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The World for Sale - Coggle Diagram

- - - - as boss of Vitol flew into libyan warzone
      - backed by Washington and London through crazy connections
    - - blew up sarir tobruk pipeline
        
        continued supply dilemma
        
        increased financial exposure
        
        seizing of frozen assets of ghaddafi in western countries
        
        implicit backing speculation?
        
        1 billion debt of rebels at some point
      - after caught word of deal with Vitol
- - - - helped out mines and factories
      - propped up entire governments
      - extremely favourable terms for commodity traders
- - - - quarter is made up by commodities
- - - - recounting story Weisser
        
        weisser former prisoner of war
        
        travelled in 1950s to USSR
        
        to secure a profitable trade deal with oil sovjet under the eye of kgb
        
        weisser initially shunned by most traders for making a deal with the ussr
      - history of trade
        
        key activities of modern humans
        
        east india company, most successful early commodity trader
        
        steamship development and telegraphs were very important inventions for trade possibilities
        
        ww1 and ww2 were hard times for commodity traders, also the European jewish traders
    - - modus operandi
        
        operating in difficult parts of the world
        
        hiring external 'consultants'
        
        avoids getting hands dirty
      - growing wealth of resource rich countries
        
        for a good part due to commodity traders
        
        also the China demand increase
      - Gulf war (1990-1991)
        
        ended 1991
        
        usa convinced un to keep oil embargo on sadam hussein
        
        1995 humanitarian crisis in iraq
        
        EU and USA relented, export Iraq oil again
        
        oil for food programme by UN
        
        iraq required surcharge, few cents per barrel, straight to Baghdad; UN warned this as illegal
        
        toppling Hussein, records became available of traders paying these illegal surcharges
        
        Glencore, massive commodity trader, was never charged, although it was clear that they paid more than 1 million euros
        
        Gulf War Summary
        
        iraq invasion and annexation of Kuwait in 1990
        
        reasons for invasion
        
        massive debt due to iran-iraq war
        
        disputed territory
        
        Kuwaits oil wealth
        
        US and 35 other countries
        
        700k soldiers assembled
        
        operation desert storm 1991
        
        massive bombing of infrastructure
        
        100 hour invasion on the ground
        
        iraqs military was decimated
        
        tremendous environmental disaster by iraqis when desert storm was taking place
      - boom-time mentality
        
        when things are going well, people are not stressing the last cents
      - 2004: oil booms, china insatiable demand, production at full capacity
        
        incentive enter new countries
        
        sudan
        
        chad
        
        creative ways of cooperating with governments: coups, corruption, wars etc.
        
        the trickier the country, the more upside
        
        emblematic oil companies 2000s
        
        Mercuria & Guvnor
        
        appeared after aluminium wars
        
        founder feared for his life, after business partner disappeared, probably murdered
        
        2007-2018 4 billion in profits after taxes, cumulative
        
        friends with Putin
        
        Khodorkovsky richest oligarch
        
        challenged Putin openly
        
        oligarch who got it for nothing
        
        suggested move to politics
        
        2 more items...
        
        also suggested he might merge with Chevron
        
        captured during a flight, refueling, by special forces, imprisoned thereafter
        
        exiled, resides in London
        
        Timchenko/Tornqvist from Guvnor
        
        was told to get ready
        
        2 more items...
        
        very close ties with putin
        
        well linked, connecting to china, opportunistic :
    - - option to buy slightly more or less
      - idea: large scale operations never perfect quanitities
      - became very profitable method when prices would skyrocket or oil shortages
      - 10% margin
      - buy 10% more, sell 10% less. Only sell later in the month when price has already risen again
    - - Africa exports
        
        chiefly/exclusively commodities
        
        income is very volatile, dependent on commodity prices
        
        1950s and 60s decolonisation
        
        good times for selling commodities
        
        Europe rebuilding, requiring commodities
        
        complete stagnation after 1980-2001. (subsaharan africa i.e.)
        
        1980s
        
        low commodity prices
        
        political instability
        
        little investment
        
        poor infrastructure
        
        aftermath (de)colonisation
        
        China boom
        
        conventional production insufficient
        
        vast price increases
        
        commodity trader influx
        
        substantial expansion of investment
        
        enriched & entrenched african leaders
        
        even if blatantly corruptly or very unpopular
      - quadrupling economy of subsaharan africa (2001-2011)
      - practical challenges for commodity traders
        
        gangs, corruption, dictators
        
        outsourcing the work to local kingpins
        
        bureaucracy
        
        bribes