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Hardships Mounting for Refugees Inside Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria — Some five million Syrians are now refugees in their own country, many living hand-to-mouth in vacant buildings, schools, mosques, parks and the cramped homes of relatives. Others are trapped in neighborhoods isolated by military blockades, beyond the reach of aid groups. Already desperately short of food and medicine as winter closes in, they could begin to succumb in greater numbers to hunger and exposure, aid workers say. The long civil war has forced two million Syrians outside the country ‘s borders, but more than twice that number face mounting privations at home, and the toll keeps rising. The deepening humanitarian crisis threatens to set the country’s development back decades and dwarfs any aid effort that could conceivably be carried out while the conflict continues, aid workers and analysts say. The cost of replacing damaged homes and infrastructure alone is estimated at more than $30 billion, and […]

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Pirates Abduct Two Americans on Oil Ship Off Nigerian Coast

Pirates attacked an American-flagged oil industry vessel off the Nigerian coast early Thursday and abducted the captain and the chief engineer, both United States citizens, the Nigerian Navy and a private security firm reported. The abductions appeared to be the first involving American hostages in that region in at least two years. An official of the private security firm, AKE Group, of Hereford, England, said the attack on the vessel, identified as the C-Retriever, took place near the Nigerian city of Brass, where the oil-rich Niger Delta empties into the Gulf of Guinea, in West Africa. The official, based in AKE Group’s office in Lagos, Nigeria, spoke on the condition of anonymity. “All we know is this attack happened, and these were the people who were kidnapped,” the official said by telephone. He said he did not know the identities of the two hostages. A spokesman for the Nigerian […]

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Response to a City’s Smog Points to a Change in Chinese Attitude

BEIJING — Emergency measures came swiftly in Harbin, the northeastern city blanketed with hazardous smog this week: Schools were shut down, buses ordered off the roads, the airport closed, police roadblocks set up to check tailpipe emissions from cars. City officials even fanned out in the surrounding countryside, ordering farmers to stop burning the cornstalks left in their fields after the harvest. They were reacting to the first notable surge of air pollution in China this autumn. Residents across the nation’s north fear that the smog is a sign of things to come. With winter approaching, cities north of the Huai River are turning on their coal-fired municipal heating systems, whose emissions were found in one study to shorten residents’ life spans by an average of five years. In Harbin, moist air trapped the pollution at ground level, leaving people to walk through a gray miasma wearing face masks. […]

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Green Car Congress: Governors of 8 states sign MoU to put 3.3M zero-emission vehicles on roads by 2025; 15% of new vehicle sales

« GM announces 1.8MW solar project at Toledo Transmission plant | Main | Consortium including Volvo Car Group completes successful study of EV wireless charging » Print this post Governors of 8 states sign MoU to put 3.3M zero-emission vehicles on roads by 2025; 15% of new vehicle sales The governors of 8 states—California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont—have signed a memorandum of understanding ( MoU ) to take specific actions to put 3.3 million zero emission vehicles on the roads in their states by 2025, along with the refueling infrastructure required to support those vehicles. Zero-emission vehicles include battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel-cell-electric vehicles; the technologies can be applied in passenger cars, trucks and transit buses. The 3.3 million ZEVs would represent a new vehicle market penetration for the group of states of about 15%, said Mary Nichols, Chairman of […]

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Study: Uncertainty rules smaller nations’ rush to gas

Smaller nations’ plans to invest in natural gas should proceed with caution, according to interim results of a study by MIT Energy Initiative in collaboration with the Cyprus Institute. Funded entirely by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, the study is part of a larger report that will further take into account the changing dynamics of the regional and global gas markets and give a comprehensive view of the implications for long-term development of natural gas in Cyprus and other similar nations. Using Cyprus as an example, the study takes an independent look at the economics of developing gas. The researchers expect to finish the report in August 2014. “While natural gas is often cheaper than oil and gives off fewer emissions, developing the resource comes with risks, especially for smaller nations,” says Sergey Paltsev, an author of the study and a principal research scientist at MIT Energy Initiative. Because […]

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Bakken, Eagle Ford, New EIA Data  

Tight Oil Decline Rate The EIA has just began posting data on the six major tight oil and gas production areas, Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellas, Niobrara and Permian. All this data can be found at: EIA Drilling Productivity Report . To the right of the chart you will see several PDF links. Ignore all of them except the last one: Full Report . That is simply all the above links combined into one. Then if you would like the data in Excel format click on:  Report data (aggregated by region) That link will download all the data in the PDF charts in an Excel Spreadsheet. And from this data you can create Excel Charts as I have done below. The first chart is production in barrels per day from each of the six oil and gas producing regions. Oil is my main concern, not gas, but others may […]

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Eni CEO Says Libyan Situation Very Worrying

Reuters More ROME, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Disruptions to oil production in Libya are “very worrying” to Italian oil and gas group Eni , its chief executive said on Wednesday, as losses there continue to weigh on its prospects for output and profit. A combination of strikes, militias and political activists have disrupted production at the majority of Libya’s oilfields and ports since the end of July. Eni, the world’s seventh-biggest oil major, is the largest foreign operator in Libya in terms of volume. Production disruptions there prompted the company in August to cut its yearly projections. “The Wafa field is shut, while gas is only produced for power generation inside the country,” Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said on the sidelines of a conference. Wafa is one of four major oil and gas areas that Eni operates in Libya in a joint venture with the National Oil Company. […]

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The global economy sinks under its debts as the real cost of energy rises

The global economy sinks under its debts as the real cost of energy rises ALTHOUGH the economy is improving, this is turning out to be “a recovery, but not as we know it”. Britain may be getting better off, but people keep getting poorer, as the costs of essentials continue to grow much more rapidly than incomes. Yet far from being a uniquely British problem, this is a worldwide phenomenon. When you consider the “richer economy, poorer people” conundrum, it might occur to you that there are in fact two parallel economies, not one. This is precisely the point made in my new book Life After Growth. On the one hand, we have the “real” economy of energy, resources, labour, goods and services. On the other, there is the “financial” economy of money and debt. Money, of course, has no intrinsic worth, so any value that money possesses derives […]

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Turkey raps international failure to tackle Syria aid crisis

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday deplored what he called an international failure to tackle the humanitarian crisis in war-ridden Syria, saying food and medicine are running out and snipers are shooting pregnant women. Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey, which has received more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, would keep its border with Syria open to people fleeing the violence but said the world needed to share the humanitarian burden. "I have to express our deep disappointment and frustration because of the absence of a proper reaction by the international community regarding the humanitarian situation on the ground," he told reporters in Kuwait during a bilateral visit. Turkey, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria, is a strong critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a major supporter of rebels fighting to oust him. The more than two-and-a-half-year conflict has killed over 100,000 people and displaced millions. "Those […]

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Australia, U.N. spar over wildfires and climate change

OSLO (Reuters) – Australia’s prime minister accused the U.N.’s climate change chief on Wednesday of "talking through her hat" when she drew a link between wildfires raging in his country and global warming. Firefighters were battling about 60 fires burning across New South Wales state, with strong winds fanning blazes in the Blue Mountains, a major commuter area of small towns west of Sydney. Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N.’s Bonn-based Climate Change Secretariat, told CNN earlier this week that there was "absolutely" a link between climate change and wildfires. She hinted at a possibility of linking the Australian fires to global warming, saying: "The World Meteorological Organization has not established a direct link between this wildfire and climate change yet." Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott rejected any suggestion that the blazes in Australia were the product of rising carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels such as […]

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Senior parliamentarian says Iran has halted 20 percent enrichment

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has stopped enriching uranium to 20 percent, one of the key demands of world powers in talks over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, a senior Iranian parliamentarian was quoted as saying. There was no immediate comment from the U.N. nuclear agency in Vienna which regularly inspects Iranian nuclear sites and would likely be aware of any production halt. One diplomat in Vienna also said he was not aware of any halt to production. Any such move would come as a major surprise, as Western experts believe Iran would want to use its higher-grade enrichment as a bargaining chip to win relief from crippling sanctions. Iranian MPs have in the past made statements about Iran’s nuclear program that were later denied by the government. Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, a senior member of Iran’s parliamentary national security commission, also said Tehran had only stopped enriching uranium to levels above […]

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China central bank fuels fears of inflation clampdown

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank added fuel to fears on Thursday it was clamping down on inflation risks as it allowed cash to drain from the financial system for a second straight week, sparking a jump in short-term rates. The move by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) happened as Beijing stepped up its efforts to counter surging property prices in the capital in an attempt to calm rising discontent over the city’s record-high home prices. China also widened the funding options for local governments and property companies by giving them access to the interbank bond market to finance affordable housing, a priority of Chinese leaders, sources told IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. Housing data this week has raised fresh concerns about property bubbles in some major cities, which could add to consumer inflation – already at a seven-month high – and add to criticism that home prices […]

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WTI Rebounds From Near 4-Month Low; U.S. Stockpiles Rise

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for the first time in four days as a measure of China ’s economic recovery topped forecasts, signaling increased demand in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. Futures rebounded as much as 0.8 percent in New York after losing 3.9 percent over the previous three days. A preliminary index of Chinese manufacturing advanced to 50.9 for October, beating the median estimate of 50.4 in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. This week’s decline to the lowest price in almost four months may be excessive, according to a technical indicator. “The latest HSBC China PMI showing economic expansion is supportive,” said Victor Shum , a vice president at IHS Energy Insight, a consultant in Singapore . “It isn’t surprising to see a bit of buying this morning, as some market participants see this as a buying opportunity.” WTI for December delivery climbed as much as 77 […]

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Singh Spends $2.2 Billion to Triple Oil Reserve: Corporate India

India , Asia’s second-largest energy user, will spend $2.2 billion to more than triple its proposed emergency crude oil reserves as it seeks to protect the economy against supply disruptions. Four caverns with a combined capacity of 12.5 million metric tons will be built at a cost of 133 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) and add to three with 5.03 million tons of capacity under construction, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Rajan K. Pillai said. The government may turn to its biggest refiners Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) to help fill the reservoirs, he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seeking to shield Asia’s third-biggest economy from perennial political risk in the Middle East and Africa , which account for 85 percent of its imports. Sanctions by the European Union and the U.S. against Iran forced India to halve its estimated oil imports […]

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Iraq to Boost Oil Output This Year as Asian Demand Strengthens

Iraq , OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, reiterated plans to boost crude output and exports by the end of the year as demand from Asian buyers strengthens. Production will rise to 3.5 million barrels a day by the end of December and increase further in 2014, Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi told reporters in Baghdad today. Iraq’s output is about 3.3 million barrels a day, Deputy Prime Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani said a week ago. China and India , Iraq’s two biggest customers, both requested additional supplies next year, Thamir Ghadhban, an adviser to Iraq’s prime minister, said in an interview in Baghdad today, without specifying how much more oil they sought. Japan asked for 300,000 barrels of crude a day and South Korea sought 250,000 barrels a day, he said. China will import 900,000 million barrels a day to 1 million barrels a day of Iraqi crude next year while […]

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Oil above $97 as China manufacturing improves

BANGKOK (AP) — Stronger Chinese manufacturing pushed the price of oil higher Thursday but gains were kept in check by plentiful supplies. Benchmark U.S. crude for December delivery was up 65 cents at $97.51 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.44 to $96.86 on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. oil inventories rose by 5.2 million barrels last week, a possible symptom of subdued demand and overproduction. The rise in stockpiles followed a 4 million barrel increase in the previous week. The price of crude has fallen about 5 percent over the past week to its lowest levels since June. But it got a lift Thursday from a survey that showed China’s manufacturing rose to a seven month high in October, suggesting continued momentum for the recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. The preliminary version […]

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Dmitry Medvedev: Russia sees China as long-term natural gas partner

BEIJING, Oct. 23 (UPI) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in Beijing major investments are in the works for natural gas supplies in energy-hungry China. Medvedev said Russia is on the cusp of reaching multibillion-dollar natural gas supply deals with China, which, with its expanding economy, is fast becoming the world’s leading energy consumer. Officials with Russian natural gas company Gazprom met this week with their Chinese counterparts to discuss potential agreements in the energy sector. “These agreements that we are on the way to reaching, in particular concerning gas, will soon become [official] documents,” Medvedev was quoted by Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying during a state visit to Beijing Tuesday. Russian energy company Novatek said Tuesday it reached a deal to supply at least 3 million tons of liquefied natural gas to China National Petroleum Corp. under the terms of a 15-year contract. “We […]

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Chevron has 8 million acres in Bight Basin off South Australia state

SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 23 (UPI) — Chevron Corp. sees “significant exploration potential” in 8 million acres it acquired in the Bight Basin off the Australian coast, a company official said. Chevron acquired blocks S12-2 and S12-3, two frontier reserve areas 275 miles in deep waters off South Australia state. The company will serve as the operator with a 100 percent interest. “The Bight Basin is similar in size to the Gulf of Mexico and these two blocks contain significant exploration potential,” Chevron Australia Managing Director Roy Krzywosinski said in a statement Tuesday. The company provided no reserve estimate for the Bight Basin. In early October, Chevron, which has headquarters in California, signed a 20-year deal to deliver liquefied natural gas from its Wheatstone project in Australia to Tohuko Electric Power Co. of Japan. The first gas from Wheatstone LNG is expected by 2016. Chevron also holds a stake […]

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Alberta Regulator Steps Up Pressure on Oil-Sands Producer

CALGARY—Alberta’s environment ministry has ordered Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. CNQ.T -1.39% Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Canada: Toronto $ 32.53 -0.46 -1.39% Oct. 23, 2013 4:00 pm Volume : 3.75M P/E Ratio 25.41 Market Cap $35.88 Billion Dividend Yield 1.54% Rev. per Employee $2,474,870 10/23/13 Alberta Regulator Steps Up Pre… 10/10/13 Canada Stocks to Watch: Rogers… 10/04/13 Canada Stocks to Watch: Air Ca… More quote details and news » CNQ.T in Your Value Your Change Short position to speed its efforts to stop the spread of crude-oil leaks that have likely contaminated groundwater near a large-scale oil-sands project, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The enforcement order, issued late Tuesday, puts added pressure on the company, whose Primrose-Wolf Lake production site has been plagued by a series of unexplained subterranean oil leaks dating back to May. “The order itself is because we wanted them to immediately begin the work,” said environment ministry […]

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Oil Futures Supported by Chinese Manufacturing Data

Crude-oil futures staged a minor rebound in Asian trading hours Thursday on positive Chinese manufacturing data, but gains are likely to be capped by rising U.S. oil stockpiles and weak demand fundamentals. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $97.40 a barrel at 0627 GMT, up $0.54 in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.04 to $107.84 a barrel. The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, rose to a seven-month high of 50.9 in October compared with a final reading of 50.2 in September, data showed Thursday. A figure above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. “The figure denotes continuous expansion in economic activities in China. This will buoy demand for crude oil, which has a positive impact on crude-oil prices,” analyst Tan Chee […]

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U.S. Gas Exports Not a Done Deal, Yet – MoneyBeat – WSJ

By Ben Winkley Here’s your morning jolt of news, insight and analysis on the global energy business. Send us tips, suggestions and complaints: ben.winkley@wsj.com Click here to receive this morning email newsletter Click here to follow Ben Winkley on Twitter U.S. GAS BUSINESS ROARS U.S. natural gas is roaring. Head back, like no one is watching, roaring. If the Marcellus Shale was a country it would be the eighth largest producer in the world . For the first time in 2013 there is a supply glut as winter comes in slow. This shows no sign of stopping. Wells are getting bigger, better and faste r and billions of dollars of investments are being planned on the basis that this low-price environment remains in place. There is even a guy down on the Gulf Coast who wouldn’t worry if gas prices went up a little . Jim Gallogy, CEO of […]

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Natural Gas Higher as Near-Term Cold Halts Losing Streak

–Colder outlook for Midwest temperatures next week –Prices gain after 4.9% loss in past two days –Storage data Thursday expected to show large gain By David Bird NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures traded higher Wednesday, spurred by forecasts that Midwest temperatures next week will be even colder than earlier projected, boosting short-term home-heating demand. The gain follows a 4.9% decline over the past two days on longer-term outlooks that show the late October cold won’t continue into the winter months for much of the country. Traders said the market also was taking a pause between a double dose of weekly gas inventory reports from the Energy Information Administration this week. The EIA reported Tuesday that gas stocks rose by 77 billion cubic feet to 3.654 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Oct. 11. That report, delayed from last week because of the government shutdown, showed a larger rise than the […]

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Criticism of United States’ Mideast Policy Increasingly Comes From Allies

ROME — As the United States grapples with some of the most intractable problems in the Middle East, it has run into a buzz saw of criticism, not from traditional enemies but from two of its strongest allies. During stops in Paris and London this week, Secretary of State John Kerry found himself insisting that the United States was not facing a growing rift with oil-rich Saudi Arabia, whose emissaries have described strains over American policy on Egypt, Iran and Syria. And during a stop in Rome, Mr. Kerry sought to reassure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel that the Obama administration would not drop its guard in the newly invigorated nuclear talks with Iran. Mr. Kerry’s comments appeared to do little to persuade Mr. Netanyahu, whose demands that Iran dismantle its nuclear program are tougher than any compromise that the United States and other world powers seem prepared […]

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Lawmaker Says Iran Has Halted Enrichment

TEHRAN — An influential Iranian lawmaker says his country has halted the production of enriched uranium up to 20 percent, a level that experts say is only a few technical steps from what is needed to produce a nuclear weapon. The remarks by the lawmaker, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, who is the deputy head of the national security and foreign policy committee in Parliament, were published on the Parliament’s official Web site, Icana, on Tuesday. No other officials confirmed the news, but Mr. Naqavi Hosseini and his committee have recently visited nuclear sites and on Saturday were briefed by one of Iran ’s main nuclear negotiators, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Mr. Naqavi Hosseini is the first lawmaker of such stature to make such a statement. If his report is true, then Iran may be edging closer to accepting one of the main demands of world powers, that it suspend […]

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Some Iranians Seek to Renew an Old Chant

TEHRAN — Born during the hostage crisis days after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the chant “Death to America” has enjoyed a long run on the Iranian stage. But it has been getting a little threadbare in recent times, and has even come under threat, with no less a person than the newly elected president, Hassan Rouhani, suggesting that the country no longer needed slogans. While for some this may be a refreshing sign of political maturity, others are determined to inject new life into the old chant. Toward this end, several hard-line groups have announced plans for a “Down With U.S.A.” conference next month, highlighted by “The First Major International Award of ‘Down With America’ ” for the best photograph, poster, video, song or caricature. The contest winners will be announced in December, and will receive cash awards of as much as $4,000. While the slogan in Persian, “Marg bar […]

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Russia drops piracy charges on Greenpeace activists | Al Jazeera America

Russia dropped piracy charges Wednesday against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling. They are now charged with lesser offences, cutting their maximum possible jail sentences to seven years from 15. Greenpeace has said the arrests and charges are intended to frighten off campaigners protesting against drilling in the Arctic, a region Putin describes as crucial to Russia’s economic future and its security. The charges against activists, who protested at a Gazprom oil platform off Russia’s northern coast last month, have been changed from piracy to hooliganism, the federal Investigative Committee said in a statement. Greenpeace said the new charges were still “wildly disproportionate,” and promised to contest them. All 30 people who were aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise during the Sept. 18 protest, in which activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnaya platform , are being held in detention in the northern Murmansk region […]

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Russia drops piracy charges on Greenpeace activists | Al Jazeera America

Russia dropped piracy charges Wednesday against 30 people involved in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling. They are now charged with lesser offences, cutting their maximum possible jail sentences to seven years from 15. Greenpeace has said the arrests and charges are intended to frighten off campaigners protesting against drilling in the Arctic, a region Putin describes as crucial to Russia’s economic future and its security. The charges against activists, who protested at a Gazprom oil platform off Russia’s northern coast last month, have been changed from piracy to hooliganism, the federal Investigative Committee said in a statement. Greenpeace said the new charges were still “wildly disproportionate,” and promised to contest them. All 30 people who were aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise during the Sept. 18 protest, in which activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnaya platform , are being held in detention in the northern Murmansk region […]

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Iraq PM warns of 'war of genocide' as attacks kill 49

Iraq PM warns of ‘war of genocide’ as attacks kill 49 By Salam Faraj (AFP) – 15 hours ago   Baghdad — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned on Wednesday that the country is facing a “war of genocide,” as officials said militants killed 49 people in two days of attacks. Violence has reached a level unseen since 2008, as Iraq emerged from a brutal conflict between minority Sunni Muslims and majority Shiites. Militants, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, a Sunni organisation, frequently target security forces and other government employees. “It has become clear… that Iraq is subjected to a war of genocide targeting all of its components,” Maliki said in his weekly address. Al-Qaeda is once again “destroying the houses of citizens and killing them, and blowing up government departments,” Maliki said. But a front opposing the militant group “has begun to form in Iraq from different components… […]

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Iraq PM warns of ‘war of genocide’ as attacks kill 49

Iraq PM warns of ‘war of genocide’ as attacks kill 49 By Salam Faraj (AFP) – 15 hours ago   Baghdad — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned on Wednesday that the country is facing a “war of genocide,” as officials said militants killed 49 people in two days of attacks. Violence has reached a level unseen since 2008, as Iraq emerged from a brutal conflict between minority Sunni Muslims and majority Shiites. Militants, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, a Sunni organisation, frequently target security forces and other government employees. “It has become clear… that Iraq is subjected to a war of genocide targeting all of its components,” Maliki said in his weekly address. Al-Qaeda is once again “destroying the houses of citizens and killing them, and blowing up government departments,” Maliki said. But a front opposing the militant group “has begun to form in Iraq from different components… […]

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Nigeria: Warri Refinery Explosion – MEND Died in 2009 – Ex-Militant Leaders

Photo: AkwaIbom.com Port Harcourt — REPENTANT militant leaders in the Niger Delta, under the auspices of Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, LPCDI, yesterday, said the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, died in 2009 and added that any claim or threat from a faceless group claiming to be MEND should, henceforth, be ignored by Nigerians. Denouncing the claim by MEND that it was responsible for Tuesday’s explosion at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC, Warri, Delta State, the ex-militant leaders, in a statement by LPCDI president, Pastor Reuben Wilson, said: “MEND ceased to exist from the day we accepted the amnesty offer of the Federal Government. Nigerians should henceforth disregard any claim or threat by MEND because the group died in 2009.” According to him, the acclaimed spokesman of MEND, Jomo Gbomo, never existed. “We make bold to say that there is no organisation […]

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Eagle Ford Shale Beats Bakken to 1M Bpd Milestone – EIA

More Eagle Ford Shale Beats Bakken to 1M Bpd Milestone – EIA Oct 22 (Reuters) – In the U.S. shale oil race, the Eagle Ford formation in Texas has beaten North Dakota’s Bakken to the 1 million barrel per day milestone, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report on Tuesday. The new monthly report, which is the first national effort to lay out comparable monthly figures and projections from six major shale plays, highlighted the stunning speed with which the Eagle Ford region has overtaken the Bakken region that first showed how hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology could revolutionize the oil industry. Total production from Eagle Ford hit 1 million bpd in August and is projected to rise to 1.07 million bpd in October and to 1.09 million bpd in November, the EIA report showed. The Bakken, mostly in North Dakota, is expected to produce 935,000 bpd […]

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China's manufacturing hits 7-month high: HSBC

  • Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October: HSBC.   • The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9.   • The October figure further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.   BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Thursday. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9. The reading compared with a final recording of 50.2 for September, HSBC said in a report. The 50.9 figure is the highest since April. The October figure, the earliest reading of China’s monthly economic performance, further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, said the country’s growth recovery was becoming consolidated into the fourth quarter. The momentum is likely to continue in the coming […]

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China’s manufacturing hits 7-month high: HSBC

  • Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October: HSBC.   • The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9.   • The October figure further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.   BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — Manufacturing activities in China increased to a seven-month high in October, according to HSBC’S preliminary purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Thursday. The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for October rose to 50.9. The reading compared with a final recording of 50.2 for September, HSBC said in a report. The 50.9 figure is the highest since April. The October figure, the earliest reading of China’s monthly economic performance, further confirmed a gradual recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC, said the country’s growth recovery was becoming consolidated into the fourth quarter. The momentum is likely to continue in the coming […]

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Meet Massive New Super-Giant Oilfield in Texas  

Page added on October 23, 2013 Early estimate from Pioneer Natural Resources are than it could contain 50 billion barrels of recoverable oil, which would make it the second largest in the world, behind only the legendary Ghawar in Saudi Arabia. _ RealClearEnergy The Spraberry Wolfcamp oilfield is still being mapped out, but so far over 50 billion barrels of oil has been estimated in place. Ultimately, this US oilfield may prove larger than the giant Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, the largest super-giant in the world till now. With 50 billion boe in recoverable reserves to date, Wolfcamp is bigger than the Bakken in North Dakota and South Texas’s Eagle Ford shale. Sheffield noted that recoverable reserves are based solely on the Wolfcamp A, B, D, and the Jo Mill. “More reserves are yet to be discovered,” he said. Geographically, Wolfcamp is comparable to other plays. A unique […]

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Goodrich Touts Tuscaloosa Marine Success Despite Soft Shale Worries

More Goodrich Touts Tuscaloosa Marine Success Despite Soft Shale Worries Located within the Texas-Louisiana Salt Basin and straddling the state line between Louisiana and Mississippi, the Tuscaloosa Marine shale play has been touted by some as the next “big thing,” perhaps even – wait for it – the next Eagle Ford. However, some early wells in the Tuscaloosa did not always yield the results that were expected, and that created a perception by some that the clay-like nature of the rock in the formation was limiting production. That perception began to change back in February with Goodrich Petroleum Corp.’s prolific Crosby 12H-1 well in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. While one good well does not an Eagle Ford make, the Crosby well proved that whatever challenges the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale offered could be overcome. In fact, the company is doubling down on the Tuscaloosa after issuing 6 million shares of stock […]

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Petrobras-led group wins Brazil oil auction with minimum bid

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazilian state-run energy company Petrobras teamed up with European oil majors and Chinese rivals on Monday to buy the country’s biggest-ever oil field with a lone bid at the minimum price, a disappointing outcome for a sale that was supposed to launch Brazil as a petroleum power. The auction, which proceeded as hundreds of protestors criticized the sale to private companies of the country’s natural resources, was notable because it sparked only a fraction of the appetite that was originally expected. Rather than attract multiple bidders and the many global energy players who had long expressed interest in fast-growing Brazilian discoveries, the auction for the giant offshore Libra oil area drew just one tepid bid from a consortium offering the minimum price allowed. Petroleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ), as Petrobras is formally known, took 40 percent of the field in the auction, more […]

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WTI Trades Below $100 a Second Day as U.S. Supplies Gain

West Texas Intermediate traded below $100 a barrel for a second day after crude stockpiles rose to a 15-week high in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. The grade’s discount to Brent was its widest since April. Futures slid as much as 0.4 percent in New York after falling yesterday to the lowest price since July. Crude inventories increased by 4 million barrels to 374.5 million in the week ended Oct. 11, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Supplies were projected to climb by 3 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey. WTI is poised to extend the drop below $100 through the end of the year, a separate survey shows. “Relatively low refining runs and slow pre-winter demand continue to weigh on WTI,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov , an analyst at VTB Capital in London. “There is little scope for a WTI price rebound at the […]

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World Economy a ‘Major Worry’ for OPEC Oil Producers, Badri Says

OPEC sees a possible drop in energy demand caused by a weaker world economy as its “main area of concern” for the next several months, the group’s secretary-general said. “As we approach the end of 2013 and into next year, we need to remain vigilant,” Abdalla El-Badri said at a conference today in Muscat, Oman. “The economy remains the major worry, particularly in the short and medium term.” While the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries expects global economic growth to accelerate to 3.5 percent in 2014 from 2.9 percent this year, Europe faces a “major challenge” in its labor market, and growth in China and India has slowed, he said. A possible easing of U.S. monetary stimulus threatens investment in developing countries , El-Badri said. OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of world oil, plans to meet on Dec. 4 to review output levels and policy. The International Energy […]

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BHP Billiton exits Indian oil, gas fields

NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (UPI) — Mining giant BHP Billiton has exited from 10 Indian oil and gas exploratory fields due to clearance delays. The exploration blocks were awarded from 2008 to 2010 under the Indian government’s new exploration licensing policy, known as NELP, India’s Livemint newspaper reported Monday. The report said BHP Billiton, based in Melbourne, Australia, will continue to explore a deepwater field in the Mumbai basin in which it signed a production-sharing contract in 2012 with the government, along with the United Kingdom’s BG Group Plc. The two companies have equal stake in the block. “BHP Billiton has exited all its NELP blocks [other than the one with BG Group] because of delays in defense clearance,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed source familiar with the decision, as saying. Indian infrastructure and energy-focused conglomerate GVK has a majority stake in seven of the 10 blocks. GVK acknowledged […]

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OMV, Repsol, Total, find oil in Marzuq basin in southwestern Libya

VIENNA, Oct. 21 (UPI) — Austrian energy company OMV said Monday an oil discovery in Libya, made with partners Repsol and Total, is its first since the country’s 2011 revolution. OMV said said the oil was discovered oil in the Marzuq basin in southwestern Libya. “This discovery in Libya confirms the potential of the country for OMV’s upstream activities,” Jaap Huijskes, an exploration director at the company, said in a statement Monday. Spanish energy company Repsol is the operator of the area. It said it verified the oil discovery when 528 barrels of oil per day flowed from the well during testing. “Following the good results obtained, Repsol will continue with the exploratory campaign, which began in 2013 and which will continue through the end of 2015,” it said in a statement. OMV, a minority partner in the Libyan operation alongside French energy company Total, said operations in the […]

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American Petroleum Institute says U.S. oil imports at 17-year low

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) — United States September oil imports totaled about 10 million barrels per day, the lowest U.S. level for the month in 17 years, an industry trade group said. The American Petroleum Institute said the September average for oil imports was 4.4 percent lower than during the same month last year. The United States is consuming more of its own oil because of domestic production gains, officials said. The U.S. Energy Department said it expects crude oil production to increase from an average 7.5 million barrels per day in 2013 to 8.5 million bpd next year. The API report said September oil production was around 7.8 million bpd, its highest level for the month in 25 years. Petroleum deliveries, a measure of demand, increased by 2.7 percent from September 2012 to average approximately 18.6 million bpd, the API said. “Demand for petroleum products remains consistent with […]

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Russia and China Agree on Oil and Gas-Supply Deals

By Lukas I. Alpert MOSCOW–Two of Russia’s top energy producers announced Tuesday agreements with China to deliver oil and gas, as the countries move to cement stronger ties. Under the terms of the deal, Rosneft (ROSN.RS) the world’s largest listed crude oil producer will supply Sinopec Group–China’s largest oil refiner–with 10 million metric tons of oil a year for 10 years, Rosneft President Igor Sechin said following a meeting of top energy and political officials in Beijing. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev later told reporters that the Rosneft-Sinopec contract is valued at around $85 billion, Russian news agencies reported. Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer, OAO Novatek (NVTK.RS), said it had agreed to deliver 3 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas from its Yamal LNG project to China National Petroleum Corp. for 15 years. The price will be indexed to the Japanese Crude Cocktail, a commonly used […]

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Saudi Aramco project to lift Khurais flow

Saudi Aramco has let a contract to Foster Wheeler AG units for front-end engineering design (FEED) of a 300,000-b/d expansion of production capacity at the Khurais complex of oil fields, 150 km southeast of Riyadh. Current capacity is 1.2 million b/d of Arabian Light crude from Khurais, Abu Jifan, and Mazalij fields, which began production in 2009. The project aims to increase capacity at the Khurais Central Processing Facilities and enhance production from Jifan and Mazalij through installation of a satellite gas-oil separation plant. Khurais facilities now can handle 70,000 b/d of condensate and 320 MM scfd of natural gas produced in association with oil. In addition to FEED work, subsidiaries of Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering & Construction Group will handle equipment and material specifications, development of a cost estimate, and procurement assistance for long-lead items. The FEED is to be complete during second-quarter 2014.

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Nigeria's Power Generation Declines to 10-Month Low, Says Presidential Task Force

Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity has declined from the peak generation level of about 4,517.6 mega watts (MW) recorded last December, 2012 to about 3,781.80 MW in October, according to the power generation fact sheet of the Presidential Task Force on Power as at October 20. The electricity generation report showed that though the country’s peak demand level forecast was 12,800 MW of electricity, energy generation capacity stood at about 3,559.46 MW hour per hour (MWH/H), while actual electricity sent out into the national grid was 3,487.85 MWH/H. The Chairman, Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, Atedo Peterside, said at the handing over of the newly privatized successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, to their new owners that the nine former PHCN generation companies (including Omotosho and Olorunsogo) only had available capacity of 2,692 MW as at September 10, as against a total […]

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Nigeria’s Power Generation Declines to 10-Month Low, Says Presidential Task Force

Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity has declined from the peak generation level of about 4,517.6 mega watts (MW) recorded last December, 2012 to about 3,781.80 MW in October, according to the power generation fact sheet of the Presidential Task Force on Power as at October 20. The electricity generation report showed that though the country’s peak demand level forecast was 12,800 MW of electricity, energy generation capacity stood at about 3,559.46 MW hour per hour (MWH/H), while actual electricity sent out into the national grid was 3,487.85 MWH/H. The Chairman, Technical Committee of the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, Atedo Peterside, said at the handing over of the newly privatized successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, to their new owners that the nine former PHCN generation companies (including Omotosho and Olorunsogo) only had available capacity of 2,692 MW as at September 10, as against a total […]

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JODI EIA Divergence  | Peak Oil News and Message Boards

JODI Wld vs EIA Page added on October 21, 2013 The JODI August data came out Sunday. There are several holes in the JODI data as there are six countries that don’t report to JODI. But these countries are minor and I insert the EIA data for these countries. There were seven but the largest of these produces, Kazakhstan, is now reporting. Also because of the political nature of the data from Iran and Venezuela, I use EIA data for these two countries also. Iran reports about 1 million barrels per day more than either the OPEC MOMR or the EIA reports. Same for Venezuela except they only jack their production figures up by about half a million barrels per day. All that being said I have noticed as of late that the JODI EIA divergence is getting larger. I have posted that divergence below. All JODI data in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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JODI EIA Divergence  | Peak Oil News and Message Boards

JODI Wld vs EIA Page added on October 21, 2013 The JODI August data came out Sunday. There are several holes in the JODI data as there are six countries that don’t report to JODI. But these countries are minor and I insert the EIA data for these countries. There were seven but the largest of these produces, Kazakhstan, is now reporting. Also because of the political nature of the data from Iran and Venezuela, I use EIA data for these two countries also. Iran reports about 1 million barrels per day more than either the OPEC MOMR or the EIA reports. Same for Venezuela except they only jack their production figures up by about half a million barrels per day. All that being said I have noticed as of late that the JODI EIA divergence is getting larger. I have posted that divergence below. All JODI data in […]

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Russia Lets Down Guard on China

MOSCOW—Russia and China’s largest energy companies on Friday announced a “breakthrough” deal paving the way for joint development of massive energy reserves in eastern Siberia, in a sign that Moscow is overcoming its fear of Chinese encroachment on Russia’s Far East. Their preliminary agreement illustrates how Moscow is increasingly looking to Asia for customers for its abundant energy reserves, and for funding to develop them. Russia’s needs tie in with expected long-term demand growth in oil and gas-deficient China and elsewhere in East and South Asia, and slowing energy consumption in many industrialized nations. Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft ROSN.RS -1.63% Rosneft Russia: RTS $ 8.67 -0.14 -1.63% Jan. 21, 2013 6:27 pm Volume : 65,000 P/E Ratio 6.95 Market Cap $86.88 Billion Dividend Yield 2.96% Rev. per Employee N/A 10/18/13 Russia, China in Siberia Energ… More quote details and news » ROSN.RS in Your Value Your Change […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple