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Hedge Fund Crude Bets Tumble Amid Surging Global Supply

Speculators are the least bullish on U.S. crude oil prices in 16 months as refinery maintenance weakens demand at a time when Libya and Iraq are swelling global supplies. Futures dropped a fifth consecutive week after money managers reduced net-long positions in West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark grade, by 14 percent in the seven days ended Aug. 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said. Prices sank below $95 on Aug. 19 for the first time in seven months as U.S. air strikes in Iraq helped reverse the advance of Islamic State fighters and the country’s Kurds work to increase oil shipments. Libyan output climbed last week and exports resumed from the port of Es Sider. Refineries in the U.S. typically schedule work for September and October, when demand for gasoline declines after the summer peak, and before consumption of heating fuel picks up during winter. “It’s hard not […]

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Islamic State Captures Major Air Base in Syria From Government

A resident of the Syrian town of Tabqa celebrates by waving the Islamist flag after Islamic State fighters took over a regime air base nearby. Reuters BEIRUT—The extremist group Islamic State captured a major air base in Syria in the northeastern province of Raqqa, driving out regime forces and gaining full control of an entire province for the first time in the country’s civil war. The takeover of the Tabqa air base on Sunday follows setbacks in neighboring Iraq, where U.S. airstrikes since Aug. 8 succeeded in beating the group back in several areas in the north. The base had been the last foothold for forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Raqqa. Islamic State fighters over the past month drove regime forces from the headquarters of the Syrian Army’s 17th Division and another base for the 93rd Brigade of the same division. The loss of the air base […]

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Islamic State renews push for Iraq oil field

The Islamic State group has launched a renewed push to seize Iraq’s main oil refinery north of Baghdad, battling security forces backed by air support, authorities and witnesses said. At least three Iraqi security personnel were killed, and seven others were injured in the fighting on Sunday, in which fighters attacked the Baiji refinery from three sides, sources told Al Jazeera. The attack on Sunday came as Iraq’s next-door neighbour Iran reiterated its support for the new Shia-led government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, with a visit from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.    The fight over the oil field started overnight and continued into the next day, according to news reports. The Islamic State fighters have repeatedly sought to overrun the refinery, which once accounted for about 50 percent of Iraq’s supplies of refined oil products. While they have previously managed to enter the refinery compound, security forces were able to push them […]

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A look into heart of jihadist ‘caliphate’ in Syria, Iraq

News A look into heart of jihadist ‘caliphate’ in Syria, Iraq 23 Aug 2014 "What do you want to be? A jihadist, or to execute a martyrdom operation?" In the "caliphate" recently proclaimed by jihadists in Syria and Iraq, even young children are indoctrinated, and Sharia law is backed by the gun, according to a gripping documentary offering one of the first glimpses of life in Raqqa, power base of the so-called Islamic State (IS). Part 1 of a five-episode series, The Islamic State, filmed by Anglo-Palestinian journalist Medyan Dairieh was released Thursday by New York-based Vice News. The tone is set early: "Sharia can only be established with weapons," an IS fighter explains to Dairieh, who spent three weeks embedded with the radical Sunni group. Dairieh, toting a video camera, gained "unprecedented access" to the organization, Vice News said. In Raqqa, heavily-armed jihadists are seen celebrating on US […]

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Iraq’s Maliki Drops Struggle for Power

Departing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks during an interview in Baghdad on Jan. 12. Reuters BAGHDAD—Iraq’s outgoing prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, appears to have dropped his quixotic struggle to remain in power over the past week and is resigned instead to remaining a member of parliament insulated from prosecution. Fears that Mr. Maliki might play the spoiler in the new government have largely receded since his initial reaction to the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him. The night before Mr. Abadi’s appointment , Mr. Maliki called out his security forces in Baghdad in what looked like preparations for a coup. Now Mr. Maliki meets with Mr. Abadi daily and advises him about the formation of a new cabinet, said Hussein Al-Marabi, a parliamentarian from the Shiite Islamist Fadhila Party. However other leaders of Shiite parties said Mr. Maliki doesn’t take part in the negotiations on forming a […]

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Kurdish Oil Shipments From Turkey Said to Resume as Tanker Loads

Shipments of Iraqi Kurdish oil resumed from the Turkish terminal Ceyhan today as the Spanish-flagged tanker Ultimate Freedom completed loading and prepared to depart, according to an official with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified, citing policy. The tanker loaded some 950,000 barrels and is expected to leave Ceyhan shortly, the official said by phone. Oil flow from northern Iraq restarted last week after a pause of more than two weeks while Iraqi Kurds installed a booster station to speed up the flow through the pipeline. The Malta-flagged Phoenix AN and the Greek-flagged United Carrier tankers were on their way to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean cost to pick up some 250,000 and 500,000 barrels of Kurdish oil, respectively, the official said. The Kurdish regional government’s press officer didn’t answer phone calls seeking comment today. Turkey has ignored objections by Iraq’s central government, which says the […]

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Libya Islamists Seize Tripoli Airport as Parliament Duel Set

An alliance of Islamist militias said it wrested control of Tripoli’s international airport from a rival force after weeks of fighting that triggered an exodus of foreigners and threatened to plunge Libya deeper into chaos. Libya’s defunct, Islamist-dominated parliament said it would temporarily resume its sessions, the state-run Libya News Agency reported, a move that may set the stage for dueling legislatures amid a leadership vacuum. The fighting has battered Libya, undercut efforts to revive oil output in the OPEC member and dimmed hopes for a transition to democracy. It has sparked concern the nation, led by a largely toothless central government, will descend into anarchy and emerge as little more than a failed state controlled by militias. The announcement of the airport’s capture by Fajr Libya, or Libya Dawn, came hours after warplanes struck Islamists near and around the airport, killing at least 13 people and wounding 30 […]

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Libya's neighbors fear spillover of violence

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s foreign minister has called for an international push to disband militias in neighboring Libya, where weeks of inter-militia fighting has wreaked havoc in the country. Sameh Shukri says the escalation of violence in oil-rich Libya poses a threat to the entire region. He is calling for a joint effort to disband all militias, "without exception." The Egyptian top diplomat spoke Monday at a Cairo gathering of Libya’s neighbors. It was attended by Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and Chad. The meeting comes as Islamist-led militias in the Libyan capital say they consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rivals to the city’s outskirts after battles that largely destroyed the strategic hub. It’s the worst violence in Libya since the 2011 downfall and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

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Libya’s neighbors fear spillover of violence

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s foreign minister has called for an international push to disband militias in neighboring Libya, where weeks of inter-militia fighting has wreaked havoc in the country. Sameh Shukri says the escalation of violence in oil-rich Libya poses a threat to the entire region. He is calling for a joint effort to disband all militias, "without exception." The Egyptian top diplomat spoke Monday at a Cairo gathering of Libya’s neighbors. It was attended by Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and Chad. The meeting comes as Islamist-led militias in the Libyan capital say they consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rivals to the city’s outskirts after battles that largely destroyed the strategic hub. It’s the worst violence in Libya since the 2011 downfall and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

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Libya’s Islamist Militias Claim Control of Tripoli

Smoke fills the sky over Tripoli after fighting between Dawn of Libya and rival militias Aug. 23, 2014. European Pressphoto Agency Libya’s Islamist militias said Sunday they have consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rival militias to the outskirts of the capital after a weeks-long battle for control of the strategic hub. The umbrella group for Islamist militias, calling itself Dawn of Libya, said it has also taken hold of other locations in the capital that were controlled by rival militias. The move draws to a close one chapter in a prolonged confrontation between the Islamist-allied militia, largely from the city of Misrata, and the powerful militia from the western mountains of Zintan. The fight has largely destroyed the airport and scarred the capital, prompting diplomats, foreign nationals and thousands of Libyans to flee. The violence in Libya is rooted in the empowerment of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple