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UK agrees nuclear power deal with EDF – FT.com

University of Leicester undated handout photo of the skull of the skeleton found at the Grey Friars excavation in Leicester, potentially that of King Richard III. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday February 4, 2013. The photo was released by the University of Leicester ahead of today’s announcement about the identity of the skeleton found underneath Leicester’s Greyfriars car park last September. See PA story HISTORY Richard. Photo credit should read: University of Leicester/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. ©Getty Hinkley Point power station in Somerset The UK government has struck a deal with the French utility EDF to build the country’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. The agreement was reached after the government guaranteed a price […]

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Iran’s diplomacy shows a recognition of its decline – FT.com

Iran’s positive attitude in its negotiations with the US, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia over its nuclear programme marks a clear shift in policy. This welcome development, seen during the past week in talks in Geneva, follows Tehran’s willingness to go along with the Russian-initiated deal on chemical weapons in Syria – where Iran is backing the Assad regime. The Islamic Republic appears to be softening its longstanding policies in favour of a more conciliatory approach. The shift is caused by the country’s long-term decline in the Middle East – and Tehran’s recognition that it must act on this decline. Iran’s stance will hold the key to a number of interlocking regional conflicts, so identifying its cause helps shape policy responses to it. If an agreement with Iran does come to pass, many will argue that economic sanctions , imposed by the UN Security Council, the EU and […]

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Jordan's rural poor chafe under the burden of hosting Syrian refugees | Al Jazeera America

Syria’s War Locals say that municipal water had previously been pumped through the village twice a week, but since the influx of Syrians, it’s just once a week — and they blame the Syrians for the rationing. There’s not enough water as it is in this country, one of the world’s driest, and now there are more people sharing what little is available. There are other pressures, too. Many of the schools in Zaatari village and its surroundings run double shifts to accommodate the increased number of students. Local health centers have seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in their case load, according to Madallah al-Khalde, the head of Zaatari’s development council who also heads the charitable Zaatari Association that has aided needy locals for almost three decades. “This area was poor already,” Khalde says, “now it’s a disaster area because of the large numbers of Syrian refugees.” […]

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Jordan’s rural poor chafe under the burden of hosting Syrian refugees | Al Jazeera America

Syria’s War Locals say that municipal water had previously been pumped through the village twice a week, but since the influx of Syrians, it’s just once a week — and they blame the Syrians for the rationing. There’s not enough water as it is in this country, one of the world’s driest, and now there are more people sharing what little is available. There are other pressures, too. Many of the schools in Zaatari village and its surroundings run double shifts to accommodate the increased number of students. Local health centers have seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in their case load, according to Madallah al-Khalde, the head of Zaatari’s development council who also heads the charitable Zaatari Association that has aided needy locals for almost three decades. “This area was poor already,” Khalde says, “now it’s a disaster area because of the large numbers of Syrian refugees.” […]

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Thick smog forces schools, highways to close

HARBIN/CHANGCHUN, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) — Heavy smog shrouded northeast China on Monday, forcing the closure of schools, as well as disrupting flights and highways. Meteorological authorities in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces issued a red alert for thick smog or fog. The fog will worsen in Harbin, Yichun, Daqing, Suihua, Jiamusi and Qitaihe cities in Heilongjiang with visibility of less than 100 meters in the next 24 hours, said the provincial meteorological station. “After walking outdoors for a while, I felt it difficult to breathe,” said Chu Yushu, a resident in Harbin, provincial capital of Heilongjiang, which had visibility of less than ten meters in parts of the downtown area. The density of PM2.5 — airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter, exceeded 500 micrograms per cubic meter early Monday in Harbin. All highways in Heilongjiang and Taiping International Airport in Harbin were closed due to the […]

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Venezuela denies devaluation coming

CARACAS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Maduro’s government denied on Friday forecasts of an imminent devaluation due to anxiety in Venezuela over shortages of dollars and the soaring black market rate for the greenback in the South American OPEC nation. "A devaluation is not being planned here," said Rafael Ramirez, whom Maduro recently named vice-president in charge of economic policy as well as being oil minister. "This is not a problem of lack of foreign currency," he added, saying Venezuela had ample reserves – about $30.5 billion – combined in the Central Bank, its special development fund Fonden and from Chinese loans. Many private economists have been predicting a devaluation of the bolivar after local elections in December, probably in early 2014. Ramirez said such talk was unjustified scaremongering from business groups and anti-government media. "They want to create panic," he said, casting the devaluation talk as part of a […]

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No need to panic about ‘peak oil’  

No need to panic about ‘peak oil’ Page added on October 21, 2013 SO MUCH for “peak oil” alarmism, the dire warnings of a looming economic catastrophe when global crude oil production reaches its maximum rate and then starts to decline. Such cries of imminent doom reached a crescendo in 2008, when the oil price hit record levels on soaring demand and restricted supplies, topping out at $145/barrel. But then came the US subprime collapse, closely followed by international banking and sovereign debt crises, a liquidity freeze and global recession. Demand for oil fell back sharply, along with economic growth, taking the pressure off the market and causing the oil price to plunge. Peak oil crisis averted. But for how long, the pessimists cried? Demand may have fallen off temporarily, but the peak oil problem relates to supply; when the world economy starts growing again, consumers regain confidence and […]

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Green Car Congress: U. Calgary analysis of energy balances and emissions of SAGD oil sands production finds need for improved processes; some operations not thermally efficient or net generators of energy

« University of Michigan to build test facility for connected and automated vehicles | Main | DuPont calls on EU and German authorities to complete HFO-1234y work; “high time to get final clarity” » Print this post U. Calgary analysis of energy balances and emissions of SAGD oil sands production finds need for improved processes; some operations not thermally efficient or net generators of energy Plot of cumulative steam-to-oil ratio (cSOR) vs. ratio of energy produced in form of chemical energy contained in bitumen if combusted to energy injected in form of steam (75% efficient steam generation). From Gates and Larter (2013). Click to enlarge. A team at the University of Calgary has assessed the thermal efficiencies, energy balances, and emissions of Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD)—both theoretically and as deployed at scale, using field data from the ERCB—for the production of bitumen from Athabasca oil sands reservoirs. In a […]

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The numbers don’t add up to U.S. energy independence  

Oil pumpjacks (by Richard Masoner at Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3153652073/ Page added on October 20, 2013 Energy independence sounds good, and that’s why politicians and oil company executives love to say the words. It’s so easy to say, but oh so hard to actually accomplish, which is why the United States has been a consistent importer of oil since the late 1940s . Recent overblown statements about U.S. energy independence from the oil industry, its paid consultants and the fake think-tank academics it funds simply aren’t supported by the numbers. I have discussed this issue in two previous pieces, “The Oil Industry’s Deceitful Promise of American Energy Independence” and “Oil and gas industry uses deceptive energy independence message to push U.S. exports” . Recently, friend and colleague Jeffrey Brown–who is best known for his Export Land Model which foretold of shrinking global oil exports–did some fairly simple math to show how […]

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US product exports hit second-highest level ever in September: API

Washington (Platts)–18Oct2013/323 pm EDT/1923 GMT US exports of refined products rose 15.5% in September year-on-year to an average of nearly 3.7 million b/d — the second-highest level ever, the American Petroleum Institute said Friday. For the third quarter, exports were up 16.5% compared with the same period last year, the API said in its monthly statistical report. Year-to-date, exports were up 8.4% compared to the same period in 2012. The strong exports follows robust refinery gross inputs for the month, quarter and year-to-date. In September, gross inputs rose 6.2% year-on-year to nearly 16.2 million b/d — the highest level for the month of September on record. In the third quarter, inputs were up 4.3% compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date, refinery inputs were up 1.9% compared to the same period in 2012. –Gary Gentile, [email protected] –Edited by Kevin Saville, [email protected]

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Gulf Crude Strengthens as China Economy Boosts Foreign Demand

Heavy Louisiana Sweet crude strengthened the most in more than three weeks as China ’s growth accelerated for the first time in three quarters, indicating stronger demand for waterborne oils. Heavy Louisiana Sweet’s premium to West Texas Intermediate rose $1.30 to a premium of $2.10 a barrel at 4:03 p.m., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It would be the largest gain since Sept. 25. Gulf crudes including Heavy Louisiana Sweet compete with foreign oils priced against European benchmark Brent for space in U.S. refineries. Brent’s premium over WTI rose as high as $9.04 a barrel today, the highest intraday level since Oct. 14. Gross domestic product in China, the world’s largest oil-importing nation, rose 7.8 percent in the July-September period from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. It’s the first time growth has accelerated in three quarters. The growth indicated higher demand […]

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Oil-Sands Output Cut as TransCanada Restores Gas Delivery

TransCanada Corp. (TRP) was working to restore gas deliveries to customers in Alberta after a pipeline rupture that caused at least four oil-sands producers to curb output, triggering a spike in Canadian oil prices . TransCanada’s North Central Corridor system resumed gas shipments to “most” customers after isolating a pipe break and was working with others to restore service, the Calgary-based company said yesterday. Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO) ’s Kearl oil-sands project and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) ’s Horizon upgrader halted output while the Syncrude upgrader stopped shipping product. Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) ’s Fort McMurray plant reduced rates. The drop in production from the plants, with a total capacity of as much as 920,000 barrels a day, sent Canadian crude prices higher yesterday, with Western Canada Select oil advancing $1.20 a barrel against the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate and Syncrude gaining $1, according to data compiled […]

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Activists: Bomb near Syrian capital kills 16

AP Photo BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say a suicide vehicle bombing of an army checkpoint outside Damascus has killed 16 soldiers. The state news agency SANA confirmed a blast Saturday in the suburb of Jaramana and said it caused casualties. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that rebels led by the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra or Nusra Front, carried out the attack while trying to capture the checkpoint in the town of Mleiha, overlooking Jaramana. It reported heavy fighting after the blast. Rebels control much of the countryside around Damascus but Jaramana, a Christian and Druse area, is mostly loyal to President Bashar Assad. Assad has drawn support from Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians and members of his Alawite sect. The rebels are dominated by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Nigeria's booming oil theft racket costs $1B a month

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Oct. 18 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell is selling off four of its onshore Nigerian oil blocks because of the constant theft of large volumes oil from its pipelines, officials said. The move highlights the West African state’s growing battle with criminal syndicates that are stealing an average of 100,000 barrels of crude a day. That costs the continent’s second largest economy after South Africa up to $1 billion a month, a criminal enterprise on an industrial scale that officials say rivals the narcotics trade as the world’s most lucrative crime. Oil industry officials and community workers say this massive theft of Nigeria’s key resource involves crooked politicians, security forces, oil industry personnel and oil traders. There are also militant groups operating in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta, a labyrinth of swamps and creeks that provide cover for the complex network of crime. “There’s a […]

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Nigeria’s booming oil theft racket costs $1B a month

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Oct. 18 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell is selling off four of its onshore Nigerian oil blocks because of the constant theft of large volumes oil from its pipelines, officials said. The move highlights the West African state’s growing battle with criminal syndicates that are stealing an average of 100,000 barrels of crude a day. That costs the continent’s second largest economy after South Africa up to $1 billion a month, a criminal enterprise on an industrial scale that officials say rivals the narcotics trade as the world’s most lucrative crime. Oil industry officials and community workers say this massive theft of Nigeria’s key resource involves crooked politicians, security forces, oil industry personnel and oil traders. There are also militant groups operating in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta, a labyrinth of swamps and creeks that provide cover for the complex network of crime. “There’s a […]

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Nuclear Talks Divide Hard-Liners in Iran

BEIRUT—The revival of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers has carved a new divide among Tehran’s hard-line leaders over whether to bend to Western demands in exchange for relief from the sanctions that have crippled their economy. As Iran’s new president and his foreign minister have shown a willingness to end their country’s nuclear stalemate and improve relations with the West, high-ranking conservatives have both praised and condemned these initiatives. On one side is the familiar rhetoric aired by the senior cleric leading the Friday prayer service in Tehran, who said the West was using nuclear negotiations to wage war against Islam. On the other, a cleric close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly questioned at prayers in Isfahan whether it was wise to continue chanting “Death to America” at public gatherings if Iran was going to normalize relations with the U.S. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the second-in-command […]

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Shell's Pennsylvania Plans Remain Dormant

When Royal Dutch Shell RDSB.LN +1.10% Royal Dutch Shell PLC B U.K.: London GBp 2164.50 +23.50 +1.10% Oct. 18, 2013 4:38 pm Volume : 4.06M P/E Ratio 8.99 Market Cap GBp132.14 Billion Dividend Yield 5.30% Rev. per Employee GBp3,340,510 10/18/13 Shell’s Pennsylvania Plans Rem… 10/17/13 Elop Was Second Choice as Noki… 10/17/13 Elop Was Second Choice as Noki… More quote details and news » RDSB.LN in Your Value Your Change Short position PLC unveiled plans early last year to build a multi-billion-dollar petrochemical plant outside of Philadelphia, the company saw it as a smart way to exploit the boom in natural gas coming from the region’s Marcellus Shale formation. The plant would turn ethane, which is a liquid produced alongside natural gas and oil, into ethylene, a chemical used to make plastics. Annual global demand for plastics is expected to rise by half by 2020 to about 225 million […]

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Shell’s Pennsylvania Plans Remain Dormant

When Royal Dutch Shell RDSB.LN +1.10% Royal Dutch Shell PLC B U.K.: London GBp 2164.50 +23.50 +1.10% Oct. 18, 2013 4:38 pm Volume : 4.06M P/E Ratio 8.99 Market Cap GBp132.14 Billion Dividend Yield 5.30% Rev. per Employee GBp3,340,510 10/18/13 Shell’s Pennsylvania Plans Rem… 10/17/13 Elop Was Second Choice as Noki… 10/17/13 Elop Was Second Choice as Noki… More quote details and news » RDSB.LN in Your Value Your Change Short position PLC unveiled plans early last year to build a multi-billion-dollar petrochemical plant outside of Philadelphia, the company saw it as a smart way to exploit the boom in natural gas coming from the region’s Marcellus Shale formation. The plant would turn ethane, which is a liquid produced alongside natural gas and oil, into ethylene, a chemical used to make plastics. Annual global demand for plastics is expected to rise by half by 2020 to about 225 million […]

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API: U.S. September Oil Use Up 2.7% vs Year Earlier

–Crude-oil imports drop 3.3% vs year earlier in September –Crude, products imports drop to 17-year September low –Crude stocks at second highest end-September level since 1980 By David Bird NEW YORK–U.S. oil demand rose 2.7% year-on-year in September to 18.571 million barrels a day, reflecting modest economic improvement in the world’s biggest oil consumer, the American Petroleum Institute said Friday. For the entire third quarter, demand gained 1.7% from a year earlier, to 18.909 million barrels a day, the trade group said. “Demand for petroleum products remains consistent with a gradually improving economy,” said John Felmy, API’s chief economist. Demand for gasoline, the nation’s most widely used petroleum product, increased 2.1% in September from a year earlier, to 8.737 million barrels a day, and rose 1.2% to 8.951 million barrels a day in the third quarter from the year-earlier period. September demand for distillate fuel, the umbrella grouping for […]

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Natural Gas Down for Fourth Day on Worries Over Winter Demand

— Warmer forecasts for Midwest in late October — NOAA early winter outlook raises demand worries — Prices slide from near-four-month high on Monday By David Bird NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures were down for a fourth day on Friday amid growing concerns about residential gas-heating demand heading into winter. Gas futures prices, which started the week at the highest levels in nearly four months on forecasts for below-normal temperatures in the second half of October, continue to decline on moderating outlooks. Forecasters said Friday that temperatures in the Midwest–which has the highest concentration of homes heated primarily by gas–won’t be as cold as previously expected at the end of October. That shift in temperatures follows Thursday’s forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that shows above-normal temperatures expected over much of the nation, including the key Midwest and Northeast markets, from November through January. November-delivery natural-gas futures on the […]

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A Top Syrian Intelligence Officer Is Killed in Fighting

BEIRUT, Lebanon — One of the Syrian government’s most prominent intelligence officers, Maj. Gen. Jamea Jamea, was killed during fighting in the eastern provincial capital of Deir al-Zour, Syrian rebels and the state news media said on Friday as government warplanes bombed the city after several days of fierce clashes. General Jamea, killed Thursday, is the most senior security figure confirmed dead in more than a year. He was respected in Syria’s powerful inner circles of intelligence and military leaders after a long career as a Syrian strongman in Lebanon and most recently for “doing a good job” against the uprising at home, according to a Syrian in contact with senior security figures. The European Union appeared to have a similar view of his importance, if a different response. In August 2011, it placed sanctions on General Jamea , freezing his assets and denying him a visa for travel […]

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Amid Heavy Pollution, Beijing Issues Emergency Rules to Protect Citizens

Snappily titled the Six Stops and One Wash, a new and complex string of regulations by the Beijing city government is aimed at combating the effects of persistent, heavy air pollution on the populace. A major rule will take private vehicles off the roads on alternate days, depending on their license plates, when pollution is especially bad. The new measures were announced Thursday as air in the capital was deemed “heavily polluted,” according to government air quality readings. Air pollution is a chronic problem in large parts of China. The regulations consist of a system of four colored alerts that will kick in when heavy pollution is forecast. The World Health Organization’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, said Thursday that it was classifying air pollution as a Group 1 human carcinogen. Particulate matter, a main component of air pollution, was also being classified as a […]

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Britain Looks to Fracking as North Sea Oil Dwindles

BARTON, England — Driving down a bumpy country road in northwest England, one comes upon a bare patch the size of a soccer field at the edge of a peat bog. Workers are erecting a security fence and unrolling watertight film to protect the soil from chemical contamination. Near the middle is a big rectangular hole where a drilling rig will go. Inauspicious as it may look, what happens on this patch of ground in the coming months could help determine the future of Britain’s, and even Europe’s, approach to shale gas. The energy source has made the United States, for one, suddenly self-sufficient in natural gas, but it raises environmental concerns that have made many countries on this side the Atlantic dead set against it. Shale gas is extracted by the technique known as hydraulic fracturing — or fracking, the harsh-sounding word that can stir the passions of […]

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Iraq's Moment to Rise or Burn

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is scheduled to visit the White House on Nov. 1. It’s a good time for his country to crack the crowded regional agenda. Iraq is facing a rising death toll, with more than 5,000 recorded deathsfrom a horrific wave of car bombs, and attacks by a reinvigorated insurgency driven by Syria’s war and by Maliki’s obstinately sectarian and autocratic politics. Washington needs to do more on this visit than mouth pleasantries about security, pluralism, responsibility, and enduring partnership. It needs to persuade Iraq’s leaders to finally play the role in mediating the region’s brutal political divides — a role only Baghdad can play. Iraq’s fate matters not only because of the thousands of Americans and reportedly half-million Iraqis who died in the course of a decade of war. Iraq stands at the heart of the Gulf’s tenuous balance of power, sharing long borders with […]

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Iraq’s Moment to Rise or Burn

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is scheduled to visit the White House on Nov. 1. It’s a good time for his country to crack the crowded regional agenda. Iraq is facing a rising death toll, with more than 5,000 recorded deathsfrom a horrific wave of car bombs, and attacks by a reinvigorated insurgency driven by Syria’s war and by Maliki’s obstinately sectarian and autocratic politics. Washington needs to do more on this visit than mouth pleasantries about security, pluralism, responsibility, and enduring partnership. It needs to persuade Iraq’s leaders to finally play the role in mediating the region’s brutal political divides — a role only Baghdad can play. Iraq’s fate matters not only because of the thousands of Americans and reportedly half-million Iraqis who died in the course of a decade of war. Iraq stands at the heart of the Gulf’s tenuous balance of power, sharing long borders with […]

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Volvo Car Group testing lightweight structural energy storage material applied in trunk lid and plenum cover

« Ford expands use of near-dry machining to six plants worldwide | Main | IARC: Outdoor air pollution carcinogenic to humans » Print this post Volvo Car Group testing lightweight structural energy storage material applied in trunk lid and plenum cover 35027_1_5-1 A composite blend of carbon fibers and polymer resin is being developed that can store and charge more energy faster than conventional batteries can. Volvo Cars is the only car manufacturer participating in the EU-funded project, which started in early 2010. Click to enlarge. Volvo Car Group—the only automaker participating in a 3.5-year EU-funded project developing a prototype material which can store and discharge electrical energy and which is also strong and lightweight enough to be used for car parts ( earlier post )—has created two components for the testing and further development of the technology. These are a trunk lid and a plenum cover, tested within […]

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Peak Oil: A Splash of Cold Water

IMG_4816               An observation worth noting … and pondering, from Steve LeVine :  If Montana is a microcosm of the world, one message to glean is that we are not in the midst of a decades-long flood of oil supply in the United States, as many suggest. Instead, the red lights are blinking across the exuberant U.S. oil patch. As  you recall, much has been made in recent months about the momentous prospects for U.S. oil and gas, which are said to be leading a global fossil fuel revolution, with meaningful implications for fortune-hunters and geopolitical players alike: North America will be independent of outside oil producers, the U.S. will experience an industrial revolution, and OPEC will drift into laggardly inconsequence. So what to think about the latest news from folks approaching the punch bowl with bad intentions? Let’s start with Montana, and […]

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Insight: Militia rivalries threaten new war in post-revolt Libya

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – When gunmen snatched Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from his Tripoli hotel last week, it was a rival armed militia he thanked for his rescue hours later. Even for Libyans accustomed to their democracy’s unruly beginnings, the drama at the Corinthia Hotel was a startling reminder of the power former fighters wield two years after they ousted Muammar Gaddafi, and the dangers of their rivalry. Police and troops from Libya’s nascent army were at the scene, but the former militiamen showed they are the arbiters in a struggle between rival tribal and Islamist leaders over the post-revolution spoils of the North African oil producer. Between them, they have edged Libya close to a new war that threatens the democratic gains of the NATO-backed revolt. Too weak to take back control of a country awash with Gaddafi-era weapons, Libya’s central government has been forced to try co-opt […]

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China's third-quarter GDP growth fastest this year, but outlook murky

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economy grew at its quickest pace this year between July and September, underpinned by investment, although analysts question if the vigor would continue in coming months. The world’s second-largest economy grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, in line with expectations, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. So far this year, investment has accounted for more than half of the expansion, showing the challenges faced by Beijing in trying to restructure the economy towards consumption, which policymakers expect to provide more sustainable growth in the years ahead. After slipping in eight of the last 10 quarters, analysts said growth may fall once again in the current October-to-December period. Exports are expected to soften and authorities may also rein-in credit expansion after inflation pushed to a seven-month high. "The growth peak was behind us in the third quarter," […]

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China’s third-quarter GDP growth fastest this year, but outlook murky

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economy grew at its quickest pace this year between July and September, underpinned by investment, although analysts question if the vigor would continue in coming months. The world’s second-largest economy grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, in line with expectations, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday. So far this year, investment has accounted for more than half of the expansion, showing the challenges faced by Beijing in trying to restructure the economy towards consumption, which policymakers expect to provide more sustainable growth in the years ahead. After slipping in eight of the last 10 quarters, analysts said growth may fall once again in the current October-to-December period. Exports are expected to soften and authorities may also rein-in credit expansion after inflation pushed to a seven-month high. "The growth peak was behind us in the third quarter," […]

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Spate of attacks on Shi'ite Muslims kills 59 people in Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Attacks on Shi’ite Muslims killed at least 59 people across Iraq on Thursday, including a suicide truck bomb targeting members of the country’s Shabak minority, police and medics said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the attacks, but Shi’ites are viewed as apostates by hardline Sunni Islamists who have been regrouping and gathering pace in an insurgency this year. Militants linked to al Qaeda have in the past attacked Shabaks, who are mainly Shi’ite. Sectarian tensions in Iraq and the wider Middle East have been brought to a boil by Syria’s civil war, which has drawn Sunnis and Shi’ites from the region and beyond into battle. Ten bombs exploded in primarily Shi’ite districts of the Iraqi capital late on Thursday, killing 44 people in all, police and medics said. One blast occurred near an amusement park north of Baghdad’s Sadr City […]

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Spate of attacks on Shi’ite Muslims kills 59 people in Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – Attacks on Shi’ite Muslims killed at least 59 people across Iraq on Thursday, including a suicide truck bomb targeting members of the country’s Shabak minority, police and medics said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the attacks, but Shi’ites are viewed as apostates by hardline Sunni Islamists who have been regrouping and gathering pace in an insurgency this year. Militants linked to al Qaeda have in the past attacked Shabaks, who are mainly Shi’ite. Sectarian tensions in Iraq and the wider Middle East have been brought to a boil by Syria’s civil war, which has drawn Sunnis and Shi’ites from the region and beyond into battle. Ten bombs exploded in primarily Shi’ite districts of the Iraqi capital late on Thursday, killing 44 people in all, police and medics said. One blast occurred near an amusement park north of Baghdad’s Sadr City […]

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Quebec Train Fire Prompts New Oil Railway-Shipping Rules

New rules will boost costs to transport crude by rail in North America as trains are forecast to carry as much as 2 million barrels a day, about equal to what flows daily from Norway . “You’re going to see a massive flood of spending to get ahead of these government regulations,” Jerry Swank, managing partner at Dallas-based Swank Capital, said during the Bloomberg Link Oil & Gas Conference in Houston yesterday. Regulators in Canada and the U.S. imposed emergency requirements and may seek stiffer rules after a runaway train carrying crude derailed and exploded on July 6 in Lac-Megantic, Quebec , killing 47 people. Energy companies are transporting more oil on rail cars as new pipelines are delayed and improved drilling methods extract more North American oil. Across the continent, trains are forecast to move as much as 2 million barrels a day of crude by the end […]

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Fracking Opponents Find Lawyers Beat Superglue in Slowing Shale

Campaigners desperate to prevent the birth of a U.K. shale gas industry have glued themselves to walls, barricaded country lanes and climbed drill rigs. Yet their most potent weapon is more prosaic: lawyers. Anti-shale groups including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace are using environmental and property law to challenge drilling at every turn, and it’s working. Production is now likely to start in 2018, two years later than originally envisaged, partly because getting permission to explore has been so slow, said John Williams , senior principal at Poyry Plc, an energy consultant in Oxford. The delay is frustrating Prime Minister David Cameron ’s goal of boosting economic growth and cutting energy prices through developing shale resources. For the protesters, no good can come from hydraulic fracturing, the process that uses a mix of pressurized water and chemicals to prise fuel out of shale rock. They say it pollutes […]

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Gaza gas now a 'serious prospect.' says Tony Blair

GAZA, Oct. 17 (UPI) — The prospect of the impoverished Palestinian Authority finally being able to develop a natural gas field 20 miles off the Gaza Strip’s Mediterranean coast, 13 years after it was discovered, is looking increasingly good amid U.S.-led efforts to bolster the Palestinian economy. “For the first time in over a decade, there’s a serious prospect Gaza gas will actually happen,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair , divulged this week. “The Palestinian side is resolved; the Israeli side will take a little longer,” he told the Financial Times in Jerusalem. Although the project seems much closer to fruition than it’s ever been, previous plans to encourage peace efforts in the Middle East have crashed in flames because of the abiding hostility between the two sides and the continuing 46-year Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Blair is the Jerusalem-based representative of the Middle East Quartet, […]

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Gaza gas now a ‘serious prospect.’ says Tony Blair

GAZA, Oct. 17 (UPI) — The prospect of the impoverished Palestinian Authority finally being able to develop a natural gas field 20 miles off the Gaza Strip’s Mediterranean coast, 13 years after it was discovered, is looking increasingly good amid U.S.-led efforts to bolster the Palestinian economy. “For the first time in over a decade, there’s a serious prospect Gaza gas will actually happen,” former British Prime Minister Tony Blair , divulged this week. “The Palestinian side is resolved; the Israeli side will take a little longer,” he told the Financial Times in Jerusalem. Although the project seems much closer to fruition than it’s ever been, previous plans to encourage peace efforts in the Middle East have crashed in flames because of the abiding hostility between the two sides and the continuing 46-year Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Blair is the Jerusalem-based representative of the Middle East Quartet, […]

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Russia sees global advantage in oil

DAEGU, South Korea, Oct. 17 (UPI) — With U.S. oil exports restricted and the Middle East and North Africa in turmoil, it’s Russia that can ensure energy security, Rosneft said from South Korea. Igor Sechin , the chief executive officer at state-owned oil company Rosneft, said Russia is in a unique position to meet the world’s energy demands. He said U.S. steps to restrict oil exports in the wake of a 1970s oil embargo by Arab producers, along with security and infrastructure challenges in the Middle East and North Africa, leaves Russia with an advantage. “We will make a considerable contribution to energy security,” he told delegates Thursday at the World Energy Congress in Daegu, South Korea. U.S. oil and gas production gains mean the country is using more of its own resources. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Asian economies like China are expected to need more of […]

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Oil Futures Climb as Chinese Data Lifts Expectations for Crude Demand

Oil futures are higher Friday after China announced that its economy grew 7.8% in the third quarter from a year earlier, supporting prices which had fallen to a three-and-a-half month low overnight on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That China’s third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth met expectations suggests “the worst may be over for now” after two consecutive quarters of deceleration, said Singapore’s United Overseas Bank U11.SG -0.10% United Overseas Bank Ltd. Singapore: SGX $ 20.78 -0.02 -0.10% Oct. 18, 2013 3:16 pm Volume : 857,000 P/E Ratio 11.24 Market Cap $33.00 Billion Dividend Yield 1.92% Rev. per Employee N/A 10/18/13 Oil Boosted by China Growth Da… 10/17/13 China’s Yuan Marches to Record… 10/16/13 U.S. Dollar Set to Rally But B… More quote details and news » U11.SG in Your Value Your Change Short position in a research note. China’s first- and second-quarter GDP figures came in at 7.7% and 7.5%, […]

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Canada Tightens Oil-Transport Rules Move Follows July's Deadly Derailment in Quebec

CALGARY—The Canadian government put into effect new rules Thursday that require stricter labeling of crude oil transported by rail, in a move to bolster safety following a deadly rail derailment in Quebec earlier this year. The directive from Canada’s transportation ministry calls for classification tests by “any person who imports or transports crude oil” to verify the content of those shipments. The rules were foreshadowed in a speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday. The rules apply to the majority of crude that is imported or shipped in Canada, the ministry said, and newly requires the industry to include a packing group on labels that designates the specific danger level of oil inside a tank car. Without that testing, the ministry said all crude shipped by rail must be labeled to warn of the highest risk of danger. “We will take targeted action to increase the safety of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Canada Tightens Oil-Transport Rules Move Follows July’s Deadly Derailment in Quebec

CALGARY—The Canadian government put into effect new rules Thursday that require stricter labeling of crude oil transported by rail, in a move to bolster safety following a deadly rail derailment in Quebec earlier this year. The directive from Canada’s transportation ministry calls for classification tests by “any person who imports or transports crude oil” to verify the content of those shipments. The rules were foreshadowed in a speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Wednesday. The rules apply to the majority of crude that is imported or shipped in Canada, the ministry said, and newly requires the industry to include a packing group on labels that designates the specific danger level of oil inside a tank car. Without that testing, the ministry said all crude shipped by rail must be labeled to warn of the highest risk of danger. “We will take targeted action to increase the safety of […]

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White House Weighs Easing Iran Sanctions’ Bite With Slow Release of Assets

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, in the wake of a promising first round of nuclear diplomacy with Iran , is weighing a proposal to ease the pain of sanctions on Tehran by offering it access to billions of dollars in frozen funds if the Iranian government takes specific steps to curb its nuclear program , a senior administration official said Thursday. Such a plan, under which the United States could free up Iran’s frozen overseas assets in installments, would avoid the political and diplomatic risks of repealing the sanctions, which had been agreed to by a diverse coalition of countries, the official said. It would also give President Obama the flexibility to respond to Iranian offers that emerge from the negotiations without unraveling the global sanctions regime the administration has spent years cobbling together. The official likened the plan, which is still being debated inside the White House and […]

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Amid Heavy Pollution, Beijing Issues Emergency Rules to Protect Citizens

A woman adjusted her mask as she walked past Beijing apartment buildings shrouded in smog. Andy Wong/Associated Press A woman adjusted her mask as she walked past Beijing apartment buildings shrouded in smog. Snappily titled the “Six stops and one wash,” the Beijing city government has announced a new and complex string of regulations to combat the effect of persistent, heavy air pollution on the populace. A key rule will allow private vehicles to drive only on alternate days when pollution is especially bad. The new measures , announced Thursday, came as air in the capital was “heavily polluted,” according to government air quality readings. Air pollution is a chronic problem in large parts of China. The regulations consist of a system of four colored alerts that will kick in when either one or three days of heavy pollution are forecast, and come as the World Health Organization’s cancer […]

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An enriching dialogue with Iran — with limits

THOUGH FEW details of Iran’s new offer on its nuclear program have been released, two broad points were clear following this week’s negotiations in Geneva . One is encouraging: The Iranian government is more serious than it has been in years about negotiating a deal with the United States and its five partners. The other is ominous: Tehran is still insisting that it will never give up its capability to enrich uranium , which is the key to nuclear weapons production. The detailed proposal set out by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was a stark change from previous rounds of negotiations , which featured filibustering by Iranian negotiators who offered only vague ideas. Mr. Zarif made clear that Iran is eager to come to an agreement that would lift the sanctions crippling its economy. He reportedly talked about finalizing an accord within three to six months . Several reports, […]

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Attacks including Baghdad car bombs kill 66 in Iraq

Attacks including Baghdad car bombs kill 66 in Iraq By W.G. Dunlop (AFP) – 13 hours ago   Baghdad — A series of car bombs hit Baghdad province on Thursday, killing at least 44 people, while 22 died in other attacks, including two suicide bombings in northern Iraq, officials said. The attacks come as Iraq witnesses its worst violence since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict. The violence, which has included sectarian attacks, has raised fears of a relapse into the intense bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people. Eleven car bombs exploded in eight areas in and around the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 44 people and wounding more than 120, officials said. More attacks, including two suicide bombings, were carried out in northern Iraq. One suicide bomber detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives in […]

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China's Q3 GDP growth accelerates to 7.8 pct

  • China’s  GDP growth accelerated to 7.8 pct in the third quarter, up from 7.5 pct in the second quarter.   • Growth in the first nine months stood at 7.7 percent.   • According to the NBS data, the GDP totaled 38.68 trillion yuan in the first nine months.   Photo taken on Oct. 14, 2013 shows the container terminal in Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in east China’s Shanghai municipality. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 38.7 trillion yuan (6.25 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2013, with the growth at 7.8 percent in the third quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday. (Xinhua/Lai Xinlin) BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) — China’s gross domestic product growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday. Growth in […]

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China’s Q3 GDP growth accelerates to 7.8 pct

  • China’s  GDP growth accelerated to 7.8 pct in the third quarter, up from 7.5 pct in the second quarter.   • Growth in the first nine months stood at 7.7 percent.   • According to the NBS data, the GDP totaled 38.68 trillion yuan in the first nine months.   Photo taken on Oct. 14, 2013 shows the container terminal in Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in east China’s Shanghai municipality. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 38.7 trillion yuan (6.25 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of 2013, with the growth at 7.8 percent in the third quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday. (Xinhua/Lai Xinlin) BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) — China’s gross domestic product growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday. Growth in […]

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UK could face power blackouts in winter 2014/15 – engineers

* Power system under strain especially in winter 2014/15 * Government should speed up power market reform – report LONDON Oct 17 (Reuters) – Britain could see widespread power blackouts during next year’s winter if a series of unforeseen events such as a cold snap or unplanned station outages occurs simultaneously, a report for an advisory body to the prime minister warned on Thursday. Britain’s power capacity margin, which is the production capacity available above demand levels, is expected to be dangerously low in the winter of 2014/15, an engineering report for the Council for Science and Technology said. Britain’s energy regulator Ofgem and network operator National Grid have also warned of shrinking margins and in response are creating tools aimed at reducing peak demand. "Although the electricity supply is expected to be sufficient to cover predicted levels of demand, it is likely to stretch the system close to […]

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