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Production Resumes at Libya's Largest Oil Field

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has resumed production, a top oil official said Wednesday, the latest sign of an improvement in the country’s troubled oil sector. The move follows the lifting of a force majeure on two Eastern terminals that account for nearly half of Libya’s oil export capacity, following a deal with militants who had occupied them. The 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spanish oil company Repsol SA is a partner, has resumed output after protests ended there, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Co. said. He confirmed that exports could still take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Libya’s oil industry has been disrupted frequently by strikes and armed occupations since a civil war toppled former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Together with the reopening of the two oil ports, Sharara’s resumption could bring oil production […]

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Production Resumes at Libya’s Largest Oil Field

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has resumed production, a top oil official said Wednesday, the latest sign of an improvement in the country’s troubled oil sector. The move follows the lifting of a force majeure on two Eastern terminals that account for nearly half of Libya’s oil export capacity, following a deal with militants who had occupied them. The 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spanish oil company Repsol SA is a partner, has resumed output after protests ended there, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Co. said. He confirmed that exports could still take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Libya’s oil industry has been disrupted frequently by strikes and armed occupations since a civil war toppled former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Together with the reopening of the two oil ports, Sharara’s resumption could bring oil production […]

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Libya Seeks to Avoid Oil-Market Mess as Supplies Rebound

Libya, the north African country whose crude exports collapsed last year amid protests and political feuding, will seek to revive shipments in a way that avoids oil-market disruption, its governor for OPEC said. Protesters in the east of the country with Africa ’s largest oil reserves reopened two ports at the start of this month, ending a yearlong blockade that helped decimate the nation’s supplies. Brent crude , the global benchmark, slid about 3.3 percent since the rebels said the terminals would restart. “Our return to the market will be gradual and in coordination with our fellow member countries,” Samir Kamal, the nation’s governor for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said by e-mail yesterday. Libya will take the same gradual approach toward sales of oil it has stored at the two terminals, he said. Crude surged last year when the protesters halted four Libyan ports in an attempt […]

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Indian Energy Companies Anticipate a Budget Recharge

Employees worked on a 132kv overhead electricity line along the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Fuel and power companies want India ’s new government to use this week’s budget to prove it is ready to start dismantling the system of government pricing and subsidies which has hobbled the energy industry. India’s convoluted system of taxes and fuel subsidies not only cost the country tens of billions of dollars every year, but it also discourages and delays expansion in the companies that provide fuel and power to the public. Oil and gas retailers and exploration companies are hoping the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will use the momentum following a landslide victory in May elections to deregulate the price of diesel fuel and push through other unpopular policy changes.  With companies often forced to sell at a loss, there are few incentives to explore […]

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Production in Libya's Sharara oilfield resumes

A Libyan oil official says production at one of the country’s largest oilfield has restarted, pumping at more than 90 percent of its capacity in a boost to the troubled North African nation. Mohammed al-Harari, spokesman for the National Oil Corporation, said Wednesday that 325,000 barrels were pumped from the southwestern Sharara oilfield, one of Libya’s largest at 340,000 barrels per day. Production resumed a day earlier, following repeated halts because of protests in the area. In a boost to the country’s troubled sector, the government reached an agreement last weekend with eastern rebels to regain control of two oil ports there. The rebels had seized the ports for nearly a year, halting exports and demanding a share of the revenues and political autonomy. Production there has not resumed yet.

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Production in Libya’s Sharara oilfield resumes

A Libyan oil official says production at one of the country’s largest oilfield has restarted, pumping at more than 90 percent of its capacity in a boost to the troubled North African nation. Mohammed al-Harari, spokesman for the National Oil Corporation, said Wednesday that 325,000 barrels were pumped from the southwestern Sharara oilfield, one of Libya’s largest at 340,000 barrels per day. Production resumed a day earlier, following repeated halts because of protests in the area. In a boost to the country’s troubled sector, the government reached an agreement last weekend with eastern rebels to regain control of two oil ports there. The rebels had seized the ports for nearly a year, halting exports and demanding a share of the revenues and political autonomy. Production there has not resumed yet.

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Nigeria Comes Tops in Global Crude Theft

Nigeria has been listed as the country with the highest incidents of crude oil theft in the world, according to data released by Oilprice.com. According to the website, with as much as 400,000 barrels of crude oil stolen daily, Nigeria is ranked worse than Mexico, Iraq, Russia and Indonesia on the top five countries most plagued by oil theft. The report put Nigeria’s losses to crude theft at $1.7 billion, about N272 billion per month, representing 7.7 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP. The report said: “This represents 7.7 percent of Nigeria’s GDP vanishing, or more than the country spends on education and healthcare. “These numbers paint a harsh picture about the inability of the Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies in Niger Delta, to do anything about this rampant theft. “With oil theft hitting record levels in 2013, the G8 has been reminded of its 2000 […]

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U.S., China review joint climate commitments

The United States and China must work together to combat climate change, but the fight is a global one, U.S. Secretary of State said Wednesday. Kerry met in Beijing with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang to discuss bilateral issues ranging from security to energy. On climate issues , Kerry said that, as the top emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, joint work on climate issues was imperative. "But I have to emphasize [that] nothing that the United States does alone, nothing that Europe does alone, nothing that any country does alone will be able to do the job." he said . With his "all-of-the-above" energy policy, Kerry said President Barack Obama is committed to ensuring fuel efficiency improves and power plants are cleaner. Wang, for his part, said Beijing has readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an […]

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China June trade data misses forecasts, doubts over economy linger

China’s trade performance improved in June but still missed market forecasts, reinforcing expectations that Beijing will have to unveil more stimulus measures to stabilize the economy and meet its 2014 growth target. Exports rose 7.2 percent in June from a year earlier, the best pace in five months, but well below a median forecast in a Reuters poll for a rise of 10.6 percent. Imports also missed expectations, growing by 5.5 percent versus forecasts of 5.8 percent, although they returned to positive territory after a small drop in May. China’s combined exports and imports edged up just 1.2 percent in first six months of the year, data showed on Thursday. "For the economy to rebound in the second half of this year, we believe more policy support is necessary due to the unsteady recovery base," said Wang Jun, economist at the China Centre for International Economic […]

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China to Exempt Electric Cars From 10% Purchase Tax

China will waive a 10 percent purchase tax on electric cars as part of expanded measures to combat pollution and cut energy dependence. New-energy autos — China’s term for electric cars, plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles — will be excluded from the levy from Sept. 1 to the end of 2017, according to a statement posted on the central government’s website yesterday, citing a State Council meeting led by Premier Li Keqiang . Electric carmaker BYD Co. (1211) climbed as much as 4.5 percent in Hong Kong trading. The tax break is China’s latest attempt to spur demand for electric vehicles, whose sales have lagged behind a government target, as state subsidies failed to overcome consumer concerns over price, convenience and reliability. China has identified EVs as a strategic industry that can help it gain global leadership, reduce energy dependence and cut emissions that have contributed to worsening air […]

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Fracking Guidelines Issued by API to Ease Community Fears

The oil industry’s largest lobbying group began a new effort to ease public fears about hydraulic fracturing after a legal setback in New York state and a voter push in Colorado to ban the drilling practice. The American Petroleum Institute, a Washington-based group that includes Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) , released guidelines for improving community relations as “fracking” extends to more towns, raising concerns about pollution risks. The suggestions will help “raise the bar for the industry,” David Miller, director of standards for the group that has guided the industry on well design and preventing spills since 1924, said at a conference call with reporters today. The effort will help oil and gas companies develop “lasting relationships” with communities where drilling occurs, he said. The document reads like an etiquette guide for producers moving into rural towns to start drilling. Companies are encouraged to distribute […]

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Shipping Firms to Add Arctic LNG Route

Shipping companies in China and Japan said they would start a regular service to carry Siberian natural gas across the Arctic Ocean to East Asia, showing how Asian demand for the fuel is reshaping global shipping routes. Wednesday’s announcement by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and China Shipping Development Co. offered new details of how liquefied natural gas will get from one of the remotest locations on earth— the $27 billion Yamal LNG facility being developed in western Siberia—to urban areas in China and Japan. China Shipping Development said its joint venture with Mitsui O.S.K. would spend $932 million on three LNG carriers equipped with ice breakers, to be built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. of South Korea. Service is set to begin as soon as 2018. Once virtually impassable, the Arctic Ocean is now attracting interest as a shipping route because global warming has reduced the ice […]

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Why China’s Energy Consumption Will Keep Rising

Why China’s Energy Consumption Will Keep Rising In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed. This was to usher in an era where the planet was to tackle climate change, and we were to see an energy transition from dirty, polluting fossil fuels to their low-carbon alternatives. Instead, here is what happened. Global coal consumption grew more in the last ten years than it did in the previous forty. After decades of global energy consumption growth being dominated by oil and natural gas, coal grew more in the last decade than oil did in the last 25 years and more than gas did in the last 22 years. The comparisons with low-carbon energy sources is even more stark. In the years since the Kyoto Protocol was signed, growth in primary energy consumption from coal was eight times larger than for wind, solar and nuclear energy put together. This incredible growth […]

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EIA: Low-permeability formations driving Permian oil production surge

Crude oil production in the Permian basin has increased to 1.35 million b/d in 2013 from 850,000 b/d in 2007. Since March 2013, the Permian basin has become the largest crude oil producing region in the US, with production exceeding that from the federal offshore Gulf of Mexico region. In 2013, the Permian basin’s production accounted for 18% of total US crude oil production, said the US Energy Information Administration . “Although oil production has previously come from the more permeable portions of the Permian formations, the application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has opened up large and less-permeable portions of these formations to commercial production,” EIA said. According to data from EIA, the recent increase in Permian crude oil production is largely concentrated in six low-permeability formations, including the Spraberry, Wolfcamp, Bone Spring, Glorieta, Yeso, and Delaware formations. “Production from these formations has helped drive the […]

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Nebraska Court’s Keystone Plan Could Bring October Surprise

The Supreme Court of Nebraska plans to hear arguments the first week of September in the state’s appeal of a property rights case that could block the Keystone XL pipeline, which will likely push any White House decision on Keystone’s approval until after the mid-term elections, according to people familiar with the case. But the forthcoming September arguments, first reported Wednesday by the Washington Post , could move the court’s decision forward according to attorneys close to the issue. If the justices grant the appeal, which would approved the pipeline’s route through Nebraska, before the date of the elections, it could be an unwanted October surprise for President Barack Obama . The president has been under increasing pressure this year to approve Keystone from the energy industry,  Republicans, and most importantly, incumbent Democratic Senators including Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Warner of Virginia who are running […]

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Shale Seen Shifting Flows at America’s Biggest Oil Port

For more than 30 years, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port LLC has been a symbol of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, pumping Nigerian and Saudi Arabian crude from the world’s biggest supertankers into underground storage caverns beneath the marshes of southern Louisiana. Now, with domestic production at a 28-year high, LOOP’s managers are thinking the previously unthinkable: They want to reverse the flows and send North American oil out as well as take foreign oil in. To be an outbound hub, the port needs financial commitments from shippers to build needed infrastructure, and even under the most optimistic scenario, it will be a year before it loads the first tanker, Barb Hestermann, LOOP’s business development manager, said by phone yesterday. Still, the fact that LOOP is considering the project underscores how shale drilling and oil-sands mining have altered energy flows in North America . “This is what oil independence […]

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Six formations are responsible for surge in Permian Basin crude oil production

Energy Information Administration calculations, based on data from Drillinginfo Note: Production through December 2013 is reported. Production from January 2014 through May 2014 is estimated. Glorieta and Yeso are separate formations combined for this article. Additional amounts of Permian production come from other formations not included in this graph. The Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico is the nation’s most prolific oil producing area. Six formations within the basin have provided the bulk of Permian’s 60% increase in oil output since 2007. Crude oil production in the Permian Basin has increased from a low point of 850,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2007 to 1,350,000 bbl/d in 2013. Largely as a result of this growth, crude oil production from Permian Basin counties has exceeded production from the […]

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Russia in secret plot against fracking, Nato chief says

The Daily Telegraph has one of those stories which makes me wonder who really believes this sort of stuff and why anyone would anyone ever bother saying it – Russia in secret plot against fracking, Nato chief says . Russia is secretly working with environmental groups campaigning against fracking in an attempt to maintain Europe’s dependence on energy imports from Moscow, the secretary-general of Nato has said Speaking at the Chatham House foreign affairs think-tank in London, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas. … Greenpeace dismissed Mr Rasmussen’s comments as "preposterous". A spokesman said: "Greenpeace had thirty of its people locked up in Russian prisons last year, threatened with fifteen years in jail. "The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have […]

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Twenty-First-Century Energy Wars

Twenty-First-Century Energy Wars Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, South Sudan, Ukraine, the East and South China Seas: wherever you look, the world is aflame with new or intensifying conflicts.  At first glance, these upheavals appear to be independent events, driven by their own unique and idiosyncratic circumstances.  But look more closely and they share several key characteristics — notably, a witch’s brew of ethnic, religious, and national antagonisms that have beenstirred to the boiling point by a fixation on energy. In each of these conflicts, the fighting is driven in large part by the eruption of long-standing historic antagonisms among neighboring (often intermingled) tribes, sects, and peoples.  In Iraq and Syria, it is a clash among Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Turkmen, and others; in Nigeria, among Muslims, Christians, and assorted tribal groupings; in South Sudan, between the Dinka and Nuer; in Ukraine, between Ukrainian loyalists and Russian-speakers aligned with Moscow; in the […]

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Oil Prices Extend Losing Streak Amid Economic Worries

By Daniel Huang U.S. oil prices continued their longest losing streak in 4 1/2 years on Tuesday as investors doubted the strength of the U.S. economy. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 13 cents, or 0.1%, to $103.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since June 6. The benchmark for U.S. oil prices marked its seventh straight session of losses, the longest such streak since Dec. 14, 2009. While U.S. employers added jobs at a robust clip in June, gross domestic product growth has remained sluggish. "Prices are affected by the ebbs and flows of overall U.S. economic health," said Carl Larry, an analyst at Oil Outlooks & Opinions. "We’re doing a great job-wise but not so much GDP-wise." In a survey by The Wall Street Journal, analysts expect that crude-oil stockpiles fell 2 million barrels in the week ended July 4. […]

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WTI Trades Near One-Month Low Before Supply Data; Brent Steady

West Texas Intermediate crude traded near the lowest price in more than a month before inventory data that may signal the strength of fuel demand in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent was steady in London . Futures were little changed in New York after declining the past eight days, the longest losing streak since 2009. Crude stockpiles probably shrank by 2.5 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg News survey shows. Brent dropped the most in more than two months yesterday, erasing gains made since early June when Islamic militants seized the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. “We now get back to underlying fundamentals and look to the northern hemisphere summer as a driver of demand,” said Michael McCarthy , a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney who predicts investors may buy West Texas contracts if prices fall to about $101.50 a barrel. “One of the […]

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Oil Prices Extend Losing Streak Amid Economic Worries

The expected resumption of Libyan crude exports also is pressuring prices. Above, a Libyan oil terminal Reuters U.S. oil prices continued their longest losing streak in 4½ years on Tuesday as investors doubted the strength of the U.S. economy. Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 13 cents, or 0.1%, to $103.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since June 6. The benchmark for U.S. oil prices marked its seventh straight session of losses, the longest such streak since Dec. 14, 2009. While U.S. employers added jobs at a robust clip in June, gross domestic product growth has remained sluggish. "Prices are affected by the ebbs and flows of overall U.S. economic health," said Carl Larry, an analyst at Oil Outlooks & Opinions. "We’re doing a great job-wise but not so much GDP-wise." In a survey by The Wall Street Journal, analysts expect […]

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Oil prices steady ahead of US stockpiles data

Oil prices were steady Wednesday ahead of the release of figures on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined fuels that will be a key indicator of expected demand. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery was down 5 cents at $103.35 a barrel at 0805 GMT in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 13 cents to close at $103.40 on Tuesday. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 46 cents to $108.60 on the ICE exchange in London. Energy Information Administration data for the week ending July 4 is expected to show declines of 3 million barrels in crude oil stocks and of 1 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Oil has been falling steadily, partly because worries about disruptions to the oil supply from Iraq have subsided. Oil […]

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Natural-Gas Prices Set Six-Month Low with Cooler Weather on the Way

Natural-gas prices closed at a new six-month low for a second straight session with cooler weather and replenishing stockpiles sustaining a selloff that’s lasted since mid-June. Prices for the front-month August contract settled down 2.1 cents, or 0.5%, to $4.204 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since Jan. 10. Prices dipped to $4.129 in midmorning, the lowest intraday price since Jan. 13. "A brutal few days for the market," said Scott Gettleman, an independent trader in New York. "In the short term it’s a very big move." Prices have fallen 11.7% since June 12, far enough that analyst Jim Ritterbusch advised clients Tuesday to stop pursuing spread trades that rely on rising prices into the fall. One trade put 6,000 contracts up for sale in one block, a sign that one firm may have been liquidating its […]

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Short-Term Energy Outlook

Highlights Unrest in Iraq put upward pressure on world oil prices last month, helping North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices reach their highest daily level of the year at just over $115/barrel (bbl) on June 19. North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices increased from a monthly average of $110/bbl in May to $112/bbl in June. This was the 12th consecutive month in which the average Brent crude oil spot price ranged between $107/bbl and $112/bbl. EIA projects Brent crude oil prices to average $110/bbl in 2014 and $105/bbl in 2015, $2/bbl and $3/bbl higher than projected in last month’s STEO, respectively. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price discount to Brent is expected to average $9/bbl and $10/bbl in 2014 and 2015, respectively. During this year’s April-through-September summer driving season, regular gasoline retail prices are forecast to average $3.66/gallon (gal), 8 cents higher than last year. […]

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Platts Big Five: Is anyone surprised that Iraq tops our list?

Welcome to The Oil Big Five for July 2014, where we list the big issues that are keeping our Platts oil experts busy around the globe. You can find our last posting here , which had the problem of not posting comments for a short time when it first went up. We really appreciate everyone who commented on the blog once it was fixed, though, as well as those who sent us feedback on Twitter. The latest round-up of reader comments can be found here , and be sure to comment again for the follow-up to this post. Here are the biggest oil issues or trends that our editors and experts nominated to be a part of the post this month. 1. Iraq’s political unrest and its energy implications This is almost a gimme, because it’s on everyone’s minds. This isn’t just one issue , though, because there are […]

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Iraqi officials: 50 bodies found south of Baghdad

Iraqi officials say 50 bodies have been discovered outside a city south of Baghdad, many of them blindfolded and with their hands bound. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim says the bodies were discovered Wednesday in an agricultural area outside the city of Hillah. Hillah is a predominantly Shiite city about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. Ibrahim says an investigation is underway to determine the identities of the dead as well as the circumstances of the killings. The discovery of bullet-riddled bodies was common during the worst days of Iraq’s sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007.

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Militants Seize Oil Field, Expand Syrian Domain

By Sam Dagher DAMASCUS, Syria–Militants from the Sunni extremist group that calls itself the Islamic State have captured Syria’s largest oil field and now hold nearly half of the northeastern province of Deir-Ezzour after monthslong battles with other rebel factions, according to opposition activists, rebels and local residents The fighting has intensified in recent days on the back of gains in neighboring Iraq by the militants, who formerly called themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS. Videos posted on jihadist websites showed black-clad fighters who identified themselves as belonging to the Islamic State standing at the entrance of a facility leading to the site of the Al-Omar oil field in eastern Syria. "They fled like rats," says one of the fighters, referring to members of its rival, the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which captured the field, considered the largest in Syria in terms of production, from […]

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Iraq confirms rebels seized Muthanna chemical arms site

Isis-led Sunni rebels are in control of a disused chemical weapons factory, Iraqi officials have confirmed. In a letter to the UN, Iraq said it would be unable to keep to obligations to destroy its chemical weapons. The Muthanna complex northwest of Baghdad houses remnants of rockets filled with sarin and other deadly nerve agents. The UN and US say the munitions are degraded and the rebels will be unable to make usable chemical arms from them. Commitment on hold In the letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said the rebels took over the complex on 11 June, after disarming soldiers who guarded the site. The document stated that Muthanna’s surveillance system showed that there was "looting of some equipment and appliances" at the factory, about 70km (45 miles) north-west of the Iraqi capital. […]

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As Shiite militias return to the fight, Iraqi politicians worry about sectarian war

Mohamed Thaban al Shiblawy, head of Iraq’s powerful Shibil tribe, pledged 2,500 of his best fighters to join government forces in the battle against the al Qaida splinter group known as the Islamic State. A massive paramilitary effort is under way to shore up the beleaguered Iraqi army, but there are concerns that the central government is too weak to keep so many new militiamen under control. HANNAH ALLAM — MCT Related Stories: NAJAF, Iraq — Mohamed Thaban al Shiblawy was prepared for this moment from the time he was a boy, with lessons about the protocols of battle from tribal lore and old photos that show his rifle-toting grandfather astride a horse during the 1920 uprising against the British occupation of Iraq. Shiblawy, 46, is now emir of his ancient tribe, the Shibil, which claims more than 250,000 members and keeps offices near Najaf in an area locals still proudly refer […]

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Anbar Tribal Leader: Maliki Is ‘More Dangerous’ Than ISIS

Chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi, Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman. Photo: Rudaw Chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi, Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman. Photo: Rudaw Sheikh Hatem al-Suleiman, 43, is one of Anbar province’s most influential tribal sheikhs and is chief of the powerful Dulaim tribe in Ramadi. Suleiman is founding member of the Anbar Salvation Council, a key group in the Sunni Awakening that collapsed after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to include the group in state and military institutions. As the leader of Anbar’s Tribes Revolutionary Council, he is a key leader in the Anbar insurgency and a sharp critic of Maliki. As early as 2006, he became a leader in mobilizing Sunni Arab rebels against Al-Qaeda. In an exclusive interview with Rudaw , Suleiman claimed the Islamic State (formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS) and Iraq’s Sunni Arab tribes have drastically […]

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Libyan oil exports on potential rebound

More than half of Libya’s oil export potential may be back online after rebel forces handed over control of two key ports, the Libyan National Oil Co. said. Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, two oil ports that account for as much as half of Libya’s full export potential of 1.3 million barrels per day, were handed over to government control last week. Mohammad el-Harari, a spokesman for the state-owned National Oil Co., said a legal clause over the terminals, force majeure, was lifted Sunday. Force majuere frees a company from its contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond its control. Combined, the two ports can ship as much as 560,000 barrels of oil per day. The spokesman said it was unclear when new Libyan oil would find its way to the international market. The Libyan government brokered a deal April 6 with eastern rebel leaders to re-open two other export […]

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Iran expecting some sanctions relief

The company transporting Iranian crude oil to export markets should return to the European stage following an EU court decision last week, its director said. Ali Akbar Safaei, managing director of the National Iranian Tanker Co., said his company should make a strong recovery following a ruling from the European courts last week. "NITC could regain its status in the European markets," he said Sunday . The General Court of the European Union said last week it "committed a manifest error of assessment and failed to discharge the burden of proof which rests on it" when imposing sanctions on certain Iranian entities tied to the nuclear sector. The managing director said the ruling means EU sanctions against NITC are annulled. NITC transports Iranian crude oil to export markets and is responsible for the distribution of oil products to Iranian ports. "If the European Commission does not appeal against the […]

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Production Resumes at Libya's Largest Oil Field

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has resumed production, a top oil official said Wednesday, the latest sign of an improvement in the country’s troubled oil sector. The move follows the lifting of a force majeure on two Eastern terminals that account for nearly half of Libya’s oil export capacity, following a deal with militants who had occupied them. The 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spanish oil company Repsol SA is a partner, has resumed output after protests ended there, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Co. said. He confirmed that exports could still take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Libya’s oil industry has been disrupted frequently by strikes and armed occupations since a civil war toppled former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Together with the reopening of the two oil ports, Sharara’s resumption could bring oil production […]

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Production Resumes at Libya’s Largest Oil Field

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has resumed production, a top oil official said Wednesday, the latest sign of an improvement in the country’s troubled oil sector. The move follows the lifting of a force majeure on two Eastern terminals that account for nearly half of Libya’s oil export capacity, following a deal with militants who had occupied them. The 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spanish oil company Repsol SA is a partner, has resumed output after protests ended there, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Co. said. He confirmed that exports could still take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Libya’s oil industry has been disrupted frequently by strikes and armed occupations since a civil war toppled former leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Together with the reopening of the two oil ports, Sharara’s resumption could bring oil production […]

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Indian Refiners to Finish Paying Iran $1.65 Billion for Oil This Month

Indian refiners will finish paying Iran $1.65 billion by the end of this month as payment for crude-oil imports, two people with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday. "Indian refiners have paid two installments of $550 million each. A third installment of an equal amount will be paid later this month," said one of the people, who asked not to be named. The second installment was paid Tuesday, he said. Since February last year, after the U.S. sanctions blocked payments to Iran, India has been paying 45% of its Iran oil dues in rupees through state-owned UCO Bank Ltd. For the remaining amount, which came to around $4 billion in May, India had to create a payment mechanism. Both India and Iran now have mechanisms in place to process the accumulated dues. To transfer the money to Iran, Indian refiners paid what they owed for Iranian oil to […]

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Iran Nuclear Negotiations Hit Fresh Hurdle

Nuclear negotiations between Iran and six major powers hit a fresh hurdle this week when the country’s Supreme Leader said Iran needs significantly greater enrichment capacity. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comment in a speech Monday to senior level technocrats and military personnel came as negotiators in Vienna struggle to complete a final nuclear agreement by the July 20 deadline. Western diplomats have said progress in the talks has been very slow. The negotiations aim to win commitments from Iran to limit its future nuclear program in exchange for a gradual end to international sanctions. Western officials have said an Iranian insistence on a bigger program would be a deal-breaker. A U.S. official said on Tuesday that negotiators for the six powers—China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S.—focus on what Iran’s diplomats say at the negotiating table. But the comments by Mr. Khamenei, considered the final arbiter of Iran’s […]

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Libya's Largest Oil Field Sharara Restarts Operations-Manager

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has restarted operations and may resume production later Wednesday, a manager at the facility said, the latest sign of improvement in Libya’s troubled oil sector. The news come after Libya lifted force majeure on two Eastern terminals that amount to nearly half of its exports capacity following a deal with rebels that had occupied them. The pipeline connected to the 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spain’s Repsol SA is a partner, reopened after protests ended there, said the manager, who declined to be named. He added that, once production has restarted, exports could take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya’s Largest Oil Field Sharara Restarts Operations-Manager

Libya’s largest oil field Sharara has restarted operations and may resume production later Wednesday, a manager at the facility said, the latest sign of improvement in Libya’s troubled oil sector. The news come after Libya lifted force majeure on two Eastern terminals that amount to nearly half of its exports capacity following a deal with rebels that had occupied them. The pipeline connected to the 340,000-barrels-a-day Sharara oil field, where Spain’s Repsol SA is a partner, reopened after protests ended there, said the manager, who declined to be named. He added that, once production has restarted, exports could take a week to restart because the oil flows will first have to supply the Zawiya refinery. Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt Would Approve BG's Israel Gas Deal If Local Demand is Met

Egypt is willing to approve a potential deal allowing BG Group PLC to import natural gas from Israel for its local facility if the parties involved agree to help meet the country’s domestic demand at a reasonable price, officials familiar with the matter said Monday. "Things are different in Egypt now and we see no issue in this deal if it is beneficial for the country," a senior oil official told The Wall Street Journal, referring to the recent change in government in Egypt that saw Abdel Fattah Al Sisi elected president. "We will give our approval on the deal if some of the gas is fed to the domestic market and is reasonably priced," the official said. The partners in Israel’s giant Leviathan natural gas field said last month they had signed a preliminary agreement with BG Group, a British oil and gas company, to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt Would Approve BG’s Israel Gas Deal If Local Demand is Met

Egypt is willing to approve a potential deal allowing BG Group PLC to import natural gas from Israel for its local facility if the parties involved agree to help meet the country’s domestic demand at a reasonable price, officials familiar with the matter said Monday. "Things are different in Egypt now and we see no issue in this deal if it is beneficial for the country," a senior oil official told The Wall Street Journal, referring to the recent change in government in Egypt that saw Abdel Fattah Al Sisi elected president. "We will give our approval on the deal if some of the gas is fed to the domestic market and is reasonably priced," the official said. The partners in Israel’s giant Leviathan natural gas field said last month they had signed a preliminary agreement with BG Group, a British oil and gas company, to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China, US differ on global plan to cut emissions

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States took small steps toward their shared goal of fighting climate change on Wednesday, but the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon emitters remain significantly apart over a wider global plan to cut emissions. China’s chief climate official Xie Zhenhua said China should not be subject to the same rules for greenhouse gas emissions as the United States and other rich countries, signaling that Beijing will oppose any attempt to impose them at next year’s world climate conference. "We are in different development stages, we have different historical responsibilities and we have different capacities," Xie told reporters. The U.S. special envoy Todd Stern said Washington favors every country deciding what it is capable of doing, instead of being categorized either as a developed country or a developing country in deciding how much a country should contribute to reduce climate change. Asked […]

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Petrobras: Brazilian oil output up

Brazilian energy company Petrobras said its oil production for May was up 2.2 percent to 1.98 million barrels per day when compared with the previous month. Petrobras said it credited May’s production increase to the launch of operations at four new platforms in the offshore Campos Basin. In the Campos and Santos basins alone, Petrobras said oil production increased 8.8 percent from May to 447,000 bpd, a monthly record. Brazil ranks second behind Venezuela in proven oil reserves in South America. Offshore production is complicated because much of the oil reserves lie beneath a thick layer of salt. Petrobras , formally known as Petroleo Brasileiro, has struggled with production levels in the past, but attributed the declines to scheduled maintenance at its offshore fields. The company in a statement Tuesday said new production systems are expected to enter into service this year. A four-year business management plan envisions a […]

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A.P. Møller-Maersk Takes $1.7 Billion Impairment on Brazilian Assets

The oil unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Møller-Maersk A/S will book a $1.7 billion impairment on its Brazilian assets as it changes strategy in the region, it said Tuesday. However, the company’s full-year guidance remains unchanged with underlying profit of about $4 billion and a group-wide result significantly above last year. Maersk Oil said it would no longer pursue growth for its business in Brazil and as a result has sold its ownership share in the Polvo field to the operator. The company bought stakes in three fields in Brazil for $2.4 billion in July 2011, but decided to take an impairment on them following appraisal drillings that came out at the lower end of expectations as well as increased development costs and a subdued oil price. It is thought that the operating partners in the remaining two fields will be able to present commercially viable development plans, the […]

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Highway Bill Gets Bogged Down in New Fight

With time running short before the Highway Trust Fund hits perilously low levels, House Republicans introduced a plan on Tuesday that would shore up the fund through May 2015. Interstate 75 in Dayton, Ohio, is undergoing a costly upgrade, but the project could be derailed if the federal Highway Trust Fund dries up. Associated Press The proposal from Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee would transfer about $10.7 billion to the fund, the main source of federal financing for the nation’s highways and mass transit. To ensure that the bill’s price tag doesn’t add to the federal budget deficit, Republicans want to extend a provision known as pension smoothing and a measure from last year’s bipartisan budget deal that allows the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to collect user fees for an additional year. The House plan is expected to be considered in committee on Thursday. […]

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Bay Area governments make big electric-vehicle buy

A group of San Francisco Bay Area cities, counties and water agencies has joined forces for what is being billed as one of the largest single government purchases of all-electric vehicles in the country. The six cities, two counties and two water agencies have united to buy 90 electric vehicles with the help of a $2.8 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional transportation agency, officials with the Bay Area Climate Collaborative said Tuesday. The vehicles will save more than $500,000 in fuel costs and about 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over five years, Bay Area Climate Collaborative Executive Director Rafael Reyes said. The collaborative – a public-private initiative of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group that was started by three Bay Area mayors – developed the proposal for funding that was submitted to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "The Bay Area is […]

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U.S. natural gas output setting records

June was a banner month for U.S. natural gas production from the Lower 48 states, a forecasting unit of Platts reported. June natural gas production was up 0.3 percent from May to a total 68.1 billion cubic feet per day, the highest monthly production average on record. Data from Bentek Energy, the forecasting unit of Platts, show June’s average was 5.4 percent higher year-on-year and any records set for June should be broken at some point this month. The forecast says the economics of production in some of the shale basins in the United States should translate to a yearly production average of approximately 67.5 billion cubic feet per day. In 2009, Bentek said the United States averaged 55.1 billion cubic feet per day in natural gas production. Most of the gains have come from the Eagle Ford shale play in the southern United States and other basins like […]

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British carbon capture project gets EU funding

The British government said Tuesday it received more than $400 million in funding from the European Commission to help build a carbon capture facility. The British government said it received financial support from the European Commission for its White Rose project, a so-called clean coal power plant that would capture as much as 90 percent of its emissions and store them underneath the North Sea. British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said White Rose will help with the development of a low-carbon economy in the country. "The U.K. is at the forefront of developing carbon capture and storage, with excellent potential for storage in the North and Irish Seas, and the expertise in operating offshore to make it a reality," he said in a statement . The British government said power plants equipped with carbon capture and storage technology could provide more than 20 percent of the […]

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Baker Hughes: North American drilling increasing

The North American energy sector shined in June with active oil and natural gas exploration activity greater than last year, Baker Hughes Inc. said Tuesday. Baker Hughes published its monthly report on global rig counts . The data reflect the number of rigs actively exploring for oil or natural gas. The oil services company said there were an average 1,861 rigs active in the United States in June, up two from the number counted in May but up 100 from June 2013. For Canada, Baker Hughes said the average rig count for June was 240, up 78 from May and 57 more than were counted in June 2013. North American production is increasing to the extent its markets are relying less on energy imports from outside the region. The Paris-based International Energy Agency in June said global oil supplies rose largely because of output from countries outside the Organization […]

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U.S. gasoline prices sliding

Gasoline prices continue to be inflated because of conflict in Iraq but the market seems adjusted and pain at the pump is easing, motor club AAA said. The start of a Sunni-led insurgency in Iraq last month pushed the national average price to $3.70, though prices spiked closer to $4.00 in some retail markets. "Market watchers are keeping a close eye on the situation, but the risk premium that had pushed oil prices to 2014 highs has subsided in recent trading sessions," AAA said in a Monday briefing. "These elevated oil prices have meant stubbornly high pump prices for motorists, but as oil prices have eased retail gas prices have finally started to follow suit." By Monday, the average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline had fallen for 10 straight days. Gas prices Sunday marked the first time since June 11 the national average price per […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple