Category:

Oil Tanker Starts Loading First Crude From East Libya in Months

An oil tanker started loading crude at Libya ’s eastern port of Hariga as the region exports oil for the first time since July after civil unrest decimated the North African country’s production and shipments. The Aegean Dignity started to load Hariga terminal at 11 a.m. local time, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by phone today. The operation will take about 24 hours. The shipment is for Italy , according to a statement from NOC subsidiary Arabian Gulf Oil. “This is the first loading in around nine months from any of the rebel-controlled ports in the east and the first concrete positive from the deals announced just over a week ago,” Richard Mallinson, Energy Aspects analyst in London , said by phone yesterday. “But it is worth remembering that the market is only taking this as a very limited positive development” because other terminals remain […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudan: Bad News for Beijing As Machar Attacks Oil Fields

The current conflict in South Sudan has now lasted nearly half a year, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese. Oil, South Sudan’s only major source of revenue, has neither been the reason for nor the focus of the conflict up to this point. But this is rapidly changing as the flow and whereabouts of the oil revenue, as well as the security of the oil fields themselves, moves to the very centre of the conflict. Although production is only at half-capacity, oil revenue continues to fill Juba’s coffers with roughly $15 million a day. The income from the oil sector is the main financial support for the government of Salva Kiir in Juba and its armed fight against former vice president Riek Macher and rebel groups. Riek Machar has, in recent weeks, been struggling to maintain his fight against the government, in part due to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Total Finds Oil in Deep Offshore Ivory Coast

French oil major Total SA (TOT) Thursday said it has found oil while drilling in deep offshore Ivory Coast. The company said it found liquid hydrocarbon below 2,300 meters of water. Total will now evaluate the extent of the find, it said in a statement. "Drilled in an abrupt margin play, this first well is the first discovery in the San Pedro Basin, a frontier exploration area in Ivory Coast," said Marc Blaizot, the senior vice president for exploration at Total. "Having confirmed the presence of a petroleum system containing light oil, we will next evaluate this very promising find." Total operates in Ivory Coast in a partnership with Canada’s CNR International and French PETROCI Holding. Total owns 54% in the joint venture, CNR 36% and PETROCI the remaining 10%. Write to Inti Landauro at [email protected]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Is It Scarcity of Fuel or Pump Price Increment?

IN the last two months, Nigerians have groaned under the pain of fuel scarcity. Since February they have been wondering if and when solution would be found to the persistent scarcity. Their wondering has turned into fear that this scarcity is another ploy by government to increase the pump price of fuel. This fear was first expressed soon after the scarcity became evident across the country. The reason for this was simply because of the speculation which began towards the end of last year that government planned to increase the price of fuel. The planned strike of oil workers early this year to protest against the privatisation of refineries, many thought, was aimed at thwarting the increment in fuel prices that was seen as the expected outcome of privatisation. There were assurances thereafter that the refineries would not be privatised and for which reason the strike was called off. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China factories face new challenge as growth slows

As China’s growth inexorably slows, manufacturers such as Linan Meite Cable are discovering that being an efficient low cost producer is no longer enough to prosper. Factories that had thrived by using cheap migrant labor to churn out inexpensive clothing, electronics and toys for export now face changing government priorities as a growth engine based on investment and trade loses its momentum after more than a decade of double-digit expansion. At the same time, China’s labor costs are rising and global demand is still weak, putting pressure on manufacturers to move into more advanced production, consolidate into bigger entities or shift to cheaper inland regions to survive. Growth in the world’s second-largest economy eased to 7.4 percent last quarter, the lowest since a mini-downturn in late 2012, government figures showed Wednesday. Last year’s expansion of 7.7 percent tied 2012 for the weakest since 1999. Leaders […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Chinese auto brands limp into Beijing show

China’s automakers are the underdogs heading into next week’s Beijing auto show, where foreign and domestic brands will jostle for attention in a market that is increasingly difficult for homegrown models. Facing intense competition from General Motors, Volkswagen and other global rivals, local brands such as Chery, Geely and SUV maker Great Wall have suffered shrinking sales and market share this year while China’s overall auto market has grown. That is a blow to Chinese leaders who have made it a national priority to catch up with neighboring Japan and South Korea by creating globally competitive automakers. "I am pretty pessimistic about the domestic brands," said Wang Chao, auto editor for the newspaper China Youth Daily. "They have to work even harder to win customers." China is the world’s biggest auto market, with last year’s sales rising 15.7 percent from 2012 to 17.9 million vehicles. That […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China to Appeal WTO Rare-Earth Ruling

China’s Ministry of Commerce said it plans to file an appeal Thursday against the World Trade Organization’s ruling that the country’s export restrictions on rare-earth minerals violated global rules. "China will spare no efforts in making an appeal," commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said at a news briefing. The move would be in line with earlier indications from a senior ministry official that an appeal would be filed if the WTO ruled against Beijing. The WTO last month ruled in favor of a complaint from the U.S., the European Union and Japan, accusing Beijing of violating trade rules by imposing quotas on exports of rare earths, which are used to manufacture a range of crucial technologies from smartphones to missile-defense systems. China has said the restrictions are in place for environmental-protection reasons. The U.S. also lodged a notice of appeal in its WTO dispute, challenging restrictions that China has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

16.1% of Chinese soil polluted

About 16.1 percent of soil in the Chinese mainland suffer pollution, said a report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection Thursday. About 19.4 percent of farming land are polluted, the report said. Xinhua Weibo Facebook Twitter Reddit Diigo Delicious Digg Linkedin MySpace Sina Weibo Kaixin Renren Q-zone Tencent Weibo Sohu Weibo NetEase Weibo Related News             1 Canadian photographer wins Picture of the Year 2 Bunny hop competition held in Prague 3 Fans gather in Rome for premiere of "Spider-Man" sequel 4 Windows XP shutdown opens up prolific information security market 5 Croatian painters swap canvasses for giant Easter eggs Back to Top 1 16.1% of Chinese soil polluted 2 Internet rumormonger gets 3-year jail term 3 China calls for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nobel winners to White House: Reject Keystone XL

10 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize called on President Obama ‘s administration to reject an application for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Pipeline company TransCanada submitted an application to build the cross-border pipeline more than five years ago. President Obama said he’d weigh the project against its environmental footprint, and a State Department report this year said the pipeline would have few net issues. Nobel Peace Prize winners, from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Archbishop Desmond Tutu , sent a letter to Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry urging them to deny the permit for Keystone XL. "The myth that tar sands development is inevitable and will find its way to market by rail if not pipeline is a red herring," they said in their letter published Tuesday. "Oil industry projections are clear that to reach their production goals […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Radioactive Waste Booms With Fracking as New Rules Mulled

Oilfields are spinning off thousands of tons of low-level radioactive trash as the U.S. drilling boom leads to a surge in illegal dumping and states debate how much landfills can safely take. State regulators are caught between environmental and public health groups demanding more regulation and the industry, which says it’s already taking proper precautions. As scientists debate the impact of small amounts of radiation on cancer risks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says there’s not enough evidence to say what level is safe . Left to police the waste, state governments are increasing their scrutiny of well operators. Pennsylvania and West Virginia are revising limits for acceptable radiation levels and strengthening disposal rules. North Dakota ’s doing the same, after finding piles of garbage bags filled with radioactive debris in an abandoned building this year. “We have many more wells, producing at an accelerating rate, and for each […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple