ah, ah, holding the powerful to account. as we examined the u. s. his role in the world on alger sierra, on counting the costs, biden orders. what he says is an unprecedented re needs of oil reserves. will it bring prices down? can germany when itself, off rush and gas in 2 years and taxing crypto currency profits in india? how will it affect investors? counting the cost on al jazeera. ah, i lo, i'm fully betsy bo, this is counting the costs on al jazeera. you weekly, look at the world of business and economics this week, unleashing a torrent of crude oil present. joe biden,

orders what he says is the unprecedented release of u. s. oil reserves. how will that affect markets, and will it help cut prices at the pumps? also this week, what if russian gas tops i turned off germany is one of the new members most reliant on supplies and is particularly vulnerable. so can the germans weaned themselves all fresh and gas? and india imposes a tax on the profits of crypto care and see an ames to launch the digital ruby. is that a move towards regulating virtual currency and how when investors be affected? ah, thank you very much for joining as gasoline prices have risen, shot me after russia's invasion of ukraine, and americans are feeling the pinch at the gas pump with mid term elections just months away. present joe biden is under growing pressure to bring down the high energy prices, and he's attempting to do that by increasing supply. the president has ordered the

release of at least a 180000000 barrels of oil from the u. s. a strategic reserves over the next 6 months. that's the largest release of oil reserves. since the countries talk pile was created more than 46 years ago. this is a war time bridge to increase oil supplier to production ramps up later this year. and is by far the largest release warranty or wrong national reserve in our history, and provide historic amount of supply for a storage amount of time, a 6 months bridge to the fall. while the announcement marks the 3rd time in 6 months, the u. s. has topped into its talk pies, the president has also called for companies to pay fees if they choose not to use oil whales on land. they lease from the government and has promised to speed up the adoption of green energy sources biden plans to invoke the defense production act, to support the production of batteries like lithium and nickel among others. now, other members of the international energy agency, or i. e, a,

a watched off for western consumer nations also agreed to release more or less from their reserves. the move comes after the organization of petroleum exporting countries, opec and its allies, including russia, said they were sticking to their plan to gradually increase production. thus, despite pressure from the u. s. and other nations to boost output more quickly. so, how does the strategic petroleum reserves work and what does biden's plan mean for the market? let's have a look at the figures. the u. s. held 568000000 barrels of oil as of march 25th down from more than 700000000 at their peak in 2009. but i am member countries are required to keep equivalent to 90 days of net oil imports in emergency reserves for the us. that's 300. 15000000 barrels according to our b. c. capital markets. once the latest release is complete, the nation will have just 70000000 bows in buffer. the release of $1000000.00 barrels of oil

a day over 6 months would make up almost 5 percent of american demand and one percent of global demand. that's why the i a a said last month as much as $3000000.00 barrels a day of russian oil production would be lost because of us sanctions. now biden's announcement us pushed oil prices to settle lower, but they were st. twice the level a year ago. brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, hit a $139.00 a barrel last month after russia is invasion of ukraine began. the recent rise include prices has led to a jump in gasoline prices in the us with the national average price of a gallon of gas at more than $4.00 up from almost $3.00 a year ago. well, let's discuss all this further with great should bronze cross energy analysts that energy aspects. he joins us from london. richard, very good to have you with us on counting the cost. so will present biden's release of us. we have much impact on prices beyond the very short term. well, i think there will be some impact,

but it's probably going to mainly be reducing the risk that we see a really serious spike higher in price. if some i don't think the release on the phone is going to push oil prices down much further from car levels. so do you expect more disruptions ahead? yes, i think in terms of the russian supply, we're only beginning to see the actual disruption caused by sanctions and the self sanctioning that we're seeing from a lot of european bias. russian refineries have had to cut production and russian exports are starting to fall. although they haven't fallen immediately after this, not the complex. so these effects are still building up, and i think they're going to get worse over the next month or 2. i mean, it's a risky strategy though, isn't it for, for the us to draw down on it's s p r so heavily. what if the war and ukraine drags on? well, i think it's certainly true that you can't draw down with these kind of rates, and it's not just the u. s. in advance economy around the world that are announcing

big releases. we've seen the youth to a degree that we've never seen in the past. and i think that reflects how serious the concerns about the state of energy market, but it also has to be a 10 pretty measure. now washington is hoping that by the time they finish the 6 release us production will ever increase substantially. and that will help to bridge the supply gap created by russia. i think that's quite optimistic when we look at our full cost for us shale production. we do see growth this year, but not the kind of pace that it seems. the white house is hoping for, so this potentially a problem later in the summer or towards the end of the year when all of these releases have happened. and yet the market is still short of supply. i was going to ask you this, this is precisely about that richard. i mean, is the amount being released from strategic petroleum reserves, whether the u. s. or other countries? is it sufficient?

what would it take to make up for the disruption in russian supplies and fabulous the market? we think russian supply is going to fall by not 2000000 barrels a day compared to the pre conflict levels. and what you're looking at in the most optimistic scenario for these releases is under a 1000000 barrels a day. so it goes a long way to help bridge that down. but it isn't sufficient. you've also got to think about issue elsewhere with seeing less and less optimism that will be a nuclear deal with around with live sanctions on that country. and that was going to bring more supply into the market if that's not coming later. and this year, again, you've got a gap that even be completely filled by these with releasing these reserves rich. and how does it exactly work? how is it structured? is it going to be an exchange or outright sales? and what about logistical challenges and bottlenecks to move the oil from reserves to, to other places. so this is going to be an outline. it's going to be made available

to market and refineries or even international buyers can purchase as long as they can have the logistical arrangements to received an oil. the u. s. government has said that it will. busy repurchase this oil and refill b. s p r later. but that's going to be government today, not for the bias. so that's why it's not an exchange, but it doesn't. if price is a lower in the future, so anywhere under about a $100.00 a barrel for w t on the u. s. government is going to be a big buyer. oil to put it back into the. now the logistic problems that you mentioned are very significant because although the cabins and the storage sites themselves can technically release a little very rapidly, that oil has to move through the u. s. pipeline network through the same pipes can national production. and the problem is there are restrictions or limits on how

much s p l and you can release and move around that system without disrupting and impacting the compassionately. and so we think that the actual rate of s p release is going to be much lower than the 1000000 barrels a day that's been announced probably closer to $600000.00 barrels a day. do you think, richard? this will change the calculus opec class, which has been resisting, called to increase output. do you think it'll push them to try and increase the scale of their production? if anything, i think it does the opposite. they can point to the fact that the u. s. and others are releasing all the s b r and therefore say that the market doesn't need our tech class to have more supply. they've been very, very reluctant over a couple of meetings since the conflict started to do anything to adjust that current plans. and i think for now that remains the case. now we've heard renewed calls this week, richard for the team, for the sanctions on russia. the energy sector after the an h atrocities in butcher came to light. but european countries, we know, have been reluctant, right?

to impose a bond on russian energy, if a boy caught a russian oil and gas at all possible for europe, what impact will it have on, on european economies like germany, for example? well, i think if, even a few weeks ago we did that, it looked almost impossible about calculating, changing they, as it appears, the european union will buy coal imports, or at least put some kind of restriction on the light to this week. and that break the 2 when it comes to punching energy flows. it doesn't mean we'll definitely get measures against oil and gas. but the longer the conflict in ukraine goes on. the. ready more likely they become, i think there are proposals already being developed for the europeans, my count of russian oil imports. gas is the hardest one in terms of the level look that europe depends on russia, imports, and also the availability of alternative sources to fill that out. but we seem to

be getting closer. the political pressure is building. and i think if we are, you know, weeks or months or more fighting in ukraine, it becomes more and more likely that we do get some kind of. now you asked, how can europe respond or how can you deal with that? technically it's going to be possible, but it is going to be very expensive and it's going to be very disruptive. and so we are starting to see markets trying to price what that would look quite and how disrupted it might be. certainly you can get to the point where demand is gonna be, have to be limited or rationed in certain sectors of the european economy to manage the loss of russian oil gas supplies. if that happens, richard bronze, thank you very much for talking to her, some counting the costs. thank you for your time. ah, european nations are on high alert for any disruption to russian gas enforce present. vladimir putin wants what he calls unfriendly, biased to pay in rubles,

or face supplies being cut off. many european leaders have rejected the ultimatum and announced emergency pans to secure supplies. they include germany, which is acting to cut its dependence on russian energy by the middle of 2024. dominic cane reports some 1000000000 the are more gas insulation is far removed from the fighting in ukraine. here the focus is on getting the product out of the ground and on its way to customers. 55 percent of german gas imports last year came from russia and 40 percent in the 1st quarter of this. but outrage it warned ukraine has changed many europeans thinking we live as if it's even under the fact that we are diversifying our sources and we'll do so in the coming month safety, we will use the existing ellen g terminals on the west european coast. i'm a builder own elijah terminals much faster than before. that's ball building new l

n g or liquid natural gas terminals cannot cover all of germany's energy needs. it's thought the terminals will not be on stream for several years. and in the meantime, gas will still be needed. this is the heights craft back in central berlin here, natural gas is turned into heat and light, the thousands of homes for industry and the public sector in this city. it's one of many such installations all across the country. much of the power use in the stations comes from russian natural gas and cost this country every year, billions of dollars. for many years, the political elite here tolerated such a dependence on russian fossil fuels long after crimea was annexed in 2014. germany's previous chancellor angle america did not stop the now shelved an old stream to pipeline which connects russia to germany farther baltic c l.

deutschland had still, as for germany, wanted to secure its energy supply from various sources. russian gas is part of this, but we do not rely only on russian gas on. and yet when she made those comments, germany had already become increasingly reliant on russian gas. she had even been warned publicly about its risks by the then u. s. president. but germany is totally controlled by russia because they were getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from russia and a new pipeline. and you tell me of that's appropriate because i think it's not. and i think it's very badly, valero, and i don't think it should have been. but many, if the elite in germany appeared not to be listening, i oft one leading petrochemical policy analyst. why the idea was essentially, to work through trade. in order to lower the incentives for conflicts, because the moment you and hence trade in theory,

both sides engage invest haskin in the game. and that means you lower the political incentives for war or other types of conflict. that was the principal principal idea driving a lot of the russia politics and policies of the german government, but also of other european governments. it didn't work as we know and yes, we'll contact, they should have known better. now those governments are leading a dash from gas. the european commission recently unveiled plans to cut many billions of cubic meters or b c m's. by the end of this year, we can replace $100.00 b. c. m of got some ports from russia. that is 2 thirds of what we import from them . this will end our over dependency and give us much needed room to maneuver. part of the e u plan mirrors proposals put forward by ministers in berlin. marrying expediency over hydrocarbons now with their longer term environmental ambitions. and we will

see europe and governments across the board ramping up programs for renewables. 200000000000 from the german government's ah, going into clean tack. going forward a whole program in the shape of re power europe at the european level. like even if it's what we don't know is how such a move will be perceived in the kremlin lane. but with his recent requirement to make ease states pay for gas in rubles, rather than dollars for euro's president, putin has already signaled his intent yesterday. if these payments are not being accomplished, what we would consider it is by his failure to meet their commitments with all the relevant consequences. nobody sells anything to us for free. neither are we going to do charity work. no, that means the current contracts will be brought to a home to the new months obligatory. and that is a real worry for many across europe who wonder what might happen in winter if

russia switches off the gas. several industrialists say such a denial of energy could be catastrophic to the economy. dawn, it came for counting the cost berlin. now india has long been concerned by crypto currencies and was planning to ban them. but instead of prohibition, the indian government appears to be moving towards legalizing and regulating the digital currency. and it's announced a 30 percent tax on gains from the transfer of digital assets such as bit coins and non findable tokens. his or india correspondent eliza brannon, in new delhi need clarity, has made tens of thousands of dollars investing and trading and crypto currency over the past 4 years. but the 24 year old is selling, at least half of all has digital assets before new taxes on them come into effect. from april, investors will have to pay 30 percent tax on sales of crypto currencies and won't be able to offset any losses from one against profits from another. so that's all i

will be managing, introducing exposure, getting more interest often for the current using the volume of trades that i am doing daily. and probably we will be seeing that increased exchange, that india we will be seeing or decrease in volume because the thought process is pretty soon. the same. introduction of the central governance has a major increase in crypto currency. transactions has made it essential to impulse taxes. there are around $25000000.00 india to own crypto currency, with up to $10000000000.00 worth of assets being traded every month. the average investor is just 24 years old and most have a portfolio of $650.00 to $1300.00 a year. the founder of india's largest trading exchange says it doesn't make sense to impose the highest tax bracket regardless of earnings. so, you know, there are certain amount that you, all in, you know,

there's not taxable at all. you don't have to be back. but if you are needing and then you make a profit back and you still have to be 30 percent, which is the highest and that's something open for a lot of be put up land. and i got a good thought began investing and crypto currency when he was at university in 2016. the 23 year old day job is running his family's carpet business. but all of his earnings are invested crypto currencies. he's not happy about the high taxes that relieve the government, isn't bad and crypto currency after it indicated last year. it would not be. i think that an important 1st step. i'm not happy about them. no, i'm obviously not happy with some of the particular things by these. we should like recall back in december, everyone with debt shorter. this is going right. they're going to force liquidation from all exchanges and they're just going to ban it. and that didn't happen. many others agree with rock of and say the taxes are too high and could push invest as

an businesses into moving the assets to countries with more favorable tax laws. but they also agree they're better than an outright ban. elizabeth per item al jazeera new delhi. now along with a capital gains charge, the government announced a one percent tax deductible at source or t t. yes, that will apply on old digital assets transfers above a certain size starting on july 1st, india will also roll out its own block chain base currency digital whoopee controlled by the indian central bank before april next year. joining us not from new york is roger bron global head of tax strategy, a chain alice's thank you for being with us on counting the costs. roger is a big outcry in india right now after the government announces 30 percent tax on virtual assets. i want to know for how significant it is, how much tax is imposed on crypto currency in different countries worldwide. the

tax, every country tends to tax crypto slightly differently. you see common themes, the minority of countries, it's really only a handful pose, no capital gains tax at all. and oftentimes they don't have the capital gains tax. in other instances, the only tax certain kinds of transactions in general, for example, last year in france, don't tax crypto for crypto trades. when i show x r p in exchange for a theory. and they won't tax that wait till someone receives traditional fee on currency, which is just like o fray, a term referring to cash. so 30 percent of the net gain or the with you. if you buy it asked for a 100, you saw what per 7 or 80 i have 20 again. so applying 30 percent the tax is similar to what many countries do. i would say that what is more than what some countries

do is many countries will give you a reduction where if you lose money on a sale, there will be a deduction, a capital loss that you can use against similar types of gauge in the, in the proposal you're not allowed to do that. so i think that is a departure from some other countries where they also approach. and then i would say the one percent tax deduction source is also a departure from what you see in other countries. so that in effect, but it is creditable against the 30 percent again, but that is a different increase. so the one percent of tax deductible at the source is a departure you say, when you look at india and compare it to other countries, how big is, is india's crypto currency ecosystem. and how much can the government hope to collect from, from this crypto tax? well, the indian ecosystem is quite large as obviously

a very educated population. many people pursue tech and very people crypto and watching necessarily our technologies and among the crypto indexing region, the in the really rank top. so india is a major section for bo and b, and it'll have a material impact that we're seeing test reports now that some exchanges are seeing 30 to 70 percent drops in volume. i would say that unlike other asset classes, the market for trading crypto is global. so if somebody has a choice between jurisdiction a trade and jurisdiction be and the tax is different, then they'll go for that other jurisdiction. right? there is concern about the evasion, right. i mean,

will it be easy to track given the nature of the transactions? so there are technologies that one can determine where, where some, where trading occurs. the 30 percent tax, assuming that the tax applied at the individual level in india will tax indian taxpayer. but the taxing was whether they're trading and was your accept or which or trading coin base, say us or coin, which is not indian. this attaching the same, the person would, may choose, may choose to choose the tray or the foreign exchange is not in the exchange. if the terms of invasion in india will have technology available, where if they can associate trading on a non in need exchange to a human being and india,

then it is possible to determine whether it's tax evasion with technology. i'm the o e c. d. go ahead. no i was gonna ask you briefly, raja how it would affect investors and liquidity. it will affect the quality they could drive down prices. crypto is global. so if somebody can get other prices in other, other jurisdictions in the use of major market, it could have a depression or reducing a depressing price on, on, on crypto. indeed, i would say that you could have 9 indian traders come in and, and see that the one percent is acceptable and they'll come in and perhaps drive up the price of that goes to be determined. thank you so much for talking to us about this sponsor of roger brown joining us from the o. thank you for your insight. thank you. and that is our show for this week and get in touch with us by tweeting neat at for you by a j e. and do use a hash tag,

ha, ctc, when you do or drop us an e mail counting the cost at our to sierra dot net. these are tray that is more for you online at al jazeera dot com slash ctc. that will take you straight to our page, which has individual reports, links, and entire episodes for you to catch up on. that's it for this edition of counting the cost, some fully bateau from me and the whole team hearing doha, thanks for joining us in use on out jessia is next. a journey has begun the faithful world copies on its way to the castle. wookey will travel package to the head low there. it's all about the scorching heat when it comes to south asia in particular for northern areas of india and of course pakistan. now, new delhi has been sweltering under a severe heat wave. they saw the temperature touch, 42 degrees, the hottest day in april in 5 years. now this heat,

we usually see it at this time of the year, the pre monsoon heat, but not at these kinds of temperatures. and these temperatures have been, haven't been this high in april for about 72 years and they're set to continue. it might dip down in new delhi to 39, come tuesday, but they will be touching the forty's once again by thursday, with those hot and dry conditions once the cloud edges out. now further south of this, we've got a few showers, kissing around coastal areas of corolla, the more intense thunderstorms of for sri lanka. and in the northeast corner, while the rain dug these. but it will be picking up once again from wednesday in a some. and it was we had to east asia, it's been largely fine and dry for much of china. but the wet weather isn't very far away. you can see it picking up sweeping across into the korean peninsula and edging up into northern areas of japan. but it winds up nicely in the south once that wet a weather skirts its foot way further east. and we'll see sunshine in tokyo at 24 degrees celsius. i saw air with visual airline of the joy.

china is locked in a saw the battle with the us when i what a sleep the on one areas barbecue one out of there. ah, al jazeera with no food. oh i, i really don't know how to find that. it's it's, it's not possible for me to defend it, but it's just one of those things that you feel this is yes, i believe in this i'm so i'm not but i'm an independent animation for me. oh, it's about the idea that your efforts don't go waste. it's about it's about

the believing in the it's about that as a full make, i wouldn't want my r means to support that. then when twist is that of you, i would definitely want my audience was like jump or what did i say? yes. this is what i wanted. i have tried to be very honest with him. the story isn't mine. yes, i did. i rip it off from my sister's childhood incident. she was the one who planted a chocolate don't attend. so i have put in elements of my childhood up, but i stick within my influences that i've had the, the little incidence that used to take place in my own backyard. i've tried a little bit of everything so as to stay on this to the one team, but still big the whole you learn from my ad wineburg. i'm trying to create that, that language to read. this kid is a shy kid and he doesn't speak to that is how i ended up not giving him

whenever the need to be. i wanted him to express through the eyes. i just didn't want him to look shout and scream and cry. just to show that his discipline, i wonder something which is very subtle, that he expresses, but it's barely an expression, although he's a shy kid, although he doesn't speak, he would still don what his brains with traditional gives you a lot of people that you know, the doors, but when it, when it comes down to flipping those pages and understanding and i know everything goes what are cost, at least my 1st 5 line blinds following protocols. because i didn't know what to look like. i did do do them. they were not working on those, this one when i try to click and i said yes, i'm going to go with .