iraqi federal government blocked access to major social media networks amid growing unrest in the country as demonstrations turned violent in several provinces. Some reported complete internet service outages in certain areas.

The social media network blackout also included the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north of the country.

The Kurdish official added they had received information that internet service cables for the Kurdistan Region had been sabotaged in an attack in the Daquq and Khrumatu areas of southern Kirkuk Province.

Elsewhere ...

Haiti Gripped by Deadly Riots Over Fuel Prices

[dissident]

https://twitter.com/RanaHarbi/status/11 ... 3012867074

Non-violent teen protestor arrested by the Saudi regime and put on death row for 7 years and finally beheaded.

I wonder why this is not newsworthy for the NATO fake stream media. Gross human rights abuse is OK as long as it is by vassal regimes?

[onlooker]

https://twitter.com/RanaHarbi/status/1120794513012867074

Non-violent teen protestor arrested by the Saudi regime and put on death row for 7 years and finally beheaded.

I wonder why this is not newsworthy for the NATO fake stream media. Gross human rights abuse is OK as long as it is by vassal regimes?

Just like Israel. Our friends can do as they like