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WTI Heads for Third Weekly Drop Amid Rising Supply; Brent Steady

West Texas Intermediate is poised for a third weekly drop as crude supplies climbed to the highest level since November in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London . Futures slid for a second day in New York , falling as much as 0.7 percent. U.S. oil inventories rose for a ninth week as production increased, the Energy Information Administration said March 19. Brent advanced yesterday as the U.S. announced sanctions on Russia after it seized control of Crimea from Ukraine. The measures target aides and associates of President Vladimir Putin , including billionaire Gennady Timchenko , co-founder of energy-trading company Gunvor Group Ltd. “The increase in inventories overall and production set a soft tone,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “Even if some disruption comes out of the Ukraine situation it’s not really something that would be a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Slips to 2-Month Low on Signs of Falling Demand

Natural-gas prices fell Thursday as forecasts for warmer weather and a smaller-than-expected storage withdrawal indicated that weather-driven demand for the heating fuel is subsiding. Natural gas for April delivery settled down 11.5 cents, or 2.6%, at $4.369 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since Jan. 17. A long, frigid winter has fueled record demand for indoor heating and has sharply reduced natural-gas stockpiles. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel. As of March 14, supplies stood at 953 billion cubic feet, 48% below the five-year average for the week and the lowest level for any week since May 2003, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said […]

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Iran Complying With Interim Nuclear Deal

The United Nations atomic agency said Thursday that Iran is complying with the interim nuclear deal it signed with six major powers last November. In its monthly report on Iran’s implementation of the deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran continues refraining from enriching uranium to 20% purity and is reducing its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, which is a level considered only a few technical steps from producing weapons-grade uranium. The IAEA said Iran has also met its pledge not to carry out major work on its planned heavy water reactor in Arak, which could in the future produce plutonium. It has also, as promised, provided further information on its plans for the reactor. The agency said Iran also has kept within the agreed research and development limits for uranium-enrichment work under the interim accord. In November, Iran and six major powers that saw Tehran pledge to […]

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In Iran, Hopes Fade for Surge in the Economy

Suffering in an economy dragged down by years of mismanagement and the effects of international sanctions, Iran’s increasingly impoverished middle class voted in huge numbers last summer for President Hassan Rouhani , who promised to reignite growth by restoring ties with the rest of the world. But more than six months after Mr. Rouhani took office, hopes of a quick economic recovery are fading among ordinary Iranians, business owners and investors, while economists say the government is running out of cash . Although Mr. Rouhani has managed to stabilize the national currency, halt inflation and forge a temporary nuclear deal that provides some relief from sanctions, delivering on his promises of economic growth has proved far more difficult. On taking office, he discovered that the government’s finances were in far worse condition than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had ever let on. Now, with a lack of petrodollars […]

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Under pressure from Baghdad, Kurds offer limited exports

As U.S. mediators work to broker a temporary export deal between Erbil and Baghdad, Kurdistan has pledged to pump 100,000 bpd through federal channels. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region said it will begin contributing 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the country’s national oil exports starting April 1, in an effort to revive stalled negotiations with Baghdad over oil policy. "As a goodwill gesture, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has offered to make a contribution to Iraq oil pipeline exports to give the negotiations the maximum chance of success," said KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in a statement issued Thursday. "The KRG h…

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Baghdad Cafe Attack Pushes Iraq Toll to 46 Dead

Late night bombings at a Baghdad cafe left 13 people dead, officials said Thursday, pushing the toll from a day of nationwide blasts, shootings and shellings to at least 46. The violence has been primarily driven by discontent in the minority Sunni Arab community, which alleges mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, and by the civil war raging in neighboring Syria. The coordinated bombings struck the cafe in the Washash area of western Baghdad at around 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) Wednesday, killing 13 people and wounding 40, according to a revised toll Thursday by security and medical officials. An initial roadside bombing near the cafe was followed by a suicide blast, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Violence elsewhere in and around the capital on Wednesday killed eight people, while four policemen were killed by a booby-trapped corpse north of Baghdad. Attacks […]

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U.N. resolution authorizes force against illicit Libyan oil

A resolution authorizing the boarding of vessels suspected of carrying illicit Libyan oil gives Tripoli the stability it needs to grow, the U.S. envoy said. The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to support a Chapter VII resolution that authorizes U.N. member states to board vessels and return any oil illegally seized from Libyan ports to the Libyan government. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said in a statement that, with Libya’s oil funds accounting for the bulk of the government’s budget, the resolution ensures Libya’s oil wealth stays in the hands of the Libyan people. "Good stewardship of Libya’s oil resources is critical to supporting Libya’s successful democratic transition," she said Wednesday. A team of U.S. Navy SEALs raided the oil tanker Morning Glory, a North Korean-flagged ship, in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea last weekend after it took on a cargo of oil from a […]

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South Sudan Troops Recapture Malakal From Rebels

South Sudanese troops recaptured Malakal, the capital of the state that is home to the country’s only functioning oil fields, ending more than a month of rebel occupation amid faltering regional efforts to broker a truce in the nearly four-month-old conflict. Government troops seized control of Malakal, located 400 miles north of the capital Juba, after a two-day gunbattle with rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told The Wall Street Journal. Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, has changed hands several times since the conflict between rebel fighters and government troops erupted in mid-December, raising concerns over the safety of the vast oil fields in the beleaguered nation. "Our forces have finally taken full control of Malakal, the rebels are in disarray," Col. Aguer said, adding that rebels had virtually "destroyed and looted everything" during their monthlong occupation. Review events […]

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Venezuelan Mayors Are Jailed Amid Protests

The authorities have jailed the mayors of two cities that have experienced some of the most intense unrest in a wave of protests that has shaken the country in recent weeks. The arrests came as the National Assembly called for a criminal investigation of a prominent opposition lawmaker on charges related to the demonstrations. The intelligence police on Wednesday arrested Daniel Ceballos, the mayor of San Cristóbal, a city near the western border with Colombia where the protests began in early February. Many parts of San Cristóbal have been virtually shut down for weeks by demonstrators manning barricades, and clashes between residents and security forces are common. Mr. Ceballos was arrested during a trip to Caracas, the capital. The justice minister, Miguel Rodríguez, said that the mayor had been taken into custody on a judicial order after citizens filed court papers accusing him of failing to […]

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Higher Prices for Residential Consumers by the End of 2015

China’s top economic planning agency said Friday it would raise natural gas prices for residential consumers by the end of 2015 in a bid to conserve energy. The move won’t have a big initial impact on the market as about 80% of households won’t see a change in their rates, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website. But the heaviest consumers will pay around 1.5 times a base rate for household use gas while a second tier will pay 1.2 times the base rate—and these two groups make up about 20% of the market, the NDRC said. The move is part of a broader effort to relax controls on prices of scarce resources. At a key policy meeting in November, senior Communist […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple