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Libyan army clashes with Islamist militants, three killed

Clashes between Libyan troops and militants in the eastern city of Benghazi on Monday killed at least three people and wounded a dozen more during a military operation, security and medical officials said. Still in training, Libya’s new military is struggling to curb Islamist militants and militias who fought in the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi but refuse to disarm and control parts of the country. Gunfire and explosions could be heard in Benghazi and thick smoke rose from the Ras Obeida area. The army ordered residents to stay off the city streets, witnesses said. Fighting broke out when an army special forces unit pursued a suspect into an area where Islamist militant group Ansar al-Sharia operates its own checkpoints, Benghazi city security officials said. Ansar al-Sharia was blamed for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi a year ago when the U.S. ambassador and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libyan officials: Clashes in Benghazi kill 5

Clashes between armed residents and members of a militant Islamic group in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi killed five people and wounded nearly 40 early on Monday, officials said. The fighting started before dawn between armed citizens and members of the officially dissolved militant Ansar al-Shariah group, and later prompted the army’s special forces to step in to quell the violence, said security officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Sounds of explosions and gunfire echoed across much of the city, but mainly in the Raas Obeida district and surrounding areas. Clouds of black smoke hung over Benghazi as ambulances rushed the wounded to hospital. The city’s al-Jalaa hospital received the bodies of four soldiers and one civilian, according to the hospital spokeswoman, Fadya al-Barghathi. Classes were suspended at the city’s schools and local university, and most Benghazi residents […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pakistan sees hope for Iranian gas pipeline

A Pakistani government official said a breakthrough nuclear deal with Tehran may breathe new life into a natural gas pipeline planned from Iran. “We hope the agreement between Iran and the world powers would revive confidence of countries like China and Russia to finance the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project,” the official told The Express Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper, Monday. Iran and delegates from the so-called P5-plus-1 nations — the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany — in concert with the European Union, reached a landmark nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last weekend. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran agreed to suspend certain parts of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from some economic sanctions. “We are hopeful that those [foreign finance] institutions would have some confidence and they would sponsor the [pipeline] project after Iran and Western nations inked the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Somaliland to Sign Accord With Fourth Company on Oil Exploration

Somaliland expects to sign an agreement with a fourth international energy company this week to begin exploring for oil in the semi-autonomous region, Energy Minister Hussein Abdi Dualeh said. An accord with the Middle East-based company, which Dualeh declined to identify, has been completed, he said in a phone interview on Nov. 21 from Somaliland. The other three companies already operating in the country are London-based Genel Energy Plc (GENL) , RAK Gas LLC, owned by the government of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, and Oslo-based DNO International ASA. (DNO) “All talks are concluded” with the fourth company, Dualeh said. “It’s just a matter of inking the deal, which hopefully is going to be this month.” Somaliland, situated on the tip of the Horn of Africa , declared independence from Somalia in 1991, though no country has officially recognized it as a sovereign state. Somaliland and the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Indian Refiners Say Iran Nuclear Deal Eases Crude Import Process

The lifting of a European Union ban on insuring tankers carrying Iranian crude as part of a nuclear deal reached in Geneva today will ease the process of importing the Persian Gulf state’s oil, according to Indian refiners. While officials from Indian Oil Corp. (IOCL) , Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) said the removal of restrictions on shipping cover will enable them to purchase contracted volumes more easily, they said they don’t intend to buy more than previously planned. “We can go ahead and import the contracted volume for this year,” said Rajkumar Ghosh, the director of refineries at Indian Oil, the country’s largest processor. The company has a deal to buy 1.2 million metric tons of Iranian oil in the year ending March 31, of which 0.5 to 0.6 million tons have been imported since April, he said. Middle East suppliers sell the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pollution Pact From China to India Shows Rift: Carbon & Climate

China and India’s success in weakening the latest global warming agreement created friction with other developing nations that are seeking to step up the fight against climate change. The two countries insisted on single-word changes for a deal at a United Nations conference involving 190 nations on Nov. 23. Instead of making “commitments” to roll back fossil fuel emissions, they signed up for “contributions,” a formulation that allows more flexibility in their action. Those last-minute revisions at a meeting that ran overtime by almost 30 hours underscored the reluctance of China and India to join in the sort of emissions cuts that the European Union is making. It puts the two largest developing nations at odds with their smaller brethren, especially island states and Bangladesh that are the most threatened by rising temperatures. “There’s all sorts of divisions emerging that weren’t there before,” Alden Meyer , who has been […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pollution Pact From China to India Shows Rift: Carbon & Climate

China and India’s success in weakening the latest global warming agreement created friction with other developing nations that are seeking to step up the fight against climate change. The two countries insisted on single-word changes for a deal at a United Nations conference involving 190 nations on Nov. 23. Instead of making “commitments” to roll back fossil fuel emissions, they signed up for “contributions,” a formulation that allows more flexibility in their action. Those last-minute revisions at a meeting that ran overtime by almost 30 hours underscored the reluctance of China and India to join in the sort of emissions cuts that the European Union is making. It puts the two largest developing nations at odds with their smaller brethren, especially island states and Bangladesh that are the most threatened by rising temperatures. “There’s all sorts of divisions emerging that weren’t there before,” Alden Meyer , who has been […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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As Marcellus Shale loses momentum, a reassessment

But local civic and business leaders insist the shale-gas industry has not gone bust. They say that it has merely taken a breather, and that all signs point to a long-term boost for this region. “We’ve said all along there’s going to be ebbs and flows to this,” said Williamsport Mayor Gabriel J. Campana, an unabashed gas-industry booster. “There’s a real optimism here.” “I think the hype is what changed,” said Davie Jane Gilmour, president of the Pennsylvania College of Technology. The school has trained 3,400 students as welders, rig hands, commercial truck drivers, […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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US shale boom causing slowdown in LNG industry

Asian buyers’ reluctance to sign the long-term contracts that have traditionally underpinned big liquefied natural gas projects is causing a sharp slowdown in the LNG industry worldwide. A key reason for the standstill is the North American shale gas boom , which promises a cheaper alternative to existing supplies. Amid the uncertainty, LNG developments from east Africa to Canada are being held up, raising fears of a future shortage that could push up global gas prices. Philippe Sauquet, director of gas and power at Total , says buyers and sellers cannot agree on price. “A lot of projects today are still on the shelf because they have not succeeded in interesting long-term buyers,” he told the Financial Times. “Clearly there is a risk [they] won’t get built.” Asian buyers are showing a keen interest in potential exports of US shale gas, because it is indexed to Henry Hub, the […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Analysis: U.S. air pollution authority faces Supreme Court tests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government’s authority to regulate air pollution nationwide, often against the wishes of Republican-leaning states, could face new curbs when the Supreme Court takes on two high-stakes cases in coming months. The cases focus on the broad-ranging power wielded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the landmark Clean Air Act, first enacted in 1970. The law was envisioned as a cooperative effort between the federal government and states in which the EPA sets standards but states have to set plans to comply. That flexibility has allowed states which favor looser regulations, like Texas and Kansas, to resist – with the support of industry groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers – when the agency wants to impose more stringent standards. In both cases before the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, mainly Republican-led states and industry groups have challenged different EPA […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple