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Tanker Carrying Oil From Kurdistan Arrives Off U.S. Coast

A ship carrying crude from Iraq ’s Kurdistan region is off the coast of Florida , with the future of the oil aboard murky because of uncertainty over who has the right to sell it. The United Kalavryta is operated by Unicom Management Services Ltd., said Andy Kendrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard. It’s scheduled to dock in Galveston, Texas , tomorrow, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government is seeking to sell oil from its territory and claim revenues to help finance its effort for further independence from the national government. Officials in Baghdad have said the country’s oil revenues belong to the central government. “We are aware there is a tanker off the coast of Florida currently, but our policy here has not changed — Iraq’s energy resources belong to all of the Iraqi people,” Marie Harf, a spokeswoman for […]

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Tanzania’s Natural Gas Outlook is Promising, Says IMF

A BG survey vessel gathering data off the coast of Tanzania. CGG Tanzania has a good chance of becoming a major producer and exporter of natural gas over the next decade, said the International Monetary Fund. Significant offshore discoveries have been made over the last two-to-three years and further exploration is underway, the fund said in its recent country report for Tanzania. “Although gas resources haven’t yet been declared commercially viable, estimates of discoveries indicate recoverable offshore gas resources of at least 24 trillion-26 trillion cubic feet, potentially sufficient for a four-train Liquid Natural Gas plant (possibly as a common facility for several upstream gas fields),” it said. “A final investment decision is expected at the earliest in 2016 or 2017.” Total investment during the development phase could amount to $20 billion-$40 billion, depending on the scale of the project. This would be the largest investment ever […]

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Egypt: World Bank Gives Egypt U.S.$500 Million Gas Loan

Cairo — The World Bank has agreed to give Egypt a $500 million loan to provide 1.5 million houses in 11 governorates with natural gas lines. "The Egypt Household Natural Gas Connection Project will support the Egyptian government’s programme to replace household consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is mostly imported, with grid-connected natural gas," the website said in a statement on Thursday. About 52 percent of the neighbourhoods this project targets have poverty rates higher than the country’s national average, the statement said. "We are pleased to help improve the delivery of energy services to the people of Egypt," said Hartwig Schafer, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti. "The project will provide financial support to finance the connection charges in disadvantaged areas so that poor households can also connect to the gas grid," said Husam Mohamed Beides, the project’s Task Team Leader. "We are […]

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Pemex Predicts Lowest Production in More Than Two Decades

Petroleos Mexicanos cut its output forecast to the lowest in at least 24 years as mature fields are shrinking faster than it had previously expected. The forecast was lowered to 2.41 million barrels of oil a day from a prior projection of 2.5 million, said Gustavo Hernandez, Pemex’s head of exploration and production. This will be the Mexico City-based company’s lowest annual output since at least 1990, when it produced 2.55 million barrels a day, according to the oldest available government output data. “We have been working to review the declines of each of our fields that contribute to national production,” Hernandez said today on an earnings call. “In the recent review, we obtained a better idea of the declines of the fields and have adjusted the production expectation downward.” Pemex is counting on a landmark law enacted last year that opens Mexico’s energy industry to private competition for […]

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Mexico's Pemex 2nd-Qtr Losses Widen to 52.2B Pesos

State-owned oil company Pemex reported a wider second quarter loss hurt by higher sales costs, declining asset values and higher taxes, the company said on Friday. Losses totaled 52.226 billion pesos ($4.02 billion) for the quarter, led by losses at the company’s refining unit, compared to a total loss of 49 billion pesos during the year earlier period. Revenue during the quarter rose 4.1 percent to 409 billion pesos, however, mainly because of higher domestic sales and exports, compared to revenue of 393 billion pesos during the second quarter last year. Sales costs for the quarter rose 13.2 percent, or by 24.4 billion pesos, as a result of preexisting obligations and higher production costs, the company said. "Inside and outside the company, the environment has grown more complex," said Pemex Chief Financial Officer Mario Beauregard in a call with analysts. The company’s tax […]

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Mexico’s Pemex 2nd-Qtr Losses Widen to 52.2B Pesos

State-owned oil company Pemex reported a wider second quarter loss hurt by higher sales costs, declining asset values and higher taxes, the company said on Friday. Losses totaled 52.226 billion pesos ($4.02 billion) for the quarter, led by losses at the company’s refining unit, compared to a total loss of 49 billion pesos during the year earlier period. Revenue during the quarter rose 4.1 percent to 409 billion pesos, however, mainly because of higher domestic sales and exports, compared to revenue of 393 billion pesos during the second quarter last year. Sales costs for the quarter rose 13.2 percent, or by 24.4 billion pesos, as a result of preexisting obligations and higher production costs, the company said. "Inside and outside the company, the environment has grown more complex," said Pemex Chief Financial Officer Mario Beauregard in a call with analysts. The company’s tax […]

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Venezuela could tap Chinese market by selling Citgo

Selling off U.S. refiner Citgo would free up export volumes for Venezuela to start directing oil to the Chinese market, Energy Ministry officials said. The Venezuelan Energy Ministry said it’s considering separate offers for Citgo from Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Sources inside the ministry told Argus Media offers range from $10 billion to $15 billion. Combined refinery output from Citgo is 757,000 barrels per day, with most of that centered at its Lake Charles facility in Louisiana. Argus reported Thursday the sale of Citgo would free up exports the state-owned oil and gas company known as PDVSA could direct toward China. Both sides have agreements to increase exports by more than 60 percent to 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2016. Venezuela is the No. 4 oil exporter to the United States, behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico, respectively. For the week ending July […]

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EU edges to economic sanctions on Russia but narrows scope

The European Union reached outline agreement on Friday to impose the first economic sanctions on Russia over its behavior in Ukraine but scaled back their scope to exclude technology for the crucial gas sector. The sanctions on access to capital markets, arms and hi-tech goods are also likely to apply only to future contracts, leaving France free to go ahead with the controversial delivery of Mistral helicopter carriers being built for Russia. After months of hesitation, the 28-nation EU toughened its stance toward Moscow after last week’s downing of a Malaysian airliner, killing 298 people, in an area of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists. But the narrowing of the proposed measures highlighted the difficulty of agreeing to tough sanctions among countries which have widely different economic interests and rely to varying degrees on Russian gas. After a discussion that lasted all day Thursday and part […]

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Russian execs fear lasting damage from plane crash

MOSCOW (AP) — Having for months dismissed Western sanctions on Russia as toothless, business leaders here are now afraid that the downing of the Malaysian jetliner will bring about an international isolation that will cause serious and lasting economic damage. Throughout the Ukrainian crisis, U.S. and European sanctions had mainly targeted a handful of individuals, sparing economic ties. Then last week the U.S. imposed penalties on some of Russia’s largest corporations. And when the airliner was shot down just a day later in Ukraine, allegedly by separatists with Moscow’s support, concern grew in Russia that the sanctions would only get worse as President Vladimir Putin shows little sign of cooperation. Reinforcing those concerns, the European Union said Friday it is planning newer, tougher penalties on businesses. "Over the past few months, there was a sense that Mr. Putin acted decisively, forcefully, and correctly, and that everybody else in the […]

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Canada sanctions Russian energy sector

Canadian Prime Minister announced new sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector in response to the Kremlin’s pressure on Ukraine. Harper announced sanctions against 10 separate Russian entities, including Russian independent gas company Novatek and Gazprombank, the financial arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom. The prime minister said the sanctions were meant as a response to Russia’s occupation of the Crimean region in Ukraine and its military action in eastern Ukraine. "The measures we are announcing include sanctions against a broad range of entities from Russia’s arms industry, as well as from its financial and energy sectors," he said Thursday. Novatek was included in a list of sanctioned entities outlined by the U.S. government in mid July. In a statement issued in response, Novatek said its financial situation is stable and cash flows are sufficient. Harper’s administration didn’t extend sanctions to Russian oil company Rosneft. Rosneft in […]

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