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Industry watchers cautious on Libyan oil rebound

Energy industry watchers said Wednesday optimism over the rebound of Libyan oil production should be tempered. Forecasts of the potential in Libya’s oil sector have waxed and waned since the end of civil war in 2011. The country has yet to pass its pre-war peak of 1.4 million barrels per day and early 2014 output had plummeted to well below 500,000 bpd. The National Oil Co. said late Tuesday production from the giant El-Sharara field had resumed. It has a capacity for 340,000 bpd, but an unidentified industry source told the Platts energy reporting agency it was too early to declare recovery. "It was down for a long time," the source said . "It will not be at full capacity for weeks, or even months." The pipeline connecting the field to export terminals has been blocked off by protests for most of the year. In April, the Libyan government […]

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Fifty-three blindfolded bodies found in Iraq as political leaders bicker

Iraqi security forces found 53 corpses, blindfolded and handcuffed, south of Baghdad on Wednesday as Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders traded accusations over an Islamist insurgency raging in the country’s Sunni provinces. Officials said dozens of bodies were discovered near the mainly Shi’ite Muslim village of Khamissiya, with bullets to the chest and head, the latest mass killing since Sunni insurgents swept through northern Iraq. "Fifty-three unidentified corpses were found, all of them blindfolded and handcuffed," Sadeq Madloul, governor of the mainly Shi’ite southern province of Babil, told reporters. He said the victims appeared to have been killed overnight after being brought by car to an area near the main highway running from Baghdad to the southern provinces, about 25 km (15 miles) southeast of the city of Hilla. The identity and sectarian affiliation of the dead people was not immediately clear, he said. Sunni militants […]

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Iraq oil exports drop in June

Iraq oil exports drop in June Oil exports from Iraq averaged 2.423 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, a 157,000 bpd decline from May averages and the lowest since March, when the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) was taken offline by insurgents.For the past four months Iraq has only been able to export from the Basra Gulf, via the al-Basra and Khor al-Amaya oil terminals (ABOT and KAAOT) and the three single point mooring (SPM) buoys, as violence in the north kept the Turkey pipeline shut and cut off the tanker trade by roa… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq says oil sector secure

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said Wednesday it was dedicated to providing a safe environment for international companies working in the oil sector. Sunni-led militants have declared an Islamist state in part of northwestern Iraq and have threatened to push south into the predominately Shiite areas of the country. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi said the government was dedicated to supplying the ideal safe environment for international companies working in Iraq. "Work in oil refining facilities and oil fields is normal and the ministry has supplied the extra protection needed for those locations by coordinating with security authorities and energy officials," he said in a statement . The U.S. Energy Information Administration said violence in Iraq has not reduced the availability of Iraqi oil on the global export market. Nevertheless, EIA said there was a degree of uncertainty in the Iraqi oil sector because of the Sunni insurgency. […]

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Iraq's Kurds announce boycott of government

Iraq’s Kurdish political bloc says it is pulling its ministers from the Cabinet and suspending its participation in the government of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The announcement comes a day after al-Maliki accused the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq of harboring the Sunni militants who have overrun much of the country. The prime minister provided no evidence, and the Kurds denied the allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Roz Nouri Shawez, the highest level Kurdish official in the government, told reporters Thursday that "such statements are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of Cabinet meetings." Kurds also hold the minister posts for foreign affairs, trade, health and immigration and displacement. It was unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraq’s Kurds announce boycott of government

Iraq’s Kurdish political bloc says it is pulling its ministers from the Cabinet and suspending its participation in the government of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The announcement comes a day after al-Maliki accused the largely autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq of harboring the Sunni militants who have overrun much of the country. The prime minister provided no evidence, and the Kurds denied the allegations. Deputy Prime Minister Roz Nouri Shawez, the highest level Kurdish official in the government, told reporters Thursday that "such statements are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of Cabinet meetings." Kurds also hold the minister posts for foreign affairs, trade, health and immigration and displacement. It was unclear what immediate impact the decision would have.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Slide as Libya Boosts Oil Production

Crude-oil futures extended their sell-off in Asian trading hours Thursday as Libya’s oil output ramped up, and after Chinese oil imports in June fell from a month earlier. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $101.75 a barrel at 0555 GMT, down $0.54 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.13 to $108.15 a barrel. Libya’s largest oil field Sharara is ramping up production much faster than expected and is almost at two-thirds of its output capacity, a manager at the field said Wednesday. Overnight, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed oil stockpiles fell by 2.4 million barrels last week. But a 600,000-barrel increase in gasoline stocks during the summer driving season was bearish for oil prices. The build in U.S. gasoline stocks was mainly due to lower demand, which […]

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Foreign Ministers to Join Iran Nuclear Talks

Foreign ministers from the six-power group negotiating a final nuclear agreement with Iran will step into talks in Vienna this week in an effort to break a stalemate and salvage a deal by a July 20 deadline. The decision to bring ministers into the talks comes a week into what was supposed to be the final round of negotiations, with western diplomats saying progress has been painfully slow. While no official plans have been announced, three diplomats said foreign ministers could arrive in Vienna as early as Friday. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is currently in Asia, could come to Vienna over the weekend, two officials said. As the pressure builds, signs of strains have emerged within the six-power group, with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday citing growing differences with Moscow over the talks. Since July 2, negotiations have gone on around the clock in […]

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Iran reviews gas relationship with Russia

Iran’s deputy minister for gas affairs said Wednesday he was expecting Russia to start investing in the Iranian natural gas industry. Deputy Minister for Gas Affairs Hamid-Reza Araqi said Russian companies may be interested in building natural gas pipelines in Iran. Both sides, he said , "are determined to boost their cooperation" in the gas industry. Iranian and Russian officials met in April to discuss upgrading Iran’s power plants and electrical transmission lines. The U.S. State Department has said direct energy cooperation between Iran and Russia "would be of concern." Iran is under pressure for its controversial nuclear program, while the U.S. government and its allies have expressed frustration with Russia’s stance on geopolitical issues in Syria and Ukraine. Both sides already work together in the nuclear sector, with Russia supplying fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility. Iran last year said it would to bring more foreign investors into […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple