Category:

Gasoline Heads for Biggest Gain in 11 Weeks as Supplies Drop

Gasoline headed for the biggest weekly gain since December as supplies fell amid a seasonal switch to summer-grade fuel, which is more expensive to produce. Prices climbed as much as 0.5 percent. Gasoline supplies fell 1.6 million barrels last week to 229 million, the lowest level in eight weeks, according to Energy Information Administration data. PADD 1 supplies sank 2.8 percent to 59.5 million. “Refiners have to get rid of winter-grade gasoline and start to build up summer-grade gasoline,” said Dominick Chirichella, senior partner at the Energy Management Institute in New York . April-delivery gasoline rose 1 cent to $2.9555 a gallon at 10:08 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange . Volume was 11 percent below the 100-day average. Prices are up 5.9 percent this week, the most since the period ended Dec. 20. The average U.S. pump price rose 1 cent to $3.484 a gallon, according to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 30.11 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day in February

Up 240,000 b/d from January, Driven by Surge in Iraqi Oil Exports London – March 7, 2014 Crude oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) climbed by 240,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 30.11 million b/d in February from 29.87 million b/d in January following a surge in Iraqi exports and despite new setbacks in Libya, a just-released Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts showed. “These are the sorts of output numbers that not long okago, when combined with the rising production from North America, looked like they might weigh on the market and cause a fall in prices,” said John Kingston, Platts global director of news. “In particular, the Iraq numbers are surprising, given that output there has been troubled in recent months. And yet, West Texas Intermediate crude is solidly above $100, Brent prices are up near $110, and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya port rebels say have started exporting oil

Armed protesters who have seized oil ports in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had started exporting oil, bypassing the Tripoli government, with their first shipment going to a North Korean-flagged tanker. Officials at state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) confirmed earlier on Saturday that the tanker was docked at the Es-Sider port, which is under the control of a rebel group demanding autonomy and a greater share of Libya’s oil wealth. "We started exporting oil. This is our first shipment," said a spokesman for the protesters, who have seized Es-Sider and two other ports. The tanker Morning Glory, which had been circling off the Libyan coast for days, was preparing to load crude at the port, said an oil official, asking not to be identified. Oil workers at the port confirmed the docking. "We have informed the government and the defense ministry so they can take […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP shelves onshore work in Libya

British energy company BP said in an annual report it was exploring other options for exploration drilling onshore in Libya because of security concerns. BP in 2007 secured exploration and production-sharing agreements with the Libyan government for the onshore Ghadames basin and the offshore Sirte basin. In an annual report filed Thursday, the company said planning for offshore exploration drilling was continuing. "With respect to the onshore exploration drilling program, a security review in June concluded that this could not be safely and securely delivered by BP at this time," it said. "Alternative approaches are being considered." London’s commercial ties to Tripoli were questioned following the 2009 release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi , the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. BP was accused of playing a role in the decision to release him, though the allegations […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran president criticizes hard-liners over media

Iran’s moderate-leaning president has strongly criticized hard-line officials for ordering reformist newspapers shut down. Judicial authorities ordered two pro-reform newspapers – Aseman and Bahar – closed in recent months on allegations of questioning Islamic principles. President Hassan Rouhani told reporters Saturday that it was wrong to close down a newspaper on its first offense just because one writer was seen as inappropriate. His comments were broadcast live on state TV. Rouhani said his opponents were free to attack him. Hard-line media has denounced the historic nuclear deal his administration reached with world powers in Geneva last year a "poisoned chalice." Iran’s hard-line judiciary has shut down more than 150 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of editors and writers, often on vague charges of insulting authorities, since 2000. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Jordan, Iraq, Egypt join hands on natural gas, oil

The Jordanian government said it signed natural gas deals with Egypt and discussed the prospects for future oil cooperation with Iraq. Egyptian Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail Mohamed joined Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi in Amman for a trilateral energy meeting. During the meeting, Jordan and Egypt signed deals to secure natural gas deliveries through the Arab Gas Pipeline, a 750-mile pipeline from Egypt. A separate deal called for connecting future liquefied natural gas supplies through the pipeline for Jordanian energy companies, the official Jordan News Agency reported Thursday. The Egyptian section of the pipeline has been the frequent target of terrorist attacks, causing problems for Jordan. Last month, Jordanian companies Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine secured a total gross quantity of 66 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the Tamar field, located off the Israeli coast. With Iraq, the Jordanian government said both sides expected an oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Voices from Baghdad

Ten years ago Christine Spolar reported on the Iraq war. Last month she returned to find her old colleagues and friends living in fear, and a city traumatised by spiralling violence A car bomb attack in Baghdad on January 15 ©Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times A car bomb attack in Baghdad on January 15 The emails from Baghdad popped up in the middle of my London workday. Friends, one-time drivers and translators, who had helped me navigate war-torn Iraq a decade ago, were responding to my New Year’s hello – and their words left me blinking, hard, at the computer. “I won’t tell you how miserable life in Baghdad is these days. You’re watching the news and you know. It’s worse than ever,” wrote Nadeem Majeed, an engineer who once worked as a translator for the Chicago Tribune and now manages a Nissan distributorship. His district was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bombings, shootings kill 22 in Iraq

dozen bombings in central Iraq and two shootings in the north killed 22 people Thursday, officials and doctors said, as the country suffers its worst violence in years. Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in bloodshed that has reached levels not seen since 2008, driven by widespread discontent among its Sunni Arab minority and by the civil war in neighbouring Syria. On Thursday evening, four car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 47, officials said. The bombings targeted a cafe, a market, a main street and an area of car dealerships. Militants frequently attack places where crowds gather, such as cafes, markets, football fields and mosques, in an effort to maximise casualties. The Baghdad blasts followed a car bombing near a checkpoint north of the capital that killed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Suicide bomber uses Iraq police Humvee in attack

Authorities in Iraq say a suicide bomber has used a stolen police Humvee to pass through a military checkpoint and set off his explosives, wounding 14 people. The attack happened Saturday in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province, where Iraqi security forces have been battling militants who took control of parts of the town in late December. Police say militants stole the Humvee and painted it with military colors to trick soldiers into letting it by. Elsewhere on Saturday, police say a roadside bomb targeting a military vehicle in Baqouba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, killed a captain and wounded four soldiers. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures for the attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to release the information. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Kazakhstan Sues Foreign Oil Majors Over Flailing Kashagan

Kazakhstan is suing foreign oil majors developing its huge Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea, a tactic similar to those that secured the government large stakes in two of the three multinational energy projects on its territory. Repeated delays at the 13-year-old project, targeted to produce as much oil as OPEC member Angola from a reserve almost as big as Brazil’s, have infuriated the Kazakh government. The consortium, led by Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell , Total and Eni as well as Kazakh state oil firm KazMunaiGas, may face Kazakhstan seizing a bigger stake in Kashagan or refusing to reimburse a big chunk of the $50 billion spent on bringing it onstream. The latter option is written into the Kashagan […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple