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Sanctions Nearly Halve Iran Oil Export Revenue in Two Years, OPEC Says

LONDON—Sanctions have nearly halved Iran’s petroleum export revenue in the past two years, OPEC data showed Friday, as the impact of international restrictions on its oil deepens. Iran has been locked in talks with six world powers to reach a final understanding over its controversial nuclear program. But despite the signature of an interim deal in November, the two sides have failed to make significant headway, leaving Iran’s economy in tatters. In its annual statistical report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said revenue generated by Iranian petroleum exports fell to $61.92 billion in 2013, down 46% from $114.75 billion in 2011. International sanctions banning sales of Iranian oil to the European Union and limiting them in Asia cut the country’s petroleum exports by 42% in 2013 compared with the previous year. Though oil sales had already fallen in 2012, the drop in volumes had been largely compensated […]

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U.S. 'comfortable' with Iran's oil exports

The U.S. federal government is "comfortable" with the amount of crude oil exported from Iran, a spokeswoman for the State Department said. Iran secured consent to export around 1 million barrels of oil per day as part of a November agreement to curb its nuclear activity. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Iran has been operating according to the terms of agreement. "We feel comfortable that the crude oil exports of Iran are remaining in the million to 1.1 million barrel a day average," she said during her regular press briefing Thursday. Iran this week brushed off reports from the International Energy Agency saying its crude oil exports were in decline. IEA in its latest monthly market report suggested Iranian crude oil exports were down considerably. Psaki said Iran isn’t skirting its international obligations, though Washington is monitoring the situation closely. "The secretary [of state] […]

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U.S. ‘comfortable’ with Iran’s oil exports

The U.S. federal government is "comfortable" with the amount of crude oil exported from Iran, a spokeswoman for the State Department said. Iran secured consent to export around 1 million barrels of oil per day as part of a November agreement to curb its nuclear activity. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Iran has been operating according to the terms of agreement. "We feel comfortable that the crude oil exports of Iran are remaining in the million to 1.1 million barrel a day average," she said during her regular press briefing Thursday. Iran this week brushed off reports from the International Energy Agency saying its crude oil exports were in decline. IEA in its latest monthly market report suggested Iranian crude oil exports were down considerably. Psaki said Iran isn’t skirting its international obligations, though Washington is monitoring the situation closely. "The secretary [of state] […]

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Islamic state killed 270 during Syrian gas field takeover: monitor

Militant group Islamic State killed 270 soldiers, guards and staff when they captured a Syrian gas field on Thursday in the bloodiest clashes between the al Qaeda offshoot and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, a monitoring group said on Saturday. The anti-Assad Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday that 90 people had been killed and that many were missing after the attack against the Sha’ar gas field east of Homs in central Syria. The Observatory, which monitors violence in Syria through a network of sources in the country on both sides, quoted "trusted sources" as saying on Saturday that the Islamic State had "killed and executed" 270 people during the assault. It said at least 40 Islamic State fighters were killed in the offensive. Islamic State has made rapid gains in Syria, mostly by seizing territory from rival rebel groups, using weaponry brought in from […]

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ISIS Forces Last Iraqi Christians to Flee Mosul

BAGHDAD — By 1 p.m. on Friday almost every Christian in Mosul had heard the Sunni militants’ message — they had until noon Saturday to leave the city. Men, women and children piled into neighbors’ cars, some begged for rides to the city limits and hoped to get taxis to the nearest Christian villages. They took nothing more than the clothes on their backs, according to several who were reached late Friday. The order from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria came after Christians decided not to attend a meeting that ISIS had arranged for Thursday night to discuss their status. “We were so afraid to go,” said Duraid Hikmat, an expert on minorities who had done research for years in Mosul. He fled two weeks ago to Al Qosh, a largely Christian town barely an hour away, but his extended family left on Friday. Since 2003, when […]

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Saudi Crude Exports Fell to Lowest Since 2011

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, shipped the least crude in almost three years in May as domestic refineries processed record amounts and power plants also increased consumption, official data showed. The nation exported 6.99 million barrels a day in May, down from 7.45 million barrels a month earlier, according to data Saudi Arabia submits to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative in Riyadh. The shipments were the smallest since September 2011. Crude production rose to 9.71 million barrels a day from 9.66 million in April. Saudi Arabian refiners processed 2.14 million barrels a day of crude in May, the highest since at least January 2002, the year when JODI started collecting data from member governments. Crude processing in May went up from 1.85 million barrels a day in April, the data showed. “The record refining volume shows that Saudi Arabia is fulfilling its plans to become a major […]

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Israel warns of widening ground war in Gaza

Israel intensified its 11-day campaign against Hamas by sending in tanks and troops late Thursday after becoming increasingly exasperated with unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza on its cities, especially following Hamas’ rejection of an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week.(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was preparing for a possible widening of its ground war in the Gaza Strip, a day after its troops crossed into the territory and the death toll from the 11-day-old operation, including that of the first Israeli soldier, rose. Israel called up 18,000 reserve troops overnight as it began what it described as a targeted operation to wipe out tunnels from which Hamas and other militant groups operate, a gambit Mr Netanyahu said might be broadened into a bigger ground war. More On […]

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A Push Into Gaza, but the Ground Has Shifted

As Israeli troops once again operated inside the Gaza Strip on Friday, the risks of a deep entanglement, a failure to curb the rocket fire, and the condemnation of civilian casualties were all too apparent. Twice before, Israel has battled Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that dominates Gaza, and twice before, Israel has halted under international pressure without eliminating the threat of rocket fire. But this time, officials and analysts say, the landscape is different. Israel has publicly framed a clear agenda targeting tunnels it says militants built to store weapons or stage attacks on its territory. This time, a weakened Hamas cannot turn to Egypt for respite. This time, Western leaders appear more patient: President Obama expressed concern Friday about “the loss of more innocent life” but also said no nation should be subjected to a hail of rockets or underground incursions. The start of the […]

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Opening of Mexican Energy Sector Takes Step Forward

Mexico’s Senate voted Friday to give Mexican companies a greater role in energy projects under the landmark opening of the country’s oil and gas sectors, tightening the national content rules that President Enrique Peña Nieto had proposed and partly satisfying demands of local industry groups and ruling party members. The Senate set a bar of 25% mandatory Mexican content in each new energy project starting from 2015, progressively increasing that to at least 35% by 2025. President Enrique Peña Nieto’s energy proposal sent to Congress in April required at least 25% by 2025. The new national content rules decided by the Senate, which are widely expected to be ratified by the lower house, are still more attractive for private companies than other major oil producers in the region such as Brazil, and critically exclude deep-water projects, analysts said. The rules for deep waters will be set later by […]

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Asia-Pacific taking on most OPEC crude

Asia-Pacific economies took on more crude oil from OPEC in 2013 than any other region in the world, the organization said in an annual report published Friday. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Asia-Pacific economies imported an average 14.3 million barrels of OPEC crude oil per day in 2013, or 59.3 percent of the oil exported by member states. Asian economies are growing at a faster rate than other major markets. OPEC said in its 97-page annual report oil demand rose most notably in China, Thailand and Indonesia. Europe, which is still struggling to emerge from recession, took an average 4.1 million bpd of OPEC crude last year, or 17.2 percent of its output, while North American imported an average 3.9 million bpd, or 16.3 percent of OPEC’s crude. Oil production from North America, the United States in particular, has increased to the point that markets there are […]

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