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Iran's Oil Exports Peak After Interim Nuclear Deal

Iran’s oil exports peaked at a one-year high in the past two months, a top energy agency said Friday, as a thaw in relations with the West boosts the troubled economy of the Islamic Republic. But the boost in oil exports—if it continues—threatens to exceed a cap on exports Iran agreed to as part of an interim deal over its nuclear program. The deal between Iran and six global powers requires that Iran’s shipments shouldn’t average more than 1 million barrels a day of crude over the six months of the agreement, which started Jan 20. In its authoritative monthly oil report, the International Energy Agency said crude exports of Iranian oil averaged 1.16 million barrels a day in January and, based on preliminary estimates, stayed put in February. That compares with average crude exports of 1 million barrels a day in 2013, based on the report. Though bans […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran’s Oil Exports Peak After Interim Nuclear Deal

Iran’s oil exports peaked at a one-year high in the past two months, a top energy agency said Friday, as a thaw in relations with the West boosts the troubled economy of the Islamic Republic. But the boost in oil exports—if it continues—threatens to exceed a cap on exports Iran agreed to as part of an interim deal over its nuclear program. The deal between Iran and six global powers requires that Iran’s shipments shouldn’t average more than 1 million barrels a day of crude over the six months of the agreement, which started Jan 20. In its authoritative monthly oil report, the International Energy Agency said crude exports of Iranian oil averaged 1.16 million barrels a day in January and, based on preliminary estimates, stayed put in February. That compares with average crude exports of 1 million barrels a day in 2013, based on the report. Though bans […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil-Fouled Waters Spoil Niger Delta as Homes Abandoned

… A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Close Close Open Photographer: Dulue Mbachu/Bloomberg A polluted swamp and river is seen in Goi, a former fishing and farming community, in the Ogoni region of southeast Nigeria. What remains of Goi is the legacy of the Niger delta, heartland of the oil industry that supplies four-fifths of Nigeria’s state revenue and is now soiled by spills, sabotage and contaminated waters. Goi is gone, given over to nature. Residents of the former fishing and farming […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Controlled by Iran, the deadly militia recruiting Iraq's men to die in Syria

Each day for the past nine months, the bodies have been coming. Some are carried in simple wooden coffins strapped to car roofs. Others arrive with more ceremony, escorted by black-clad mourners or men in military fatigues to a hypnotic soundtrack of Islamic hymns. The convoys turn into the lanes of the Valley of Peace cemetery, squeezing past tombstones weathered by millennia and stopping next to freshly dug holes in the desert soil. The newest inhabitants of the world’s biggest cemetery were killed not here in Iraq but in Syria , where they fought under the green flag of the Middle East’s most potent new Shia Islamic political force, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous). The militia has been busy readying for the afterlife, buying up more than 2,500 square metres of burial plots and erecting shrines for its fallen. In Baghdad, nearly 100 miles north, the group has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Controlled by Iran, the deadly militia recruiting Iraq’s men to die in Syria

Each day for the past nine months, the bodies have been coming. Some are carried in simple wooden coffins strapped to car roofs. Others arrive with more ceremony, escorted by black-clad mourners or men in military fatigues to a hypnotic soundtrack of Islamic hymns. The convoys turn into the lanes of the Valley of Peace cemetery, squeezing past tombstones weathered by millennia and stopping next to freshly dug holes in the desert soil. The newest inhabitants of the world’s biggest cemetery were killed not here in Iraq but in Syria , where they fought under the green flag of the Middle East’s most potent new Shia Islamic political force, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous). The militia has been busy readying for the afterlife, buying up more than 2,500 square metres of burial plots and erecting shrines for its fallen. In Baghdad, nearly 100 miles north, the group has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya's interim PM calls for dialogue to end 10-month port blockade

Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s interim PM calls for dialogue to end 10-month port blockade

Shakmak said the shutdown of the ports had had a "severe impact" on revenues in the second half of 2013. He said Libya had lost more than $8 billion in revenues in that time. "The deficit continued in the first quarter of 2014 and the proportion of income earned in accordance with the budget was just 16% in January," he said. "In February, it was the same percentage or less, so there is no doubt of the importance of oil as a source of funding for the Libyan people," he said. Al-Thani took over as prime minister on Tuesday after the country’s highest political authority, the GNC, ousted former PM Ali Zeidan. Zeidan was sacked after a vote of no confidence that followed the news that the Libyan navy had failed to contain an oil tanker carrying an "illegal" cargo of Es Sider crude, which managed to escape the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Asian Gas Supply Cut by Heat, Drought, World Cup Soccer

SINGAPORE—Asian natural-gas buyers are being hit in the pocket by a combination of drought and heat in South America, as well as the coming World Cup soccer tournament. Liquefied natural gas available for sale on the spot market, which might normally be shipped to Asia by sea from the Atlantic basin, has for the past two months or so been snapped up by Brazil. The country needs to offset shortfalls in hydroelectricity output caused by dry weather. It also is building up fuel reserves to avoid embarrassing power cuts during the World Cup, which starts on June 12. Argentina has also been buying more. Extremely hot weather earlier in the Southern Hemisphere summer and shortages of domestic gas used to make electricity continue to boost its demand for imports. In a development that illustrates how gas markets are becoming more global, buying by both countries has left less fuel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World Bank snubs Venezuela on oil dispute

The World Bank said it won’t reconsider Venezuela’s request to review last year’s decision against it for seizing assets of ConocoPhillips in 2007. Venezuelan energy company Petroleos de Venezuela , known as PDVSA, said a 2013 ruling it failed to act in good faith in talks to compensate Conoco for assets seized in 2007 was unfair. The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes said Wednesday it was upholding the September decision. "The majority of the tribunal concludes that it does not have the power to reconsider," the ruling states in part. Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2007 moved to put the state in control of several oil projects in 2007. PDVSA said the September decision for compensation was unjust and ICSID said in its ruling it would take that matter up "in due course." There was no statement from PDVSA […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Stays Thick in China Downturn

Consumers are powering China’s petroleum use. As China’s slowdown becomes clearer, the ground is shaking beneath commodities bulls’ feet. Yet there is one corner of the commodities markets that can relax somewhat easier—oil. Investors in iron ore and copper are on edge after and inflation data , not to mention the default of a local bond. in January and February was weaker than expected, while fixed-asset investments rose at their slowest since 2002. That is bad news for metals. China’s consumes two-thirds of the world’s seaborne iron ore and 40% of its copper. And prices have reacted. Copper slid 8% the past week in London trading to its lowest level since mid-2010. Oil is a different story. While China accounts for 10% of global petroleum consumption and 40% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple