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WTI Trades Near One-Week High as Cushing Inventories Fall

West Texas Intermediate traded near the highest price in a week as crude stockpiles fell at the main U.S. oil storage hub, and gasoline demand reached a three-month high. Brent was little changed in London. U.S. futures were down 0.1 percent after rising 1.1 percent yesterday to close above $100 a barrel for the first time in a week. Supplies at Cushing , Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, shrank for the eighth week to the lowest in two years, the Energy Information Administration said. President Barack Obama said yesterday that sanctions on Russia may include the energy sector. The U.S. publishes today initial jobless claims figures. “We have seen a small correction lower this morning on Obama’s comments yesterday about U.S. sanctions on Russia,” Myrto Sokou , senior analyst at Sucden Financial in London, said by phone. “The key economic data coming from the U.S. later will set […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Prices Slip as Market Awaits Supply Data

Natural-gas futures slipped for the fourth time in five sessions Wednesday as the market awaits weekly U.S. government inventory data on Thursday. Prices for the front-month April contract lost 0.9 cent to settle at $4.4020 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Options on the April contract expired Wednesday, and April futures go off the board Thursday. Most of the volume in the market has moved to the May contract, which fell 1.9 cents to settle at $4.395/MMBtu. Analysts and traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect natural-gas stockpiles to fall by 54 billion cubic feet in the data to be released Thursday at 10:30 a.m. by the U.S. Energy Information […]

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U.S. Oil Boom Shifts Alliance as Obama Visits Saudi King

When Barack Obama sits down tomorrow with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah , he’ll do so knowing the U.S. is importing the least crude in two decades, a shift changing America’s strongest relationship in the Arab world. Five years after Obama’s first visit to Riyadh, the drilling of shale oil fields from North Dakota to Texas has put the U.S. on the path to energy independence, weakening economic interdependence between the two nations as they work through disagreements on Syria and Iran. The U.S. energy boom that’s upended global markets is now reshaping political alliances built over decades. Almost 70 years after Franklin Roosevelt cemented relations with the Saudi royal family, the U.S. finds itself free to address policy differences with oil as less of a bargaining chip, analysts said. The shift gives the U.S. a freer hand in shaping Middle East policy, especially in seeking an accommodation with Iran […]

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Iran fuel price hikes will be big test for Rouhani

Looming fuel price rises in Iran will be the first major test of President Hassan Rouhani’s ability to retain public support in the face of attacks from his hardline rivals. Since he was elected in August, Rouhani has pleased many Iranians by reaching an interim agreement with the United States and the European Union on his country’s nuclear program, and pursuing a deal that would end economic sanctions against Iran. He has promised more social freedoms and repaired some of the economic damage of the sanctions; the rial currency has stabilized and sky-high inflation has started to come down. But this could be threatened if Rouhani’s government mishandles planned cuts in the massive state subsidies which keep domestic prices of gasoline and other fuels far below global levels. The cuts are a key part of Rouhani’s efforts to reform the economy after years of erratic management […]

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Iran reviews development steps at South Pars

Five facilities to process natural gas from the South Pars complex in the Persian Gulf should be on stream by November, an Iranian official said Wednesday. Mohammad-Reza Akbari, an executive with general energy contractor Petropars, said platforms tied to the field should be loaded in May and additional processing facilities should enter into service by November, Shana, the Oil Ministry’s official news agency, reported . South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar, is the largest natural gas complex in the world and accounts for 35 percent of Iran’s total natural gas production. Iran aims to develop South Pars through 24 separate phases. The government has expressed frustration with the pace at which its international counterparts were developing the gas complex. Earlier this month, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Mansour Moazami said China National Petroleum Corp. was at risk of losing its $4.7 billion contract for South Pars development because it […]

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Iraq PM warns of poll delay after election chiefs quit

Iraq’s premier warned Wednesday that April legislative polls may be delayed as he pushed for a controversial election law to be amended after electoral chiefs suddenly quit complaining of political interference. The electoral officials are pressing for the same reform to the law ahead of the April 30 vote, amid doubts the polls can in any case be held countrywide as anti-government fighters still control a city on Baghdad’s doorstep. Much is at stake as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki bids for a third term with his security credentials dented by a surge in violence to levels not seen since 2008, and as the country battles to rebuild its conflict-battered economy and boost oil production. Diplomats have said that even though the Independent High Electoral Commission’s nine-member board resigned en masse on Tuesday, the vote was unlikely to be delayed as all major political parties had agreed it […]

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China May Give ‘Teapot’ Oil Refineries More Crude Import Quotas

China ’s smaller, independent oil refineries known as teapots may be granted more import licenses this year, a government research official said. The plants may be allowed to import as much as an additional 20 million metric tons a year of crude, or about 400,000 barrels a day, under the new quotas, Jiang Xinmin, a deputy director at the Energy Research Institute of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said today in Shanghai. In late 2012, the country first allowed China National Chemical Corp., or ChemChina, to import as much as 10 million tons a year of crude to supply its teapot plants. China wants to break the dominance of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386) and , its two biggest refiners, by allowing teapots to import crude as an alternative feedstock to fuel oil. “China will further open up its energy import and export […]

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General Who Led Takeover of Egypt to Run for President

Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the defense minister and military officer  who led last summer’s takeover  of the elected government in Egypt, formally announced on Wednesday that he was resigning from the army and running for president as he moved to consolidate his power. “It is true this is my last day in uniform but I will fight every day for Egypt free of fear and terror,” Mr. Sisi said, alluding to the military-led government’s continuing battles against the Islamist militants and street protesters. “I repeat what I have said before: ‘We’d rather die before Egyptians are terrorized.’” Mr. Sisi, who held the rank of field marshal, is almost universally expected to win the election and thus formalize  the de facto power he currently holds. He has been the government’s pre-eminent decision maker  since he led the ouster of Egypt’s first freely elected leader, President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim […]

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Nigeria: Shell Declares Force Majeure On Forcados Oil Exports

Nigeria’s export of crude oil has suffered a major setback as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) yesterday declared force majeure on the export of Forcados grade of crude oil after it had shut down the 400,000 barrels per day capacity Forcados export terminal in Delta State. The declaration of he force majeure has freed the oil giant from contractual obligations to its customers due to circumstances beyond its control. Shell and other third parties export crude oil from the Western Niger Delta through the Forcados terminal, which was once shut down on October 19, 2012, due to flooding and damage to the supply pipelines. However, the company resumed loadings at the terminal on November 21, 2012 and also lifted the force majeure declared on exports of Forcados grade of crude oil. Before yesterday’s declaration of force majeure on Forcados exports, the export terminal had earlier been shut down when […]

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Nigeria: There's No Need for More Oil Wells in Nigeria

Nnimmo Bassey , an award-winning environmentalist, is one of Africa’s leading campaigners, particularly for his work in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. Mr. Bassey was a human rights advocate in the 1980s. He was imprisoned many times by late president Sani Abacha’s government in the 1990s. He is co-founder and chair of Friends of the Earth International and Environmental Rights Action. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the Heroes of the Environment. In this interview with Yemisi Akinbobola for Africa Renewal, Mr. Bassey discusses the continuing protests by the Niger Delta people against oil pollution and makes the case for compensation. Can you provide some historical context to the struggle in the Niger Delta region? It’s really a long history. The first commercial export of oil was in 1958, but before then there had been some very serious encounters with forces whose major interest was to exploit […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple