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Oil Futures Steady in Asia, WTI Trades Below $100/bbl

Crude-oil futures moved in a tight price range and were little changed in Asian trading hours Tuesday after a sharp overnight drop on profit-taking. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $99.29 a barrel at 0353 GMT, unchanged in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.06 to $111.15 a barrel. Nymex crude is trading around 8.14% higher on year while ICE Brent crude is almost flat from a year earlier. Brent crude is under pressure after Libyan national oil company Arabian Gulf Oil Co. said on its website Monday that it has resumed oil production at its 100,000 barrel a day Mesla oilfield. Supply disruptions in Libya have been a major reason for volatility in oil prices through the year. "We see higher Libyan oil production adding to a 2014 […]

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WTI Set for Fourth Gain in Five Years on U.S. Stockpiles

West Texas Intermediate is poised for the fourth annual increase in five years amid forecasts crude inventories shrank for a fifth week in the U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after declining from the first settlement above $100 a barrel since October. Crude stockpiles probably dropped by 2.9 million barrels last week as refineries operated at the highest rate in five months and oil companies pared inventories to reduce year-end taxes, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Brent is little changed this year after four consecutive annual increases. U.S. demand is “underpinned by the improving economy” and “should remain higher year-on-year,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil market strategist at Energy Aspects Ltd., a consulting company based in London. WTI for February delivery dropped 19 cents to $99.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 9:18 a.m. […]

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Hedge Fund Crude Wagers Climb to Highest Since September: Energy

Hedge funds increased bullish bets on crude oil to the highest in three months as stockpiles dropped and the U.S. economy expanded more than forecast. Money managers raised net-long positions , or wagers on rising prices for West Texas Intermediate crude, by 4.4 percent in the week ended Dec. 24, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. It was the fourth consecutive increase, the longest streak since July. WTI topped $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Dec. 27, propelled by falling inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil-consuming country. The Federal Reserve cited prospects for improved growth for a reduction in its bond-buying program, and a government report showing that the domestic economy accelerated in the third quarter at a faster rate than previously estimated bolstered expectations for strengthening fuel demand. “There’s a strong demand environment here and that’s attracted the interest of […]

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Natural Gas Rises as Colder-Than-Normal Weather Set to Continue

Natural gas futures firmed Monday on expectations that continued colder-than-normal weather in the central and eastern U.S. would keep demand high for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery settled up 5.9 cents at $4.427 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The 1.4% gain was the largest one-day rise since Dec. 19. Natural-gas prices have climbed from less than $3.50/mmBtu in early November, as continued cold weather has led to robust demand for indoor heating in homes and offices. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the Energy Information Administration. Unusually large amounts of natural gas have been withdrawn from storage in recent weeks. Inventories as of […]

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UPDATE: Violence endangers Anbar peace agreement

Iraqi security forces and protesters clashed throughout Anbar province Monday after SWAT teams entered protest camps to forcibly take down tents, putting at risk an agreement reached Sunday that would have seen Anbaris voluntarily end their protests and the release of a member of Parliament who was detained Saturday in a deadly pre-dawn raid."The Iraqi Army and Federal Police took the protest squares tents down earlier today by force," a senior Interior Ministry official said late Monday. "U…

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Egypt likely to change roadmap, hold presidential vote first: sources

Egypt’s government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said on Monday, rearranging the political timetable in a way that could see army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi elected head of state by April. Parliamentary elections were supposed to happen first under the roadmap unveiled after the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July after mass protests against his rule. But critics have campaigned for a change, saying the country needs an elected leader to direct government at a time of economic and political crisis and to forge a political alliance before a potentially divisive parliamentary election. Opponents say it risks creating a president with unchecked power. Were that Sisi, who is widely tipped to win the vote, it would restore the army’s sway over a post controlled by military men until Mursi was propelled to office last year by the […]

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Cyprus: “On the Verge of Significant Energy Production”

Shale Gas White Paper December 30th, 2013 12:05am Posted In: Natural Gas , LNG , News By Country , Israel , Featured Articles , Cyprus In his introduction of Nicos Kouyialis, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Cyprus , panel moderator John Roberts characterized Cyprus as a country “on the verge of significant energy production," an incredibly apt description, among others, at the 2nd Annual Frankfurt Gas Forum . “The discoveries of substantial quantities of natural gas open up new perspectives and gives a new impetus to the role the Eastern Mediterranean region can play in the global and European energy markets,” he began.  “Our vision is to establish Cyprus as a regional energy hub, utilizing its own indigenous hydrocarbon resources, eventually additional quantities from the neigboring countries,” added Minister Kouyialis. In order to fulfill this vision, he said the basic objectives of the government of Cyprus were “To […]

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South Sudan’s Army Says Oil Heartland Is Safe From Rebellion

South Sudan ’s army says it’s confident it can protect the “heart” of the country’s oil production area from rebel attacks. Production in the Paloch area in Melut County, Upper Nile State, is secure, Major General Gregory Vasili, an oil defense force commander, told reporters on a tour organized by South Sudanese authorities yesterday. Upper Nile is producing about 200,000 barrels of oil a day and normally accounts for 80 percent of the country’s oil output, said Paul Adong Deng, managing director of the state-own Nile Petroleum Corp, on the tour. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,000 people have been killed in violence that has spread since fighting on Dec. 15 between soldiers in the presidential guard in the capital, Juba, bringing the country to the edge of civil. President Salva Kiir , an ethnic Dinka, accuses Riek Machar , who is from the Nuer group and […]

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Exclusive: China may raise Iran oil imports with new contract: sources

China may buy more Iranian oil next year as a state trader is negotiating a new light crude contract that could raise imports from Tehran to levels not seen since tough Western sanctions were imposed in 2012, running the risk of upsetting Washington. An increase would go against the spirit of November’s breakthrough agreement relaxing some of the stringent measures slapped on Iran two years ago over its nuclear program. The November deal between Tehran and the group known as P5+1 — made up of the United States and five other global powers — paused efforts to reduce Iran’s crude sales but required buyers to hold to "current average amounts" of Iranian oil imports. That agreement was seen as a reward for a softer diplomatic tone from Tehran that was forced, some U.S. officials and lawmakers say, by U.S. and EU sanctions that slashed Iran’s oil […]

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Transparency the crux in China's struggle to deal with rising debt

China’s quest to solve its $3 trillion-and-growing public debt problem by starting a domestic municipal bond market hinges on the one thing its officials are most afraid of: transparency. As markets absorb the results of China’s latest audit of its state finances, Beijing’s long-standing vow to develop a municipal bond market to curtail rapid growth in other types of hidden public debt will take centerstage once more. By letting local governments sell bonds for cash, China wants to rely on nimble markets rather than inflexible regulations to keep spendthrift units in check. The stakes are high. A bond market is the centerpiece in China’s blueprint to mop up fiscal troubles and keep its economy growing at an even pace, giving it needed room to start other bold financial reforms. But analysts say China’s dreams of a municipal bond market are so far just that, as building […]

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Transparency the crux in China’s struggle to deal with rising debt

China’s quest to solve its $3 trillion-and-growing public debt problem by starting a domestic municipal bond market hinges on the one thing its officials are most afraid of: transparency. As markets absorb the results of China’s latest audit of its state finances, Beijing’s long-standing vow to develop a municipal bond market to curtail rapid growth in other types of hidden public debt will take centerstage once more. By letting local governments sell bonds for cash, China wants to rely on nimble markets rather than inflexible regulations to keep spendthrift units in check. The stakes are high. A bond market is the centerpiece in China’s blueprint to mop up fiscal troubles and keep its economy growing at an even pace, giving it needed room to start other bold financial reforms. But analysts say China’s dreams of a municipal bond market are so far just that, as building […]

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Pollution Rising, Chinese Fear for Soil and Food

The farm-to-table process in China starts in villages like this one in the agricultural heartland. Food from the fields of Ge Songqing and her neighbors ends up in their kitchens or in the local market, and from there goes to other provinces. The foods are Chinese staples: rice, cabbage, carrots, turnips and sweet potatoes. But the fields are ringed by factories and irrigated with water tainted by industrial waste. Levels of toxic heavy metals in the wastewater here are among the highest in China, and residents fear the soil is similarly contaminated. Though they have no scientific proof, they suspect that a spate of cancer deaths is linked to the pollution, and worry about lead levels in the children’s blood. “Of course I’m afraid,” said Ms. Ge, in her 60s, pointing to the smokestacks looming over her fields and the stagnant, algae-filled irrigation canals surrounding a […]

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China Says Local-Level Debt Soars, Stirring Fear

The total debt of local governments in China has soared to nearly $3 trillion as the country’s addiction to credit-fueled growth has deepened in recent years, according to the findings of a long-awaited report released on Monday by the central auditing agency. In the report, which is likely to further raise concerns about China’s debt problem, the National Audit Office found that local governments across the country had accumulated 17.89 trillion renminbi, or $2.95 trillion, worth of debt obligations as of the end of June. That was an increase of 12.7 percent from December 2012, when local government debt stood at 15.88 trillion renminbi, the report said. The June figure also represented a sharp increase of 67 percent from the end of 2010, when an earlier report by the Audit Office estimated local government debt at 10.71 trillion renminbi. Other reports have estimated local government debt […]

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China's Tianjin to start car plate auction, lottery in 2014

China’s northern municipality of Tianjin will start a bidding and lottery system for car license plates on Jan. 1, 2014, a move targeted at restricting the increase of cars, said government authorities on Tuesday. Sixty percent of the quota of 100,000 new car license plates will be issued via lottery, including 10,000 and 50,000 for fuel-efficient cars and conventional cars respectively, said a management plan approved by the Tianjin municipal government. The remaining 40,000 plates for conventional cars will be auctioned. The opening bid will be 10,000 yuan (about 1,652 U.S. dollars). A total of 88 percent of the plates will go to individual car owners, while non-individual applicants, such as companies, will compete for the other 12 percent. Government organizations and institutions in Tianjin will not be permitted to apply for new official cars, and all auction incomes from car plates will be […]

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China’s Tianjin to start car plate auction, lottery in 2014

China’s northern municipality of Tianjin will start a bidding and lottery system for car license plates on Jan. 1, 2014, a move targeted at restricting the increase of cars, said government authorities on Tuesday. Sixty percent of the quota of 100,000 new car license plates will be issued via lottery, including 10,000 and 50,000 for fuel-efficient cars and conventional cars respectively, said a management plan approved by the Tianjin municipal government. The remaining 40,000 plates for conventional cars will be auctioned. The opening bid will be 10,000 yuan (about 1,652 U.S. dollars). A total of 88 percent of the plates will go to individual car owners, while non-individual applicants, such as companies, will compete for the other 12 percent. Government organizations and institutions in Tianjin will not be permitted to apply for new official cars, and all auction incomes from car plates will be […]

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Agriculture Land Shrinking in China; World Bank Provides Loans to Reduce Soil Pollution

Growing population, industrialization and rapid economic growth are putting unprecedented pressure on China’s agriculture resources, and have become a threat to food security in the country and the world. According to China’s national land survey figures released recently, total arable land in the country stood at around 135.4 million hectares at the end of 2012. This is still about 15.4 million hectares above the “red line” of a minimum 120 million hectares earmarked to ensure food security in China. However, pollution of land and water are eroding agriculture land in China. Coupled with increasing population, China’s per capita arable area now stands at around 0.1 hectare, almost half of the global average of around 0.2 hectare. According to government officials in China, it was found from the survey that about 3 million hectares of land is now unsuitable for rice cultivation due to heavy contamination by poisonous heavy metals […]

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EIA: U.S. October Oil Use Up 3% vs. Year Earlier to Two-Year High — Update

U.S. oil demand rose 3% in October from a year earlier, hitting the highest level since August 2011, government data released Monday show. At 19.273 million barrels a day, demand was its highest for the month since 2008. Demand for gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product in the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose 1.4%, or 120,000 barrels a day, to a three-year October high of 8.821 million barrels a day. The strength in gasoline demand came as the average price of regular gasoline at the pump in October was $3.344 a gallon, down 40.2 cents from a year earlier, EIA data show. Demand for ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in October averaged 3.929 million barrels a day, up 4.8% from a year earlier. Demand for the fuel that powers trucks and trains and is used as heating oil […]

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EIA: U.S. Crude Imports Drop for 20th Straight Month

U.S. crude-oil imports fell year-on-year for a 20th straight month in October, as domestic crude output climbed to its highest level for the month since 1988, government data released Monday show. Imports dropped 7.8% from a year earlier to 7.475 million barrels a day in October, the lowest level for the month since 1995, according to the Energy Information Administration. The drop of 633,000 barrels a day came as domestic crude-oil output jumped by 12% from a year earlier to 7.753 million barrels a day. Among major sources of imports, Canada maintained the rank of top supplier as it has since March 2006. Imports from Canada averaged 2.622 million barrels a day, 17% above a year earlier. Crude-oil imports from Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, rose 8.5% from a year earlier to 1.36 million barrels a day. Crude imports from the Persian Gulf […]

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Weather shift near ND derailment worries officials

A shift in the weather could heighten the risk of potential health hazards after a mile-long train carrying crude oil derailed in North Dakota and set off explosions, authorities said, urging residents of a nearby town evacuate. About 2,400 people live in Casselton, about a mile from Monday’s fiery derailment. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office called on residents there and those living five miles to the south and east to leave their homes because of the weather shift, which it said the National Weather Service was forecasting. "That’s going to put the plume right over the top of Casselton," Sheriff Paul Laney said. No one was hurt, and the cause was still being investigated. Sheriff’s officials said that the evacuation unfolded in calm and orderly fashion in recent hours, with the majority of nearby residents heeding a strong recommendation by authoriites […]

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Train Carrying Oil in North Dakota Ablaze After Derailing

A BNSF Railway Co. train carrying oil caught fire after a collision with railcars in North Dakota , causing a series of explosions that prompted police to urge local residents to evacuate the area. There were no injuries to the train crews involved, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) ’s BNSF said in a statement yesterday. The accident occurred at 2:10 p.m. local time near Casselton, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Fargo and 21 railcars were ablaze as of 9.20 p.m. central standard time, it said. Residents in the city and those living within five miles (eight kilometers) to the south and the east were advised to leave on concern a plume of smoke from the blaze would envelop the area, Captain Judy Tollefson of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said by phone. The accident is the fourth major North American derailment in six months […]

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7 things everyone knows about energy that just ain't so (2013 Edition)

Mark Twain once said, "It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so." And, there are many, many things that the public and policymakers know for sure about energy that just ain’t so. That list is very long indeed and getting longer as the fossil fuel industry (which has little interest in intellectual honesty) continues its skillful manipulation of a gullible and sometimes careless media. Pinocchio in a parade http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1916MomusPinocchio.jpg Below I’ve listed seven whoppers that it would be charitable to call misleading. Longtime readers will recognize that I’ve addressed them before in various pieces. But I thought that it would be useful to review the worst of the worst of 2013 as the year ends. Here are seven things everyone knows about energy that just ain’t so: 1. Worldwide oil production has been growing by leaps […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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7 things everyone knows about energy that just ain’t so (2013 Edition)

Mark Twain once said, "It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so." And, there are many, many things that the public and policymakers know for sure about energy that just ain’t so. That list is very long indeed and getting longer as the fossil fuel industry (which has little interest in intellectual honesty) continues its skillful manipulation of a gullible and sometimes careless media. Pinocchio in a parade http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1916MomusPinocchio.jpg Below I’ve listed seven whoppers that it would be charitable to call misleading. Longtime readers will recognize that I’ve addressed them before in various pieces. But I thought that it would be useful to review the worst of the worst of 2013 as the year ends. Here are seven things everyone knows about energy that just ain’t so: 1. Worldwide oil production has been growing by leaps […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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IEA Forecasts Sustained Energy Growth, But No "Era of Oil Abundance"

The IEA’s latest long-term forecasts highlights the growth of unconventional oil and gas, especially in North America, but does not see this leading to much lower oil prices. In their main scenario fossil fuels will still meet more than three-fourths of the world’s energy needs by 2035, despite significant growth in renewable energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its latest World Energy Outlook (WEO) in November, looking twenty-plus years into our energy future. The trends it describes add nuance and detail to last year’s projections , rather than upending them.  Among other things they advance the expected date of global oil production leadership by the US to 2015 but suggest these gains may be short-lived and will not lead to "cheap oil."  The IEA also envisions a reshuffling of the traditional roles of energy importing, exporting and consuming countries, against a backdrop of steadily increasing energy-related […]

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IEA Forecasts Sustained Energy Growth, But No “Era of Oil Abundance”

The IEA’s latest long-term forecasts highlights the growth of unconventional oil and gas, especially in North America, but does not see this leading to much lower oil prices. In their main scenario fossil fuels will still meet more than three-fourths of the world’s energy needs by 2035, despite significant growth in renewable energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its latest World Energy Outlook (WEO) in November, looking twenty-plus years into our energy future. The trends it describes add nuance and detail to last year’s projections , rather than upending them.  Among other things they advance the expected date of global oil production leadership by the US to 2015 but suggest these gains may be short-lived and will not lead to "cheap oil."  The IEA also envisions a reshuffling of the traditional roles of energy importing, exporting and consuming countries, against a backdrop of steadily increasing energy-related […]

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Oil Futures Supported by Bullish U.S. Oil Data

Crude-oil futures edged up in Asian trading hours on Monday as investors considered bullish weekly U.S. oil inventory data and developments in Libya and South Sudan. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $100.31 a barrel at 0559 GMT–down $0.01 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.22 to $112.40 a barrel. On Friday weekly U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed a sharper-than-expected drop in crude-oil stocks in the week ended Dec. 20 and smaller stocks of important transportation fuels–which was bullish for oil prices. U.S. oil stocks fell by 4.7 million barrels to 367.6 million barrels–more than twice the 2.2-million-barrel decline expected by market participants, EIA data showed. "Crude stocks fell on the back of higher crude runs. In addition refiners on the Gulf Coast delayed imports and minimized supplies to reduce […]

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WTI Trades Near Two-Month High Above $100 as Stockpiles Decline

West Texas Intermediate traded near a two-month high above $100 a barrel after U.S. crude and distillate stockpiles fell more than forecast, while exports from Libya remained curbed by port closures. Futures were little changed near the highest settlement since Oct. 18. Crude inventories dropped by 4.73 million barrels to the lowest level since September last week amid an increase in refinery operations, while distillate supplies, including diesel and heating fuel, fell by 1.85 million barrels to 114.1 million, the Energy Information Administration reported Dec. 27. A possible agreement with rebels to reopen the Libyan port of Hariga collapsed, the oil ministry said Dec. 28. “The recovery of the U.S. economy is fueling expectations of higher oil demand in the U.S.,” said Olivier Jakob , managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland . “Distillate stocks will end 2013 at a multi-year low for the season and that should […]

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Most-Accurate Oil Forecasters See Second Year of Losses

Brent crude prices, the benchmark for half the world’s oil, will weaken for a second year in 2014 as U.S. output expands and threats to Middle East and North African supply ease, the most-accurate forecasters said. Prices will average $105 a barrel in 2014, from $108.70 in 2013, according to the median of estimates from the seven analysts who most accurately predicted this year’s level in a survey last December. Brent averaged $111.68 in 2012. Global supply is expanding as the U.S. pumps oil trapped in shale-rock formations, driving domestic output to the highest in a quarter century and curbing demand for the crude priced off Brent. Iran , Iraq and Libya will also produce more in 2014, the forecasters said. While a second annual drop for Brent would be the first consecutive retreat since 1998, prices are still about 39 percent higher than the average over the past […]

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Iran and world powers resume expert level nuclear talks

Iran resumed technical talks with world powers in Geneva on Monday, a vital step in implementing a nuclear deal signed last month which suspends key elements of Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief. The talks between expert teams from Iran and six world powers are meant to translate the political deal into a detailed implementation plan by the end of January, Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, quoted an unnamed source as saying. A key sticking point appears to be how much advance information Western governments will get so they can verify that Iran is meeting its end of the deal before they lift any sanctions. The third round of talks between technical experts from the permanent U.N. Security Council members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – plus Germany, are set to last a day and resume in 2014, IRNA […]

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Maliki targets protesters as Anbar security crisis deepens

Maliki targets protesters as Anbar security crisis deepens Tensions are rising in Anbar province between Sunni protesters and Iraq’s Shia-dominated central government, as pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to push back against a rising tide of violence.Protesters in Anbar have rejected renewed threats from Maliki, who claims the demonstrations have been infiltrated by terrorists and has warned of imminent crackdowns. It has been a full year since protesters in Sunni-majority provinces across Iraq took to the streets to decry the… 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 .

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Iraq Sunnis in western city end protest after deal

An Iraqi government spokesman says Sunnis in a flashpoint western city have ended their months-long protest after a deal with the country’s Shiite-led government. Mohammed al-Askari says police in the city of Ramadi on Monday dismantled the protesters’ tents and removed their sit-in site along a main highway linking Baghdad with neighboring Jordan. Al-Askari says there was no violence during the police action. He says the Ramadi Sunnis agreed late on Sunday to end the protest after the authorities warned their gathering was sheltering al-Qaida fighters. The protest organizers were not immediately available to comment. Since last December, Iraq’s Sunni minority has been staging protests against what they claim is second-class treatment at the hands of the Shiite majority, demanding an end to some laws they believe unfairly target them. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Egypt arrests Al-Jazeera TV's 4-member crew

Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested journalists working for the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the leading Islamist group that was last week branded as a "terrorist" organization. The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team – correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy – are in custody since Sunday night. Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release. The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to "spread rumors harming national security." Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

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Egypt arrests Al-Jazeera TV’s 4-member crew

Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested journalists working for the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the leading Islamist group that was last week branded as a "terrorist" organization. The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team – correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy – are in custody since Sunday night. Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release. The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to "spread rumors harming national security." Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

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Saudis Pledge $3 Billion to Support Lebanon's Army

Saudi Arabia pledged $3 billion to bolster Lebanon’s armed forces, in a challenge to the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia’s decadeslong status as Lebanon’s main power broker and security force. Lebanese President Michel Sleiman revealed the Saudi gift on Lebanese national television Sunday, calling it the largest aid package ever to the country’s defense bodies. The Saudi pledge compares with Lebanon’s 2012 defense budget, which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute put at $1.7 billion. Lebanon would use the Saudi grant to buy "newer and more modern weapons," from France, said Mr. Sleiman, an independent who has become increasingly critical of Hezbollah. It followed what he called "decades of unsuccessful efforts" to build a credible Lebanese national defense force. As a direct challenge to Hezbollah, the Saudi gift—and the Lebanese president’s acceptance—has potential to change the balance of power in Lebanon and the region. It also threatens to raise sectarian and […]

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Saudis Pledge $3 Billion to Support Lebanon’s Army

Saudi Arabia pledged $3 billion to bolster Lebanon’s armed forces, in a challenge to the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia’s decadeslong status as Lebanon’s main power broker and security force. Lebanese President Michel Sleiman revealed the Saudi gift on Lebanese national television Sunday, calling it the largest aid package ever to the country’s defense bodies. The Saudi pledge compares with Lebanon’s 2012 defense budget, which the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute put at $1.7 billion. Lebanon would use the Saudi grant to buy "newer and more modern weapons," from France, said Mr. Sleiman, an independent who has become increasingly critical of Hezbollah. It followed what he called "decades of unsuccessful efforts" to build a credible Lebanese national defense force. As a direct challenge to Hezbollah, the Saudi gift—and the Lebanese president’s acceptance—has potential to change the balance of power in Lebanon and the region. It also threatens to raise sectarian and […]

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Cyprus: “On the Verge of Significant Energy Production”

Cyprus In his introduction of Nicos Kouyialis, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Cyprus , panel moderator John Roberts characterized Cyprus as a country “on the verge of significant energy production," an incredibly apt description, among others, at the 2nd Annual Frankfurt Gas Forum . “The discoveries of substantial quantities of natural gas open up new perspectives and gives a new impetus to the role the Eastern Mediterranean region can play in the global and European energy markets,” he began.  “Our vision is to establish Cyprus as a regional energy hub, utilizing its own indigenous hydrocarbon resources, eventually additional quantities from the neigboring countries,” added Minister Kouyialis. In order to fulfill this vision, he said the basic objectives of the government of Cyprus were “To […]

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China arable land area above food security red-line

– Although China’s latest national land survey showed better-than-expected arable land figures, the country’s growing population, accelerating urbanization and pollution are eroding the country’s arable land and threatening food security. According to the results of the second national land survey released on Monday, China’s arable land totaled 2.03 billion mu (about 135.4 million hectares) at the end of 2012, 227 million mu more than the "bottom line" set by the government to ensure food security. The total arable land area was larger than in the previous land survey. However, the actual available arable land was just slightly above the government’s red-line after deducting land arranged for forest and pasture restoration or land deemed not suitable for farming because of pollution, said Wang Shiyuan, vice minister of land and resources at a press conference. The three-year survey showed that China’s per capita arable land area shrank […]

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Special Report: Japan's homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up

Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan’s nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head. "This is how labor recruiters like me come in every day," Sasa says, as he strides past men sleeping on cardboard and clutching at their coats against the early winter cold. It’s also how Japan finds people willing to accept minimum wage for one of the most undesirable jobs in the industrialized world: working on the $35 billion, taxpayer-funded effort to clean up radioactive fallout across an area of northern Japan larger than Hong Kong. Almost three years ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami leveled villages across Japan’s northeast coast and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Special Report: Japan’s homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up

Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan’s nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head. "This is how labor recruiters like me come in every day," Sasa says, as he strides past men sleeping on cardboard and clutching at their coats against the early winter cold. It’s also how Japan finds people willing to accept minimum wage for one of the most undesirable jobs in the industrialized world: working on the $35 billion, taxpayer-funded effort to clean up radioactive fallout across an area of northern Japan larger than Hong Kong. Almost three years ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami leveled villages across Japan’s northeast coast and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Thailand's Oil Fund administrator says LPG, diesel subsidies should be scrapped

Thailand’s retail subsidies for diesel and LPG are coming under increased pressure and should be scrapped, the director of the country’s Energy Fund Administration Institute said last week. The subsidies as they currently stand are a "time bomb if you keep them going," said Chainoi Puenkosum, who heads EFAI, an "independent public organization" under the Energy Ministry that manages the receipts and payments of the country’s Oil Fund, from which the subsidies are paid. Subsidies are costing the country Baht 165 million/day ($5 million/day) at current levels, according to the EFAI. The subsidies keep diesel pump prices under Baht 30/liter, well below international prices, and LPG at staggered rates that are as low as one-third of international prices. The price of LPG for cooking is fixed at Baht 19/kg and accounts for 32% of consumption, and at Baht 21/kg for automobiles that consume 24% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Thailand’s Oil Fund administrator says LPG, diesel subsidies should be scrapped

Thailand’s retail subsidies for diesel and LPG are coming under increased pressure and should be scrapped, the director of the country’s Energy Fund Administration Institute said last week. The subsidies as they currently stand are a "time bomb if you keep them going," said Chainoi Puenkosum, who heads EFAI, an "independent public organization" under the Energy Ministry that manages the receipts and payments of the country’s Oil Fund, from which the subsidies are paid. Subsidies are costing the country Baht 165 million/day ($5 million/day) at current levels, according to the EFAI. The subsidies keep diesel pump prices under Baht 30/liter, well below international prices, and LPG at staggered rates that are as low as one-third of international prices. The price of LPG for cooking is fixed at Baht 19/kg and accounts for 32% of consumption, and at Baht 21/kg for automobiles that consume 24% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Are natural gas suppliers purposely overproducing?

On December 27, 2013, Matt Wald published a piece in the New York Times titled New Energy Struggles on Its Way to Markets that points to the predictable consequences of having too many energy options chasing too few customers. When there is excess supply compared to demand, prices tend to fall rather dramatically. Falling prices result in some suppliers being forced to either stop selling or to sell their product for an amount that is less than production cost. Eventually, markets balance out as weaker suppliers are driven out, reducing both production and production capacity. Lower prices lead to increased demand and shifts in market share to options that seem to meet customer needs at a lower cost. The oversupply situation disappears and price begin to climb back to a more profitable level. The cycle may continue, but only after a profitable period when supply does not quite match […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Study: Few Americans understand fracking

Fracking is a buzz word, but few Americans know what it actually means. That is the conclusion of a recent survey published by researchers at Oregon State, George Mason and Yale universities. More than half of the study’s 1,061 respondents reported knowing little or nothing of fracking. And almost 60 percent of those surveyed said they had no opinion on the subject. Those findings run counter to the often contentious debates seen in Washington and state capitals around the country, where policy makers are weighing the benefits of increased oil and natural gas production against potential environmental damages. “The fact that half of the people we surveyed know little if anything about fracking suggests that there may be an opportunity to educate the American citizenry in a non-partisan way about this important issue,” said Hilary Boudet, a public policy expert at Oregon State and the study’s lead author. “The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's auto affair drives oil demand

Every two seconds, somewhere across China a customer takes delivery of a new car — part of a consumer buying blitz that will see China add 21 million new cars , trucks and buses to its fleet total in 2014. Short of a catastrophic economic downturn, a government edict against new car ownership, or draconian traffic congestion charges, a continuation of that growth rate means China will likely have a bigger motor vehicle fleet than the United States by 2020. Indeed, the combination of a low vehicle penetration rate — only 85 vehicles for every 1,000 people in China, compared with more than 800 per 1,000 in the U.S. — and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s auto affair drives oil demand

Every two seconds, somewhere across China a customer takes delivery of a new car — part of a consumer buying blitz that will see China add 21 million new cars , trucks and buses to its fleet total in 2014. Short of a catastrophic economic downturn, a government edict against new car ownership, or draconian traffic congestion charges, a continuation of that growth rate means China will likely have a bigger motor vehicle fleet than the United States by 2020. Indeed, the combination of a low vehicle penetration rate — only 85 vehicles for every 1,000 people in China, compared with more than 800 per 1,000 in the U.S. — and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale chief says steep oil price fall would choke some US output

A steep fall in oil prices would choke off production at some US fields and quickly tighten supplies, one of the leaders of the country’s shale oil revolution has said. Harold Hamm, chief executive of Continental Resources , the largest producer in the Bakken shale of North Dakota, said if an oversupply of oil drove the price down to $70 a barrel, it would “hurt” the US industry, but would quickly correct itself because it would make marginal production uneconomic. His assessment suggests that oil prices are likely to remain at around Friday’s level of about $100 a barrel for benchmark US West Texas Intermediate crude. US oil production has soared ahead of the government’s forecasts this year as the output from shales such as the Bakken and the Eagle Ford of Texas has boomed, leading some forecasters to predict an impending glut of American crude, particularly if supply […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Researchers find 7,300-mile ring of mercury around tar sands in Canada

Scientists have found a nearly 7,500-square-mile ring of land and water contaminated by mercury surrounding the tar sands in Alberta, where energy companies are producing and shipping oil throughout Canada and the U.S. Government scientists are preparing to publish a report that found levels of mercury are up to 16 times higher around the tar sand operations, principally due to the excavation and transportation of the bitumen in the sands by oil and gas companies, according to Postmedia-owned Canadian newspapers like the Vancouver Sun . Environment Canada researcher Jane Kirk recently presented the findings at a toxicology conference in Nashville. The revelations add to a growing concern over the environmental impacts of the tar sands. Many environmentalists charge that the exploitation of the sands for oil will lead to an increase in carbon emissions , the destruction and contamination of land and water and health problems for Canadians. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak demand: the sound of a single hand clapping

Speaking of “peak demand” about the present stasis in the world oil production is a little like the concept of “the sound of a single hand clapping” is an old Zen “koan.” This riddle has been solved by Bart Simpson in recent times. The concept of “ peak demand ” is gaining popularity in the discussion about peak oil. It is a good example of how a discussion can get lost in a no-man’s land of unsupported ideas and concepts. Peak demand, in a certain way, is a rebuttal of the idea that we have limits to what we can do on this limited planet. So, the implication  is that the present lack of growth in world oil production (which is a prelude to the peak) and the reduction of consumption in OECD countries has nothing to do with physical limits: it […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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The global impact of US shale | Daniel Yergin

The biggest innovation in energy so far this century has been the development of shale gas and the associated resource known as tight oil. Shale energy ranks at the top not only because of its abundance in the US, but also because of its profound global impact—as events in 2014 will continue to demonstrate. America’s shale gas and tight oil are already changing global energy markets and reducing both Europe’s competitiveness vis-à-vis the US and China’s overall manufacturing competitiveness. They are also bringing shifts in global politics. Indeed, how shale energy may change America’s role in the Middle East is becoming a hot topic in Washington DC, and in the Middle East itself. This unconventional revolution in oil and gas did not come quickly. Hydraulic fracturing—known as fracking—has been around since 1947, and initial efforts to adapt it to dense shale began in Texas in the early 1980s. But […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The global impact of US shale | Daniel Yergin

The biggest innovation in energy so far this century has been the development of shale gas and the associated resource known as tight oil. Shale energy ranks at the top not only because of its abundance in the US, but also because of its profound global impact—as events in 2014 will continue to demonstrate. America’s shale gas and tight oil are already changing global energy markets and reducing both Europe’s competitiveness vis-à-vis the US and China’s overall manufacturing competitiveness. They are also bringing shifts in global politics. Indeed, how shale energy may change America’s role in the Middle East is becoming a hot topic in Washington DC, and in the Middle East itself. This unconventional revolution in oil and gas did not come quickly. Hydraulic fracturing—known as fracking—has been around since 1947, and initial efforts to adapt it to dense shale began in Texas in the early 1980s. But […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple