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Ukraine Accuses Russia of Sending More Troops and Artillery to Aid Rebels

MOSCOW — In as clear a sign as any of the unraveling peace process in eastern Ukraine , the authorities in Kiev accused Russia on Monday of again sending regular army soldiers into Ukraine to prop up pro-Russian separatists who were losing a battle. About 700 soldiers crossed Russia’s western border into the snowy war zone in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council said in a statement that was not possible to verify independently. They came armed with a wide array of heavy weapons, Prime Minister Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk told journalists in Kiev, the capital. The country’s intelligence agencies “confirm that men and equipment entered from Russia,” he said. Howitzers and other artillery and antiaircraft systems were said to have crossed the border. “These items cannot be bought in a market in Donetsk or the Russian Federation,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said. “They can only come from the […]

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Former oil exec: $5-a-gallon gas on the way

John Hofmeister attracted national attention in 2010 when he predicted that average U.S. gasoline prices would soar to $5 a gallon in 2012, thanks to rising crude oil prices. His forecast fell short, as the cost of filling up flirted with $4 in 2012, but never went higher. Now, with gasoline prices at $2.14, their lowest level since May 2009, the former president of Shell Oil is issuing another warning, telling motorists that their joy ride may end sooner than they think. “The next round of high prices is likely to start later this year, as crude rebounds to the $80s and $90s, perhaps pushing to the $100 level by late in the year or early next,” Hofmeister told me the other day after a trip to Calgary, where he was promoting natural gas as a transportation fuel. “The triggering mechanism will be global demand growth relative to how […]

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Falling oil prices hit Venezuela, Iran and Russia hard

As oil prices continued to plunge last week, it was instructive to watch the disparate reactions of three governments whose whopping losses are likely to produce some of the biggest international stories of 2015. There was the panicked scrambling of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who skipped his own state of the union speech for a desperate world tour in search of loans or promises of $100 oil. He got neither, even as rumors flew back home about whether he would be allowed to stay in office on his return. Jackson Diehl is deputy editorial page editor of The Post. He is an editorial writer specializing in foreign affairs and writes a biweekly column that appears on Mondays. View Archive There was the cool response of Vladi­mir Putin, whose ministers announced drastic cuts in government spending — except for defense. Russia’s proxy forces in eastern Ukraine meanwhile launched a new offensive […]

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Oil Prices Start Week in Negative Territory

LONDON—Oil prices started the week in negative territory on expectations that a sustained recovery is still a long way off. U.S. crude snapped a seven-week losing streak last week after bullish comments by an international energy watchdog. But analysts said they see little evidence that the combination of oversupply and sluggish demand that has pummeled prices since last summer is abating. Brent crude for March delivery fell 1.3% to $49.52 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February flirted with $48 a barrel in recent trade, down 1.5% from Friday’s settlement. “Despite a nearly 60% fall in oil prices since mid-2014, oil market balances remain weak, with prospects of a recovery looking dim until the latter months of 2015,” Barclays analysts said in a report over the weekend. Oil markets rallied on Friday after the International […]

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Oil Trades Near $50 After First Weekly Gain in 2 Months

Oil dropped after capping its first weekly gain in two months as investors weigh rising OPEC against speculation supply from outside the group will slow. Prices slid at least 1.2 percent in London and New York. Iraq is pumping at a record pace of 4 million barrels a day, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said. Non-OPEC nations will boost output this year at a weaker rate than previously forecast, according to the International Energy Agency. Crude slumped almost 50 percent last year as the U.S. pumped oil at the fastest rate in more than three decades while OPEC resisted calls to cut supply. U.S. producers idled a record number of drill rigs during the past six weeks, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. “The bigger picture remains from a fundamental point-of-view,” Ric Spooner, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “We have a supply […]

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Oil prices dip on gloomy economic outlook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude oil prices dipped back below $50 a barrel on Monday as Europe’s and Asia’s economic outlook darkened, although some price support came from falling U.S. output. Analysts said prices were supported around current levels but warned that there was not much room for gains. "Some positive data points helped to stabilize oil for now … Upbeat IEA comments and a falling U.S. rig count were the latest positive news. While the news was able to halt oil’s price decline, it was not enough to turn prices bullish," Morgan Stanley said on Monday. China is due on Tuesday to report economic growth data that is expected to be the weakest in 24 years. In Europe, Thursday’s meeting of the European Central Bank will likely see the launch of a government bond-buying campaign, pointing to further euro falls against the dollar as well as to downward […]

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Iran: New U.S. Sanctions Would End Nuclear Talks, Officials Say

Iran will stop negotiating with the six world powers if the U.S. Congress approves any new sanctions, senior parliamentary officials said Jan. 17, Fars news agency reported. The officials also said if any of the other six world powers imposed a new sanction against Iran, it would discontinue the talks. The announcement comes after U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to veto any new U.S. sanctions on Jan. 16 as talks on the nuclear issue continue . Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs. Copyright © 2015 Stratfor Global Intelligence, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 221 West 6th Street Suite 400 – Austin, TX 78701, USA unsubscribe from this list     update subscription preferences | forward email

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Iran Blames Oil-Price Plunge for Delay in Minister’s Saudi Visit

A meeting between the foreign ministers of OPEC’s Iran and Saudi Arabia was delayed in part due to discord over falling crude prices, said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, made an invitation in May to Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks in the kingdom with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal. The visit, postponed a few months ago because of differences over the Syria conflict, has been pushed off again “due to oil-price declines,” Amir-Abdollahian said on Al-Alam state-run television, according to its website. Oil producers in the Persian Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, “are expected to make efforts to stop the fall in oil prices and not let the decline have a lasting impact on oil-producing nations’ economies,” Amir-Abdollahian said, according to Iran’s Al-Alam . Brent crude has dropped 53 percent in the past year. […]

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Iraq Pumps Crude at Record Level Amid Plummeting Prices

Iraq is pumping crude at a record pace and will continue to boost exports this year amid a global market glut that’s pushed prices down, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said. “The average for Iraqi crude output is 4 million barrels a day, which is a historical record,” Abdul Mahdi said at a news conference after meeting his Turkish counterpart, Taner Yildiz , in Baghdad. The figure includes output from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north. In December, Iraq pumped 3.35 million barrels daily without the Kurdish region, according to the oil marketing organization SOMO. Iraq plans to boost crude exports to 3.3 million barrels a day this year, including from the Kurdish area, Abdul Mahdi said. Iraq and Turkey agreed to boost Iraqi crude exports from the north via the Turkish port of Ceyhan to 375,000 barrels a day in the coming months, and to as much […]

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Kirk-Menendez Bill Boosts Pressure to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Program

ENLARGE Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) shown here at an event in December, has drafted legislation along with Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) to impose new sanctions if current talks to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions fail to bear fruit. Getty Images WASHINGTON—Two U.S. senators stepped up pressure on both the White House and Iran on Sunday, drafting legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran if U.S.-led talks to curb its nuclear ambitions collapse. Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) said their bill would impose the sanctions only if Iran and U.S. diplomats miss a July deadline for a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. The Senate Banking Committee is set to debate the bill and possibly hold a vote Thursday. President Barack Obama on Friday threatened to veto any legislation approving new sanctions on Iran , which he said would jeopardize the talks. Iranian diplomats […]

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