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Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

bbc.com

251–260 of 364 posts

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#251
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they, though? They seem to very consistently vote against foreign entanglements, before their own leaders betray them, pressed into action by foreign allies advocating their own narrow regional interests (Europe on Russia, Israel on Iran, etc). Not clear to me why some working mum in Idaho is obliged to pay for Hungary's security when even the Hungarians refuse to do so, but hey, enjoy this meme while it lasts. Th…

The USA has put itself im this position by their own motivations, and has consistently profited from it.

Uh huh, sure, America profits handsomely from paying trillions of dollars to defend its deadbeat dependencies because... uh... something something capitalism?

The unnecessary expense of trillions of dollars being, of course, just so famously and fabulously profitable. I assume this is the same strand of 4D-chess-level thinking that posits that landlords like keeping rental properties vacant because they somehow make more money that way.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plant-based ones that were harvested by machines that burn petroleum.

That’s a pretty amazing definition of upstream. I imagine you probably understand that plastics, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers are made out of petroleum derivatives, right? Since you seem pretty smart: are there petroleum based cooking oils?

That is the normal definition of upstream. To harvest and transport the olives and olive oil, you need trucks, and often plastic containers and bottles. These farms and distributors will pass on their price of fuel and petroleum materials to the consumer.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#253
post #213
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ukraine is completely dependent on arms from the US and Europe to sustain the war effort. Ukraine is running out of men to serve in the Army. Ukraine has no path to reclaim the territory it's lost. I'm not making a judgment about whether or not this is right . This is just a sober analysis of the situation. And that is that the war is stalemated and the only way this gets resolved is to declare peace at the current b…

Your sober analysis of the situation overlooks what many respectable analysts are saying. Ukraine has become probably the de facto #1 drone based military in the world right now. It's made the first production use drone type that uses practically 0 Chinese manufactured components. It's making more types that use off the shelf components but are otherwise 100% Ukrainian made. Its drone types are getting more and more…

> Ukraine has become probably the de facto #1 drone based military in the world right now.

I think Iran may well have that crown. Ukraine certainly was a testbed for drone use, first starting with cheaper but still military grades drones like the Bayraktar [1] but now with more homegrown versions. But Russia has followed suite and adapted.

> Also Russia's army is being attrited faster than reconstituted,

Russia has a larger army and a larger population. It also has several knobs it can adjust with the biiannual draft [2]. Russia has oil, raw materials, can produce its own food, a history of conscription and what is basically a war economy [3]. And thanks to an unlucky spate of oligarchs falling out of windows and dying in car accidents, Putin is still in control of the country.

Zellensky on the other hand doesn't have most of those things and is subject to the changes in political winds in Europe and the US. He also has the added pressure of Europe's energy crisis.

I also believe that it was Ukraine who on their own decided to blow up Nordstream to prevent Europe settling with Russia to turn back on the gas supply.

> The real danger is if Europe flinches, which would be a monumentally bad decision as Ukraine is finally winning the war of attrition.

The West gets bored amd impatient. I remember thinking this in 2023: Putin is just going to hold on until the West gives up or mores onto some new crisis. There's a quote misattributed to Kissinger that goes "It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."

I also don't agree Ukraine is winning any war, let alone one of attrition. Weirdly, this has become a WW1 trench war basically but with drones. And look at how the Western Front changed from 1914 to 1917.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baykar_Bayraktar_TB2

[2]: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/05/russia-planned-war-...

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_economy

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#254

Scanning some of the early comments here, and acting as-if the oil and LNG disruptions is just a question of renewable investment is naive. This is the worst energy crisis in modern history, and little of the western world has really started feeling the effects yet: https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-energy/iran-war-... Petro is pretty much upstream of everything: plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, cook…

The world is way too stable for a real crisis. The west is much more resilient than a lot of people think. Nothing will really change. Life will go on.

That depends on how wealthy you are.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#255
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My parents just bought a new BYD Dolphin, and it cost 3 EUR to go 150 km, whereas my diesel car costs 15 EUR for the same route. I don't know how people can say electric cars aren't cheaper. It's a 5x difference!

The initial car is more expensive. You'll typically make it up, but it depends on how much you drive. And you have to pay interest on larger car loan. But in practice, yes, when charging at home EVs are dirty cheap to charge. The total cost of ownership (toc) for an EV is much lower. But you are paying it all upfront.

Electric cars are mechanically simpler.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#256
post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who mentioned 80%? During the 1973–74 Arab oil embargo, the disruption removed approximately 4.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) from the market, which constituted about 7% of the global oil supply at the time. This disruption significantly impacted global supplies. 20% is a lot more than 7%. This could be worse than 1973-74. As a 10year-old in 1973 I remember spending a lot of time in the backseat of the station wago…

And yet we are a lot more globalized than in the 1970s. Ressources can be diverted at a much quicker rate with a lot more agility.

> Ressources can be diverted at a much quicker rate with a lot more agility.

That's completely incorrect.

Covid demonstrated that. We have optimized so strongly for profit (outsource everything, just in time inventory, etc.) that we have no robustness in the face of disruption. There are now single chokepoints everywhere.

Yes, we could retool. But nobody will retool without a check from somebody. Everybody will simply hold their breath waiting for the crisis to pass. Everybody held their breath for Covid; they will absolutely do so with the knowledge that the orange clown will disappear in two years.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#257
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oil going through Hormuz is 20%, not 80% of global supply. It's true that demand is pretty inelastic, but it's not like it can't be cut at all.

Who mentioned 80%? During the 1973–74 Arab oil embargo, the disruption removed approximately 4.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) from the market, which constituted about 7% of the global oil supply at the time. This disruption significantly impacted global supplies. 20% is a lot more than 7%. This could be worse than 1973-74. As a 10year-old in 1973 I remember spending a lot of time in the backseat of the station wago…

[deleted]

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe would be better served by doing, what France did in 1974. "As a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis, on 6 March 1974 Prime Minister Pierre Messmer announced what became known as the 'Messmer Plan', a hugely ambitious nuclear power program aimed at generating most of France's electricity from nuclear power. At the time of the oil crisis most of France's electricity came from foreign oil. " "Work on the first t…

> Europe would be better served by doing, what France did in 1974. This is 2026. Doing things in 1974 isn't an option because time's arrow points the wrong way. If you want Europe to do things now that it should have done in 1974 you'd need to explain how it'll stall on all the consequences for years. France, which you held up as a model says it can build a nuclear generator in about 5-6 years, but none of these opti…

You can put up a plant in 5 years without erroneous regulation.

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#259
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would require some super effective anti air. Otherwise such a pipeline is an easy target. And even the most anti air protected place on earth - Negev plant near Dimona city got hit with a warning shot. And they have 3 or 4 layers of anti air, most of them doubled (both US and Isreaeli). It's impossible to protect multiple pipelines to that extent. And Isreal just said that they will keep attacking Iran no matter…

It did not. Dimona city got hit. https://t.me/QudsNen/215116 Plant is far away from there.

Why is Iran hitting civilian targets?

Re: Slovenia becomes first EU country to introduce fuel rationing

#260
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It did not. Dimona city got hit. https://t.me/QudsNen/215116 Plant is far away from there.

Why is Iran hitting civilian targets?

As retribution for the attacks on their country I believe.
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