{"id":562525,"date":"2021-05-27T04:13:12","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T04:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/05\/27\/this-morning-a-very-very-bad-day-for-big-oil-things-are-heating-up-between-the-us-and-china\/"},"modified":"2021-05-27T04:13:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T04:13:12","slug":"this-morning-a-very-very-bad-day-for-big-oil-things-are-heating-up-between-the-us-and-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/05\/27\/this-morning-a-very-very-bad-day-for-big-oil-things-are-heating-up-between-the-us-and-china\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: A very, very bad day for Big Oil + things are heating up between the US and China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and welcome to a pleasantly quiet Thursday. <\/strong>We\u2019re just a few hours away from the warm embrace of the weekend. In the meantime:<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY AT HOME- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken\u2019s visit to Cairo <\/strong>yesterday has everyone talking<\/strong> about a possible shift in Egypt and the US\u2019 diplomatic relationship. We have chapter and verse in the news well, below.<\/p>\n

TWO STORIES ABROAD are competing for your attention this morning: <\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- It\u2019s a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Big Oil<\/strong>, which is taking it on the chin for its role in climate change after Shell was found in a Dutch court to be partially responsible for global warming on the same day that Exxon can now look forward to a future with two activist investors on its board of directors. \u201cThe events of today show definitively that many leaders in the oil-and-gas industry have a tin ear and do not understand that society\u2019s views and the [legislative] and political environment in which they operate are changing radically,\u201d said Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy professor Amy Myers Jaffe, who has advised energy companies. Lots more in the WSJ<\/a> and Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#2- Things look to be heating up between the US and China. <\/strong>Word broke just before dispatch time that the top trade negotiators for Beijing and Washington have had their first phone conversation<\/a> since Joe Biden took over the White House. The news came just after the US\u2019 National Security Council\u2019s top official for Asia \u201csignalled that<\/a>the era of engagement with China has come to an end<\/a><\/strong>. US policy toward China will now operate under a \u2018new set of strategic parameters\u2019 and \u2018the dominant paradigm is going to be competition.\u2019\u201d Adding fuel to the fire: <\/strong>Biden has ordered an intelligence review<\/a> of the Wuhan lab leak theory<\/strong> on the origins of covid-19. Keeping the dialogue going will fall to a new US ambassador to Beijing<\/strong> as Biden prepares to announce he\u2019s tapping a retired career diplomat<\/a>, Nicholas Burns, to lead the embassy there.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY- Budget week continues at the house:<\/strong> Parliament\u2019s Healthcare Committee is due to discuss the budgets for the General Authority for Healthcare; the Universal Healthcare Ins. Authority; the Health Ins. Organization; and the General Authority for Healthcare, Accreditation, and Regulation, according to parliament\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/strong>, which turned 125 years old yesterday. Articles, books and podcasts (\u201cit doesn\u2019t matter\u201d)<\/a> have assailed the Dow for its multiple shortcomings, but the gauge continues to have a hold on the imaginations of investors and journalists alike. The WSJ has a birthday paean<\/a> to the index owned by its parent company.<\/p>\n

***CATCH UP QUICK<\/strong> with the top stories from yesterday\u2019s edition of EnterprisePM:<\/p>\n