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Russian PM Medvedev says Western sanctions are testing country’s strength

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s strength is being tested by sanctions imposed by the West and the country must react in a level-headed way, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told members of the country’s ruling party, United Russia, on Monday. "When a series of our partners, if they can be called that, test Russia’s strength through sanctions and all kinds of threats, it is important not to succumb to the temptation of so-called easy solutions and to preserve and continue the development of democratic processes in our society, our state," Medvedev said in a televised speech. The European Union and the United States imposed late last week a fresh set of sanctions against Moscow for its policy on Ukraine, further limiting access for some of Russia’s key companies to foreign capital markets. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Alessandra Prentice)

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Ukraine Fighting Prompts U.S.-Russia Meeting in Paris

The U.S. is concerned about renewed fighting and has no details about the content of a Russian convoy that entered and left Ukraine over the weekend, a State Department official said. Russia still has about 25,000 troops along the border and more than 3,000 soldiers inside the country, according to the Ukrainian government. The U.S. and other NATO countries began military exercises in the country today. Kerry will meet with Lavrov at a conference on Iraq that will take place in Paris. While Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied supporting pro-Russian rebels, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that Putin seeks to restore the Soviet Union and take the entire country. The conflict has claimed more than 3,000 lives and clashes have occurred daily since a truce took effect Sept. 5. Artillery fire caused casualties among civilians in the city of Donetsk yesterday, according to the city council. Attacks […]

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Ukraine President Poroshenko Faces Backlash Over EU Trade Deal Delay

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko speaks to the press in front of Ukraine’s state coat of arms on Sept. 12. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images KIEV, Ukraine—Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko faces rising criticism for his decision to delay implementation of part of a European Union deal to avoid threatened Russian retaliation. A senior diplomat resigned in protest over the weekend, and pro-European politicians who are competing with Mr. Poroshenko’s party in parliamentary elections next month blasted the decision as caving to Russia, which wants Ukraine to give up the deal and remain in its orbit. The tensions highlight how difficult it will be for Mr. Poroshenko to manage the competing pressures of a Kremlin that isn’t backing down and a domestic electorate that wants closer ties to Europe and no concessions to Moscow. On Friday, Ukraine and the EU agreed to put off implementing a landmark trade deal , which is part […]

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Former BP chief warns on Russia sanctions

Tony Hayward, photographed during an interview with the FT at Finsbury this morning. US and EU sanctions against Moscow are in danger of turning round and biting the west by constraining global oil supply and pushing up prices in coming years, the former chief executive of BP has warned. Tony Hayward said that cutting off capital markets from Russia’s energy groups, which would eventually lead to less investment in Russian oil production, was likely to damage long-term supply. He said the US shale boom had obscured the growing risks to the world’s supply picture, but its effect would wear off, leaving the global economy dangerously exposed to potential disruptions in the flow of oil. His comments came as the US and Europe expanded sanctions against Russia on Friday with the US adding Gazprom , Europe’s leading energy provider, and Lukoil , the privately owned oil group, to the list […]

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Are we on the path of ‘Limits to Growth’?

Probably the most important thing you need to know about the 1972 book entitled Limits to Growth is that it makes no predictions. Rather, the much maligned study provides scenarios for thinking about the future of resource use, pollution, population, food, and industrial production.  Limits to Growth detailed three scenarios originally, one of them called business-as-usual or BAU. Since then, countless scenarios have been run using the same model–called World3–and some of them are discussed in updates to the book, the most recent published in 2004. Many of the scenarios including BAU result in a collapse of industrial production and population some time this century. What has surprised those reviewing the model used by Limits to Growth researchers is how closely reality has tracked the original BAU scenario. A recent review suggests that the signs of societal collapse may be around the corner based on the observed trends. But […]

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Brent Crude Hits More Than Two-Year Low on Tepid Demand

Global oil prices slumped to the lowest price in more than two years on continued concerns about weak demand. Brent, the global oil benchmark, is down 16% from the 2014 high reached in mid-June. Prices tumbled 3.7% this week, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency all cut their projections for oil-demand growth. "Supply is overwhelming the market, and demand’s not really keeping up with it," said Oliver Sloup, director of managed futures at brokerage iiTrader in Chicago, adding that U.S. benchmark prices could fall below $90 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for October delivery wavered between gains and losses Friday before settling down 56 cents, or 0.6%, at $92.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, posting a 1.1% loss for the week. Brent fell 97 cents, or 1%, Friday to settle at $97.11 a barrel, […]

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Brent, WTI Drop on Speculation Global Demand Is Slowing

Brent crude fell to the lowest closing price in more than two years on signs that global demand is slowing while output climbs. The European benchmark’s decline narrowed the premium to West Texas Intermediate oil. Both grades capped weekly declines after the International Energy Agency cut its global oil demand forecast for 2015 yesterday. The IEA also said Saudi Arabia exported the least in almost three years as purchases slowed from China and Europe. “The IEA report has set the tone for the market,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by phone. “The IEA projections showed that demand growth should slow while production continues to grow. They had Saudi exports at the lowest level in years, which is a sign of how weak demand is.” Brent for October settlement fell 97 cents, or 1 percent, to close […]

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Natural gas storage deficit to five-year average continues to narrow

Republished September 12, 2014, 10:20 a.m., the end date on the second graph was corrected. Storage injections have continued to outpace the five-year (2009-13) average this summer, with inventories as of September 5 at 2,801 billion cubic feet (Bcf), according to data from the Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report (WNGSR) . The winter of 2013-14 led to a large drawdown in inventories , with stocks ending March 2014 almost 1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) lower than the five-year average and at their lowest end-March level since 2003. Relatively higher weekly net injections into storage reduced that deficit to 463 Bcf as of September 5. EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) expects that this trend will continue, with forecast inventories of 3,477 Bcf by the end of October, 355 Bcf below the five-year average and the lowest end-October level since 2008. However, the effect of these lower inventories on winter […]

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Natural Gas Wavers But Posts Gain for Week

By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural-gas prices bounced slightly higher Friday, after a sharp selloff the day before, as traders tried to assess upcoming demand for the fuel. Natural gas for October delivery wavered between gains and losses before settling up 3.4 cents, or 0.9%, at $3.857 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices posted a 1.7% gain for the week. "It was so slow today," said Frank Clements, co-owner of Meridian Energy Brokers Inc. "The market is about priced where we should be." On Thursday, prices slumped 3.3% after a weekly government storage report showed that supplies grew by 92 billion cubic feet last week, well above the 82 bcf that analysts and traders had expected. After a frigid winter depleted natural-gas supplies, inventories are now just 14% below the five-year average level for the week. Production has been much stronger than anticipated this […]

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Oil Price Plunge? It’s The Global Economy, Stupid!

Nony on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 12:50 pm  If consumption is up, while price declines, then it is impossible for demand drop to be the only reason. Supply of sub hundred dollar oil has to have increased. This is a mathematical fact. nemteck on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 1:38 pm  Who did the graph? It is hard to believe that from June to July the GDP tumbled 100*(2.73-2.49)/2.173 = 11%. In Western countries economists are worried if a GDP goes down 0.3% for the whole year. In this respect, 11% looks like a world depression. And that in a single month! Plantagenet on Fri, 12th Sep 2014 2:12 pm  Yes the economy is crappy but US oil demand and global oil demand are UP over the last few years, not down. This means the oil price drop is due to INCREASING SUPPLY, not decreases in demand. Davy on Fri, […]

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