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Iran Seen Needing Big Steps for Final Deal

h;Iran would have to remove 15,000 centrifuge machines and take other drastic measures to forge a comprehensive nuclear agreement with the West, according to a report by a U.S. think tank that drew from conversations with senior U.S. officials. The steps required to preclude Tehran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons illustrate the challenge the U.S. and other world powers will face in moving over the next six months from an interim deal to a final one. In addition to removing the thousands of centrifuges that enrich uranium, Iran would have to shut down an underground uranium-enrichment site, convert a heavy water reactor and agree to a 20-year inspections regime, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington. The findings were provided exclusively to The Wall Street Journal. The conclusions come as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirmed Monday that Tehran had begun scaling back major […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Oil Exports Seen Little Changed by IEA Amid Sanctions Deal

Importers of Iranian crude kept purchases little changed in December, the month after world powers agreed to relax some sanctions against the Persian Gulf state as part of an accord to curb its nuclear program, the International Energy Agency said. Buyer countries received 1.15 million barrels a day last month, compared with an upwardly revised 1.1 million barrels in November, the IEA, a Paris-based adviser to 28 nations, said in an e-mailed report today. Most shipments that arrived at Asian ports in December would have left Iran in the prior month. The deal to curb some sanctions was reached in principle on Nov. 23 and took effect yesterday. While the Geneva accord means nations no longer have to cut imports of Iranian oil to avoid U.S. sanctions, they’re barred from increasing purchases. The White House says Iran’s shipments slumped 60 percent to 1 million barrels a day since America […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baghdad bomb blasts 'kill 16' as Iraq violence continues

At least 13 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts across the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, say police and medics. At least 40 people were wounded in the explosions. The deadliest single attack, in which at least six people died, struck the south of the city. In an extended surge of violence, at least 759 people died in December alone. More than 650 have died so far in January, said AFP news agency.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baghdad bomb blasts ‘kill 16’ as Iraq violence continues

At least 13 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts across the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, say police and medics. At least 40 people were wounded in the explosions. The deadliest single attack, in which at least six people died, struck the south of the city. In an extended surge of violence, at least 759 people died in December alone. More than 650 have died so far in January, said AFP news agency.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Failed Talks With Militants Prompt Many to Flee in Iraq

Thousands of residents have fled Falluja in recent days, fearing worsening violence after the failure of negotiations between local leaders and jihadist militants to end a standoff that has lasted weeks, leaders from the city said Monday. A tentative agreement to allow the local police and other officials to return to the city fell apart on Sunday after militants, who took control of the city this month, briefly kidnapped tribal sheikhs and a local imam with whom they had been negotiating, people involved in the talks said. The failure of the negotiations was a blow to the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who has pledged that the army will not storm the city to dislodge the militants, including some linked to Al Qaeda. Instead, Mr. Maliki […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egyptian Refining advances refinery upgrade

Egyptian Refining Co. (ERC) is set to start construction on its long-delayed grassroots refining upgrade project to be built within the existing Mostorod Petroleum Complex (MPC), 20 km northeast of Cairo in Qalyoubia Governate, Egypt. Construction on the $3.7 billion project, which is designed to address Egypt’s demand for petroleum products and reduce the country’s dependence on imports, is scheduled to begin in late February or early March 2014, ERC’s Chief Executive Tom Thomason recently told OGJ. Unique undertaking A joint-development of both the private sector and Egypt’s government, the ERC project includes the construction of a hydrocracking and coking complex within the walls of government-owned Cairo Oil Refinery Co.’s (CORC) 145,000-b/d refinery, the nation’s largest. Once completed, the hydrocracking and coking plant—which will receive 67% of its feedstock from CORC in the form of fuel oil—will have the capacity to produce more than 4.1 million tonnes/year of refined […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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With oil at stake, South Sudan’s crisis matters to its customers

At stake is one of the African continent’s most lucrative deposits of oil, generating billions of dollars for the world’s youngest nation and its partners. “The big powers, especially the Chinese, have a huge stake in this,” said Leben Moro, a professor at the Center for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba in South Sudan’s capital. “The oil could be a savior, but if there is more fighting over the oil, it could become a curse.” A dispute over political power, not oil, triggered clashes in Juba last month. But the conflict quickly turned into a fight over South Sudan’s strategic oil-rich regions. The capitals of two of these areas, Bentiu and Malakal, have changed hands more than once. Battles also have been fought in Bor, the capital of a region with untapped oil reserves that are potentially lucrative. “The opposition hopes that by capturing the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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For Venezuela, the magic land of cheap gas, a big hike

Gasoline is so dirt-cheap in this country that the comparison undervalues dirt. Or, for that matter, almost any other element Venezuelan drivers can think of. “It’s cheaper than water,” said one motorist, pointing out that bottled water costs far more than the 95-octane gasoline gushing into his Ford Explorer. Click Here to View Full Graphic Story “Cheaper than air,” said the driver of a Chevy Tahoe, after paying more to fill a tire than the tank. “The cheapest in the world,” a third SUV owner boasted. “We could wash our hands with it.” And why not? Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves, and its government sets the price of premium gasoline at about 5 cents a gallon. Its real price — adjusted to the soaring street value of the U.S. dollar — is half a penny per gallon. Unlimited access to virtually free gasoline […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple