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Oil rises; US job gains offset by supply concerns

The price of oil rose Friday as a report showed a big gain in new jobs in the U.S. But gains were tempered by ongoing concerns about record oil supplies. Prices fell below $100 earlier in the week, mostly due to a surge in U.S. supplies of crude oil, which rose to a record 399.4 million barrels, according to the Energy Department. The Labor Department said U.S employers added 288,000 jobs in April, the most in two years. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, its lowest level since September 2008. "The report may represent some catch-up from the hit the economy apparently took over the brutal winter months," said the Kilduff Report edited by Michael Fitzpatrick. At the gas pump, the average price for a gallon of gasoline slipped 1 cent to $3.68. That’s 12 cents higher than a month ago and 15 cents above where it was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent Oil Rises First Time in Three Days on Ukraine

Brent crude rose for the first time in three days on concern that escalating tensions in Ukraine may disrupt global supplies. WTI also gained after U.S. employers boosted payrolls by the most in two years. Brent advanced 0.8 percent. Ukraine sent armored vehicles and artillery to retake Slovyansk, a stronghold for pro-separatist forces, defying President Vladimir Putin ’s demand to pull back troops with Russia’s army massed across the border. WTI reduced weekly losses as the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in April, the least since September 2008. “Ukraine is engaging in a big military way and Brent is having greater value due to geopolitical influences of Ukraine,” Tom Finlon, Jupiter, Florida-based director of Energy Analytics Group LLC, said by phone. “The unemployment number is construed positively for increases in petroleum demand.” Brent for June settlement climbed 83 cents to close at $108.59 a barrel on the London-based […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Prices Slightly Lower on Healthy Supply

Natural gas prices are down 0.3% Friday as dueling increases in both supply and demand are dividing traders. Natural gas for June delivery is down 1.3 cents at $4.706 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price has swung down and then up several times Friday, starting around 6 a.m. Prices have been retreating from a two-month high since Wednesday because stockpiles have been getting their largest additions of the year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday that producers added 82 billion cubic feet of gas to storage for the week ended April 25, nearly 30% more than the five-year average. It was the second consecutive week that the addition beat Wall Street expectations. And it was the first week that additions were large enough to make a significant dent in a one-trillion-cubic-foot shortfall compared to what is usually […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Arabia’s Sectarian Policies Behind Resurgence of Al Qaida in Iraq

More than two years after the U.S. withdrawal and nearly a decade after the U.S. forces ousted Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI) from Fallujahh, Iraq is still grappling with an escalating sectarian crisis between the Shia-led government, but also an increasingly disaffected Sunni minority. Even more menacingly, however, AQI has relabelled itself as the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIS) and has taken over of parts of Ramadi and Fallujah in the notoriously rebellious Sunni-dominated Anbar province. While the Iraqi army managed to regain parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, it has so far failed to make any headway in Fallujahh. Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has repeatedly warned that the army was on the verge of storming Fallujahh, he has so far refrained, fearing that civilian casualties would trigger a fierce backlash by tribal leaders backing the army. Maliki, asserted on February 5th that the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Alas, it may make little difference

ON APRIL 30th Nuri al-Maliki stepped behind a cardboard voting booth in a hotel ballroom in Baghdad, cast his ballot and raised a triumphant finger dipped in purple ink, urging other Iraqis to head for the polls, too. But this was in the relative safety of the fortified “green zone”, the government area which, he fears, is the ultimate target of opposition fighters now proliferating to the west and north of the capital. Elsewhere in Iraq the election took place amid bombs and bitter sectarian animosity between Sunni and Shia politicians. Even if most Iraqis managed to vote, there was no sign of this gulf being bridged. The dour, authoritarian Mr Maliki seems bent on keeping an almost exclusively Shia grip on Iraq. Since January the security forces have lost control of large chunks of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, to aggrieved Sunni fighters, some of them proclaiming allegiance […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kurdistan restarts independent pipeline flows to Turkey

Oil flows at around 100,000 bpd since Sunday are leading up to expected sales, possibly to Turkish refining company Tupras. Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region has restarted independent pipeline exports of roughly 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, in anticipation of first oil sales this month.The resumption of pumping signals the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) determination to capitalize on a moment of political opportunity. Following April 30 national elections, Iraqi leaders are poised to enter negotiations to form a new government, in which the Kurds could try to force Baghdad …

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Deadly Attacks Heighten Tension in Egypt

Suicide bombers targeting a security checkpoint and a civilian bus killed at least two people in Egypt’s southern Sinai region on Friday, while in the capital, a police officer was killed in an explosion that struck a traffic post, the authorities said. The spate of attacks came just weeks before Egypt is to hold a presidential election, a milestone officials have asserted will help stabilize the country. The Sinai attacks occurred just after dawn in El Tor, the provincial capital, about 70 miles from the popular tourist resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, the authorities said. One of the bombers approached a military checkpoint, detonating an explosive that killed two officers and the bomber. In the attack on the bus, the driver told state media that the bomber stood on the road that leads to Sharm el-Sheikh, holding what appeared to be a red icebox that presumably contained the […]

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Attack in Libya kills 9 soldiers, police officers

Gunmen attacked a security forces headquarters in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi early Friday, killing nine people and wounding 24, authorities said, blaming an Islamic extremist group allegedly behind the attack of a U.S. diplomatic post there. A security official said the attack started when dozens of gunmen opened fire with machine guns and mortars. The onslaught lasted for an hour, with the fighting heard miles away. Libyan commandos later arrived and fought the attackers, though the official said they suffered heavy casualties. A statement issued by the interim government and read by Cabinet spokesman Ahmed al-Amin put the death toll at nine people. Milad al-Zowi, a commando spokesman, said the dead were six army commandos and three police officers. Al-Zowe said that three soldiers and a police officer were missing after the battle. A local hospital official said some of the slain troops were […]

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Massive oil discovery claimed offshore Angola

Early results from a program off the coast of Angola show there may be as much as 700 million barrels of oil in the region, Cobalt International Energy said. Cobalt, through a partnership with national and international energy companies, released results from its Orca-1 pre-salt deepwater exploration well off the coast of Angola. The company said it tested the well at a rate of 3,700 barrels of oil and 16.3 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company, which has headquarters in Houston, said the results show this may be the largest oil discovery every found in the Kwanza basin off the coast of Angola. "Cobalt’s post drill estimates indicate a resource range of between 400 and 700 million barrels of oil," . Cobalt Chief Executive Officer Joseph Bryant said the field may be the "most significant oil discovery" ever made in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count declines to 1,854

The US drilling rig count lost 7 units to settle at 1,854 rigs working during the week ended May 2, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. All 7 units were land-based oil rigs. There are now 1,786 land rigs in operation. Offshore rigs and rigs drilling in inland waters are unchanged at 54 and 14, respectively. Oil rigs now represent 1,527 units working. Gas rigs and rigs considered unclassified are unchanged at 323 and 4, respectively. Horizontal drilling rigs gained 2 units to 1,247 while directional drilling rigs lost 7 units to 211. In Canada, a 5-unit loss to 163 was comprised of a 3-unit drop in gas rigs to 96 and 2-unit subtraction in oil rigs to 67. Canada now has 42 more rigs compared with this week a year ago. Major states, basins Just three of the major oil- and gas-producing states reported increases in their rigs counts. Oklahoma […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple