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Iraqi Militants Capture Two Oil Fields in North, Kurdish Towns

Militants from Islamic State, a breakaway al-Qaeda group, took control of two oil fields and some predominantly Kurdish towns in northern Iraq following clashes, according to the Northern Oil Co. The Ain Zala and Batma oil fields, which together have an output of 30,000 barrels per day, are under full control of the group, according to a statement by the state-run Northern Oil Co. The Sunni Islamist militants last month occupied the Qayyara oil field north of Baghdad. Islamic State, which was previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, has seized territory in northern and western Iraq, taking over oil wells and fighting for control of refineries. Islamic State fighters continued their advance yesterday, taking over the village of Wana, south of the Mosul dam, according to Hisham al-Brefkani, a member of the provincial council of Nineveh. A retreat by Kurdish fighters from the village was a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Special Report : The doubt at the heart of Iraq's Sunni 'revolution'

Sheikh Ali Hatem Suleiman, one of the leaders of the Sunni revolt against the Shi’ite-led government of Iraq, sat cross-legged on a couch last month, lit another Marlboro Red, and discussed the struggle with visitors from his home city of Ramadi, where the uprising began late last year. Instead of taking delight in the rebellion’s progress, though, the 43-year-old crown prince began lamenting the fact that Iraq’s patchwork quilt of ethnicities and religions was being torn apart. "How do we guard what we still have?" he asked his visitors. The revolutionary sheikh’s doubts may seem surprising. Over the past seven months the Sunni armed factions which Suleiman helps lead, and their allies in the far more extreme al Qaeda offshoot known as Islamic State, have captured most of the north’s largest Sunni cities. The battle against Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki in Baghdad has spread north […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Special Report : The doubt at the heart of Iraq’s Sunni ‘revolution’

Sheikh Ali Hatem Suleiman, one of the leaders of the Sunni revolt against the Shi’ite-led government of Iraq, sat cross-legged on a couch last month, lit another Marlboro Red, and discussed the struggle with visitors from his home city of Ramadi, where the uprising began late last year. Instead of taking delight in the rebellion’s progress, though, the 43-year-old crown prince began lamenting the fact that Iraq’s patchwork quilt of ethnicities and religions was being torn apart. "How do we guard what we still have?" he asked his visitors. The revolutionary sheikh’s doubts may seem surprising. Over the past seven months the Sunni armed factions which Suleiman helps lead, and their allies in the far more extreme al Qaeda offshoot known as Islamic State, have captured most of the north’s largest Sunni cities. The battle against Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki in Baghdad has spread north […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tripoli Clashes Toll Rises by 22 as Libya Crisis Deepens

Britain dispatched its navy to evacuate its nationals from Libya as 22 other people were killed as a result of militia feuds near Tripoli’s international airport that have plunged the oil producer deeper into chaos. The U.K.’s move came as the government announced the latest death toll today, a day after most members of the North African country’s new legislature met in the city of Tobruk near the Egyptian border. It was their first meeting as a unit since elections were held to replace the General National Congress. The choice of venue for the House of Representatives’ first session, which was delayed until Monday, reflects concerns about the collapse of security in Tripoli and in Benghazi, the nation’s second-largest city. More than two weeks of fighting between rival militias, and pro- and anti-Islamists have left about 200 dead and hundreds more wounded, according to state media. The violence marks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya Says Tripoli Fuel-Tank Fire Spreads, Warns of Disaster

Libya warned Sunday of the risk of a humanitarian and environmental disaster after eight fuel tanks caught fire amid heavy fighting near Tripoli’s international airport between rival militias, pushing the oil producer deeper into chaos. Rockets fired by one of Libya’s militias hit Tripoli’s main fuel depot near the airport Saturday, setting a gasoline tank ablaze, but firefighters deployed to tackle the fire were forced back by the militia fighting. The fire rapidly spread to seven other tanks, increasing the risk of an explosion at the site, which contains 90 million liters (almost 24 million gallons) of fuel and cooking gas. "Since the morning firefighters from Brega Petroleum Marketing Co. have been trying to enter the depot to control the fire […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British Citizens Flee Tripoli on Ship as 25 Libyans Are Reportedly Killed in Fighting

A British Navy ship on Sunday evacuated about 100 British citizens from the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as 25 Libyans were reported killed in the fighting between rival militias that has torn apart the city and destroyed its airport. The scenes of anxious foreigners fleeing by boat recalled the mayhem at the start of the Libyan uprising under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, though Tripoli residents say the violence has now become more severe than at any time during the revolt or since. What began three weeks ago as a relatively isolated battle for the airport has spread to round-the-clock skirmishes in pockets throughout the city. More than 200 are believed to have died in the fighting. The battle in the capital is part of a sharp escalation in a national struggle between the allies and opponents of the political Islamist movement. The contest is already dividing the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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German Business Looks to Renew Iran Contacts

German businesses are cooling on Russian investments amid anger over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict while simultaneously warming on another big country hit by Western sanctions: Iran. Companies across Germany have quietly rekindled once-strong commercial ties with Iran, industry officials said. The shift, also occurring in other European countries, is possible because Western governments—working to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons—in November granted it some relief from sanctions. Talks on a broader deal continue, sparking hope among some businesses that Iran’s market of 77 million potential consumers could soon open to them. "The market will explode when the embargo gets lifted," predicted Stephanie Spinner-König, managing director of high-tech component maker Spinner GmbH and a participant in one of two German business delegations that visited Iran this year. While German companies see opportunities in Iran, few want to discuss it publicly. Many fear talking up the pariah country could […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Africa Oil State Hooked on U.S. Fuel: Chart of the Day

First the U.S. shale-oil boom took away Nigeria ’s biggest crude-export market. Now Africa ’s biggest economy is depending on American fuel to power its vehicles and planes. The CHART OF THE DAY shows how U.S. imports of Nigerian crude have almost converged with American sales of refined-petroleum cargoes like gasoline and kerosene shipped in the opposite direction. The U.S. gets less than 2 percent of its oil from Nigeria, compared with 7 percent in 2011, Energy Department data show. Nigeria imported more than half of its fuels from America at times in 2013, from less than a fifth three years ago, according to IHS Inc., a consulting firm. Surging oil output in the U.S., most of it banned from export under decades-old laws, hands refiners on the Gulf Coast inexpensive feedstock to process into cargoes such as gasoline for sale overseas. Nigeria’s growing dependence highlights its […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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India Runs Short on Coal, Despite Global Price Slump

India’s reliance on domestic coal has left many of its power stations starved for fuel, forcing electricity cuts throughout the country, even as the price of coal imports slumps. Despite having the world’s third-largest coal reserves, according to the International Energy Agency, a quarter of India’s 100 coal-fired power stations are short of supply with stocks of less than four days, and some hanging onto even lower stockpiles, official and trade data showed. A prolonged summer and below-normal monsoon rains have exacerbated the situation by raising electricity demand. At the same time, global coal prices have fallen to their lowest levels in years, with ANZ predicting in a report last week that prices will drop 10% more over the next two to three years as China slows spending. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Dispute Flares Over Burned-Off Natural Gas

It isn’t every day that an energy company tries to give away cash, but one of the biggest oil producers in North Dakota is trying to do just that. Continental Resources Ltd. says it wants to pay state taxes and make royalty payments on natural gas it improperly burned off at dozens of wells in recent years. The company is asking state regulators to approve its plans, including the value it is assigning to the gas that was burned in the controversial practice known as flaring. "We believe we’re the first operator out there asking to be allowed to pay royalties and taxes," said Brooks Richardson, Continental’s director of risk enterprise management. Continental and other North Dakota drillers say they were forced to burn off gas they would have rather […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple