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Killer virus demands open accounting

FOR MANY months in 2012 and 2013, Saudi Arabia reassured the world that it was paying close attention to the outbreak of a novel coronavirus in the kingdom, known as Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. But events this year have begun to pull back the curtain on a disease outbreak that was — and remains — dangerous and not fully explained or explored. This is more than just an accident, and the Saudi authorities are finally waking up to the full extent of the lapses, just in time for the pilgrimages that are expected to bring millions to Mecca and Medina in the months ahead. There is no known antiviral or vaccine for the MERS virus. So far it does not appear to transmit rapidly among humans in a way that could create a pandemic, although some transmission has occurred among those in close contact. It has infected […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya's Benghazi rocked by fierce fighting

At least four people have been killed in clashes in Benghazi between forces loyal to the former general Khalifa Haftar and fighters he has declared as "terrorists". At least 14 people were also wounded in Sunday’s fighting, Reuters news agency reported, as fighting prompted dozens of families to flee the port in the latest bout of violence to hit the country. "There are now heavy clashes in Sidi Faraj and al-Hawari [in western Benghazi]. Our forces are attacking with tanks and rocket launchers," Haftar’s spokesman Mohamed el-Hejazi said. The sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard on the streets of  Sidi Faraj, and families were fleeing affected areas, witnesses said.  Electricity was cut to a large part of the city, with state news agency LANA saying a rocket fire had hit a power station, and that technicians were trying to restore power. Haftar has declared war against groups including Ansar al-Sharia […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s Benghazi rocked by fierce fighting

At least four people have been killed in clashes in Benghazi between forces loyal to the former general Khalifa Haftar and fighters he has declared as "terrorists". At least 14 people were also wounded in Sunday’s fighting, Reuters news agency reported, as fighting prompted dozens of families to flee the port in the latest bout of violence to hit the country. "There are now heavy clashes in Sidi Faraj and al-Hawari [in western Benghazi]. Our forces are attacking with tanks and rocket launchers," Haftar’s spokesman Mohamed el-Hejazi said. The sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard on the streets of  Sidi Faraj, and families were fleeing affected areas, witnesses said.  Electricity was cut to a large part of the city, with state news agency LANA saying a rocket fire had hit a power station, and that technicians were trying to restore power. Haftar has declared war against groups including Ansar al-Sharia […]

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California’s Illusive Gas Shale Deposits of “Black Gold”

“After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future.” Obama in 2013 State of The Union address. The myth of American energy independence from fracking has been dealt a huge blow by the downgrade of recoverable oil from the Monterey shale formation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has slashed its estimate of oil reserves from the Monterey shale formation by a massive 96%. In 2011 the EIA released a report that reviewed US shale oil and gas reserves. It stated that the largest shale oil formation in America was the Monterey play in Southern California. The report estimated that the Monterey shale formation held 15.5 billion barrels of oil or 64% of total U.S. shale oil reserves. California’s vast shale deposits were labelled ”black gold” due to this forecast. On the basis of this rosy review the University of California produced […]

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Economics of natural gas don’t always add up for fleets

Though natural gas is abundant in the U.S., whether it can serve as a financially viable transportation fuel is a difficult question to answer. Commercial fleet operators from across the country this week are in Houston discussing the economics of natural gas, which often is touted as a less expensive, cleaner-burning alternative to gasoline. But industry officials at the Natural Gas Vehicles USA conference say despite their hopes for natural gas, converting fleets to run on the fuel isn’t always easy. Though the fuel has its advantages, the finances of making it work for fleets don’t always add up. “There needs to be some changes in […]

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Williams Strikes Nearly $6 Billion Deal to Expand Shale Oil, Gas Holdings

Williams Cos. agreed to pay nearly $6 billion to expand its ownership of Access Midstream Partners LP, a move aimed at increasing the natural-gas pipeline company’s presence in areas with growing energy output from shale formations. Under the deal, Williams would acquire from Global Infrastructure Partners II the remaining 50% of the privately held general-partner interests in Access Midstream that the Tulsa, Okla., company didn’t already own. Williams also would acquire 55.1 million of Access’s limited-partner units, bringing William’s stake in the limited partnership to 50%. At the close of trading Friday, the limited-partner units had a market value of $3.6 billion. Access gathers natural gas and natural-gas liquids pumped from wells in Texas, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, processes them and delivers them to larger pipelines, a business that Williams said it expected would grow rapidly. Access, which is based in Oklahoma City, was formed in 2009 as Chesapeake Midstream […]

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Enbridge Set to Win Canada Approval on Northern Gateway

Enbridge Inc. (ENB) is poised to win government approval as soon as today for its proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to the Pacific coast, a major step for the project that still faces opposition from aboriginal and environmental groups. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet must decide by midnight tomorrow whether to approve the C$6.5 billion ($6 billion) pipeline, which would carry diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands across British Columbia. Canada’s petroleum industry is seeking measures to move landlocked crude to offshore markets with another proposed pipeline, TransCanada Corp’s, Keystone XL, in regulatory limbo in the U.S. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said signs point toward the federal government permitting Northern Gateway. “We’re hopeful approval’s coming,” Wall said in a June 12 phone interview. “I’m reading the tea leaves and picking up on signals like everyone else.” Alberta Energy Minister Diana McQueen said in an interview last week that she was […]

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Ukraine crisis: Russia halts gas supplies to Kiev

Ukraine says Russia has cut off all gas supplies to Kiev, in a major escalation of a dispute between the two nations. "Gas supplies to Ukraine have been reduced to zero," Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuri Prodan said. Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom said Ukraine had to pay upfront for its gas supplies, after Kiev failed to settle its huge debt. Gazprom had sought from Kiev $1.95bn (£1.15bn) – out of $4.5bn it says it is owed – by 06:00 GMT. The Russian firm said it would continue to supply gas to Europe. Russia-Ukraine ties remain tense since Moscow annexed Crimea in February. Kiev says Moscow backs separatists in the east of the country. Russia denies the charge. ‘Blackmail’ "Today, from 10:00 Moscow time, Gazprom, according to the existing contract, moved Naftogaz to prepayment for gas […]

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Russia's Gazprom reduces gas to Ukraine after deadline passes

Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom reduced supplies to Ukraine on Monday after Kiev failed to meet a deadline to pay off its gas debts in a dispute that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe. Announcing that Ukraine will now only get gas it pays for in advance, Moscow put the onus on its neighbour to guarantee the European Union receives supplies that transit through Ukraine. Kiev and Moscow failed to agree overnight on the price of future gas deliveries, with both sides refusing to abandon well-established positions: Russia offering a discount and Ukraine rejecting it as a tool for political manipulation. Talks were already difficult but were also clouded by the worst political crisis between Russia and Ukraine since the Soviet Union collapsed, including the shooting down of a Ukrainian military plane by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country on Saturday and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Russia’s Gazprom reduces gas to Ukraine after deadline passes

Russian natural gas exporter Gazprom reduced supplies to Ukraine on Monday after Kiev failed to meet a deadline to pay off its gas debts in a dispute that could disrupt supplies to the rest of Europe. Announcing that Ukraine will now only get gas it pays for in advance, Moscow put the onus on its neighbour to guarantee the European Union receives supplies that transit through Ukraine. Kiev and Moscow failed to agree overnight on the price of future gas deliveries, with both sides refusing to abandon well-established positions: Russia offering a discount and Ukraine rejecting it as a tool for political manipulation. Talks were already difficult but were also clouded by the worst political crisis between Russia and Ukraine since the Soviet Union collapsed, including the shooting down of a Ukrainian military plane by pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country on Saturday and […]

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Ukraine's Naftogaz Files Lawsuit in Stockholm Over Russia Gas

Ukrainian gas monopoly Naftogaz said Monday it is suing Russia in the Stockholm arbitration court to get a fair price for the natural gas it receives and to recoup $6 billion in what Kiev said was overpayment for gas deliveries over the past four years. After Moscow and Kiev failed to resolve a long-running dispute over Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, Russian gas giant Gazprom said Monday it would only ship fuel to Ukraine if it pays in advance. Naftogaz said in a statement it had filed a claim in the Stockholm court demanding a "fair and market price" for the gas that Gazprom ships to Ukraine. Kiev had been asking for a gas price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters, the level that was agreed in late 2013 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ousted Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych. On Friday, Kiev said it was ready to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ukraine’s Naftogaz Files Lawsuit in Stockholm Over Russia Gas

Ukrainian gas monopoly Naftogaz said Monday it is suing Russia in the Stockholm arbitration court to get a fair price for the natural gas it receives and to recoup $6 billion in what Kiev said was overpayment for gas deliveries over the past four years. After Moscow and Kiev failed to resolve a long-running dispute over Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, Russian gas giant Gazprom said Monday it would only ship fuel to Ukraine if it pays in advance. Naftogaz said in a statement it had filed a claim in the Stockholm court demanding a "fair and market price" for the gas that Gazprom ships to Ukraine. Kiev had been asking for a gas price of $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters, the level that was agreed in late 2013 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ousted Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych. On Friday, Kiev said it was ready to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China Won the Oil War, and the Shale Oil Revolution Is about to Shrivel up

Wall Street is the government, and the New York Times is right across town.  Maybe that’s all you need to know to understand what’s happened. In January, 2011, this writer published a four-part article entitled “ The War: Did We Sacrifice a Million Lives and a $Trillion Cash Just to Hand Our Jobs to China? ”  It was long (around 40 pages) and I must admit a little confusing, because the information was so stunning that I had a difficult time understanding what I was reading. The gist of the article was that Big Oil had asked Congress in 1998 to remove the Taliban so as to allow the building of a pipeline that would let Mideastern oil go to “the right markets.”  “The right markets”?  Guess. The US and Europe, of course.  Wrong. India and China. Those, it was explained, were “the right markets” because the oil market was stagnating in the US […]

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This is what Peak Oil looks like

When they got you over barrel — what are you gonna do? You pull up, and you pay their latest price … petro, you gotta have it. The turmoil in Iraq pushed up U.S. and world oil prices about 4% this week . The U.S. benchmark crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, closed at $106.91 a barrel, up 38 cents on Friday. Brent, the international benchmark, rose 31 cents to $113.41.The IEA [International Energy Agency] has forecast that Iraq, which has the world’s fifth-largest proven oil reserves, would account for 60% of production growth from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for the rest of this decade. Iraq , now producing about 3.3 million barrels a day, has become OPEC’s second-largest producer , after Saudi Arabia. Even if the fighting stays in Iraq’s north, the IEA sees an […]

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We will never run out of oil (which is entirely beside the point)

Harvard economist Morris Adelman , famous for saying that we will never run out of oil, died last month. What followed the announcement of his death was a predictable set of encomiums like this one from defenders of the oil industry extolling Adelman’s infinite wisdom. Some (including my father, it seems) were so caught up in the odd celebratory mood–one that resurfaces every time people contemplate just how much stuff there is in the universe–that Adelman’s rather narrow and almost meaningless dictum was being offered as the basis for a complete energy policy. (And, never mind that that energy policy makes absolutely no mention of climate change.) All of this makes sense only if you keep yourself from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pickens: Without Iraq’s oil, prices could hit $200

There has been considerable discussion regarding what price crude would advance to if Iraq were to be taken offline, and no substitution occurred. Using the ETP model we have built the chart below. The left hand column gives the loss in mb/d, the right what the price would advance to if that occurred. Prices may advance over the short term to higher levels, but will settle at the values below. Prices are rounded to the nearest dollar. mb/d loss Price $ 1……………….$139 2…………………159 3…………………178 3.3 ……………..185 Perk Earl on Sat, 14th Jun 2014 12:09 pm  Pickens two hundred seems wildly high. We have to keep in mind that as price rises from here, those that can deliver spare capacity will, even if they only can short term, to take advantage […]

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Crude Records Year’s Biggest Weekly Gain on Iraq Unrest

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes charted the biggest weekly gains this year as Islamist fighters extended their advance in Iraq , triggering concern of a return to civil war. Futures in New York climbed 4.1 percent this week while they added 4.4 percent in London. Government forces in Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer, are seeking to dislodge Islamist militants from cities north of Baghdad after they overran army positions in Mosul this week. U.S. President Barack Obama said yesterday he won’t rule out using airstrikes to help the government. “Prices have jumped to nine-month highs as the upsurge of violence in Iraq has raised additional risk of supply disruption,” said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The situation in Iraq is going to continue to guide the market for a while.” WTI for July delivery rose 38 cents today, or 0.4 […]

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Iraqi Violence Roils Markets as Oil Prices Rise

Oil futures posted their largest weekly gain since December as a Sunni insurgency in Iraq jolted the market, fueling fears of reduced oil output from one of the world’s largest crude producers. Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled up 38 cents, or 0.4%, at $106.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price since Sept. 18, 2013. Prices climbed 4.1% this week. Brent crude for July delivery rose 39 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $113.41 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 9. Prices rose 4.4% for the week. The July contract expired at settlement Friday, and the more-actively traded August contract settled up 4 cents at $112.46 a barrel. Insurgents seized Iraq’s second-largest city this week and have threatened to march on Baghdad. The country’s Shiite leaders called on their followers Friday to defend the government. President […]

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Investors Unconvinced Oil’s Price Gains Will Last

A surge in oil prices has been a boon to energy and commodity funds this week, but many investors say they aren’t ready to shift their portfolios yet in response to violence in Iraq. Concerns that a Sunni insurgency could spread to southern Iraq and threaten the nation’s 2.5 million barrels a day in oil exports sent global crude prices to nine-month highs on Thursday. Brent, the international benchmark, rose 4.4% for the week. The energy sector of the S&P 500 has climbed 1.4% for the week, while the stock index as a whole is down 0.8%. But investors said without an actual supply disruption, they aren’t convinced oil’s price gains will last. “I didn’t do anything today,” said David Ginther, senior vice president at Ivy Investment Management Co., who manages […]

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Non-OPEC production gaining, IEA says

The Paris-based International Energy Agency said Friday global oil supplies rose largely because of output from countries outside of OPEC. The IEA said in its market report for June global oil supplies rose 530,000 barrels per day to 92.6 million bpd. The increase was due to production from countries outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. "On a yearly basis, world output was up 1.0 million for [May], as non‐OPEC growth of 2.1 million bpd compensated for OPEC declines," the market report said. OPEC members are reacting to production from the United States and Canada. The United States in particular is importing less oil as it relies more on domestic supplies. On the demand side, IEA said it expected a modest increase this year to 92.8 million bpd as the global economy continues to move past recession. "Global oil demand is set to increase sharply from a low of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural-Gas Prices Ease as Steady Weather Forecasts Stop Rally

Natural gas dropped slightly Friday as weather forecasts showed close-to-normal temperatures settling in throughout June. Prices for the front-month July contract settled down 2.3 cents, or 0.5%, at $4.739 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had touched a one-month high midmorning as part of a seesaw trading pattern for the day. Weather forecasts are showing slightly above-normal temperatures, but nothing severe, which is key, said Gene McGillian, a broker and analyst at Tradition Energy. Prices on Thursday had their largest percentage gain since Feb. 19, and now that they are within 10 cents of their four-month high, it would take a severe weather forecast and expectations of a real demand spike to go higher, he said. "Until we get calls for really hot weather, the production levels are going to provide pretty strong resistance to (another) rally," Mr. McGillian […]

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Projected growth in natural gas-fired generation is influenced by resource availability

Graph of annual natural gas dry production and net generation by resource case, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2014 Note: All generation values are for net generation. Different scenarios of natural gas resource availability in the Annual Energy Outlook 2014 (AEO2014) Reference case, High Oil and Gas Resource case, and Low Oil and Gas Resource case affect the growth of natural gas-fired electric generation. As increasing amounts of natural gas become economically available to power sector and onsite generators, gas-fired electric generation increases in all three cases. However, the cases differ in terms of whether growth in gas-fired generation is sufficient to overtake coal-fired generation by 2040. Growth in natural gas-fired generation comes from two sources: the power sector and the end-use sector. Growth in natural gas-fired generation in the power sector accounts for 78% of the overall increase in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices aren’t coming down any time soon, and Iraq is just the latest reason

The upheaval in Iraq threatens to exacerbate a three-year-old trend in which unusual geopolitical disruptions have become the new normal. A key impact—high oil prices when analysts say bulging new supplies should be sending them far lower. + That is because much of the geopolitical turmoil has been in or involved oil-producing countries. “We are witnessing the failure of the petro-state,” Citigroup’s head of commodity research, Edward Morse, told Quartz. + Up until 2011, an average of 500,000 barrels of oil a day was off the market at any one time for maintenance and other reasons, a volume that triggered no perceptible price volatility. Temporary aberrations like Hurricane Katrina took 1.5 million barrels off the market in 2005, and the 2003 attack on Iraq removed 2.3 million barrels a day. + But starting in […]

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Medium-Term Oil Market Report 2013

Highlights of the latest OMR dated: 13th June 2014 Oil futures prices for Brent rose above $112/bbl on 12 June, the highest level this year, in the wake of a bold military campaign by Sunni insurgents in Iraq and continued supply outages in Libya.An apparent build in China’s crude strategic reserve in April and May, at an average 1.2 mb/d, is also strengthening markets. Global oil demand is forecast to rise by 1.3 mb/d in 2014, to 92.8 mb/d, a modest acceleration on 2013 as the macroeconomic backdrop improves. Global oil demand is set to increase sharply from a low of 91.4 mb/d in 1Q14 to a high of 94 mb/d in […]

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Seeing Their Gains at Risk, Shiites Flock to Join Militias

When he heard on Tuesday that Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, had fallen to Sunni militants, Abu Ali Alakabaie knew what he had to do. One of a number of Iraqi Shiite commanders who had been fighting on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in recent years, he quickly packed his belongings and hit the road, racing to Baghdad, where he had heard that the militants were already reaching the northern suburbs. “After they occupied Mosul, we decided to come back from Syria to back the security forces here,” he said. He arrived in Baghdad later on Tuesday, joining a growing throng of Iraqi militia commanders and fighters eager to put to work here the finely honed skills they had accumulated in Syria in years of fighting some of the same Sunni militants who were now attacking Iraq. “We now have great experience in guerrilla fighting,” he […]

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Oil Industry in Iraq Faces Setback to Revival

After a long history of wars and sanctions, Iraq re-emerged as a critical source of oil in recent years. Mounting Iraqi production helped to ease world oil prices despite the tightening restrictions on Iran and tanking exports from Libya. And Western and Chinese oil companies rushed back, revitalizing long-neglected oil fields in the north and south. Now suddenly all that progress has been put in jeopardy with the intense military offensive by extremist insurgents. The stakes for the oil markets are high as the Iraqi government tries to gain control over the situation. An eventual decline in Iraqi exports would put pressure on China and India to increase their imports of Iranian oil again, weakening the United States government’s position in negotiations with Tehran over nuclear policies. Russian oil exports would become more crucial for global markets, potentially strengthening the Kremlin’s hand in Ukraine. And a major spike in […]

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Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels

Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country. In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was reviewing military options, short of sending combat troops, to help Iraq fight the insurgency but warned any U.S. action must be accompanied by an Iraqi effort to bridge political divisions. He said it would several days to decide on the U.S. response. In a rare intervention at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, a message from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is the highest religious authority for Shi’ites in Iraq, said people should unite to fight back against a lightning advance by militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Fighters under […]

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Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels

Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country. In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was reviewing military options, short of sending combat troops, to help Iraq fight the insurgency but warned any U.S. action must be accompanied by an Iraqi effort to bridge political divisions. He said it would several days to decide on the U.S. response. In a rare intervention at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, a message from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is the highest religious authority for Shi’ites in Iraq, said people should unite to fight back against a lightning advance by militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Fighters under […]

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Loss of Mosul threatens Iraqi PM's hold on power

The disastrous loss of a large swath of the north to Islamic militants is threatening to cost Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, his job as even longtime Shiite backers turn against him and seek an alternative. During a meeting of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish party leaders, one young up-and-coming Shiite politician angrily told al-Maliki that his "obsession with power" and botched policies were to blame for this week’s debacle. "Now, I must leave. I have a meeting to go to," a seething Ammar al-Hakim, leader of a key Shiite party, declared before storming out of the session Wednesday night, according to a politician who attended and shared the exchange with The Associated Press in return for anonymity. During his eight years in office, al-Maliki has touted himself as the only leader capable of safeguarding the Shiite […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Loss of Mosul threatens Iraqi PM’s hold on power

The disastrous loss of a large swath of the north to Islamic militants is threatening to cost Iraq’s prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, his job as even longtime Shiite backers turn against him and seek an alternative. During a meeting of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish party leaders, one young up-and-coming Shiite politician angrily told al-Maliki that his "obsession with power" and botched policies were to blame for this week’s debacle. "Now, I must leave. I have a meeting to go to," a seething Ammar al-Hakim, leader of a key Shiite party, declared before storming out of the session Wednesday night, according to a politician who attended and shared the exchange with The Associated Press in return for anonymity. During his eight years in office, al-Maliki has touted himself as the only leader capable of safeguarding the Shiite […]

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Conflict Shows New, Closer Turk-Iraqi Kurdish Ties

The military posture of northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government to defend itself against advancing Islamist rebels spotlights a reversal in one of the region’s most toxic relationships: Between Turkey and the Kurds. In previous years, Kurdish assertiveness—even in neighboring Iraq—was often countered by Turkey, which for more than a quarter century was locked in a deadly conflict with Kurdish separatists in its own country before launching peace talks in 2012. But since the U.S. invasion of Iraq more than a decade ago, Turkey has built close ties to the Kurdish government in its regional capital of Erbil, Iraq, expanding bilateral trade and coordinating vital policy issues, including the civil war in Syria. Underscoring that trend, Turkey has kept mum on Erbil’s mobilization to defend its borders this past week by deploying its Peshmerga troops into the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk. In past decades, Turkey has fiercely objected […]

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Kurdish Fighters Succeed Where Iraqi Army Fails

Kurdish Iraqi Peshmerga forces deploy on the outskirts of Kirkuk, near areas controlled by Sunni Muslim Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Erbil, Iraq—Brig. Halgord Hikmat, the spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga Ministry, made little effort to conceal his satisfaction on Friday. "Yes," he said with a cheeky grin. "It is a very nice time to be Kurdish." Only a few hours before, Kurdish soldiers known as Peshmerga were engaging Islamist insurgent fighters in Diyala Province, picking up the slack from hundreds of retreating Iraqi troops. On Thursday Peshmerga fighters moved decisively to occupy the nearby city of Kirkuk, easily expelling Islamist fighters who had sent Iraqi troops literally running for the hills. The Iraqi government in Baghdad has suffered a string of humiliating military defeats this week as insurgents from the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham conquered […]

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Exxon and the Insurgency: Iraq’s Oil Players Hold Their Breath

In Iraq, Exxon Mobil Corp.’s prospects were finally beginning to look up. This week, they got a little cloudier. Oil production at the Exxon-led West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq has doubled, now capable of delivering half a million barrels of crude a day. And the company recently obtained more generous terms in its contracts with the government, booking higher profit margins. But in mere days, Islamic militants have overrun two major cities and Kurdish forces have taken over a third, exposing security vulnerabilities that could jeopardize the billions of dollars western companies are spending to revitalize Iraq’s energy sector. The unrest has pushed up global oil prices , but it’s hardly welcome news for the likes of Exxon, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Those companies have done much of the heavy […]

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Key energy facilities under ISIS control

) The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has seized several parts of Iraq’s northern energy sector in what could be an attempt to hijack a portion of Iraq’s oil revenue stream. The Baiji refinery, Iraq’s largest, is now under the control of local tribes aligned with ISIS, according to refinery workers, two senior North Oil Company (NOC) officials, and a senior Interior Ministry official. Militants have caused no damage and instructed workers to keep the facility online. "ISIS left all …

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Iran's Rouhani says ready to aid Iraq, nuclear deal by July 20 possible

Iran stands ready to help Iraq’s government in its fight against Sunni Muslim insurgents within the framework of international law, although Baghdad has so far not requested assistance, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday. In a press conference broadcast live on state television, Rouhani also said Iran believed it was possible to conclude a comprehensive agreement ending its nuclear dispute with major powers by a July 20 deadline. Remaining differences could be settled through goodwill and flexibility, he said. Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which has strong leverage in Shi’ite-majority Iraq, is so alarmed by the Sunni jihadist advance from Iraq’s north that it may be ready to cooperate with longtime arch-enemy Washington in helping Baghdad fight back. A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier this week that the idea is being discussed within the Tehran leadership. For now, officials say, Iran will send its neighbour advisers and […]

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Iran’s Rouhani says ready to aid Iraq, nuclear deal by July 20 possible

Iran stands ready to help Iraq’s government in its fight against Sunni Muslim insurgents within the framework of international law, although Baghdad has so far not requested assistance, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday. In a press conference broadcast live on state television, Rouhani also said Iran believed it was possible to conclude a comprehensive agreement ending its nuclear dispute with major powers by a July 20 deadline. Remaining differences could be settled through goodwill and flexibility, he said. Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which has strong leverage in Shi’ite-majority Iraq, is so alarmed by the Sunni jihadist advance from Iraq’s north that it may be ready to cooperate with longtime arch-enemy Washington in helping Baghdad fight back. A senior Iranian official told Reuters earlier this week that the idea is being discussed within the Tehran leadership. For now, officials say, Iran will send its neighbour advisers and […]

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Ukrainian PM Says Russia Wrecked Gas Talks

MOSCOW—Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Friday that Moscow has wrecked talks on natural gas supplies and ordered officials to prepare the country for a shutdown of gas deliveries from Russia from Monday. Ukraine’s gas monopoly Naftogaz said earlier Friday that it is ready to repay $1.9 billion in outstanding debt to Russia for gas deliveries if Moscow and Kiev agree on an interim gas price of $326 per 1,000 cubic meters. An official with the Russian Energy Ministry, who asked not to be named, said the ministry was unaware of Ukraine’s willingness to cover the debt or its readiness to agree to a price of $326. If Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom doesn’t receive the debt repayment by 1000 Moscow time (0600 GMT) Monday, it will halt gas supplies, switching to a prepayment system. Mr. Yatsenyuk claimed that Moscow has deliberately declined to settle the gas dispute with Kiev, […]

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Chevron sells oil assets in Chad for $1.3 billion

RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Chevron sold to Chad its interest in oil producing assets in the Central African nation for about $1.3 billion. The oil and gas company had a 25 percent interest in the properties, which included seven oil fields in Chad’s Doba Basin and a pipeline system that transported crude oil to Cameroon’s coast and to other facilities. Chevron Corp. says it’s selling some profitable assets to focus on its global exploration and production business. The deal closed Friday. Shares of the San Ramon company are up 64 cents to $126.75 in afternoon trading.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's energy consumption 'unrivaled'

China’s demand for oil and natural gas will be unrivaled within the next two decades, analysis from finds. Paul McConnell, a principal analyst for the energy consultant group’s global trends service, said in a report expanding economies in Asia are growing by the year. "By 2030 China’s energy consumption will be unrivaled and the center of gravity for global energy demand will have decisively shifted East," he said in a statement Thursday. "India and the other developing economies of Asia Pacific are also of huge importance." The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its market report for June the Chinese economy is expected to grow by 7.5 percent, while India’s should expand by 5.6 percent. The global economy should grow by 3.4 percent in 2014, OPEC said. McConnell said the Asian economic trends mean India and China will become the top destinations for oil, natural gas and coal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s energy consumption ‘unrivaled’

China’s demand for oil and natural gas will be unrivaled within the next two decades, analysis from finds. Paul McConnell, a principal analyst for the energy consultant group’s global trends service, said in a report expanding economies in Asia are growing by the year. "By 2030 China’s energy consumption will be unrivaled and the center of gravity for global energy demand will have decisively shifted East," he said in a statement Thursday. "India and the other developing economies of Asia Pacific are also of huge importance." The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its market report for June the Chinese economy is expected to grow by 7.5 percent, while India’s should expand by 5.6 percent. The global economy should grow by 3.4 percent in 2014, OPEC said. McConnell said the Asian economic trends mean India and China will become the top destinations for oil, natural gas and coal […]

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Indian Shares Fall As Oil Prices Stoke Fiscal Worries

Indian shares fell Friday as the turmoil in Iraq pushed up global crude oil prices, raising worries that India’s import bill could go up and hurt the government’s weak financial position. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-stock S&P BSE Sensex closed down 1.4% at 25228.17 points, while the National Stock Exchange 50-stock Nifty index ended 1.4% lower at 7,542.10 points. India imports about three-quarters of the oil it consumes and Iraq is among its top suppliers. Any increases in global crude oil prices push up the country’s import bill and also increase the subsidies it pays to local fuel retailers. "India is at a risk as all the fiscal control programs will go for a toss if oil prices rise further," said Daljeet Kohli, head of research at IndiaNivesh Securities. Although markets have rallied in recent months, most of the gains have been on the back of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Xi stresses efforts to revolutionize energy sector

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called for more efforts to revolutionize the country’s energy production and consumption habits, in light of changing dynamics in the global energy market. While presiding over a meeting of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, Xi, head of the group, acknowledged that China faces challenges to cope with rising energy demand, supply restraints, huge environment costs and backward technology. To ensure national energy security, China needs to take steps to rein in irrational energy use and control the country’s energy consumption by fully implementing energy-saving policies, said Xi. Energy supply reform will take place to establish a diversified system that contains cleaner use of coal and non-coal fuel including oil, gas, nuclear power and new energy. Xi urged further efforts in energy technology innovation to forge the industry into a new powerhouse to fuel economic […]

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China's power consumption rises 5.2 pct in Jan.- May

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) — China’s power consumption rose 5.2 percent in the first five months from a year earlier, official data showed on Saturday. The Jan.-May growth figure was in line with the rate in the first four months, according to the National Energy Administration. In May alone, power use, an indicator of economic activity, gained 5.3 percent from a year ago, picking up speed from the 4.6 percent growth in April.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s power consumption rises 5.2 pct in Jan.- May

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhua) — China’s power consumption rose 5.2 percent in the first five months from a year earlier, official data showed on Saturday. The Jan.-May growth figure was in line with the rate in the first four months, according to the National Energy Administration. In May alone, power use, an indicator of economic activity, gained 5.3 percent from a year ago, picking up speed from the 4.6 percent growth in April.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Senate Energy, Natural Resources Committee to Vote on Keystone XL Pipeline

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on legislation Wednesday that would approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. It is expected that the committee will approve the bill, which Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) co-sponsored. The voting of this legislation comes on the heels of Canada’s Finance Minister Joe Oliver, Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s visit to New York for media interviews and an energy conference. Canada’s intention is to keep the issue alive with the U.S. public and business, said Oliver, while arguing that President Obama has unfairly entangled the $5.4 billion pipeline with U.S. politics. “This is a democracy, and I’m sure the government listens to the people,” Oliver said to Bloomberg. The proposed pipeline has been an ongoing political debate and is in its sixth year of review under Obama’s administration. On Wednesday, when the […]

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Canada's rig count rises by 30 to 244 for the week ending Friday: Baker Hughes

The US oil and natural gas rotary rig count fell by six to 1,854 rigs for the week ending Friday, but is up 83 rigs from the 1,771 total posted in the comparable week a year ago, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report. US gas rigs in the most recent week totaled 310, down 10 from a week ago. The oil rig count rose by six to 1,542. There were two miscellaneous rigs this week, down two from the week prior and down three from five a year ago, according to Baker Hughes data. The horizontal rig total fell by two this week to 1,248. Canada’s rig count rose by 30 to 244, and is up 68 from a total of 176 the same week a year ago. Canada’s oil rig count was 149, up 27 week on week, while the gas rig total was 95, up three […]

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Canada’s rig count rises by 30 to 244 for the week ending Friday: Baker Hughes

The US oil and natural gas rotary rig count fell by six to 1,854 rigs for the week ending Friday, but is up 83 rigs from the 1,771 total posted in the comparable week a year ago, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report. US gas rigs in the most recent week totaled 310, down 10 from a week ago. The oil rig count rose by six to 1,542. There were two miscellaneous rigs this week, down two from the week prior and down three from five a year ago, according to Baker Hughes data. The horizontal rig total fell by two this week to 1,248. Canada’s rig count rose by 30 to 244, and is up 68 from a total of 176 the same week a year ago. Canada’s oil rig count was 149, up 27 week on week, while the gas rig total was 95, up three […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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No more gas talks planned, Russia says

With a payment deadline looming, a Kremlin spokesman said Russia would sit on the sidelines Friday of talks on gas debt issues with Ukraine. Russian, Ukrainian and European Union representatives are working to find a way to settle ongoing gas disputes. Russian energy company Gazprom says Ukraine owes billions of dollars for recent gas deliveries. Debt disputes in 2006 and 2009 resulted in a Gazprom decision to cut gas through Ukraine, which left downstream consumers in Europe short of energy supplies. A spokeswoman for the Russian Energy Ministry told Russian news agency ITAR-TASS no talks were planned before Monday. The report said European Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger had expected to continue trilateral talks by phone. The commissioner said Friday he was hoping for a solution to the crisis before next week. He said much of the situation may depend "on the political decision of the Russian government." Gazprom has […]

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The inevitable demise of the fossil fuel empire

The latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and other sources proves that the oil and gas majors are in deep trouble. Over the last decade, rising oil prices have been driven primarily by rising production costs. After the release of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook last November, Deutsche Bank’s former head of energy research Mark Lewis noted that massive levels of investment have corresponded to an ever declining rate of oil supply increase: "Over the past decade, the oil and gas industry’s upstream investments have registered an astronomical increase, but these ever higher levels of capital expenditure have yielded ever smaller increases in the global oil supply. Even these have only been made possible by record high oil prices. This should be a reality check for those now hyping a new age of global oil abundance." Since 2000, the oil industry’s investments have risen by 180% – […]

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Rebels shoot down Ukrainian military plane, 49 killed

Pro-Russian separatists shot down a Ukrainian army transport plane with an anti-aircraft missile as it came in to land early on Saturday in the eastern city of Luhansk, killing all 49 military personnel on board. The toll is the highest suffered by government forces in a single incident since they launched a military operation to halt the rebellion in east Ukraine against the country’s pro-European leaders in Kiev and to try to prevent the country splitting up. The Defence Ministry said in a statement the Il-76 plane was shot down in a "cynical" attack by rebels using an anti-aircraft weapon and a heavy-caliber machine gun. It gave no death toll but Vladislav Seleznyov, spokesman for the military operation in east Ukraine, said by phone: "Forty-nine people were killed. All were Ukrainian military personnel." The Prosecutor General’s office said nine crew and 40 paratroopers had been […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple