Category:

Russians Open Fire in Ukraine, NATO Reports

KIEV, Ukraine — Russia on Friday escalated tensions with Ukraine to the highest level since its stealthy invasion of Crimea in the spring, sending more than 200 trucks from a long-stalled aid convoy into rebel-held eastern Ukraine over the objections of Kiev and, NATO said, conducting military operations on Ukrainian territory. NATO officials said that the Russian military had moved artillery units inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and was using them to fire at Ukrainian forces. Russia has repeatedly denied sending troops or military hardware into Ukraine, just as it denied any link to the unidentified gunmen who paved the way for Moscow’s annexation of Crimea — until President Vladimir V. Putin stated in April that Russian troops were “of course” involved. There has been “a major escalation in Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine since mid-August, including the use of Russian forces,” Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia's Rosneft grabs Norwegian drilling assets

"This deal will allow Rosneft to acquire new capabilities in the sphere of oilfield services, by engaging the best professionals, with unique expertise in operations in harsh climate conditions," Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said in a statement Friday. Rosneft was the target of sanctions imposed by Western powers in response to Russia’s stance on crises in Ukraine. Sechin himself was sanctioned by the U.S. government. Nevertheless, the Russian oil company has signed a string of agreements with its international counterparts, including an Aug. 1 deal to acquire Venezuelan assets from oil services company Weatherford International. Last week, Rosneft announced it started an exploration program in the arctic waters of the Barents Sea with Norwegian energy company Statoil. On the latest deal, Sechin said Rosneft and its Norwegian partners are creating an international partnership in drilling services. "The company will notably strengthen its positions on the market of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia’s Rosneft grabs Norwegian drilling assets

"This deal will allow Rosneft to acquire new capabilities in the sphere of oilfield services, by engaging the best professionals, with unique expertise in operations in harsh climate conditions," Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said in a statement Friday. Rosneft was the target of sanctions imposed by Western powers in response to Russia’s stance on crises in Ukraine. Sechin himself was sanctioned by the U.S. government. Nevertheless, the Russian oil company has signed a string of agreements with its international counterparts, including an Aug. 1 deal to acquire Venezuelan assets from oil services company Weatherford International. Last week, Rosneft announced it started an exploration program in the arctic waters of the Barents Sea with Norwegian energy company Statoil. On the latest deal, Sechin said Rosneft and its Norwegian partners are creating an international partnership in drilling services. "The company will notably strengthen its positions on the market of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Germany Approves RWE's Sale of DEA to Russian Entrepreneur

BERLIN—The German Economics Ministry said Friday it has approved the sale of RWE AG ‘s oil and natural gas exploration subsidiary RWE Dea AG to an investment holding vehicle of Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman , despite growing Russo-German tensions over the Ukraine crisis. Fridman’s LetterOne Group and RWE agreed the deal in March which valued Dea at €5.1 billion ($6.8 billion), including €600 million in liabilities. The ministry said it has no objections to the sale to Luxembourg-based LetterOne. "The decisive factor for our decision was that LetterOne is an EU-based investor and that we see no indication for any kind of improper bypassing," said Economics Ministry spokeswoman Tanja Alemany Sanchez de León. "In addition, we don’t expect that this planned acquisition will have any negative impact on Germany’s security of [oil and gas] supply." An RWE spokeswoman said: "With this decision, we have cleared another hurdle." The company […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Germany Approves RWE’s Sale of DEA to Russian Entrepreneur

BERLIN—The German Economics Ministry said Friday it has approved the sale of RWE AG ‘s oil and natural gas exploration subsidiary RWE Dea AG to an investment holding vehicle of Russian entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman , despite growing Russo-German tensions over the Ukraine crisis. Fridman’s LetterOne Group and RWE agreed the deal in March which valued Dea at €5.1 billion ($6.8 billion), including €600 million in liabilities. The ministry said it has no objections to the sale to Luxembourg-based LetterOne. "The decisive factor for our decision was that LetterOne is an EU-based investor and that we see no indication for any kind of improper bypassing," said Economics Ministry spokeswoman Tanja Alemany Sanchez de León. "In addition, we don’t expect that this planned acquisition will have any negative impact on Germany’s security of [oil and gas] supply." An RWE spokeswoman said: "With this decision, we have cleared another hurdle." The company […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nuclear Shutdowns Leave Belgium Looking for Power

BRUSSELS—Belgian authorities are racing to map out emergency plans in case of a severe energy crunch this winter. The country could face energy shortfalls in the depths of winter after the sudden closure of three major nuclear power plants over the past months. Two nuclear reactors, Doel 3 and Tihange 2, were closed in May after cracks appeared in the steel reactor casings, and another large plant, Doel 4, closed down on Aug. 5, after an oil leak which its French parent company GDF Suez said was due to sabotage. The incidents mean that all three plants are likely to remain out of action until the end of the year, depriving Belgium of more than half its nuclear capacity. Belgium’s parliament is holding a special session on Friday to discuss situation and it has commissioned the national crisis center to set out possible scenarios in case of a power […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Grandmothers lead U.K.-wide wave of direct action against fracking

On a U.K.-wide day of action on Monday, anti-frackers locked-on to gates to defend planned fracking sites and occupied fracking companies. They closed down PR companies and blocked government departments. In total, 12 anti-fracking actions took place across the U.K. The coordinated protests aimed to highlight the dangers of fracking and the corrupt web of corporate and government power aggressively pushing the process forward despite widespread public opposition. Catalyzed by, and created within, the week-long Reclaim the Power camp taking place in Lancashire in North West England, the actions couldn’t have happened without grandmothers and mothers first occupying the land on which U.K. fracking giant Cuadrilla plans to begin drilling full-scale in earnest. Grandmothers and Mums Lead the Fight to Rid the U.K. of Fracking Twenty-five women, some retired, and three men met at a covert rendezvous point at 5 a.m. on August 7. Sporting camouflage, they rushed onto […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

WTI Oil Set for Longest Weekly Slide Since November

West Texas Intermediate crude headed for a fifth weekly decline, the longest falling streak in nine months, while investors await a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Brent slipped amid adequate supplies. Futures declined 0.4 percent in New York , bringing the weekly loss to 3.9 percent. Traders are watching for signs of the timing of interest-rate increases from Yellen, who speaks today at a Fed symposium in Jackson Hole , Wyoming . A preliminary gauge of Chinese manufacturing missed estimates yesterday, bolstering concerns that demand growth will slow. “The main pressure is because of the oversupply we see in the market,” Hans van Cleef, energy economist at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam, said by phone. “There’s a lot of cash at the moment that needs to be invested somewhere, perhaps in commodities. If something comes out of the meeting that will hurt the amount of money, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Average Brent crude oil prices trade within $5 per barrel range for 13 months in a row

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Brent crude oil spot prices averaged $107 per barrel (bbl) in July, marking the 13th consecutive month in which average Brent crude oil prices were between $107/bbl and $112/bbl (see graph above). Although supply growth from non-OPEC countries has outpaced world consumption in the past year, its potential price-reducing effect has been offset by unplanned supply outages among producers in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The result has tightened world oil markets and placed upward pressure on prices. This price stability has been remarkable compared with the volatility seen as recently as two years ago, when Brent spot prices ranged from as high as $125/bbl in March 2012, to as low as $95/bbl in June 2012. Implied volatility (a measure of expected price variation) for the near-month Brent futures contract has averaged 18% over the past 12 months, compared with 28% […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Natural-Gas Prices End Higher

(Updates to add tables.) By Timothy Puko Natural-gas prices closed higher Thursday, rebounding in the afternoon despite a stockpile update that showed a larger surplus than expected. The front-month September contract settled up 6.6 cents, or 1.7%, to $3.889 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell 1.9% immediately after the weekly stockpile update at 10:30 a.m., but then steadily rose through the afternoon to close at their highest point in a week. Traders and analysts had trouble explaining the turn. It could have been because of heat that is peaking in the Midwest and South this week, Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note. But the most recent updates had pointed to cooler weather, suggesting that there would not be a lingering demand spike for gas-fueled power to run air conditioners. "It’s very hard to figure out […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple