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Gunmen seize city council in Iraq’s Samarra

An armed group in military uniform has seized the city council headquarters in the Iraqi city of Samarra and taken employees hostage, the second such attack in recent months. Two fighters, possibly wearing explosives-rigged vests or belts, seized the Samarra city council building on Tuesday morning with an unknown number of employees inside, security officials said. "The gunmen are in the council building," Police Lieutenant Dhafir Ahmed said, according to Reuters news agency. "Local council employees and court employees are trapped inside." Clashes broke out between the fighters and security forces, and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near police and militia forces when they arrived at the scene. The blast wounded 24 people, most of them police, a doctor and an officer said, according to AFP news agency. The doctor also said that the deputy head of the city council […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain pull ambassadors from Qatar

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have issued a joint statement withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar. "The three states have decided to start taking measures they see fit to protect their security and stability, affirming that they are safeguarding the interests of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including neighbouring Qatar," the statement read. Qatar has failed to "stick to the principles of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states and refraining from supporting all who threaten the security of the council states," the statement added. In response, Qatar said it "regrets" the move, but will not reciprocate, AFP reported Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani committed to a security agreement during a meeting with Kuwait’s emir and the Saudi monarch in Riyadh on 23 November 2013. Calls for Qatar to abide by the agreement were reiterated on 17 February in Kuwait and again during a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brazil Drought Jolts Commodities' Prices

Brazil’s worst drought in decades is decimating crops but breathing new life into battered commodity markets. It hardly has rained in some of the South American country’s top farming regions since the start of the year, a period when precipitation is usually the heaviest. Traders, analysts and government forecasters who were calling for record harvests in coffee, sugar and soybeans as recently as December are cutting production estimates, triggering a spike in futures prices that may translate into higher costs for consumers later in the year. Futures prices for the arabica coffee variety are up 67% since the start of the year. Raw-sugar prices have risen 8%. Soybeans, which have been affected by drought in some areas and too much rain in others, also are up 8%. The withered coffee trees and parched sugar-cane fields stand in contrast to the bumper crops that have weighed on commodities […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brazil Drought Jolts Commodities’ Prices

Brazil’s worst drought in decades is decimating crops but breathing new life into battered commodity markets. It hardly has rained in some of the South American country’s top farming regions since the start of the year, a period when precipitation is usually the heaviest. Traders, analysts and government forecasters who were calling for record harvests in coffee, sugar and soybeans as recently as December are cutting production estimates, triggering a spike in futures prices that may translate into higher costs for consumers later in the year. Futures prices for the arabica coffee variety are up 67% since the start of the year. Raw-sugar prices have risen 8%. Soybeans, which have been affected by drought in some areas and too much rain in others, also are up 8%. The withered coffee trees and parched sugar-cane fields stand in contrast to the bumper crops that have weighed on commodities […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ecuador January Crude-Oil Export Revenues Down 10% on Month to $1.06 Billion

Ecuador’s crude-oil export revenues totaled $1.06 billion in January, down 10% from December, the central bank said Wednesday. In terms of volume, Ecuador exported 11.57 million barrels of crude oil in January, a 12% decrease from the previous month. Crude oil is Ecuador’s main export, which the Andean country sends primarily to Asia, the U.S. and the Caribbean. The average price of crude oil in January increased 1% to $91.40 a barrel from the previous month. All of the oil was exported by Ecuador’s state-owned companies. The central bank also said Ecuador produced 17.05 million barrels of crude oil in January. Petroecuador, Petroamazonas and Rio Napo, the three state-run oil companies, produced 13.21 million barrels in January, while private companies produced the remainder. According to official projections, Ecuador could produce about 741,000 barrels of crude oil per day by 2019. Reaching this goal will require investments […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela's Maduro breaks diplomatic links with Panama

Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, has broken diplomatic relations and frozen economic ties with Panama. The decision comes after the Central American nation requested a meeting at the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss Venezuela’s crisis. Mr Maduro was speaking to other Latin American heads of state at events to mark the first anniversary of the death of the Venezualan leader Hugo Chavez. At least 18 people have died in anti-government protests in the last month. "I’ve decided to break political and diplomatic ties with the current government of Panama and freeze all trade and economic relations from this moment on," Mr Maduro told the presidents of Cuba, Raul Castro, Uruguay, Jose Mujica, and Bolivia, Evo Morales, among other leaders gathered around the tomb of Mr Chavez. ‘Conspiracy’ Panama’s President […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s Maduro breaks diplomatic links with Panama

Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, has broken diplomatic relations and frozen economic ties with Panama. The decision comes after the Central American nation requested a meeting at the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss Venezuela’s crisis. Mr Maduro was speaking to other Latin American heads of state at events to mark the first anniversary of the death of the Venezualan leader Hugo Chavez. At least 18 people have died in anti-government protests in the last month. "I’ve decided to break political and diplomatic ties with the current government of Panama and freeze all trade and economic relations from this moment on," Mr Maduro told the presidents of Cuba, Raul Castro, Uruguay, Jose Mujica, and Bolivia, Evo Morales, among other leaders gathered around the tomb of Mr Chavez. ‘Conspiracy’ Panama’s President […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Refiners Eye Better Oil Deal Terms on U.S. Boom: Corporate India

India, Asia ’s second-biggest energy user, is in talks with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for better terms on oil contracts as surging U.S. output frees up supplies. Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) , India’s third-largest state refiner, is seeking to at least double the interest-free credit period for crude purchases from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to 60 days, B.K. Namdeo, the company’s refineries director, said in Mumbai. Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) wants price discounts for agreeing to contracts that are more than 10 years long, according to Managing Director P.P. Upadhya. “Discussions are going on, and we expect the extended credit period to be reflected in the new contracts from April 1,” Namdeo said. “There is a surplus in the market, and India should take full advantage of the situation.” A shale-oil boom in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer, has pushed crude production to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Winter's Toll on Gas Inventories May Last

The polar vortex will soon be history, but its impact could linger for months in one vital industry. The U.S. natural gas market is entering the final month of "withdrawal season," when gas is taken out of storage to meet demand, with surprisingly low inventories. The government is expected to report Thursday that storage fell by about another 140 billion cubic feet last week. Citigroup estimates that the period from April through October, when gas stores are traditionally replenished, could start with inventories of 875 billion cubic feet—a little over half as much as a year ago. Some of the traditional levers for rebalancing gas supply and demand have become rusty after years of glut caused by the shale boom. For example, elevated prices between 2003 and 2008 forced industrial gas users to cut consumption. Today, gas-dependent industry is resurgent and gas-fired power plants have taken market share from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Winter’s Toll on Gas Inventories May Last

The polar vortex will soon be history, but its impact could linger for months in one vital industry. The U.S. natural gas market is entering the final month of "withdrawal season," when gas is taken out of storage to meet demand, with surprisingly low inventories. The government is expected to report Thursday that storage fell by about another 140 billion cubic feet last week. Citigroup estimates that the period from April through October, when gas stores are traditionally replenished, could start with inventories of 875 billion cubic feet—a little over half as much as a year ago. Some of the traditional levers for rebalancing gas supply and demand have become rusty after years of glut caused by the shale boom. For example, elevated prices between 2003 and 2008 forced industrial gas users to cut consumption. Today, gas-dependent industry is resurgent and gas-fired power plants have taken market share from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple