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Exxon preparing to drill in Kurdistan

Exxon preparing to drill in Kurdistan A drilling rig towers above the Pirmam exploration block, where ExxonMobil is days away from spudding its first well in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.The start of drilling will cheer Kurdish leaders, who saw Exxon’s entry to Kurdistan – over the objections of federal oil officials in Baghdad – as an implicit endorsement of both the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independent oil sector and its wider ambitions for almost total autonomy within the federal structure of the Iraqi … This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Boosted by foreign Shi'ite militia, Assad's forces advance on Aleppo

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian government forces backed by foreign Shi’ite Muslim militia advanced on rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, bent on recapturing districts from opposition brigades weakened by infighting, activists said. They said that rebels saw the threat of President Bashar al-Assad wresting back Aleppo, Syria’s former commercial hub and once most populous city, as so grave that Islamist brigades, including an al Qaeda affiliate, had declared an emergency and summoned all fighters to head to the fronts. After 2-1/2 years of conflict, which started when Assad’s forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators and escalated into a full-blown civil war, the fighting has settled into a rough stalemate in which scores of people are killed every day. Aleppo has been divided roughly in half by the warring parties for much of the conflict but the government is determined to reassert total control to solidify a foothold […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Boosted by foreign Shi’ite militia, Assad’s forces advance on Aleppo

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian government forces backed by foreign Shi’ite Muslim militia advanced on rebels in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, bent on recapturing districts from opposition brigades weakened by infighting, activists said. They said that rebels saw the threat of President Bashar al-Assad wresting back Aleppo, Syria’s former commercial hub and once most populous city, as so grave that Islamist brigades, including an al Qaeda affiliate, had declared an emergency and summoned all fighters to head to the fronts. After 2-1/2 years of conflict, which started when Assad’s forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators and escalated into a full-blown civil war, the fighting has settled into a rough stalemate in which scores of people are killed every day. Aleppo has been divided roughly in half by the warring parties for much of the conflict but the government is determined to reassert total control to solidify a foothold […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Private Donors’ Funds Add Wild Card to War in Syria

AL SUBAYHIYAH, Kuwait — The money flows in via bank transfer or is delivered in bags or pockets bulging with cash. Working from his sparely furnished sitting room here, Ghanim al-Mteiri gathers the funds and transports them to Syria for the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Mteiri — one of dozens of Kuwaitis who openly raise money to arm the opposition — has helped turn this tiny, oil-rich Persian Gulf state into a virtual Western Union outlet for Syria’s rebels, with the bulk of the funds he collects going to a Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda. One Kuwait-based effort raised money to equip 12,000 rebel fighters for $2,500 each. Another campaign , run by a Saudi sheikh based in Syria and close to Al Qaeda, is called “Wage Jihad With Your Money.” Donors earn “silver status” by giving $175 for 50 sniper bullets, or “gold status” by giving […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israel PM calls for joint Western effort to reduce transport sector's oil dependency

Jerusalem (Platts)–13Nov2013/326 am EST/826 GMT Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a concerted effort by Western countries to reduce their dependency on oil in the transportation sector. Speaking at an alternative energy conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, the Israeli leader said that oil remains a tremendous source of international instability. He added that oil acts as a weight holding down economic development. In 2011, the government had approved a $420 million 10-year program aimed at sharply reducing oil consumption in the country’s transportation sector, Platts previously reported. The funds were to be allocated for research and development of alternative fuels. They would not focus on an individual technology, but will make funds available to a wide range of ventures. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israel PM calls for joint Western effort to reduce transport sector’s oil dependency

Jerusalem (Platts)–13Nov2013/326 am EST/826 GMT Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a concerted effort by Western countries to reduce their dependency on oil in the transportation sector. Speaking at an alternative energy conference in Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, the Israeli leader said that oil remains a tremendous source of international instability. He added that oil acts as a weight holding down economic development. In 2011, the government had approved a $420 million 10-year program aimed at sharply reducing oil consumption in the country’s transportation sector, Platts previously reported. The funds were to be allocated for research and development of alternative fuels. They would not focus on an individual technology, but will make funds available to a wide range of ventures. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron tapped for TAPI pipeline

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 12 (UPI) — U.S. energy company Chevron may come on board to help build a multilateral gas pipeline eastward from Turkmenistan, official sources told the Express Tribune. The Pakistani newspaper reported Tuesday a possible role for Chevron in the Turkmenistan- Afghanistan -Pakistan-India pipeline is on the agenda of a bilateral meeting this week between U.S. and Pakistani officials in Washington. “During the energy group meeting, the issue relating to awarding [the] TAPI gas pipeline contract to Chevron will come under discussion,” sources told the newspaper on condition of anonymity. The same sources said participating countries, notably Pakistan, were called on to award pipeline construction contracts to Chevron. Iran and Pakistan are negotiating terms for the construction of a bilateral pipeline designated for Iranian gas. Pakistan says it needs to secure more sources of energy to help compensate for a domestic energy sector crippled by an aging infrastructure. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Facing Shortages, Uzbekistan to Increase Turkmen Oil Imports

Drivers in Uzbekistan have long complained about gasoline shortages. With little explanation, it seems the secretive government is trying to address mounting domestic gasoline shortages and panic at local petrol stations. Tashkent intends to increase imports of oil from neighboring Turkmenistan, Moscow-based Fergana News reported on November 11, citing Uznefteprodukt, the state-run refining company.  It’s unclear how large the increase will be, however. Repeated calls to Uznefteprodukt went unanswered on November 12. The company’s website confirms the plans for imports, but does not name figures.  Oil output in Uzbekistan fell from 78,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2010 to 68,000 bpd in 2012, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy for 2013, largely due to aging infrastructure and limited investments. Over the same period, consumption increased from 75,000 bpd to 82,000 bpd, BP said.  Neither Uzbekistan nor Turkmenistan disclose energy import or export figures. Uzbekistan also imports […]

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Sudan devalues currency by 22.6% amid dollar shortages

Share/Bookmark Sudan’s central bank has devalued the Sudanese pound by 22.6 percent against the dollar, the second such move in little over a year as the African country struggles with hard currency shortages. Sudan’s economy has been in turmoil since South Sudan’s secession in 2011 took away of three-quarters of oil production. Oil was the driver of the economy and source for dollars needed for food and other essential imports. Sudan produces too little to feed its around 32 million people. Bidding prices for the pound were stated as 5.6871 for one dollar, compared with 4.4 previously, central bank data on Reuters terminals showed on Monday. Ask prices were 5.7155. In 2011, the official rate was around 3. The central bank has been trying to bridge a ballooning gap with the black market rate where one dollar costs 7.8 pounds as import firms struggle to get their hand on […]

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Brazil to Boost Oil Exports as Output Triples, IEA Says

Brazil will triple oil production by 2035 and become a major exporter as it develops the Americas’ largest discoveries in almost four decades, the International Energy Agency said. Latin America’s largest economy will produce 6 million barrels a day in 2035 and account for one-third of the increase in global crude output, the Paris-based agency said. The IEA forecasts that Brazil will be the world’s sixth-largest producer, up from 12th now. The new production will come mostly from deposits trapped under a layer of salt more than two miles beneath the Atlantic Ocean’s floor, the so-called pre-salt fields. Deep-water fields including Libra and Lula, the largest oil discoveries in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico ’s Cantarell field in 1976, have attracted investments from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Total SA. (FP) “The increase in oil and gas production is dependent on highly complex and capital-intensive deepwater developments, requiring […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple