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Will the violence in Iraq ever ebb?

Wire reports attested that anonymous gunmen near Baghdad six men on April 6, while another 11 people were killed across the country. In what were routine assassinations, police investigators stumbled on the bodies, all with gunshot wounds to the head. No one claimed responsibility for these slayings, or for most of the others that have plagued Iraq for years. Few could decipher any motives for killings that have, regrettably, become part of Iraqi society. Even worse, while such executions , a new wave of violence that may have sectarian connotations, has seen the toll rise in recent months. According to the United Nations Mission to Iraq, 733 individuals were , while the toll reached 703 people in February. These figures showed a rising wave of militant attacks, which journalists labelled "a surge of violence that began 10 months ago", when the government launched a systematic crackdown that chiefly targeted […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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In Libya, politicians in fear of powerful militias

In a humiliating video, Libya’s top politician – the head of parliament – is seen begging with a militia commander, trying to explain to him why he was caught with two women in his residence and insisting nothing scandalous was going on. "In God’s name," Nouri Abu Sahmein tells the militiaman, Haitham al-Tajouri. "I’m hiding nothing from you, Haitham." Visibly afraid, Abu Sahmein tells him the women claimed to have "sensitive information" at a time he has received tips about a cell plotting to assassinate him. "I want to close this all up, but I want to understand. I am not a fool," the militia commander replies, speaking from off camera. The video, taken and leaked by the militiamen and shown earlier this month on Libyan TV stations, sparked an uproar and prompted the prosecutor general to investigate, summoning Abu Sahmein and al-Tajouri for questioning. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria: Refineries Are Best Abroad

QUEUES for petrol still dot many Nigerian cities and villages. This is to tell government that importation would never solve the country’s challenges with fuel. Groups that once challenged governments over the matter have long gone to other affairs, seeing how selective governments remain about matters on which they heed advice. Nobody bothers government any longer about the domestic refineries,which are oscillating between public and private ownership. In moments of apparent concern or fitful wakefulness, government announces privatisation or sale of refineries. After predictable public outbursts rejecting the proposal, our listening government relents. A long bout of silence ensures. What appears uttermost in the minds of Nigerians is getting affordable fuel for their vehicles and to run their power generators, without which they are guaranteed darkness. Many parts, these days, go for weeks without electricity. Where it is available, it is at most epileptic. The concentration on getting through […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chinese Exports and Imports Unexpectedly Fell in March

China’s exports unexpectedly fell in March, and its imports dropped even more sharply, but the significance of the data for the Chinese economy was clouded by uncertainty over the extent to which exporters and importers were timing shipments to profit from currency market shifts. China’s exports fell 6.6 percent in dollar terms last month, compared with a year ago, while imports tumbled 11.3 percent, China’s General Administration of Customs said on Thursday. Economists had expected both to show small increases. But the change in exports was particularly hard to predict because many exporters had overstated the value of their shipments a year ago to circumvent China’s currency controls. The over-invoicing allowed exporters to bring more dollars into the country, placing a bet on further appreciation of the renminbi, the Chinese currency. By contrast, the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, pushed the value of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China rattles nerves with weak trade data

China’s imports and exports both contracted in March, with trade data falling well short of forecasts and rattling nerves over the state of the world’s second-biggest economy. Exports decreased 6.6 per cent in March from a year earlier, missing forecasts for a 4.9 per cent rise. It was the second consecutive weak month following February’s 18 per cent year-on-year contraction. More video The value of imports fell 11.3 per cent year-on-year in March – a weaker than expected performance. But in volume terms, most of China’s commodities imports rose in the first quarter even as international prices fell. Strong commodity imports reflect robust domestic demand, as well as some demand from companies that use commodities imports to access credit. That left China with a small trade surplus on the month of $7bn, rebounding from its $23bn deficit a month earlier. The weak export figures at the start of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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High depletion rates in Bakken

If you can, you could term it delusion, the theory that Shale gas is the answer to all problems in terms of energy. Just extract the gas, ship it across the pipeline and export the excess, or so goes the popular theory (boom. How easy!). Let’s call this ‘Sale for Energy Security Theory’ or SEST) If you believe in SEST, here’s a simple task for you: Take a towel or cloth soaked in water. Wring it. Note the amount of water that comes out. Now, wring it again. Okay, once more. How many drops of water did you get in the third time? Two, three? This is precisely what’s happening in the Bakken. Imagine that there aren’t buckets of oil underneath the Bakken but towels soaked with oil. And it is only recently that we figured out the technique called “fracking”: how to wring a towel full of oil. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Alaska North Slope oil production to fall 1.8 pct for fiscal year -report

Alaska’s North Slope oil production is forecast to decline 1.8 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30 instead of falling 3 percent as predicted in December, according to a report released this week. The Alaska Department of Revenue predicts production of 521,800 barrels a day (bpd) versus its December forecast of 508,200 bpd. By 2023, North Slope production will fall to 315,000 bpd. The annual spring report comes four months after the state began cutting oil production taxes with hopes of spurring new investment and stemming the decline. Alaska gets more than 80 percent of its state tax revenue from oil production. North Slope production comes largely from leaseholders BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp, and has been in a steady decline. More than 20 years ago, nearly 2 million barrels a day flowed through the 800-mile (1,300-km)trans-Alaska pipeline system. Last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Speakers debate states’ oil, gas role at GMU conference

States are better qualified than federal and local governments to regulate hydraulic fracturing and other unconventional oil and gas activities, two speakers agreed at an energy and environment conference at George Mason University’s School of Law. But a third speaker argued that some states’ performances as the primary US oil and gas regulator are unsatisfactory and needs to be reevaluated. Rapid growth of US oil and gas production from tight shale formations is bringing new scrutiny to regulation at all levels of government, all three speakers agreed during a panel discussion at a day-long conference, “Old Fuels, New Technologies, and Market Dynamics,” at the law school’s campus in Arlington, Va., on Apr. 7. “There’s no convincing basis for the federal government coming in and trying to regulate fracing,” said Michael L. Krancer, a partner at the law firm Blank Rome LLP in Philadelphia who formerly led Pennsylvania’s Department of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kemp: Shale Revolution Reverses Global Energy Flow

The United States has replaced OPEC as the marginal petroleum supplier to the world thanks to the shale revolution and improvements in automotive fuel efficiency. Net U.S. imports of crude and products have halved over the last five years, or by an amount equivalent to the entire daily crude exports of Saudi Arabia. Net imports totalled 5.2 million barrels per day at the start of 2014, down from 11.2 million at the beginning of 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Not one barrel of U.S. shale oil has been sent overseas (except small quantities to Canada) because of the long-standing ban on crude petroleum exports. But increased U.S. production is still playing a role on global markets via a reduction in its crude imports and increased exports of refined […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Alaska adopts strict new rules on hydraulic fracturing

Alaska’s oil and gas regulatory commission has adopted new, more stringent rules governing hydraulic fracturing that include increased testing of water wells for contamination, its chairman said Wednesday in an interview. Final regulations are now being reviewed by state attorneys and still must be signed by Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell. The rules will require testing of all water wells within a half-mile radius of a well to be fractured, and will mandate testing of the water wells for contamination after the fracture job is completed, said Cathy Foerster, chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or AOGCC. In some cases, testing of water wells prior to the fracturing may be required at the discretion of the commission, Foerster said. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple