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22 Killed in Separate Violent Attacks across Iraq

In Northern Iraq, gunmen broke into a house of a policeman in South of the city of Mosul, and shot dead the policeman, his brother and one of his relatives, before they fled the scene, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. In a separate incident, a car bomb went off near a police patrol in the Western part of Mosul, leaving two policemen and three passers-by wounded, the source said. Meanwhile, gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle on a main road near the city of Baiji, some 200 km North of Baghdad, killing a police officer and a policeman, and wounding another, a local police said. Near Baghdad, a police officer was killed and four policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in Rashdiyah area, a police source said. In Anbar province, gunmen believed to be linked to the Islamic State […]

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Attacks Kill Nine as Pilgrims Converge on Baghdad

Baghdad:  Violence in Baghdad and north Iraq killed nine people on Friday as throngs of Shiite pilgrims converged on the Iraqi capital for annual commemoration rituals. The unrest came amid tight security measures in Baghdad, as Iraq grapples with a protracted surge in bloodshed that has left more than 3,700 people dead so far this year and fulled fears the country is slipping back into all-out conflict. Friday’s deadly violence struck in the capital and the restive northern province of Nineveh, leaving nine people dead and 22 others wounded, security and medical officials said. Mortar fire in north Baghdad killed three people, while two men were shot dead in the west of the capital. The mortar rounds slammed into the Zahra neighbourhood adjacent to Kadhimiyah, where tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims prepare to commemorate the death of a revered figure in Shiite Islam. For days worshippers from across […]

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Repsol leaves Argentina behind

MADRID, May 23 (UPI) –Spanish oil company Repsol said Friday it sold off its stake in Argentina’s YPF and the bonds it received from the nationalization of the state energy company. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed legislation in 2012 to seize the YPF shares held by the Spanish energy company Repsol said Friday it completed the sale of its assets in Argentina to JP Morgan Securities including the bonds it received as compensation for the expropriation of its 51 percent stake in YPF. "From the sale of the entire holding of Argentinean bonds, Repsol has obtained a total $4.99 billion in compensation for the expropriation," Repsol said in a statement . "This extinguishes the $5 billion debt recognized by Argentina." Repsol’s board of directors rejected a compensation offer made in June by the Argentine government. That deal would have given Repsol drilling rights to Argentina’s vast Vaca […]

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Ecuador to Sign Oil-Refinery Financing Deal With China

After about three years of negotiations, the government of Ecuador is preparing to sign a financing deal with China, valued at about $7 billion, to finance a new oil refinery known as the Refineria del Pacifico, an official said. The $10 billion refinery will process 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Thirty percent of the funds needed will come from the project’s partners and the remaining 70% will be financed by a group of Chinese banks headed by the Ltd. An official close to the deal, who asked not to be named, said Friday that the government of Ecuador will sign the financing deal, the first tranche of which will consist of about $2.5 billion and will be disbursed soon. The official said a high-level delegation of officials from China have been finalizing details in Quito, and President Rafael Correa will announce the deal Saturday during his […]

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China’s Gasoline Stockpiles Increase to Record High in April

’s gasoline inventories rose to a record high for a second month as refiners in the world’s second-largest oil consumer faced losses on exports. Stockpiles of the motor fuel increased by 0.69 percent in April from a month earlier, China Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals, a newsletter published by the official Xinhua News Agency, said in an e-mail today. Supplies are estimated at 7.53 million metric tons, or 63.8 million barrels, the most since Bloomberg started compiling the data in January 2010. Refiners including China Petrochemical Corp. and PetroChina Co. are building inventories amid weak domestic demand, according to ICIS-C1, a Shanghai-based commodities researcher. Gasoline-export margins averaged minus 366 yuan ($58.70) a ton in the first four months of this year, said Chen Li, an ICIS analyst in Guangzhou. China exported a net 308,030 tons of the motor fuel in April, data from the General Administration of Customs in Beijing […]

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Gasoline Futures Gain on Higher Memorial Day Driving

Gasoline climbed to a three-week high as U.S. drivers were forecast to drive the most in nine years over Memorial Day weekend. Futures rose 0.6 percent. AAA estimates that 31.8 million people will travel 50 miles or more by car this weekend, up from 31.4 million a year ago and the most since 2005. Memorial Day, which falls this year on May 26, marks the start of the summer driving season. Gasoline supplies were 213.4 million barrels in the week ended May 19, according to the Energy Information Administration, down from 220.7 million a year earlier. “Gasoline is leading the way as we go into the holiday weekend with a gasoline demand forecast to be at the highest level in a number of years at the same time that inventories are about 3 percent lower than this time last year,” said Andy Lipow , president of Lipow Oil Associates […]

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Gas Rigs Slump as Pipeline Capacity Limits New Drilling

Rigs targeting natural gas in the U.S. slipped from a one-month high with drillers limited by a shortage of pipeline capacity to move supplies to market. The count dropped by one to 325 this week, data posted on Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) ’s website today show. Rigs drilling for the power-plant fuel declined in U.S. plays from the Fayetteville of Arkansas to the Haynesville in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, the Houston-based field services company said. Gas rigs in the Marcellus of the eastern U.S. were unchanged at 81, down from this year’s peak of 87. U.S. rigs drilling for natural gas slid by 29 in the past year even as prices gained, underscoring the record volume from existing rigs. The boom has companies jockeying for transportation capacity as output in the Marcellus alone is set to rise by 25 percent in June from a year earlier, according to Bloomberg […]

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Gas prices ahead of Memorial Day static year-on-year

U.S. drivers are paying an average $3.67 for a gallon of gasoline ahead of Memorial Day, the start of summer driving season, the Energy Department said Friday. Memorial Day, May 26, is considered the start of the summer driving season. After an increase of 42 cents per gallon from early February to late April, the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said prices are relatively static year-on-year. "Leading up to this year’s holiday, the national average retail price for regular gasoline is $3.67 per gallon, as it was this time last year," EIA said in a Friday. EIA said the retail price for a gallon of gasoline is largely based on the price of crude oil and the difference between that price and the price for wholesale gasoline. EIA said the price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline peaked at […]

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API: U.S. oil production breaks 26-year record

April was strong for both oil production and refining, with production breaking a 26-year record, the American Petroleum Institute reported. said U.S. crude production for April was close to 8.3 million barrels per day, a 12.6 percent increase year-on-year and the highest level for any April since 1988. For the refining sector, API said gross inputs and exports of refined products grew 5.1 percent compared to last April to 16.1 million bpd. Total U.S. petroleum deliveries, which API uses as an indication of demand, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year to close to 19 bpd, the highest level for any April since 2010. "April brought strong year-over-year growth in both the production and refining sectors," API Chief Economist John Felmy said in a statement Thursday. "The oil and natural gas industry continues to provide a solid base for growth in the larger economy." API said more consumers […]

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Appeals Court Throws Out Energy Saving Rule

A federal appeals court dealt a blow to electricity-conservation efforts on Friday when it struck down a rule allowing big energy consumers to reap special payments in exchange for cutting their power use. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nullified a 2011 order by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that promoted paying businesses to reduce electricity consumption during heavy times of demand. The court ruled that as a federal regulator FERC had gone too far, encroaching in retail electricity markets that are under the exclusive jurisdiction of states. The FERC order was considered integral to federal efforts to curb carbon emissions from power plants and support energy-efficiency investments by big consumers, from grocery store chains to aluminum manufacturers. But electricity suppliers struggling against low power prices and lackluster demand said those payments had become excessive. The Electric Power Supply Association filed the lawsuit on behalf of power generators that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple