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Turkey Is Courted by U.S. to Help Fight ISIS

ANKARA, Turkey — The Obama administration on Monday began the work of trying to determine exactly what roles the members of its fledgling coalition of countries to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will play, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel huddled with the leaders of the one country the administration has called “absolutely indispensable” to the fight: Turkey . But after hours of meetings here, there were no announcements of what the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might do. In fact, Turkish officials meeting with Mr. Hagel eschewed the news conferences that usually accompany high-level visits from American officials. Rather, Turkey ’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned on the state-run Anatolia news agency that weapons sent by Western countries to fight ISIS could end up in the hands of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., which Ankara considers a terrorist group. “We have expressed our concerns,” […]

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Sunnis in Iraq Often See Their Government as the Bigger Threat

BAGHDAD — A group of Iraqi Sunni refugees had found shelter in an abandoned school, two families to a room, after fleeing fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria . They were gathered in the school’s courtyard last week when the Iraqi Air Force bombed them. The bombing, in Alam District near Tikrit, may well have been a mistake. But some of the survivors believe adamantly that the pilot had to know he was bombing civilians, landing the airstrike “in the middle of all the people,” said Nimr Ghalib, whose wife, three children, sister and nephew were among at least 38 people killed, according to witnesses interviewed last week, as well as human rights workers who detailed the attack on Wednesday. The attack fit a pattern of often indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes on Sunni areas by the armed forces of the Shiite-led Iraqi government. The strikes have […]

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Enterprise Seeks Commitments for Bakken-Cushing Oil Pipeline

Pipeline Construction Pipeline Construction | Click to Enlarge Enterprise Products Partners L.P. began a binding open commitment period in early Sept. of 2014 to determine shipper demand for capacity on a proposed new pipeline from the Williston Basin of North Dakota to the Cushing hub in Oklahoma. The 30-inch diameter, 1200-mile pipeline is expected to have an initial capacity of approximately 340,000 b/d of crude oil, expandable to more than 700,000 . Company officials say the Bakken-to-Cushing pipeline would also serve the Powder River and Denver-Julesburg (“DJ”) Basins, and have the capability to transport up to six grades of crude oil and products, including Rockies Condensate and Processed Condensate. Subject to sufficient customer commitments, the pipeline is expected to begin service in stages, starting with the DJ-to-Cushing portion in the fourth quarter of 2016, and should be fully operational by the third quarter of 2017. “This pipeline offers a reliable, safe, and economical solution that promotes continued development […]

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Gas price slide continues through December

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — AAA reported a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline of $3.43, a price that’s held relatively stable for the last few weeks. The average price is about 4 percent, or 14 cents, less than it was on this date in 2013. AAA has attributed a general decline in retail gasoline prices to ample supply and a market that’s shrugged off geopolitical concerns. Seasonally, gasoline prices fall in the United States after the Labor Day holiday as demand wanes. By mid-September, refineries also switch to a winter blend of gasoline, which is cheaper to make because it doesn’t have to be blended to meet emissions requirements in place during warmer months. "Motorists usually enjoy cost savings during this period; however geopolitical instability, hurricanes or events that disrupt production could still cause temporary spikes in regional prices in the coming months," the […]

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API: Energy boosting U.S. economy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — A study conducted by the U.S. energy industry’s American Petroleum Institute finds the sector is supporting around 8 percent of the nation’s economy. "Oil and natural gas companies are only one part of a much larger economic success story that is creating job growth up and down the supply chain," API Upstream Group Director Erik Milito said in a statement. API published a vendor survey listing more than 30,000 segments across the country tied to U.S. energy sector. As of 2011, API said the oil and gas industry has supported 9.8 million full- and part-time jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. Its study found benefits across the board , with the No. 1 state, Texas, boasting 1.9 million energy jobs to the bottom, the District of Columbia, with 13,700 jobs. API credited the growth to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale […]

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Cheapest U.S. Gasoline Since 2010 Set to Get Cheaper

Drivers across the U.S. enjoying the lowest pump prices for this time of year since 2010 will probably see further declines as refineries benefiting from the shale boom produce record amounts of fuel. The average is $3.433 a gallon, down 6 percent since Memorial Day on May 26, AAA data show. That’s the largest decline from the start of the summer driving season since 2008. U.S. refineries operated at the highest-ever seasonal rates every week since July 4. Processors are using domestic crude that costs less than foreign imports as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in shale formations increased output to the most since 1986. Gasoline will drop another 10 to 20 cents a gallon by the end of October as retailers switch to cheaper winter-blend fuel, said Michael Green , a Washington-based spokesman for AAA, the largest U.S. motoring group. “Refineries this summer were running at record-high levels […]

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45-Year High U.S. Oil Output May Cut Pump Price, Imports

U.S. crude production will surge to a 45-year high next year, lowering prices and reducing the need for imports, government forecasters said yesterday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its estimate of 2015 output by 250,000 barrels a day to 9.53 million, the most since 1970, Adam Sieminski , the administrator of the EIA, said in a statement yesterday. The agency forecast output of 8.53 million barrels a day this year, up from 7.45 million in 2013. “U.S. production levels are astounding,” Bill O’Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis , which oversees $2.6 billion, said by phone yesterday. ‘We will see further revisions, because these technologies get better over time.’’ The EIA also reduced its price forecasts. West Texas Intermediate will average $94.67 a barrel in 2015 versus the August projection of $96.08, the EIA said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook . The […]

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NERA: U.S. still importing oil if ban lifted

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — If the United States lifts a ban on crude oil exports it can realize economic benefits, though it will still be a net importer, a report prepared by NERA Economic Consulting finds. NERA prepared a 120-page report for The Brookings Institution that says lifting the ban on crude oil exports doesn’t eliminate foreign dependency. Legislation enacted in response to the oil embargo from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries limits crude oil exports from the United States. "Even with the lifting of the crude oil export ban, the U.S. will remain a net importer of crude oil," the report, published Wednesday, finds. Supporters of lifting the ban say it will increase U.S. leverage overseas and push the price of petroleum products like gasoline lower. Opponents question those claims and argue more exports would come with environmental consequences. NERA finds more U.S. […]

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Florida waters warmer, USGS finds

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — USGS analysis finds water temperatures from July to September in the region in recent decades were about 2 degrees Fahrenheit warmer when compared to a century earlier. Ilsa Kuffner, lead author for the USGS report, said water temperatures are on average 84 degrees Fahrenheit during the late summer months . "When corals are exposed to water temperatures above 84 F they grow more slowly and, during extended exposure periods, can stop growing altogether or die," the USGS marine biologist said. The study comes on the heels of two reports warning of the impact of global climate change. A report this week from the World Meteorological Organization finds the warming effect of the atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases is increasing in part because of the continued use of fossil fuels . A study from the National Audubon Society suggests many North American bird species may […]

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China’s Global Mining Play Is Failing to Pan Out

Citic’s iron-ore mine in Western Australia, shown above late last year, cost about four times its initial budget, is expected to lose money this year and is in a legal battle with local partner Clive Palmer. ZUMAPRESS.com CAPE PRESTON, Australia—A $10 billion iron-ore mine that has taken more than eight years to develop near this remote Australian port is a glaring example of how much has gone wrong with China’s decadelong push to buy up raw materials around the world. Citic Pacific’s Sino Iron mine cost roughly four times its initial budget, and analysts who track the project say it likely will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in 2014, its first full year of production. Citic Pacific, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Chinese state-owned behemoth Citic Group, and its contractors made a series of blunders, from thinking they could import workers at Chinese pay levels to a botched […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple