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South Korea’s Oct crude imports from Iran slump 47% on year to 98,097 b/d

South Korea’s imports of Iranian crude oil in October slumped 47.4% to 3.04 million barrels, or 98,097 b/d, compared with 5.78 million barrels a year earlier, data released Friday by state-run Korea National Oil Corp. showed. Compared with September’s imports of 4.12 million barrels, South Korea’s imports in October were 26.2% lower. In the first ten months, the country imported 40.33 million barrels of Iranian crude oil, down 9.5% from 44.55 million barrels in the same period last year. The country did not import any crude oil from Iran in August and September last year in line with US-led sanctions on Iran, but imported 1.97 million in August and 4.12 million barrels in September this year. South Korea was granted an exemption from US financial sanctions since last year allowing it to keep buying Iranian crude oil as long as it showed an […]

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Chinese official: Oil trade with Iran 'transparent, open, reasonable'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China’s crude oil imports from Iran are in line with sanctions targeting the Iranian energy sector. “Our cooperation with Iran on crude oil is transparent, open, reasonable and commercial in nature. It does not run counter to U.N. resolutions or damage third-party interests,” Hong said in a report from China’s official Xinhua News Agency Thursday. Hong said China was importing less crude oil from Iran than during previous months but that was not in response to sanctions or to nuclear talks under way in Geneva, Switzerland. Iranian delegates and representatives from the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, met in Geneva for a third day of nuclear negotiations Friday. Iran denies its nuclear program is geared toward creating weapons. It maintains it has the right to enrich uranium to a high level […]

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Chinese official: Oil trade with Iran ‘transparent, open, reasonable’

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China’s crude oil imports from Iran are in line with sanctions targeting the Iranian energy sector. “Our cooperation with Iran on crude oil is transparent, open, reasonable and commercial in nature. It does not run counter to U.N. resolutions or damage third-party interests,” Hong said in a report from China’s official Xinhua News Agency Thursday. Hong said China was importing less crude oil from Iran than during previous months but that was not in response to sanctions or to nuclear talks under way in Geneva, Switzerland. Iranian delegates and representatives from the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, met in Geneva for a third day of nuclear negotiations Friday. Iran denies its nuclear program is geared toward creating weapons. It maintains it has the right to enrich uranium to a high level […]

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Libya’s Fragile Peace Cracks

An accident in Omar Mokhtar Avenue in downtown Tripoli. Nobody was injured but there’s a bumper hanging off the back of a car. In just a few seconds, a group gathers around. “Forget about insurance companies in Libya,” says Mansur, a 30-year-old satellite dish installer. “The main problem is that you can easily run into somebody who produces a gun; everyone carries one in their glove box. In such a case there are two options: “You can get back to your car smoothly and leave, but you could also call a brother or a cousin of yours in one of those militias so he backs you up with heavy artillery.” In Libya, the police and the army are names on paper to entities that do not exist on the ground. Security, or the lack of it, comes from the myriad […]

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Saudis launch major gas drilling in Red Sea

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 21 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia is fast-tracking its first major offshore natural gas fields in the Red Sea, a high-priority project that’s seen as the start of a massive new energy program, off the kingdom’s west coast. The objective is to produce gas for power-generation to free up for export growing volumes of oil that are being used domestically to cope with a growing domestic demand. The kingdom’s giant state oil company, Aramco, has not disclosed any estimate of the Red Sea’s potential yet, “but there could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil equivalent under the sea bed,” observed analyst Persian Gulf analyst Kevin Baxter. That’s about equal to a 38 percent increase in the kingdom’s state oil reserves of 267 billion barrels, the largest in the world and overwhelmingly located on land in the Eastern province on the shores of the gulf […]

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Egypt is in official mourning as misery piles up

In Egypt, misery just keeps piling on and, fittingly, the nation is officially in mourning. Political violence and unrest have plagued Egypt since the ouster in 2011 of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak, but a flurry of deadly incidents this week appears to have touched a raw nerve in the nation’s psyche, with many Egyptians abandoning hopes for democracy and freedom and instead embracing a grim view of the future. “I think the time has come for everyone to acknowledge that the only thing this country can offer us is nightmares,” prominent activist Mona Seif wrote despairingly on her Twitter account Thursday. “It is futile that, every now and then, we try to find an excuse to be happy or optimistic.” The interim, military-backed president, Adly Mansour, announced a three-day state of national mourning Wednesday to honor 39 Egyptians who died this week. They […]

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Britain's Tullow Oil says it has made another oil discovery in Kenya

British energy explorer Tullow Oil said Friday an oil discovery in the Agete-1 exploration well in Kenya marks its fifth straight oil find in the region. Tullow said it encountered oil while drilling its Agete-1 wildcat well, which is positioned in a region not known previously to contain oil and natural gas reserves. “A fifth consecutive oil discovery onshore northern Kenya highlights the emerging world class exploration and production potential within our … acreage,” Angus McCoss, exploration director for Tullow, said in a statement Friday. McCoss said next year’s exploration campaign in the region would be “intensive.” Tullow provided no estimate of the potential from Agete-1. In October, Tullow halted operations at drilling sites in northern Kenya because of labor strikes. Work resumed Nov. 7 following talks with federal and local Kenyan officials. More than half of the 1,400 people employed by Tullow in […]

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Britain’s Tullow Oil says it has made another oil discovery in Kenya

British energy explorer Tullow Oil said Friday an oil discovery in the Agete-1 exploration well in Kenya marks its fifth straight oil find in the region. Tullow said it encountered oil while drilling its Agete-1 wildcat well, which is positioned in a region not known previously to contain oil and natural gas reserves. “A fifth consecutive oil discovery onshore northern Kenya highlights the emerging world class exploration and production potential within our … acreage,” Angus McCoss, exploration director for Tullow, said in a statement Friday. McCoss said next year’s exploration campaign in the region would be “intensive.” Tullow provided no estimate of the potential from Agete-1. In October, Tullow halted operations at drilling sites in northern Kenya because of labor strikes. Work resumed Nov. 7 following talks with federal and local Kenyan officials. More than half of the 1,400 people employed by Tullow in […]

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Australian state extends moratorium on fracking

MELBOURNE, Nov. 21 (UPI) — The Australian state of Victoria has extended its moratorium on onshore coal seam gas production and ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, until at least July 2015 while it conducts a community consultation process. Victorian Premier Denis Napthine announced his decision Thursday, in tandem with the release of the Gas Market Taskforce report, which was submitted to the government three weeks ago. The premier said earlier this month that he would not be rushed into making a decision. “There is no hurry … the gas has been in the ground onshore for tens of thousands of years. It’ll be there for some time yet,” he said. The report was commissioned by Napthine’s predecessor, Ted Baillieu, in January. The taskforce, chaired by former Federal Minister Peter Reith, in its report recommended that Victoria encourage the development of onshore gas projects and that fracking be allowed. […]

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China Fires Shot Across Petrodollar Bow: Shanghai Futures Exchange May Price Crude Oil Futures In Yuan

Page added on November 21, 2013 With the US shale revolution set to make America the largest exporter of crude, however briefly, the influence of Saudi oil is rapidly declining. This has been felt most recently in the cold shoulder the US gave Saudi Arabia and Qatar first over the Syrian debacle, and subsequently in its overtures to break the ice with Iran over the stern objections of Israel and the Saudi lobby (for a good example of this the most recent soundbites by Prince bin Talal ). But despite the shifting commodity winds and the superficial political jawboning, the reality is that nothing threatens the US dollar’s hegemony in what many claim is the biggest pillar of the currency’s reserve status – the petrodollar, which literally makes the USD the only currency in which energy-strapped countries can transact in to purchase energy. This may be changing soon following […]

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API: U.S. October Oil Use Up 1.3% vs Year Earlier at 18.953 Million B/D

*API: U.S. October Gasoline Use Up 2.6% vs Year Earlier *API: U.S. Gasoline Use of 8.928 Million B/D Hit Three-Year October High *API: U.S. Crude Oil Output at 25-Year October High *API: U.S. Crude, Products Imports at 17-Year October Low *API: U.S. Crude Oil Stocks Highest at End-October Since 1930 By David Bird NEW YORK–U.S. oil demand rose 1.3% year-on-year in October to 18.953 million barrels a day, led by a three-year high in gasoline use in the month, the American Petroleum Institute said Thursday. The trade group said U.S. crude oil output continued to climb, reducing the need for foreign supplies. “Domestic crude oil production hit a 25-year October high last month, while imports fell to a 17-year October low,” said John Felmy, API’s chief economist. “The United States continues to meet more and more of its demand with energy produced here at home.” Demand for gasoline, the […]

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New report: jobs from shale gas development greatly exaggerated by industry

There’s a new report out from the  Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative , which consists of independent, nonpartisan research and policy organizations in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia that monitor employment trends, tax policy, economic development, and the community impacts of energy extraction in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. The Collaborative has an advisory committee of academic experts. The new report is entitled: Exaggerating the Employment Impacts of Shale Drilling : How and Why . It contains a lot of great data and important analysis. Among the key findings: Between 2005 and 2012, an estimated 3.7 jobs were created for every well […]

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Canada's NEB Forecasts 75% Rise In Crude Oil Output By 2035

Canadian oil production will rise by nearly 75 percent to 5.8 million barrels per day by 2035, the country’s National Energy Board (NEB) said in a report on Thursday, assuming the infrastructure is built to transport crude to export markets. The NEB, Canada’s energy regulator, said the discount on Canadian crude versus the West Texas Intermediate benchmark will likely remain volatile if extra takeaway capacity is not built, potentially affecting production growth. Congested pipelines and booming production mean Canadian crude tends to get bottlenecked in Alberta, pushing prices lower. Western Canada Select, the benchmark heavy crude blend, traded as low as $41.50 per barrel below WTI earlier this month. Throughout 2011 and 2012 the WCS price traded on average nearly $19 per barrel below the WTI. “A key assumption in this analysis is that there will be sufficient infrastructure to deliver […]

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Canada’s NEB Forecasts 75% Rise In Crude Oil Output By 2035

Canadian oil production will rise by nearly 75 percent to 5.8 million barrels per day by 2035, the country’s National Energy Board (NEB) said in a report on Thursday, assuming the infrastructure is built to transport crude to export markets. The NEB, Canada’s energy regulator, said the discount on Canadian crude versus the West Texas Intermediate benchmark will likely remain volatile if extra takeaway capacity is not built, potentially affecting production growth. Congested pipelines and booming production mean Canadian crude tends to get bottlenecked in Alberta, pushing prices lower. Western Canada Select, the benchmark heavy crude blend, traded as low as $41.50 per barrel below WTI earlier this month. Throughout 2011 and 2012 the WCS price traded on average nearly $19 per barrel below the WTI. “A key assumption in this analysis is that there will be sufficient infrastructure to deliver […]

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PM Cameron's green gaffe sparks uproar

British advocacy group Friends of Earth said Thursday it wouldn’t be surprised if the prime minister did issue a call to back off renewable energy policies. “It would come as little surprise if David Cameron did tell aides to ditch the ‘green crap’ — his government has been attacking environmental policies for years,” Friends of Earth Policy Director Craig Bennett said in a statement. British newspaper The Sun quoted an unnamed Cameron ally as saying the prime minister made those comments in connection to levies used to support renewable energy projects but could also lead to higher consumer prices. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg dismissed the allegations Thursday, the Guardian newspaper reported. Cameron’s administration had pledged to push efforts to provide more renewable energy options to British consumers. Bennett called on the Cameron administration to fight the urge to drift back toward the “toxic” […]

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PM Cameron’s green gaffe sparks uproar

British advocacy group Friends of Earth said Thursday it wouldn’t be surprised if the prime minister did issue a call to back off renewable energy policies. “It would come as little surprise if David Cameron did tell aides to ditch the ‘green crap’ — his government has been attacking environmental policies for years,” Friends of Earth Policy Director Craig Bennett said in a statement. British newspaper The Sun quoted an unnamed Cameron ally as saying the prime minister made those comments in connection to levies used to support renewable energy projects but could also lead to higher consumer prices. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg dismissed the allegations Thursday, the Guardian newspaper reported. Cameron’s administration had pledged to push efforts to provide more renewable energy options to British consumers. Bennett called on the Cameron administration to fight the urge to drift back toward the “toxic” […]

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Apache cuts freshwater use in Permian fracking

In Irion County, where Apache is probing for the Wolfcamp shale, the company is tapping the Santa Rosa formation for brackish water supplies that lie between 600 and 800 feet below ground in this part of the Permian, just below freshwater aquifers. The brackish water complements existing efforts to treat and recycle flowback and produced water. “We’re not using freshwater out here,” Lucian Wray, production manager for Apache’s South Permian region, said of the company’s Barnhart operating area. “We are recycling 100% of our produced water. We don’t dispose of any of it,” he told Reuters. The tactic is saving Apache money in trucking and disposal costs. Water costs alone can eat up around 10% of a well’s budget, according to IHS CERA. Apache says it costs about 29 cents per barrel to treat flowback water, an enormous discount to the roughly $2.50 per barrel it costs to dispose […]

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Suncor expects 'strong year' for oil production

Suncor Energy Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams said his company is set for a strong year in 2014 in terms of oil sands production. “We’re set for a strong year of continued production growth,” he said in a statement Wednesday. Suncor said it would spend $7.8 billion next year, about half of which would go toward projects like its Fort Hills oil sands project in northern Alberta. The company said it expects oil sands production to increase next year, which would offset the production loss from the sale of some of its assets in 2013. Exploration and production from its Canadian assets should result in the total production next year of at least 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. “We will be diligent in pursuing only those projects we believe will deliver long-term shareholder value,” Williams said. “This approach applies not only […]

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Suncor expects ‘strong year’ for oil production

Suncor Energy Chief Executive Officer Steve Williams said his company is set for a strong year in 2014 in terms of oil sands production. “We’re set for a strong year of continued production growth,” he said in a statement Wednesday. Suncor said it would spend $7.8 billion next year, about half of which would go toward projects like its Fort Hills oil sands project in northern Alberta. The company said it expects oil sands production to increase next year, which would offset the production loss from the sale of some of its assets in 2013. Exploration and production from its Canadian assets should result in the total production next year of at least 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. “We will be diligent in pursuing only those projects we believe will deliver long-term shareholder value,” Williams said. “This approach applies not only […]

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Working Around Keystone XL, Suncor Energy Steps Up Oil Production in Canada

Suncor Energy, Canada’s top petroleum producer, announced on Thursday that it would expand its oil production in 2014 by 10 percent in another sign that the Obama administration’s delay in approving the Keystone XL pipeline extension is not holding back growth in the western Canadian oil sands fields. “We’re set for a strong year of continued production,” Suncor’s chief executive, Steven W. Williams, said. The company announced a capital spending program of $7.45 billion for 2014, $477 million more than it had forecast earlier this year. Suncor, which is based in Calgary, produces oil and gas around Canada, and has operations in North Africa and the North Sea. But its oil sands operations are the main driver for the company. In the most recent quarter, its oil sands output rose 16 percent from the year before for a record of 396,000 barrels a day, nearly 20 percent of the […]

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Shale gas’s next frontier could be Poland

Shale gas, the energy source which has shaken up world oil markets, could soon be flowing in Poland after changes in government policy. Shale gas drilling has a chequered history in Poland. International oil giant Exxon Mobil tried to extract the controversial energy source in the country and gave up in 2012. Instead, Poland’s first shale gas extraction will start within months, or even weeks, according to Dennis McKee, chief executive of United Oilfield Services, which is providing equipment for shale gas exploration in Poland. ( Read more: Poland: A tough sell for investors? ) “The climate is changing quickly at this point, and there are more wells this year than in the last five years,” he told CNBC. “Government plans have changed, making it easier to develop.” Shale gas, the energy source which has shaken up world oil markets, could soon be flowing in Poland after changes in […]

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The shale game, & Shilling for dollars

Posted: Friday, November 22, 2013, 12:16 AM Likewise, as the American economy got crushed by no-longer-cheap oil, all the working classes in this country below the one-percenters got crushed, hammered and trashed. Among other things they can no longer afford is gasoline. Total vehicle miles driven has gone down by almost 3 percent since 2007. It will keep going down, and the Happy Motoring matrix will collapse for another reason: Capital scarcity will translate into fewer available car loans for Americans and fewer qualified borrowers, and Americans are used to buying their cars on installment loans. The shale-gas situation is also not the “energy savior” it’s cracked up to be. Because it costs so much to export the stuff, and we don’t have the export infrastructure in place – ocean terminals, fleets of special (expensive!) tanker ships – shale gas is hostage to the U.S. domestic market. The initial […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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The shale game, & Shilling for dollars

Posted: Friday, November 22, 2013, 12:16 AM Likewise, as the American economy got crushed by no-longer-cheap oil, all the working classes in this country below the one-percenters got crushed, hammered and trashed. Among other things they can no longer afford is gasoline. Total vehicle miles driven has gone down by almost 3 percent since 2007. It will keep going down, and the Happy Motoring matrix will collapse for another reason: Capital scarcity will translate into fewer available car loans for Americans and fewer qualified borrowers, and Americans are used to buying their cars on installment loans. The shale-gas situation is also not the “energy savior” it’s cracked up to be. Because it costs so much to export the stuff, and we don’t have the export infrastructure in place – ocean terminals, fleets of special (expensive!) tanker ships – shale gas is hostage to the U.S. domestic market. The initial […]

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Supermajors 'worst climate offenders'

The findings of the study by the US-based Climate Accountability Institute reveal the 90 companies have between them generated nearly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions since the dawn of the industrial age. They are said to have been responsible for 63% of cumulative emissions between 1751 and 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatonnes of CO2 out of a total of about 1450 gigatonnes, according to the newly published report. The list of climate offenders includes 50 investor-owned companies, mainly oil supermajors, as well as 31 state-owned companies such as Statoil, Saudi Aramco and Russia’s Gazprom. ChevronTexaco was the leading emitter among investor-owned companies, causing 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, with ExxonMobil not far behind at 3.2%. In third place, BP has caused 2.5% of global emissions, while Statoil was ranked as the 34th largest emitter on the overall list of 90 companies. Nearly 30% of emissions were produced by […]

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Supermajors ‘worst climate offenders’

The findings of the study by the US-based Climate Accountability Institute reveal the 90 companies have between them generated nearly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions since the dawn of the industrial age. They are said to have been responsible for 63% of cumulative emissions between 1751 and 2010, amounting to about 914 gigatonnes of CO2 out of a total of about 1450 gigatonnes, according to the newly published report. The list of climate offenders includes 50 investor-owned companies, mainly oil supermajors, as well as 31 state-owned companies such as Statoil, Saudi Aramco and Russia’s Gazprom. ChevronTexaco was the leading emitter among investor-owned companies, causing 3.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, with ExxonMobil not far behind at 3.2%. In third place, BP has caused 2.5% of global emissions, while Statoil was ranked as the 34th largest emitter on the overall list of 90 companies. Nearly 30% of emissions were produced by […]

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Blackstone’s Version of Peak Oil

A $6 billion oil deal signals yet another apex for the Blackstone Group. The sale of private equity-backed GeoSouthern Energy to Devon Energy comes at a high price by one important measure. Blackstone, one of GeoSouthern’s owners, also has an uncanny knack for timing. The glut of undeveloped land owned by oil companies suggests finding buyers will get tougher. Devon can justify the purchase price to its own shareholders, who roundly embraced the deal, using one metric. It is paying just 2.5 times projected 2015 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for GeoSouthern’s assets in the Texas-based Eagle Ford shale formation. Peers like Rosetta Resources are trading at a multiple of four. At $135,000 an acre, however, Devon shelled out about six times more than Marathon Oil paid two years ago to buy land in the same area from KKR and Hilcorp Resources. What’s more, Blackstone got in […]

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Krugman Goes Splat

I was fairly amazed to read Paul Krugman’s latest op-ed in the New York Times, titled “ A Permanent Slump? ” He seemed to be coming remarkably close to saying what several of us have been trumpeting for the past few years—that world economic growth is ending and we’d better retool accordingly. “What if the world we’ve been living in for the past five years is the new normal?,” he writes. “What if depression-like conditions are on track to persist, not for another year or two, but for decades?” Wow. That’s a gutsy statement, given that it’s coming from one of the high priests of the Religion of No Limits (otherwise known as economics). What’s even more remarkable is that Krugman’s sudden insight was evidently triggered by comments from Larry Summers (who was almost nominated to be the next Fed Chairman), in a speech at a recent IMF conference […]

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Peak Oil: Using Energy To Get Energy # 3

Tight oil is an important contributor to the U.S. energy supply, but its long-term sustainability is questionable. It should be not be viewed as a panacea for business as usual in future U.S. energy security planning.’ [1] Today, it takes about one barrel of conventional U.S. oil to produce the equivalent of nine barrels, or 378 gallons of gasoline. Meanwhile, the EROI for nonconventional oil, that is, oil produced from shale and tar sands, stands even lower, at about four. For every barrel of oil used to drill, producers obtain only four barrels of nonconventional oil, or 168 gallons of gasoline [2] FACTS SUCK Lost in the Happy Talk about our imminent energy independence are some notable facts intentionally omitted from those discussions. Facts, as we know, suck. And when the telling of a story of abundance collides with the reality of not […]

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Oil Futures Lower After Fed Minutes; U.S. Supply Concerns Weigh

Oil futures are lower in Asian trading hours Thursday as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting in October revealed that officials at the Fed still expect to start reducing its stimulus in “coming months”. The release of the meeting’s details sent risk sentiment down and the U.S. dollar sharply higher against major Asian currencies. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $93.54 a barrel at 0459 GMT, down $0.31 in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.39 to $107.67 a barrel. The downward move was a contrast against short-lived gains overnight that were boosted by data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which said crude stockpiles climbed by 375,000 barrels to 388.5 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 15. Analysts had expected inventories to rise by 700,000 […]

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WTI at Near 5-Month Low on Signs Stimulus May Be Curbed

West Texas Intermediate traded near its lowest closing level in five months as investors weighed a possible easing of economic stimulus in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Crude inventories rose for a ninth week. Futures slid as much as 0.5 percent in New York. The Federal Reserve may pare its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases “in the coming months” as the economy improves, according to minutes released yesterday from the Federal Open Market Committee’s most recent meeting. U.S. crude stockpiles climbed to the highest level since June, government data show. In China , the world’s second-largest oil consumer, a preliminary manufacturing gauge missed estimates. “The market fears that there will be a dose of post-quantitative easing cold turkey and that there will be weakness across a broad swathe of the economy, including oil,” said Christopher Bellew , a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London […]

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Natural Gas Boosted By Near-Term Cold Weather Forecasts

.Natural gas futures climbed early Wednesday as traders hoped that forecasted cold weather would increase demand for gas-powered heating and help reduce natural gas stockpiles. Natural gas for December delivery rose 9.3 cents, or 2.62%, to $3.648 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have wavered this week as market participants have weighed colder forecasts, which could increase use of natural gas to heat homes and offices, against high production and supplies. A “series of cold polar air masses” are expected to hit the East Coast this week and next, and the central U.S. could see snow, according to private forecaster WSI Energycast. However, forecasts in the […]

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IEA and Emerging Countries to Collaborate More Closely

The International Energy Agency and six emerging economies including China and India agreed to pursue stronger cooperation, the IEA said on Wednesday in a bid to strengthen ties with non-members whose share in global oil demand has grown rapidly. The initiative to form an “association” between the West’s energy watchdog, combining 28 developed economies, and non-members is aimed at boosting ties on energy security, data sharing and energy market analysis, the Paris-based group said. China, the world’s top energy consumer, India, Russia, South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia have signed the joint declaration, a non-legally binding agreement. As oil demand growth has shifted from developed to emerging countries over the past decade, the IEA has looked to non-members to preserve its importance as an international agency. “Energy governance is an increasingly important element of the global energy economy,” Maria van der Hoeven, the […]

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Car bomb in Iraq kills 25: mayor, medics

A car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeastern Iraq on Thursday, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 30, the town’s mayor and medical sources said. Iraq is suffering its worst wave of violence in at least five years, with insurgents targeting mainly Shi’ite Muslim civilians in attacks on public places such as shopping areas and cafes. Thursday’s attack took place in Sadiya, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad. "I was sitting in my store when I heard a huge explosion. I could not recognize anything because dust engulfed the place. Shattered glass was everywhere," grocery store owner Suhair Gadhban told Reuters by telephone, adding that he had been wounded in the leg. Suhair said he had seen dozens of people lying near the scene of the explosion as he was being taken for medical aid. "Some of them had […]

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World powers, Iran make new attempt to clinch nuclear deal

World powers aim to clinch a preliminary deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program in politically charged talks resuming in Geneva on Wednesday to end a long standoff and head off the risk of a wider Middle East war. The United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came tantalizingly close to winning concessions from Iran on the scope of its nuclear work in return for some sanctions relief at negotiations in the Swiss city on November 7-9. Top policymakers from the sextet have since said that an interim accord on confidence-building steps to start defusing a decade of suspicion and hostility between the West and Iran could finally be within reach. But diplomats caution that differences remain and could still prevent an agreement during the talks Wednesday through Friday. "There is a good chance. There is a hope the Iranians realize it’s a good deal and […]

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France, Iran trade barbs, tempering hopes of nuclear deal

France and Iran traded tough words on Thursday before major powers began to negotiate the details of a preliminary accord to curb Tehran’s nuclear program with Paris warning the West had to remain firm and Tehran deploring a loss of trust. Each side appeared to be tempering anticipation of an imminent agreement after the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany came close to winning concessions from Tehran in the last round of negotiations two weeks ago. Policymakers from the six governments have said an interim accord on confidence-building steps could be within reach to defuse a decade-old stand-off and dispel the specter of a wider Middle East war over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. But before negotiations began in earnest on Thursday, France and Iran stepped up the rhetoric. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who spoke out against a draft deal floated at the […]

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Iran Talks Enter Critical Phase as France Signals Unity

Diplomats seeking to reach an interim accord to ease a decade-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear program began a critical phase of talks today, an Iranian negotiator said. Iran ’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Geneva, according to an EU statement. U.S. and Iranian negotiators were also set to have direct talks this morning, according to the U.S. delegation. “All will depend on the Ashton talks with Zarif,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in the Swiss city. The six world powers Iran is negotiating with need a common stance at this “critical juncture,” he said. Envoys are trying to strike a first-step accord that would give negotiators a six-month window in which to win a broader agreement over Iran’s nuclear work. Israel and the U.S. have said they’re prepared to strike Iran, which controls the world’s No. […]

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Iran's Comments on Israel Deemed 'Unacceptable' as Talks Open

Iran’s leader launched an anti-Western broadside as global powers resumed negotiations on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, injecting fresh uncertainty into a diplomatic process viewed as crucial to Middle East stability. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s verbal attacks on Israel, the U.S. and its allies during a speech in Tehran Wednesday—he referred to the Jewish state as a “dirty rabid dog”—also tested the unity of the six international powers holding talks with Iran in Geneva this week. The French government quickly challenged Mr. Khamenei, calling his speech “unacceptable,” while the Obama administration offered a much milder response. This divergence mirrored the differing tactics Paris and Washington displayed two weeks ago during negotiations in the Swiss lakeside city. Then, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius publicly broke from the U.S. and other international powers and called the terms of the agreement being pursued with Tehran a “fool’s game.” French officials said Wednesday […]

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Iran’s Comments on Israel Deemed ‘Unacceptable’ as Talks Open

Iran’s leader launched an anti-Western broadside as global powers resumed negotiations on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, injecting fresh uncertainty into a diplomatic process viewed as crucial to Middle East stability. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s verbal attacks on Israel, the U.S. and its allies during a speech in Tehran Wednesday—he referred to the Jewish state as a “dirty rabid dog”—also tested the unity of the six international powers holding talks with Iran in Geneva this week. The French government quickly challenged Mr. Khamenei, calling his speech “unacceptable,” while the Obama administration offered a much milder response. This divergence mirrored the differing tactics Paris and Washington displayed two weeks ago during negotiations in the Swiss lakeside city. Then, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius publicly broke from the U.S. and other international powers and called the terms of the agreement being pursued with Tehran a “fool’s game.” French officials said Wednesday […]

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Gulf Arabs Face Mixed Blessing From an Iran Accord: Arab Credit

A nuclear deal between Iran and countries including the U.S. and Russia could prompt sovereign upgrades of Persian Gulf Arab nations even as it may cut their revenue by causing oil prices to fall, according to IHS Inc. “The reduction in geopolitical risk would serve as a key trigger for a sovereign ratings review for the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and potentially an upgrade,” Bryan Plamondon, an economist specializing in the Middle East at energy consultant IHS, said yesterday by e-mail from Lexington, Massachusetts . “Countries would then likely see benefits in the form of lower borrowing costs and greater foreign investment.” Talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group of world powers resumed yesterday in Geneva. “Differences that remain between the parties are narrow, and I believe they can be bridged with political will and commitment,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said in the city. Concern […]

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Young Palestinian Refugees Join Jihadists Fighting in Syria

;Inside Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, disaffected and unemployed youth are increasingly joining radical Islamist groups fighting in Syria, saying it gives their lives a sense of purpose. The growing hold of the jihadists is evident on the street at the camp’s entrance, lined with flags of al Qaeda-linked groups that operate in Lebanon or Syria. Homes on Tawareq Street are pockmarked by bullets and rocket-propelled grenades—scars of recent fighting between Islamist militants and the Lebanese army. The camp’s ties to jihadist groups fighting in Syria came into sharp relief on Tuesday. The head of the group that claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed 25 people outside Iran’s Embassy in Beirut lived in the camp for a time and the brigade operated openly there. The group linked the bombing to the conflict in Syria. The youth of Ain el-Hilweh, Lebanon’s most radicalized camp, have largely […]

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Hezbollah calls for calm after Iranian embassy bombing

A Hezbollah leader appealed for calm on Wednesday and an easing of sectarian tensions in Lebanon, a day after twin suicide bombings struck the Iranian embassy in Beirut. "The solution to this confrontation begins politically," the Shi’ite Muslim group’s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said on Lebanese radio, calling for unity. "Then there are security and military steps by the (Lebanese) authorities … in addition to attempts to calm the arena and reduce the transmission of sectarian poisons." He did not specify what security and military steps were needed. The remarks by Qassem, the most senior Hezbollah official to speak publicly about Tuesday’s bombings, suggested a restrained response from Hezbollah, which is funded by Iran and has sent fighters to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah’s military role in Syria has helped to inflame sectarian tension there and in Lebanon. Many Lebanese Sunnis back the […]

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OMV: Libyan production down since October

Austrian energy company OMV said Wednesday its oil production in Libya has been interrupted for close to a month. “Production has been interrupted since the end of October,” the company said in a statement emailed to United Press International. Simmering conflict in Libya since civil war ended in 2011 has curtailed the country’s oil and natural gas production. Rival groups in the east of the country announced in early November they declared independence for the region known as Cyrenaica, which hosts some of Libya’s key oil terminals. Labor strikes have shut down processing facilities in the west of the country. OMV said it evacuated its personnel from Libya when conflict erupted in February 2011 but re-opened its office in Tripoli 10 months later. The company announced Oct. 21 an oil discovery in Libya, made with partners Repsol and Total, was its first since the […]

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Raw Sewage and Anger Flood Gaza’s Streets as Electricity Runs Low

Raw sewage has flooded streets in a southern Gaza City neighborhood in recent days, threatening a health disaster, after a shortage of electricity and cheap diesel fuel from Egypt led the Hamas government to shut down Gaza’s lone power plant, causing a pump station to flood. Three more sewage stations in Gaza City and 10 others elsewhere in the Gaza Strip are close to overflowing, sanitation officials here said, and 3.5 million cubic feet of raw sewage is seeping into the Mediterranean Sea daily. The sanitation department may soon no longer be able to pump drinking water to Gaza homes. “Any day that passes without a solution has disastrous effects,” Farid Ashour, director of sanitation at the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, said Tuesday in an interview. “We haven’t faced a situation as dangerous as this time.” The sewage crisis is the most acute of an […]

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Sudan, South Sudan's Nile, Dar Blend exports to hit 300,000 b/d next year

Exports of Nile and Dar Blend crude oil from Sudan and South Sudan could be raised to 300,000 b/d next year from a current 230,000 b/d as more fields that were previously shut-in are brought back online, officials from South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining said Thursday. “The shutdown was one year and two months and there is a big focus now to bring the production up. The main challenge is that the fields produced too much water during the shutdown and now we’re doing some maintenance and so many fields are currently not producing,” a ministry official said on the sidelines of a conference in Shanghai. “In 2014, the production [of both blends] may reach 300,000 b/d and there is ongoing focus in the longer term to reach up to 400,000 b/d or 500,000 b/d,” he added. Article continues below… Request a […]

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Sudan, South Sudan’s Nile, Dar Blend exports to hit 300,000 b/d next year

Exports of Nile and Dar Blend crude oil from Sudan and South Sudan could be raised to 300,000 b/d next year from a current 230,000 b/d as more fields that were previously shut-in are brought back online, officials from South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining said Thursday. “The shutdown was one year and two months and there is a big focus now to bring the production up. The main challenge is that the fields produced too much water during the shutdown and now we’re doing some maintenance and so many fields are currently not producing,” a ministry official said on the sidelines of a conference in Shanghai. “In 2014, the production [of both blends] may reach 300,000 b/d and there is ongoing focus in the longer term to reach up to 400,000 b/d or 500,000 b/d,” he added. Article continues below… Request a […]

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Pirates Looting Cargoes With AK-47s Threaten African Oil: Energy

Ankur Varma, third officer on the oil tanker M/V Cotton, opened his cabin door at five minutes to midnight on July 14 to find two men pointing AK-47s at him. “They just pushed me into the cabin with the guns in my chest and they told me to stay silent,” Varma said in a phone interview from India . “They were threatening, they were showing the guns, pointing at us. They took everything — everything that we had — including clothes, toiletries, electronics.” They also took the ship’s cargo. The Maltese-flagged vessel was carrying about 10,000 tons of fuel oil belonging to France’s largest oil company when it was attacked by 15 pirates off the coast of Gabon in West Africa. The hijackers kept control of tanker for seven days as they siphoned off the fuel. While Total SA (FP) eventually got its fuel oil back with the help […]

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To tackle pollution, China to drop pursuit of growth at all costs

* Govt officials no longer to be judged solely on economic growth * "Unified regulation" pledge could augur stronger ministry in new year By David Stanway BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) – China will steer local governments away from the pursuit of economic growth at all costs and beef up their powers to punish polluters as part of a campaign to reverse the damage done by three decades of unchecked expansion. In wide-ranging economic and social reforms unveiled last week, the ruling Communist Party said it would put more emphasis on environmental protection when assessing officials, and would also hold local authorities directly responsible for pollution. The document, which also pledged to relax its "one-child policy" and further free up its markets, said China would draw an "ecological protection red line" that would limit the economic development of environmentally vulnerable regions. Three decades of industrialisation and double-digit growth in China […]

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White House Threatens To Veto Two Republican Energy Bills

The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto two Republican-backed energy bills in the House of Representatives, which aim to reduce federal regulation of energy production in the United States. If the President were presented with either bill “his senior advisors would recommend that he veto” the legislation, the White House said. H.R. 2728, authored by Texas Republican Bill Flores, would restrict the ability of the Bureau of Land Management, part of the Department of Interior, to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Federal and Indian lands. BLM oversees oil and gas operations, including fracking, on over 700 million acres of such land and subsurface mineral deposits. It has been preparing regulations on environmental safeguards. “The bill, as reported, would undermine these efforts and instead require BLM to defer to existing State regulations on hydraulic […]

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House OKs Bill To Speed Oil, Gas Drilling

The House approved a bill Wednesday aimed at speeding up drilling for oil and natural gas. The measure was one of three energy measures the House was considering this week as Republicans controlling the chamber push to expand an oil and gas boom that’s lowered prices and led the U.S. to produce more oil last month than it imported from abroad. Another bill expected to win approval later Wednesday would restrict the Interior Department from enforcing proposed rules to regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on public lands. A third bill would streamline permitting for natural gas pipelines. Supporters say the bills are needed to ensure that a drilling boom taking place on state and private lands extends to millions of acres, mostly in the West, under federal control. President Barack Obama has promised to veto the bills, saying they are unnecessary and run counter to […]

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Deloitte: Oil industry faces high retirement numbers

Oil and gas companies are on the cusp of an unprecedented number of retiring workers, and the ranks of suitable replacements remain thin, speakers said during the 2013 Deloitte Oil & Gas Conference in Houston on Nov. 19. In a paper released at the conference, Deloitte said the industry is looking to improve its workforce planning, talent acquisition, and retention rates. Bruce Culpepper, executive vice-president of human resources for Shell Americas, said Shell is evaluating how it might better measure the effectiveness of employee training programs. “Are people learning anything from the investment?” Culpepper questioned. “There is a lot of opportunity there for us to get sharper on that.” Currently, the number of job openings for the North American oil and gas industry exceeds the number of qualified applicants, said Michelle Seale, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP. “There is an uptick in retirements,” Seale said. A 2011 survey […]

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