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China’s August PPI down 1.2 pct

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at wholesale level, dropped 1.2 percent year on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. The PPI declined for a 30th straight month and at a faster pace than the previous month, confirming pressure from slowing economic growth. The PPI dropped 0.9 percent from a year ago in July, down from 1.1 percent in June and 1.4 percent in May. Factory prices of production materials declined 1.7 percent in August, contributing 1.3 percentage points to the PPI drop, while factory prices for consumer goods gained 0.2 percent, data showed. Yu Qiumei, senior statistician of the NBS, attributed the decline to price falling for a series of industrial products and material. Prices of crude oil and oil products ended a rising streak and started falling in August, while prices of coal, steel, […]

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When fracking and free speech collide

Water drawn from Steve Lipsky’s property in Parker County, Texas, burns, he says, from the high amount of methane introduced into the water supply by a fracking operation near his home. Les Stone for Al Jazeera America Steve Lipsky fracking What started as a short YouTube video and a couple of local news interviews about a Texas landowner being able to light his water on fire has ballooned into a free speech fight that’s being closely watched by anti-fracking activists across the country. Steve Lipsky has complained for years that fracking company Range Resources polluted his drinking water and streams that run through his property. The company sued him in 2011 for defaming its reputation for environmental stewardship. Now Lipsky will have a chance to argue his case in front of the Texas Supreme Court,  The Texas Tribune reported this week . The court will decide whether his right […]

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U.S. Readies New Energy Sanctions on Russia

A sign at an Exxon station in Miami, Fla., on July 31, 2008. Getty Images WASHINGTON—The U.S. is close to imposing the toughest round of energy sanctions so far on Russia, measures that would also hit Western companies like Exxon Mobil that are working with Russian state-controlled oil companies. The sanctions, which the European Union is expected to match, would ban energy companies from working with Russia on future oil exploration in the Russian Arctic, deep seas and shale rock formations, according to a U.S. official. The sanctions wouldn’t affect current oil production, but could imperil the future of existing partnerships, including a deal between Exxon Mobil Corp. and OAO Rosneft , the Kremlin-controlled oil giant, to drill in the Arctic Ocean. Previous sanctions banned only the export of technology that could be used in such projects. Other companies potentially affected include BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. […]

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Gazprom Said to Face Biggest Drop in EU Revenue in 5 Years

OAO Gazprom (GAZP) , the world’s largest natural gas exporter, may face the biggest decline in European gas revenue in five years as demand weakens and buyers negotiate discounts, according to two company officials. Sales to the European Union, the source of 40 percent of revenue by Russian accounting standards, are forecast to fall more than 10 percent to about $55 billion this year, said the officials, asking not to be identified as the forecast isn’t public yet. Gazprom’s press service declined to comment. The forecast doesn’t take into account the rift between the EU and Russia over its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine , the main transit route for gas to Europe . While flows so far remain unaffected, the EU is seeking to ease reliance on Russian gas. Demand is falling after the region pumped a record volume of the fuel into underground storage to guard […]

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Gazprom First-Quarter Profit Falls 41% on Ukrainian Gas Debt

OAO Gazprom, Russia ’s biggest company, said its first-quarter profit slumped 41 percent on a foreign currency loss and Ukraine’s debt for natural gas supplies. Net income dropped to 223 billion rubles ($6 billion) from 381 billion rubles a year earlier, the Moscow-based exporter said in a statement on its website. Gazprom, which provides 30 percent of the European Union’s gas, halted supplies to Ukraine in June over unpaid bills, including $1.45 billion from 2013. The Russian producer now estimates it’s owed $5.3 billion after raising the price for Ukraine in April to a level higher than it charges Germany , which the government in Kiev has rejected as unfair. The quarter marks the “start of not an easy year,” Gazprombank energy analysts wrote in an e-mailed note before the report. While a weaker ruble is compensating for a decrease in Gazprom’s export prices, the biggest negative factor is […]

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Russia tightens gas supplies to Poland

General view of the gas station near the border between Ukraine and Poland in the settlement of Drozdovychi, 120 km (75 miles) west of ukrainian city of Lviv. Moscow has reduced its gas exports to Poland in an apparent attempt to prevent EU countries from re-exporting Russian gas as a lifeline to Ukraine. Russia halted its direct gas shipments to Ukraine in June amid a pricing dispute that has accompanied their broader conflict over Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The latest move by state-controlled Gazprom to crack down on re-exports represents a further tightening of Moscow’s noose around Kiev before a winter that could cripple its economy if it cannot secure sufficient energy supplies. More On this topic IN Europe Poland’s state gas group PGNiG said on Wednesday that Gazprom had delivered 20 per cent less gas on Monday and 24 per cent less gas on Tuesday than it was […]

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‘Yes’ vote means more oil, Scotland says

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept. 10 (UPI) — Only a "yes" vote on the independence referendum will give Scotland the chance to realize the North Sea’s oil and gas potential, the energy minister said. Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said Wednesday he welcomed a paper published from the University of Aberdeen finding 99 oil discoveries will be commercially viable over the next 30 years . "In value terms half the wealth from Scotland’s oil remains and by grabbing the independence opportunity later this month we can put an end to poor U.K. stewardship of this vital resource," Ewing said in a statement. Scotland votes Sept. 18 in a one-sentence referendum for independence from the United Kingdom. The government in Edinburgh says it could support its economy with oil and gas reserves , while relying on renewable resources for power. The University of Aberdeen study finds 58 of the expected new discoveries […]

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London watching European gas row closely

LONDON, Sept. 10 (UPI) — Few in the European community could find relief in the event of a winter crisis stemming from transit issues in Ukraine, the British energy minister said. European consumers get about a quarter of their gas needs from Russia, though the bulk of that supply runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. "We have looked at our gas resilience to a range of very extreme scenarios, including things we hope do not happen in Ukraine," British Energy Secretary Ed Davey said. Russian energy company Gazprom in 2006 and 2009 cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of contractual disputes. That left downstream consumers in Europe without gas, a situation that could be repeated because of ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine . Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak committed last week to meeting contractual obligations to Europe. Though the United Kingdom does not directly import gas from […]

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Gazprom Limits Polish Gas Supplies as Reverse Flows Halt

Russia’s OAO Gazprom limited natural gas flows to Poland , preventing the European Union member state from supplying Ukraine via so-called reverse flows. Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA, or PGNiG, got 20 to 24 percent less fuel than it ordered from Gazprom Export over the past two days and is compensating flows with alternative supply, the company said today in an e-mailed statement . Poland halted gas supply to Ukraine at 3 p.m. Warsaw time today, according to Ukraine’s UkrTransGaz. Ukraine is seeking to replace some of its Russian gas with fuel from Europe after Gazprom halted its supplies on June 16 in a dispute over debt and prices, echoing spats in 2006 and 2009 that left European customers short of fuel. Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller said in June the company might limit supplies to gas-metering stations where it observed reverse flows. “It would appear from […]

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Ukraine says Russia withdrawing forces from east, sees boost for peace

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s president said on Wednesday Russia had removed the bulk of its forces from his country, raising hopes for a peace drive now underway after five months of conflict in which more than 3,000 people have been killed. Moscow denies sending troops into eastern Ukraine to support pro-Russian rebels battling Ukrainian forces, despite what Kiev and its Western backers say is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Moscow also denies arming the separatists. President Petro Poroshenko told a televised cabinet meeting Ukraine would remain a sovereign, united country under the terms of a peace roadmap approved last Friday, but said parts of the east under rebel control would get special status. "According to the latest information I have received from our intelligence, 70 percent of Russian troops have been moved back across the border," Poroshenko said. "This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good […]

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