By Richard Medhurst
We are witnessing the transition of the United States from an empire into a lawless Pirate State, and the birth of what I call the Petrogas-dollar or LNG-Dollar. High energy prices aren’t a threat to Wall Street anymore — they are in fact the objective.
By sanctioning Moscow and blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, the US didn’t just hurt Russia — they turned Europe into a permanent US client, securing long term profits, and cementing the Petrogas-dollar. Just as Washington used the cover of the Ukraine war, sanctions, and Nordstream bombings to force Russia out of Europe — similarly, they used the cover of the Iran war to finish off Qatar’s position as a global LNG player.
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| Nordstream pipeline blown |
The Levantine Basin is one of the largest gas fields in the world, located off the coast of Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. The US—Israeli takeover of this area coincided perfectly with the Iran war, and Washington’s broader capture of the planet’s energy. Sitting on Europe’s doorstep, the Levantine Basin could replace piped Russian gas entirely — a goal explicitly stated by [the EU's unelected leader] Von der Leyen. This allows Washington to continue selling overpriced LNG by sea, while simultaneously securing a massive, second revenue stream.
It’s no coincidence that all the ports along this coast have been destroyed except Israel’s. By blockading Gaza and crippling the ports in Beirut and Syria, they have ensured Levantines cannot touch their own inheritance — while holding the door open for Chevron to collect.
Controlling Europe and weakening Russia was, however, only the beginning. The real target is China. By cutting off Beijing’s most vital fuel sources, the US want to force a total dependency on American energy. This creates the leverage needed to guarantee the Dollar’s survival while undermining BRICS, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and multipolarity.
In the last months, US and NATO forces have been literally hunting down Russian oil and gas ships across the entire planet, from the Mediterranean Sea, to the Black Sea, Baltic Sea, Caribbean, Arctic, North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean.
Simply put: it’s an oil and gas embargo. NATO are openly admitting that their goal is to sever Beijing’s “access to energy, critical minerals”, and disrupt their growing trade with Russia.
None of these things are security issues. They are geostrategic and economic. This explains why Donald Trump is so interested in Greenland and Canada, and why the Royal Navy deployed a carrier strike group last month to the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) corridor. The goal is to corner Russian tankers in the Baltic and the Arctic before they are even able to leave.
In March alone, around 40% of Russia’s seaborne oil export capacity was disabled — the most severe logistical disruption in modern Russian history. In the 4 years of the Ukraine war, Russia’s energy infrastructure has never been struck this deep nor on this scale.
While the campaign began in Autumn 2025, the Blitz on Russian energy only truly ramped up once Washington had secured Venezuela and launched the war on Iran. As the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran’s control, these shipments should in fact be prioritized as China is a strategic partner. However, the very nature of a war ensures chaos, and Tehran’s experimental toll booth system — like all infrastructure — is being systemetically targeted by the US-Israeli aggression, creating a backlog.
The US have no intention of deescalating. Even during the “ceasefire”, War Secretary Hegseth explicitly declared that Washington will not be leaving these waters — ceasefire or not, confirming what I forewarned: that the US are going to apply their Arctic and Venezuelan model on Iran.
Very often, the US aren’t even capturing the cargo on these ships, but just sinking them outright. However, when they do board them, they literally use or sell the cargo off for loot — like pirates.
The “Donroe Doctrine” is widely misunderstood. Many think it’s just a rehash of Monroe, or simply about controlling the Western Hemisphere. But it’s not. It’s about turning the Western Hemisphere into something else. The goal is to make the market come to America, and move the world’s energy corridor to the Western Hemisphere.
This blueprint wasn’t the work of random politicians. This was a Big Oil administration through and through: Cheney came from Halliburton; the Bush family wealth was built in the Texas oil industry, and Condoleezza Rice had spent a decade on the board of Chevron — yes, the same Chevron that just gobbled up Venezuela, Syria, and Palestine’s wealth in 90 days. (Chevron actually named an oil tanker after her, the SS Condoleezza Rice).
By making oil and gas expensive in Europe and Asia, the US force companies to choose between closing shop or moving to America. This process was kickstarted during Ukraine, crippling many European industries from German steel to French glass, and will only intensify as the US complete the hostile takeover.
Indeed, this strategy cannibalizes friend and foe alike, and Wall Street are fine with that. This industrial exodus also results in a massive flight of capital. As factories and assets are physically transferred from Europe and Asia to the US, each company take their capital — cash, stocks, credit — out of their home country and dump it into the American economy. This shifts the global economy’s center of gravity toward America, reinforcing the Petrogas-dollar.
This siege isn’t limited to piracy at sea; it is also a blockade of rival trade corridors. By toppling the government in Damascus and destroying Syria’s ports in Latakia and Tartous, the US hit several birds with one stone.
For whatever reason, Russia, China, and Iran have failed to establish — and maintain — a credible deterrent against Western aggression. It’s not about oil or currency at this point, but about sovereignty.
As long as Iran, and the Global South, continue fighting the US on their own soil they will never defeat the Pirate State. The entire US military doctrine is built on the pillar of never fighting wars at home, in order to shield their population and industrial base.
It is the same logic behind moving the energy corridor. They are relocating the planet’s capital of oil and gas to the Western Hemisphere for the exact same reason they fight their wars in the Middle East: to keep the engine of the empire shielded between two oceans.
Humiliating the US thousands of kilometres away from their industrial base has been done before — in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and now in Iran — yet the Empire lives to pirate another day.
As long as Wall Street feel they are untouchable — US imperialism will persist.
~ Investigation and analysis by Richard Medhurst. Reprinted in part. See the whole story here
