Interesting article from Aug. about the oil industry trying to lay groundwork for a Pres.Trump

[octoberlib]

Congress, Worried About Trump, Is Trying To Tie The Next President’s Hands On Russia
But the oil industry is trying to lay the groundwork for a President Trump.

A behind-the-scenes battle is underway on Capitol Hill pitting skeptics of Russia against a potential Donald Trump administration and the oil industry, which has massive business interests there.

Now a bill is quietly making its way through Congress that would stymie a future president from easing up on Russia. And the battle offers a glimpse at an industry that appears to be quietly laying the groundwork for a Trump administration.

Trump wasn’t yet the Republican nominee when the bill, called the Stand for Ukraine Act, was introduced, in April. But House members are now motivated to pass the legislation in order to stop a potential Trump administration from lifting sanctions, according to two staffers working for representatives who shaped the legislation and are on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which passed the bill in July. The staffers agreed to speak on background so they could talk freely.Because President Obama sanctioned Russia through a series of executive orders in 2014, the measures — which stop certain Russian individuals and businesses close to Putin from traveling to the US or doing business with American companies — could easily be undone by a future president. The bill would make that much harder, allowing a president to remove certain sanctions against Russia if and only if Putin gives up Crimea.
Now energy companies appear to have won an early fight to weaken the legislation. The US–Russia Business Council, a trade association of about 150 businesses and other organizations, including oil industry giants ExxonMobil and Chevron, told BuzzFeed News it has asked lawmakers not to make the sanctions against Russia permanent. And in documents filed in late July, ExxonMobil itself disclosed plans to lobby on the bill.

At stake for ExxonMobil is a massive $500 billion deal with Rosneft, a state-owned Russian oil company, to drill for oil in the Russian Arctic.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/dinograndoni/russia-and-the-next-president?utm_term=.qiRbn09zy#.hcPO2Ny0Z


Exxon CEO is now Trump's secretary of state favorite -transition official

In 2011, Exxon Mobil signed a deal with Rosneft, Russia's largest state-owned oil company, for joint oil exploration and production. Since then, the companies have formed 10 joint ventures for projects in Russia.

In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Tillerson his nation's Order of Friendship.

But U.S. sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Crimea cost Exxon Mobil dearly, forcing it to scrap some projects and costing it at least $1 billion in losses. Tillerson has been a vocal critic of the sanctions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-tillerson-idUSKBN13Z01E?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=584b940804d301119f6ee149&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[KittyWampus]

1. The more you look, the more bugs scurry out from rocks.

[octoberlib]

2. That's for sure. It was a coup.

[2naSalit]

3. No wonder they pulled all

arctic exploration so suddenly late in the summer, like maybe they knew the fixed election was a done deal and decided that going from the other land mass would be a better bet... totalitarian regime, no one can really stop them and environmental protection laws don't exist.

[octoberlib]

4. It all makes sense now, doesn't it