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Kurdish government lashes out at Dana Gas

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq said Wednesday it was upset with arbitration statements made by Emirati energy company Dana Gas. Dana said in a Sunday statement it was successful with its application in an international court of arbitration in London against the semiautonomous KRG. The company said the court called for the restoration of "regular payments" owed to it by KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources KRG said Wednesday the company violated a confidentiality clause in relation to the arbitration rules and subsequently aims to correct what it says were misleading statements by Dana Gas. "Contrary to the assertions by Dana Gas, no sums are ‘outstanding’ from the KRG to Dana Gas," it said . Further, KRG said Dana owes it $4.8 billion and the tribunal has yet to make a final determination on the issues of the case. The Kurdish government said it would "vigorously" pursue its own […]

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For Iraq, Debacle in Tikrit as Forces Walk Into Trap Set by Militants

Iraqi troops and their militia and volunteer allies were on the verge of declaring victory over Sunni militants holding the strategic town of Tikrit and were about to hoist the Iraqi flag over key government buildings, when, a survivor recalled Wednesday, “the doors of hell opened.” The Iraqi forces had apparently walked into a trap, and some soldiers — and many more of their untrained volunteer supporters — were either killed or badly wounded when the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria sprung it, according to accounts from two soldiers and volunteer leaders reached by telephone afterward. The debacle in Tikrit on Tuesday offered a vivid illustration of how badly the Iraqi military needs advisers. For weeks, the Americans had implored Iraqi leaders not to fight for the centers of cities, but to establish control of roads and highways, and thus set their own conditions for battle. […]

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Kirkuk oil starts to flow into Kurdistan

Kirkuk oil starts to flow into Kurdistan A worker maintains production at the North Oil Company in Kirkuk. A worker for Iraq’s state-run North Oil Company tends to a pipeline in Kirkuk, in 2003. (ED KASHI/Corbis) Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region has begun pumping crude from Kirkuk into its own independent oil infrastructure, days after Kurdish Peshmerga forces took full control of fields that have long been managed by Iraq’s federal government.The flow of oil signals the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) intention to continue solidifying its control over Kirkuk, the epicenter of a decade-long territorial dispute. The move is also likely to exacerbate the political divisions between Iraqi Prime …

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Israeli Invasion of Gaza Is Likely, Official Says; Brief Cease-Fire Is Set

TEL AVIV — Even as Israel and Hamas agreed to suspend hostilities briefly on Thursday at the request of the United Nations, a senior Israeli military official said that his government was increasingly likely to order a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip that it had hoped to avoid. Though Israel initially set limited goals of halting the rocket assaults against it and degrading Hamas, the Islamist movement that dominates Gaza, the group’s tenacity and surprisingly deep arsenal have led to widespread calls to expand the mission. The military official said only “boots on the ground” could eradicate terrorism from Gaza and indicated that Israel was even considering a long-term reoccupation of the coastal territory. But with the Palestinian death toll reaching 214 on Wednesday, Israel and the Gaza militants agreed to end the violence for five hours on Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For Israel, it […]

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China at work on climate protection plans

A climate protection plan from Beijing should be finalized by early next year, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission said from Berlin. China is the world leader in emissions. Beijing says it’s readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an effort to combat climate change. Zie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the NDRC, says the government is working on reports outlining the trajectory of a low-carbon economy. "We have been developing our climate protection plan for beyond 2020 for a year now," he said Tuesday. "We expect it to be finalized by the first quarter of 2015." China and the United States signed memorandums of understanding last week that envision a wide range of climate initiatives, though differences remain between both sides in terms of the climate responsibilities of developed and developing countries. In June, […]

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China done with oil work in disputed waters

China National Petroleum Corp. said it’s completed a drilling and exploration operation in waters of the South China Sea disputed with Vietnam. "The petroleum drilling and exploration operation of Zhongjiannan Project was smoothly completed on schedule on July 15th with the oil and gas shows found," the company said in a statement . CNPC dispatched a drilling rig to an offshore area claimed by both the Chinese and Vietnamese governments. Both sides met last month in Hanoi to discuss the situation, though each side blamed the other for the lingering tensions. Vietnam says its vessels in the region were harassed by Chinese patrol ships, though Beijing said Vietnam was painting itself as the victim in the dispute. CNPC said it’s been conducting seismic surveys in the region to get a better understanding of the reserve potential there since 2004. "In accordance with the work procedures of deep-sea petroleum exploration […]

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Automated Cars May Boost Fuel Use, Toyota Scientist Says

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) , among carmakers developing driverless technology, said the appeal of autonomous cars carries the risk of adding to urban sprawl and pollution as they may encourage commuters to travel farther to work. Technologies that let a driver turn vehicle controls over to the car itself should begin arriving late this decade, said Ken Laberteaux, senior principal scientist for Toyota’s North American team studying future transportation. Faster commutes can bring unintended consequences, Laberteaux said in an interview at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco yesterday. “U.S. history shows that anytime you make driving easier, there seems to be this inexhaustible desire to live further from things,” Laberteaux said. “The pattern we’ve seen for a century is people turn more speed into more travel, rather than maybe saying ‘I’m going to use my reduced travel time by spending more time with my family.’” Toyota and other […]

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Drug crime soaring in North Dakota

More federal drug enforcement agents are needed in western North Dakota, the heart of the state’s oil boom, Sen. said. Hoeven said he’s been working with the office of the state’s attorney general and local law enforcement officials on how best to tackle drug-related crimes in western North Dakota. The result of talks was that more agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency are needed to back up local and state officials. "That’s why we’re requesting that DEA station additional agents in North Dakota to help us investigate drug crimes and prevent drugs from coming into the state," he said in a statement . North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple in June boasted gross domestic product in the state had increased for the fourth year in a row and topped all other U.S. states. The state’s mineral resources accounted for 3.6 percent of the GDP growth. Oil production from the […]

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More solar power slated for Virginia grid

| License Photo New rooftop installations in northern Virginia are part of a program aimed at installing 30 megawatts of solar power in the state, Dominion Virginia Power said. The utility company said it installed 3,000 solar panels on the roof of a distribution center in Sterling, Va., used by industrial real estate company Prologis, Inc. Once completed by October, the installation will generate around 800 kilowatts of power, enough to meet the annual energy demands of about 200 homes. It’s the first such installation in the area for Dominion and part of a broader effort to build 30 megawatts of rooftop solar installations for the utility company’s customers. "The partnership with Prologis will enable us to evaluate the benefits and study the impact of distributed solar generation on our electric grid," Ken Barker, vice president of customer solutions, said in a statement. The Virginia state assembly has recommended […]

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U.S. investing more in biofuels research

The U.S. Energy Department said it was spending $6.3 million on research aimed at generating a biofuel that could be cost competitive by 2017. SRI International of California and Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina received funding from the Energy Department for research and development projects meant to drive down the cost of producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuels from biomass. The funding is part of an effort to make biofuels competitive with regular fuels. The Energy Department said it wants to produce a drop-in biofuel that would cost about $3 per gallon by 2017. Data from 2011 show some biofuels were close to the point at which they’d be competitive with regular fuels. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the government is looking for ways to increase energy security and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by advancing a low-carbon economy. The transportation sector in the United States accounts for nearly 60 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple