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BG Group blames Egypt for poor performance

British energy company BG Group said Monday ongoing problems in Egypt were in part responsible for its decline in natural gas volumes. BG Group said Monday it declared force majeure in Egypt, meaning it’s unable to meet certain contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond its control. "We have elected to issue force majeure notices in Egypt reflecting the ongoing diversions of gas volumes to the domestic market," BG Group Chief Executive Officer Chris Finlayson said in a statement. The company said its financial performance was impacted by the "difficult operating environment in Egypt," as well as lower gas prices in the United States. It added the interim Egyptian government hasn’t honored agreements on the company’s share of natural gas from Egyptian fields, saying diversions into the domestic market during the fourth quarter of 2013 were higher than expected. The company said its 2014 production […]

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Owner of Missing Oil Tanker Disputes Angolan Claims of Fake Highjacking

The Greek owner of an oil tanker that vanished off the coast of Angola said pirates hijacked the vessel and stole much of its cargo. Athens-based Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd., said late Sunday in a statement that it had re-established contact with the 75,000-tonne MT Kerala. The Liberian-flagged ship vanished Jan. 18, raising concerns in the industry that piracy in West Africa is spreading south from the Gulf of Guinea toward Nigeria, the continent’s biggest oil producer. The vessel was on charter to Angolan state oil firm Sonangol. "Pirates hijacked the vessel offshore Angola and stole a large quantity of cargo by ship-to-ship transfer. The pirates have now disembarked," the statement said, adding that the ship’s 27-member crew was safe. Angola’s navy has said the hijacking was staged. The tanker "cut off its communication system while at the entrance of the Luanda bay and followed a tugboat to Nigeria," […]

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Xinhua Insight: China dodges major shadow banking default

Chinese investors avoided a high-profile trust default on Monday, easing worries that the economy may be about to tip the first domino of shadow banking defaults. China Credit Trust reached a last-minute deal with investors to repay their investment in the three-billion-yuan (about 500 million U.S. dollars)product, deflating concerns that default would pound investor confidence in shadow banking and trigger credit crunches. "This offer comes as a compromise given rising concerns over a full default, but it is likely that investors have become more cautious on trust products in general," said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura. The trust product, launched in February 2011, attracted some 700 private bank clients of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to invest in a private coal miner in north China’s Shanxi Province. Shanxi Zhengfu Energy Group went bankrupt […]

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China’s Premier Li Says Governments Should Use New-Energy Cars

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said governments should take a leading role in promoting alternative energy-powered vehicles, according to a statement posted on the central government’s website yesterday. “New-energy vehicles, especially buses, can help improve urban problems of pollution and noise and therefore everyone should be encouraged to use it,” Li was cited as saying during a visit to a unit of automaker BYD Co. (1211) yesterday in the northern Chinese city of Xi’an. China plans to have 5 million alternative energy-powered automobiles by 2020. Li’s comments reiterate a policy to have local public authorities take the lead in using alternative-energy vehicles. China’s provinces and biggest cities have been given targets to cut concentrations of some air pollutants by 5 percent to 25 percent by 2017 compared with 2012 levels. An increasing number of Chinese cities have introduced emergency measures to fight smog. BYD Co., backed by Warren Buffett ’s […]

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Japan's fuel imports contribute to record trade deficit

TOKYO, Jan. 27 (UPI) — Soaring fuel imports in the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, amid a weaker yen, have contributed to the country’s record annual trade deficit, a government official said. Japan Monday reported a trade deficit of $112.07 billion in 2013, up 65.3 percent from the previous year. “Energy imports have been rising significantly since the nuclear accident,” causing per capita costs of around $293 in Japan, Kyodo News quoted Yoshihide Suga, chief Cabinet secretary as telling reporters. “It is important for us to ease such a burden as much as possible.” All 50 of Japan’s working reactors currently remain offline, pending safety checks. Japan relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its energy needs. Imports of liquefied natural gas to Japan last year rose 17.5 percent and imports of crude oil rose 16.3 percent. With those import costs expected to grow, amid […]

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Japan’s fuel imports contribute to record trade deficit

TOKYO, Jan. 27 (UPI) — Soaring fuel imports in the aftermath of Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, amid a weaker yen, have contributed to the country’s record annual trade deficit, a government official said. Japan Monday reported a trade deficit of $112.07 billion in 2013, up 65.3 percent from the previous year. “Energy imports have been rising significantly since the nuclear accident,” causing per capita costs of around $293 in Japan, Kyodo News quoted Yoshihide Suga, chief Cabinet secretary as telling reporters. “It is important for us to ease such a burden as much as possible.” All 50 of Japan’s working reactors currently remain offline, pending safety checks. Japan relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its energy needs. Imports of liquefied natural gas to Japan last year rose 17.5 percent and imports of crude oil rose 16.3 percent. With those import costs expected to grow, amid […]

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Deep South Set for Rare Winter Storm Amid U.S. Frigid Front

A rare winter storm is forecast to bring heavy snow and icing to parts of the Deep South today as temperatures continue to drop across the U.S. behind an Arctic front sweeping the country. The storm will extend from the central Gulf Coast to the southern Mid-Atlantic coast today, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin at 3:16 a.m. New York time. A wintry mix is possible as far as southern Los Angeles. “Significant icing appears quite probable across portions of southern Georgia into coastal South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina ,” the weather service said. “A swath of light to moderate snows is likely further to the north and west, with heavy snows possible across northeastern North Carolina into the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.” Precipitation is expected to “slide off” of the coast tomorrow, while the Florida peninsula will see “some lingering showers,” according to the […]

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U.S. Ethanol Exporters Search for a Port

U.S. ethanol makers are banking on export markets as they grapple with Obama administration plans to cut U.S. consumption requirements, but the industry is hampered by a distribution structure built almost exclusively around the domestic market. Archer Daniels Midland Co. , Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. and other ethanol producers are trying to boost sales to Brazil, Mexico, Asia and the Middle East, in part by cutting costs to make the corn-based biofuel more price-competitive overseas. Exports could reach one billion gallons this year, increasing their share of U.S. output to 7% from 5%, as lower corn prices help producers sell ethanol more cheaply to foreign buyers, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group. But the $44 billion industry’s efforts to expand could be limited, analysts say, because the bulk of U.S. ethanol plants are located in the Midwest to be close to the corn supply rather […]

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Hydrogen cars arrive in Washington — but are we ready for them?

How soon you’ll see them on the roads in our region remains to be seen, as auto manufacturers, fueling companies and policymakers look for ways to tackle serious challenges that now stand in the way — not the least of which is where do you refuel with hydrogen. “It’s coming, this is the next wave, and from what some of the manufacturers are saying, it’s an even better bet than some of the alternatives already on the market,” said Kevin Reilly, owner of Alexandria Hyundai and chairman of the Washington Auto Show . “Now all we need is the infrastructure to make it a viable option for drivers.” What are the advantages? Manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda and Hyundai — the latter of which will soon begin selling its first hydrogen-powered vehicle in parts of California where fueling stations already exist — say this new propulsion system tackles the […]

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Peak Oil Denial: Nonsense Keeps Rolling Along # 6

At the risk of starting a cat fight where truth may too quickly become a casualty, why don’t we more forcefully challenge those who deny peak oil (and global warming) and who do so for reasons that generally ignore reality in favor of narrowly-defined interests? Those motivations will ultimately do nothing but promote more eventual harm by denying the truths to those who clearly need them the most…. Of course, we run the risk of getting bogged down in he said/she-said arguments that quickly devolve into the lowest forms of ‘debate’, but why let those types of offerings go unchallenged? They feed on themselves, and it is tiresome and time-consuming to have to rebut all the nonsense. But if we don’t, uninformed readers and listeners have no reason to at least consider the possibility that there may indeed be other facts out there […]

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Nymex Supported by Winter Demand

Crude-oil futures were choppy in Asian trade with U.S. oil markets largely supported by weather-related demand. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at $96.69 a barrel at 0603 GMT–up $0.05 in the Globex electronic session. March Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.28 to $107.60 a barrel. Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude gained more than 2% last week on higher fuel demand thanks to a second cold wave in the U.S., bullish agency forecasts and the commissioning of Transcanada’s oil pipeline. Cold weather in the U.S. has pushed up energy prices including diesel futures and propane spot. Nymex oil contracts for front months have also firmed up–a market structure called backwardation–indicating stronger near-term demand. "Strong U.S. refining margins and low product stock cover in the OECD may push WTI prices even higher in the coming weeks as the […]

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Brent Crude Drops Amid Concern of Slowing Emerging Market

Brent crude futures dropped amid concern that slower Chinese growth and emerging equities markets sinking to their lowest level in more than four months will reduce oil demand. Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent in London. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is set for its lowest close since Sept. 3. A private gauge of China ’s manufacturing dropped to a six-month low in January. Currencies from Turkey to Argentina fell last week with emerging-market stocks on concern that growth is threatened amid reductions in stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which meets to review policy this week. “The uncertainty in emerging markets will see demand in those economies slip back and even in the U.S. there is uncertainty ahead of the Fed’s meeting this week,” Michael Hewson , a market analyst at CMC Markets Plc in London, said by phone. “Oil hasn’t been as impacted by the volatility […]

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Hedge Funds Most Bullish on Gas Since 2006 After Freeze: Energy

Hedge funds are the most bullish on benchmark U.S. natural-gas futures since at least 2006 after a freeze drove prices for the heating fuel to a three-year high. Speculators increased their net-long position, or wagers on rising prices, in New York Mercantile Exchange futures by 21 percent in the week ended Jan. 21, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data that begins in 2006. A wider measure that includes three contracts tied to Henry Hub, the delivery point for Nymex futures, reached a one-month high. Gas jumped above $5 per million British thermal units last week for the first time since June 2010 as forecasts showed arctic weather persisting through early February. This month may be the coldest January since 1994 in the lower 48 states, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. The amount of gas withdrawn from storage from Oct. 31 through Jan. 17 was the most […]

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Emerging markets turmoil intensifies

The emerging markets sell-off intensified on Monday with stocks heading for their worst day in almost half a year even before Latin American bourses opened, and currencies weakened further, including the Turkish lira hitting a new low against the dollar. Investors have become concerned about the prospects of emerging markets as growth slows in China, the world’s second-largest economy and the US Federal Reserve scales back its quantitative easing. The Fed’s asset purchases were a key feature in the rise of emerging market asset prices over the past five years. The FTSE Emerging Markets index slumped 1.9 per cent in early trading – its biggest one-day drop since August 27. Hong Kong’s market fell 2.1 per cent, Taiwan’s tumbled 1.6 per cent, and Indonesia’s dropped 2.6 per cent. “At the moment you can’t stop the rot,” said Christian Lawrence, strategist at Rabobank. “The momentum is with the continued sell-off […]

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Pemex Sees Production Ventures as Early as Year-End, CEO Says

Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico ’s state-owned oil company, expects to sign its first exploration and production agreements with international companies as early as year-end after Mexico ended its 75-year monopoly. Pemex, as the state oil company is known, will initially focus on mature and deep-water fields to establish the ventures, Chief Executive Officer Emilio Lozoya said today. Possible associations in the refining, transportation and petrochemical businesses can be done once congress approves the so-called secondary legislation, which is expected in April, he said. “We expect that in exploration and production, by the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015 we achieve the first investments or associations,” Lozoya said today in an interview in Davos during the World Economic Forum . “The quickest way to monetize the investments that Pemex already did in exploration is through joint ventures. This means increasing output and oil income.” President Enrique Pena Nieto ended the […]

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Iranian Oil Tanker Sanctions Suspended After Nuclear Deal

National Iranian Tanker Co. got permission to ship oil to some Asian countries as sanctions were eased, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported, citing the company’s Managing Director Ali Akbar Safaei. Tankers belonging to the company may export crude to China, India, Turkey , Japan, South Korea and Taiwan after sanctions against insuring the country’s vessels were suspended Jan. 20, IRNA said, citing Safaei. Iran agreed with world powers including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany to curtail its nuclear program in return for an easing of some sanctions on oil, auto parts, gold and precious metals in a Nov. 24 agreement signed in Geneva. Iran is preparing for a second round of nuclear talks scheduled for next month as it seeks a further easing of sanctions that caused crude exports last year to drop to their lowest since 1990, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. […]

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US resumes nonlethal aid to Syrian opposition

The United States has restarted deliveries of nonlethal aid to the Syrian opposition, officials said Monday, more than a month after al-Qaida-linked militants seized warehouses and prompted a sudden cutoff of Western supplies to the rebels. The communications equipment and other items are being funneled for now only to non-armed opposition groups, said the U.S. officials. But the move nevertheless boosts Syria’s beleaguered rebels, who saw their international support slide after Islamic militants seized bases near the Turkish border that had been under the authority of a key U.S.-backed leader. It could also be seen as a U.S. reward to the opposition for its participation in ongoing peace talks with President Bashar Assad’s government in Geneva. The U.S. officials, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity, said the aid was being sent through Turkey into Syria, with the coordination […]

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Officials: 3 Egyptians abducted in Libya freed

– Two Egyptian diplomats and an embassy staff member abducted in Libya have been freed after Cairo released a Libyan militia leader who was arrested last week, officials in both countries said Monday. The releases took place late on Sunday, according to an Egyptian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Three Egyptian diplomats still held captive are also expected to be released soon, he said. The six Egyptians – five diplomats and the one embassy staff member – were seized late Friday and early Saturday in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The abductions came hours after Libya’s state news agency reported that Egyptian authorities had arrested Shaaban Hadiya, the commander of a militia known as Revolutionaries Operation Room. The militia claims to answer to the Libyan army but […]

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BG Group Declares Force Majeure in Egypt, Expects Flat Earnings For 2013

BG Group PLC (BG.LN) Monday provided guidance for 2013 earnings and said that it has issued force majeure notices under its LNG agreements in Egypt due to diversions of gas volumes to the domestic market in excess of the existing arrangements The natural gas company expects to report full year 2013 production volume of 633,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or kboed, in line with its previous guidance. The company said that 2013 business performance earnings, or earnings before disposals, impairments and certain other items, is expected to be flat at $4.4 billion, or 130 cents per share. Total results earnings, after impairments, is expected to be $2.2 billion, or 65 cents per share. The Berkshire, U.K., headquartered company expects to record total non-cash, post-tax impairments of $2.4 billion in 2013. BG Group also said that 2014 production volumes are expected in the range of 590 kboed and […]

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Militants Down Egyptian Helicopter, Killing 5 Soldiers

Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer. The attack — described by witnesses, documented in a video released by the militants, and confirmed by three people briefed on the Egyptian government’s investigation — validated longstanding fears that such weapons would spill into Egypt and beyond after the Libyan civil war tore open Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fearsome arsenals. Known as manpads, for man-portable air defense systems, the missiles can bring down commercial airliners if they are flying at low altitude, as during […]

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Energy efficiency to slow China's growth in coal, oil consumption

China is expected to continue increasing energy efficiency this year, resulting in muted growth in oil and coal consumption, according to new projections unveiled by the National Energy Administration on Friday. Total energy consumption in China is expected to rise 3.2% year on year to 3.88 billion mt of coal equivalent or mtce this year, according to the NEA, which is under the purview of central economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission. In contrast, coal consumption will edge up 1.6% year on year to 3.8 billion mt while apparent demand for oil will rise 1.8% year on year to 510 million mt, the NEA said. Apparent demand for natural gas this year will increase 14.5% year on year to 193 billion cu m. China is estimated to use 0.71 mtce of energy to produce every Yuan 10,000 ($1,653) of GDP, an energy […]

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Energy efficiency to slow China’s growth in coal, oil consumption

China is expected to continue increasing energy efficiency this year, resulting in muted growth in oil and coal consumption, according to new projections unveiled by the National Energy Administration on Friday. Total energy consumption in China is expected to rise 3.2% year on year to 3.88 billion mt of coal equivalent or mtce this year, according to the NEA, which is under the purview of central economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission. In contrast, coal consumption will edge up 1.6% year on year to 3.8 billion mt while apparent demand for oil will rise 1.8% year on year to 510 million mt, the NEA said. Apparent demand for natural gas this year will increase 14.5% year on year to 193 billion cu m. China is estimated to use 0.71 mtce of energy to produce every Yuan 10,000 ($1,653) of GDP, an energy […]

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Propane freeze squeeze may harden resistance to U.S. oil exports

A shortage of propane heating fuel during a brutal U.S. cold snap this month threatens to sharpen the year’s most urgent energy policy debate – how much of its newfound shale oil and gas bounty should America export? Millions felt the pinch last week as another wave of biting, bitter cold strained already low propane supplies in the Midwest, causing prices to surge three-fold over two weeks to record highs and forcing suppliers to ration deliveries. While the shortage was likely caused by a confluence of events, including extraordinary cold, a temporary pipeline shut-down, and low stocks, some industry observers and at least one politician blamed the spike in part on soaring exports of liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs) such as propane. Unlike […]

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U.S. Set for More Arctic Cold as Natural Gas Prices Surge

The U.S. will get another blast of freezing Arctic air this week, bringing snow and sleet as far south as Texas and helping push natural gas to a four-year high. “A very strong cold front will be bringing frigid conditions back to the central and eastern U.S.,” the Weather Service said in a bulletin on its website today at 3:01 a.m. eastern time. Subfreezing highs are expected “well into the Deep South,” with snow, sleet, and freezing rain expected by tomorrow near the Central Gulf Coast and becoming heavier over the Carolinas. “This rare winter storm will make many people who love snow very happy,” according to the report. January is on track to be the coldest month of the century in the lower 48 states, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC, after waves of freezing air swept across the country. Natural gas rose for a […]

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EU Readies for Shale Gas Breakthrough

Ukraine in May hosts a summit to explore the potential for shale oil and natural gas in Europe. Ukraine and its Eastern European neighbors may host some of the more promising shale basins in the region. Now Spain and Germany are looking to explore their potential. With the European Union outlining recommendations for shale exploration, the region looks ripe for a breakthrough. Ukrainian company Nadra Ukrayny, along with co-sponsor International Gas Union, hosts a summit May 20-22 to discuss maximizing the benefits of shale exploration in the European community. Organizers say the event will have a pan-European focus, with strategy sessions focused on the shale potential from Eastern Europe to Great Britain. Weeks before Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych sparked major unrest with his November decision to back away from the EU, his government signed a $10 billion shale natural gas deal with U.S. supermajor Chevron. Under the terms of […]

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Why Shale Oil Boosters Are Charlatans In Disguise

Something has bothered me of late: why is the price of crude oil still elevated? Other commodities have taken a battering since 2011. Gold, copper and iron ore – all are way down off their peaks. But oil has seemingly defied gravity. And that’s despite increased supply from shale oil in the U.S., still soft demand particularly in the developed world and declining rates of inflation growth across the globe. What gives? Well, shale oil proponents will say falling oil prices are just a matter of time. And that the boom in shale oil will reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil, leading to cheaper local oil, which will free up household budgets and spur consumption as well as the broader economy. Perhaps … though I’d have thought all of that would already be reflected in prices. On the other side, you have "peak oil" supporters who suggest high oil […]

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Crude Falls First Time in Five Days on Emerging Economies

West Texas Intermediate crude fell for the first time in five days as equities declined on concern that growth in emerging economies will slow, reducing fuel use. Futures decreased 0.7 percent. U.S. stocks dropped a fourth day as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 1.4 percent, extending its loss for the year to 5.2 percent. Currencies from developing countries have tumbled, according to Bloomberg data, as signs of weakness in China’s economy added to speculation that stimulus curbs by the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut demand. “Concerns about the emerging-market outlook are weighing on sentiment for demand going forward,” said John Kilduff , a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “The situation is very volatile and we are seeing it impact all the markets.” WTI for March delivery dropped 68 cents to settle at $96.64 a barrel on the New York […]

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WTI-Brent Spread Near Narrowest in Two Months on Keystone

West Texas Intermediate narrowed its discount to Brent to the least in more than two months following the start of a pipeline carrying crude out of the U.S. storage center in Cushing, Oklahoma . The spread between WTI and Brent on the ICE Futures Europe exchange shrank to $9.82 a barrel today, the smallest gap since Nov. 11. WTI advanced as much as 0.5 percent in a fifth daily gain in New York , the longest rally in seven weeks. The Gulf Coast line, the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, was initially transporting 288,000 barrels of light, sweet crude a day to Nederland in Texas. “The Keystone XL south is about to increase arbitrage between Cushing and the Gulf Coast,” which will cause inventories at Cushing to decline, said Eugen Weinberg , head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt . WTI’s discount of about $10 […]

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Diesel Futures Rally to Four-Month High

European crude futures dipped Friday although the price gap with U.S. WTI narrowed, with few upward price signals for Brent and plenty of demand for U.S. products as the cold weather continues. The spread, or price difference, between WTI and Brent has closed in to the narrowest point since early November, as a North American cold snap supports demand for oil products and drives up the price of the raw material used by refiners. Brent crude for March delivery fell as much as 131 cents, or 1.2%, at $106.26 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures were down 63 cents, or 0.6%, at $96.4 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Thursday’s Energy Information Administration report, distillates stocks decreased by more than expected, by 3.2 million barrels. BNP Paribas, in a note to clients, said stocks remain "below the bottom of the five year range." […]

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Natural gas soars as cold grips homes, drillers

The frigid winter of 2014 is setting the price of natural gas on fire. Friday, the price in the futures market soared to $5.18 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 10 percent to the highest level in three and a half years. The price of natural gas is up 29 percent in two weeks, and is 50 percent higher than last year at this time. Record amounts of natural gas are being burned for heat and electricity. Meanwhile, it’s so cold that drillers are struggling to produce enough to keep up with the high demand. So much natural gas is coming out of storage that the Energy Department says supplies have fallen 20 percent below a year ago – and that was before this latest cold spell. "We’ve got record demand, record withdrawals from storage, and short-term production is threatened," says energy analyst Stephen […]

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Natural Gas Tops $5 for First Time Since 2010

Natural-gas prices hit $5 a million British thermal units for the first time in 3 ½ years on expectations that continued cold weather would keep demand high for the heating fuel. Natural gas for February delivery rose as high as $5.026/mmBtu on the New York Mercantile Exchange before pulling back slightly. The February contract recently traded up 26.4 cents, or 5.6%, at $4.994/mmBtu. The rally highlights concerns about supply, after several years of booming U.S. production. The amount of gas stored in the U.S. has dwindled in recent weeks as heating demand has ramped up. Inventories as of Jan. 17 stood at 2.423 trillion cubic feet, 13% below the five-year average for the week. Natural-gas prices have climbed more than 15% for the week, the largest weekly gain since October 2010, as frigid weather has increased demand for indoor heating across the Midwest and the East Coast. About […]

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EIA: U.S. crude oil imports dropped below 7 million barrels per day

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil imports into the United States dipped below 7 million barrels per day for the second time in 14 years. The EIA said the last time crude oil imports into the United States dropped below that figure, which was for the week ending Jan. 10, was in January 2000. In a weekly report published Thursday, the EIA attributed the decline in imports to the rise in domestic crude oil production. It said data from its weekly petroleum status report show U.S. crude oil production averaged 8.1 million bpd for the four weeks ending Jan. 17. The EIA said higher domestic crude oil production has resulted in a steady decline in crude oil imports — at least since domestic production reached the 5.7 million bpd mark in 2011. It said refinery issues contributed to the decline in imports. "While […]

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Kerry Presses Iranians to Prove Nuclear Work Is for Peaceful Purposes

Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that “an era of American diplomatic engagement” is following a decade defined by force. One day after Iran’s president took the stage here seeking to assure the world that his country did not aspire to develop nuclear weapons, Secretary of State John Kerry pushed back on Friday, challenging him to demonstrate that the Iranian nuclear program was peaceful. “He told you that Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Kerry said in a speech to the World Economic Forum. “Starting now, Iran has the opportunity to prove these words beyond all doubt to the world.” Mr. Kerry laid down several requirements for the comprehensive nuclear agreement that Iran and six world powers are now preparing to negotiate, saying that Tehran must accept extensive verification, abandon plans to build a heavy-water reactor […]

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Iran’s Message at Davos Has Eerie Echo

When President Hassan Rouhani of Iran commandeered the spotlight this week in Davos, Switzerland, with a message of peaceful intentions and a desire for dialogue, it was an eerie echo of 10 years ago, when Iran’s last would-be change agent, Mohammad Khatami, delivered the very same message at the World Economic Forum . Comparing their appearances demonstrates how much Iran has changed in the last decade, but also how fragile the current diplomatic opening is, and how little time Mr. Rouhani may have to negotiate a nuclear deal, while holding Iran’s hard-liners at bay. Iran, Mr. Rouhani said Thursday, was determined to pursue “constructive engagement” with the world and had no intention of acquiring a nuclear weapon. In 2004, Mr. Khatami said, “Anywhere that we sense and feel that the other side respects us and does not force anything upon us, we are prepared to talk.” He, […]

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Iraq's Oil War

A long-simmering controversy over control of Iraq’s massive oil reserves flared into the open Friday as one of the country’s most powerful ministers threatened to take legal action against Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey and any foreign companies that helped the Kurds export oil without permission from Baghdad. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told reporters that Baghdad considered the Kurds to be trying to sell "smuggled" Iraqi oil and would sue both the Kurdish and Turkish governments if any planned export deals moved forward. Luaibi also threatened to blacklist Turkish companies from doing business in Iraq if they helped the Kurds move the oil out of their semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. "If Turkey allows the export of oil from the region, it is meddling in the division of Iraq, and this is a red line," Luaibi told reporters in Baghdad. The harsh words from Luaibi come as the security […]

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Iraq’s Oil War

A long-simmering controversy over control of Iraq’s massive oil reserves flared into the open Friday as one of the country’s most powerful ministers threatened to take legal action against Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey and any foreign companies that helped the Kurds export oil without permission from Baghdad. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi told reporters that Baghdad considered the Kurds to be trying to sell "smuggled" Iraqi oil and would sue both the Kurdish and Turkish governments if any planned export deals moved forward. Luaibi also threatened to blacklist Turkish companies from doing business in Iraq if they helped the Kurds move the oil out of their semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq. "If Turkey allows the export of oil from the region, it is meddling in the division of Iraq, and this is a red line," Luaibi told reporters in Baghdad. The harsh words from Luaibi come as the security […]

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Kurds' oil deal with Turkey 'endangers Iraq's budget'

The feud between Iraq’s central government and the minority Kurds’ semiautonomous enclave over oil is reaching critical mass, the head of parliament’s treasury committee says. Haidar Al Abadi, a senior legislator, has warned the government’s projected 2014 budget will fall apart if Kurdistan does not hand over revenue from independent oil exports to northern neighbor Turkey that began recently. Such action by the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is defying the Baghdad regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by pursuing its own oil and gas exports outside the Oil Ministry’s control, will leave the central authority no option but to halt all state spending in the enclave. Kurdistan’s share amounts to around 17 percent of overall state expenditure. The loss of that revenue could be crippling, unless the KRG, which the federal government accuses of acting illegally, can generate enough income from oil sales to […]

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Kurds’ oil deal with Turkey ‘endangers Iraq’s budget’

The feud between Iraq’s central government and the minority Kurds’ semiautonomous enclave over oil is reaching critical mass, the head of parliament’s treasury committee says. Haidar Al Abadi, a senior legislator, has warned the government’s projected 2014 budget will fall apart if Kurdistan does not hand over revenue from independent oil exports to northern neighbor Turkey that began recently. Such action by the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is defying the Baghdad regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by pursuing its own oil and gas exports outside the Oil Ministry’s control, will leave the central authority no option but to halt all state spending in the enclave. Kurdistan’s share amounts to around 17 percent of overall state expenditure. The loss of that revenue could be crippling, unless the KRG, which the federal government accuses of acting illegally, can generate enough income from oil sales to […]

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Bombings kill 12 people in Iraq

A series of bombings in and north of Baghdad on Saturday killed 12 people, including a soldier and his entire family, said Iraqi officials. Police officials said that in the deadliest attack two blasts in Muqdadiyah targeted the home of a soldier, killing him, his wife, his two daughters and two sons as they were sleeping. The entire house was destroyed in the attack. Muqdadiyah is about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad. A car bomb in a commercial street in Baghdad’s western district of Amariyah killed four people and wounded 12 others, said police. Also, in western Baghdad, a bomb blast near an out-door market in the Sadiyah neighborhood killed two shoppers and wounded six. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties for all attacks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters. Nobody immediately claimed […]

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Exclusive: Patience runs thin as Syrian chemical handover stalls

Western governments are growing impatient with Syria’s failure to follow up promptly on a first small shipment of chemical weapons and fear Damascus will miss a deadline to hand over all toxins by mid-2014. Sources at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is jointly overseeing the destruction process with the United Nations, said the concerns have been raised during internal discussions, but have not yet been reported to the U.N. Security Council. Syria agreed to dismantle its entire chemical weapons program by June 30, under a deal proposed by Russia and agreed with the United States. It has until March 31 to relinquish around 500 tonnes of the worst substances, including more than 20 tonnes of mustard gas stored in liquid form. That deadline had already been expected to slip, but the concern now is that the entire destruction program will […]

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After Bombings, Cairo Anxious 3 Years After Egyptian Uprising

After the first explosion in Cairo on Friday, supporters of Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi gathered outside Abdeen Palace. Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters CAIRO — The capital was empty and anxious Saturday morning on the third anniversary of the Egyptian uprising as the residents braced for rival demonstrations for and against the current military-backed government amid renewed fears of violence. Families stayed close to home and some public facilities closed, reeling in the aftermath of four bombings on Friday that killed six people and terrified the city. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a Sinai-based militant Islamist group that has raised the banner of armed insurgency against the new government, appeared to claim responsibility for the four bombings, including a powerful car bomb in front of a security headquarters and three smaller attacks on police. By 8 a.m. Saturday morning, another small bomb had exploded near a police training facility but officials said it […]

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Four more Egyptian embassy staff kidnapped in Libya: government

Four Egyptian embassy staff were kidnapped in Libya’s capital Tripoli on Saturday, a day after another Egyptian diplomat was seized there by gunmen, the Libyan government said. No group claimed responsibility for any of the abductions, but they came soon after a powerful Libyan militia reported its leader had been arrested in Cairo and threatened to retaliate. "Four more have been kidnapped. One of them is the cultural attache and the other three are staff," the Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman said, without going into further details. Two years after Muammar Gaddafi’s fall, Libya is still in flux with the government struggling to control heavily-armed former rebels, militias and Islamist militants who fought in the uprising but often challenge Tripoli’s authority. One militia group, the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries, said on Friday its leader Shaban Hadia had been arrested in Egypt, where he had been travelling […]

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Mideast Turmoil Dominates Gathering of Business Elite

The turmoil of the Middle East descended on this Swiss Alpine town, where Iranian, Israeli and American leaders laid out often competing visions of the region’s future during a conference for the world’s business elite. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem were among leaders and diplomats who huddled in hotel rooms, strategizing ways to address the Mideast’s multiplying crises, American and Arab officials said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bristled at a speech by Mr. Rouhani, which was well received by many others. The Israeli leader said that nothing Mr. Rouhani said was backed up by actual changes in Iranian policy. The Israeli and Iranian leaders interspersed their diplomatic efforts with pitches to energy and high-tech executives for investments in their countries. Many top diplomats from Arab and Western countries traveled Thursday by helicopter or road to the […]

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Suicide car bomber targets Cairo police HQ, kills at least four

A suicide car bomber blew himself up in the parking lot of a top security compound in central Cairo on Friday, killing at least four people in one of the most high-profile attacks on the state in months, security sources said. The early morning explosion damaged the Cairo Security Directorate, which includes police and state security, and sent smoke rising over the capital, raising concerns that an Islamist insurgency is gathering pace. Hours after the attack, a crude explosive device killed one policeman and wounded nine others in another Cairo neighborhood, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Security sources said a person driving past security vehicles threw a hand grenade in their direction. The dead from the first blast included three policemen, security sources said. State television quoted the Cairo governor as saying 50 people were wounded. Reuters witnesses heard gunfire immediately after the blast, […]

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Uganda Agrees on Deal to Develop Oil Sector

The government of Uganda has reached a deal with foreign oil companies to develop its oil industry, the country’s energy and minerals minister said Friday, ending a nearly three-year impasse and opening the way for a $15 billion investment. The government has agreed the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with U.K.’s Tullow Oil PLC, France’s Total SA and China’s Cnooc Ltd. for the commercialization of the oil sector. The plans consists of a 60,000 barrels-day refinery, a crude export pipeline to Kenya’s northern port of Lamu and a crude-fired electricity plant in Uganda’s oil region, Irene Muloni said in a statement obtained by The Wall Street Journal Friday. The development paves way for a multibillion-dollar investment to develop the country’s oil fields, which are believed to contain up to 3.5 billion barrels of crude. Uganda contains sub-Sahara Africa’s fourth-largest amount of oil reserves, behind South Sudan, Angola […]

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Ecuador, China advance refinery plans

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and the Ecuadorean government have reached an agreement regarding cooperation in a plan to construct a long-delayed refinery on Ecuador’s Pacific Coast ( OGJ Online, Feb. 4, 2008 ). On Jan. 21, Ecuador’s Vice-President Jorge Glas and CNCP Chairman Zhou Jiping reached a joint-approval of the feasibility report for the Refineria del Pacifico (RDP), according to a release from Ecuador’s government. During a second meeting on Jan. 23, Glas further solidified the deal with representatives of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, who expressed an interest in handling financing for CNPC in the refinery project , Glas said. This latest arrangement, for which no official financial details have been disclosed, follows the signing of June 2013 of a framework agreement between Ecuador and CNCPC on integrated cooperation in developing RDP. While no firm timetable was available regarding final funding for RDP, once realized, the […]

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Australian company Icon finds 'significant gas' in Queensland shale

Australian company Icon Energy Ltd. said Friday it encountered significant volumes of natural gas in a shale basin in the state of Queensland. Icon said it completed drilling its Redland-1 well in the region — an operation meant to evaluate the reserve potential in the Toolachee and Daralingie shale formations — and found "significant gas." The region, it said, could be a "world class" shale reserve area. The well is the sixth for the company in the region. It said additional hydraulic fracturing is planned for the area during the third quarter of 2014. Icon said it notified Australian authorities of the recent discovery. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization said the country has "substantial prospective shale reserves" and that commercialization will require major investments. Porn star Jenna Jameson uses online army and her body to track down former assistant 2-year-old in […]

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Australian company Icon finds ‘significant gas’ in Queensland shale

Australian company Icon Energy Ltd. said Friday it encountered significant volumes of natural gas in a shale basin in the state of Queensland. Icon said it completed drilling its Redland-1 well in the region — an operation meant to evaluate the reserve potential in the Toolachee and Daralingie shale formations — and found "significant gas." The region, it said, could be a "world class" shale reserve area. The well is the sixth for the company in the region. It said additional hydraulic fracturing is planned for the area during the third quarter of 2014. Icon said it notified Australian authorities of the recent discovery. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization said the country has "substantial prospective shale reserves" and that commercialization will require major investments. Porn star Jenna Jameson uses online army and her body to track down former assistant 2-year-old in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple