Category:

Pentagon Cuts Military Fuel Price by 12%

ENLARGE The Pentagon, in a rare midyear change following falling oil prices, cut the price it charges military branches for refined fuel. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images The Pentagon has cut the price it charges the U.S. Air Force and other military branches for refined fuel by 12% in a rare midyear change following the swoon in global oil prices. The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency typically buys fuel at prevailing market prices throughout the year from vendors including BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Valero Energy Corp. and then resells it at a fixed price to its various services. The Pentagon reduced the standard sales price of refined fuel to its services to $136.92 a barrel from $155.40 at Feb. 1, the department said in response to a request from The Wall Street Journal. It’s rare for the Pentagon to change the preset price midyear, according to defense experts. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Paris imposes car restrictions to fight pollution

On Wednesday last week Paris was covered in a thick haze obscuring the Eiffel Tower The French authorities have introduced measures to combat a sharp increase in pollution affecting Paris and other cities in northern France. On Monday the number of cars on the road in Paris will be cut in half – only motorists with odd-numbered plates will be allowed to drive. Public transportation will be free as well car-sharing and bike-sharing programmes. Similar measures were put in place last year when pollution soared in Paris. The city saw a severe spike in smog on Wednesday last week and briefly had the world’s dirtiest air, AP news agency reported quoting Plume Labs, a monitoring company. The mayor’s office announced at the weekend that alternating number plate measures would be implemented on Monday, with exceptions for electric or hybrid vehicles as well as emergency vehicles. About 750 police officers […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Russia threatens to aim nuclear missiles at Denmark ships if it joins NATO shield

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Russia threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Danish warships if Denmark joins NATO’s missile defense system, in comments Copenhagen called unacceptable and NATO said would not contribute to peace. Denmark said in August it would contribute radar capacity on some of its warships to the missile shield, which the Western alliance says is designed to protect members from missile launches from countries like Iran. Moscow opposes the system, arguing that it could reduce the effectiveness of its own nuclear arsenal, leading to a new Cold War-style arms race. In an interview in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Mikhail Vanin, said he did not think Danes fully understood the consequences of joining the program. "If that happens, Danish warships will be targets for Russian nuclear missiles," Vanin told the newspaper. Asked to respond, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Denmark was a staunch member of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Smuggled Libya Gas Fuels Conflict

ENLARGE Fighters from Libya Dawn, an alliance of Islamist-backed militias, take cover during clashes last week with an opposing militia in Bir al-Ghanam, around 30 miles from the capital of Tripoli. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Smugglers selling Libya’s heavily subsidized gasoline and diesel abroad at jacked-up prices are likely using at least some of the profit to finance fighting between the country’s rival governments, according to a U.N. report. With recurring violence hampering attempts to resolve Libya’s division, U.N. officials now are considering action that could target at least some of the illegal trade. The sales add up: About $12 million of petroleum products are being smuggled out of the country each month on average, a Libyan oil official said. ENLARGE Officials at Libya’s National Oil Co. say smugglers are diverting some of the fuel to Mediterranean countries such as Tunisia and Malta, where a gallon of diesel costs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Exclusive: CN Rail derailment numbers soared before recent crashes

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway’s safety record deteriorated sharply in 2014, reversing years of improvements, as accidents in Canada blamed on poor track conditions hit their highest level in more than five years, a Reuters analysis has found. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said on Tuesday that track failure may have played a role in CN’s three recent Ontario accidents, which have fueled calls for tougher regulation. The agency said oil unit trains, made up entirely of tank cars, could make tracks more susceptible to failure. Data obtained under access to information laws and analyzed by Reuters shows a broader trend, which has not been previously reported, and could pile more pressure on CN Rail to slow down trains or reduce their length. A crackdown on oil trains could raise the cost of shipping Canadian crude by rail. Trains operated by CN in Canada derailed along main lines […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

ChemChina to Buy Controlling Stake in Pirelli

ENLARGE Pirelli tyres ahead of the Italian F1 Grand Prix in Monza in September 2014. China National Chemical Corp. and other investors are making a bid for Pirelli. Photo: Reuters MILAN—China National Chemical Corp. and other investors are making a bid for Pirelli & C. SpA that could value the Italian tire manufacturer at around $7.7 billion—one of the largest overseas acquisitions by a Chinese state firm in recent years. The deal will give China, the largest auto market in the world, control of one of the world’s top tire brands and if the tender is completed, the largest acquisition by a Chinese state firm since oil giant Cnooc Ltd.’s $15 billion acquisition of Nexen Inc. in 2012, according to Dealogic data. A unit of China National Chemical, known as ChemChina, will initially pay about €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) to buy a 26% stake in Pirelli owned by Camfin, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. dollar, Iran talks sway oil markets

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif upbeat as multilateral nuclear negotiations spawn talk of a "new day." UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif continued talks Friday in Lausanne, Switzerland, with his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry . Talks coincide with Nowruz, the start of the Iranian calendar year. "I hope this new day will be a new day for the entire world — a new era of greater understanding and peace," Zarif said. Iranian oil production is limited under the terms of a multilateral agreement reached in November 2013 that allows the Islamic republic some leeway in terms of oil exports in exchange for concessions on nuclear research activity. Sanctions against Iran may be revised if there’s a breakthrough during the current round of talks. Iranian negotiator Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday he was "very optimistic" about the progress so far. Though obstacles remain in terms of sanctions, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Iran Nuclear Talks Go Down to the Wire

ENLARGE U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, before a negotiation session with Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, right, over Iran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Nuclear talks between Iran and six powers are set to go down to the wire, with negotiations breaking up on Friday and expected to resume again just days before the March 31 deadline for a political deal. A spokeswoman for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that he will meet somewhere in Europe on Saturday with the British, French and German foreign ministers and then return to Washington. “We’ve had a series of intensive discussions with Iran this week, and given where we are in the negotiations, it’s an important time for high-level consultations with our partners in these talks,” Marie Harf said. Two diplomats at the talks said that the likely day for negotiations […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Deadlocked Iran nuclear talks set to break off, resume next week

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers were set to suspend negotiations on a historic nuclear deal and reconvene later next week to break a deadlock over sensitive atomic research and lifting of sanctions, Western officials said on Friday. While the negotiations have made progress over the past year and both sides appear determined to push for a deal, differences on major sticking points are still wide enough to potentially prevent an agreement in the end. On the sixth day of talks at a 19th century hotel in the Swiss city of Lausanne, plans for the delegations changed repeatedly over the course of several hours. At one point, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany were expected to join the talks on Saturday. Less than an hour later those plans were called into question after the Iranian delegation informed their U.S., British, French, Germany, Russian and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Oil Surges on Weaker Dollar, Drilling Data

ENLARGE A car travels past rigs on Highway 80, west of Farm-To-Market Road 1788, in Midland, Texas last month. The number of rigs in the U.S. has fallen by more than 40% since October. Photo: Associated Press NEW YORK—Oil prices surged Friday as the dollar weakened and the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell for a 15th straight week . The expiration of the front-month U.S. oil-futures contract extended the move, analysts said, as traders closed out positions. Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose $1.76, or 4%, to $45.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, posting the largest one-day move since Feb. 12. Prices gained 2% on the week, snapping a four-week losing streak. The April contract expired at settlement Friday. The more-actively traded May contract settled up $1.04, or 2.3%, at $46.57 a barrel. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 89 cents, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple