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France says deal with Iran must be robust, guarantee no atomic bomb

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country wanted an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program that was sufficiently robust to guarantee that Tehran could not acquire an atomic bomb. Iran and six world powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – suspended negotiations on a nuclear agreement on Friday and are set to meet again next week to break a deadlock over sensitive atomic research and lifting of sanctions. France has been demanding more stringent restrictions on the Iranians under any deal than the other Western delegations and at one point during the talks French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius phoned his team to ensure it made no more concessions, officials said. The Europeans and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry plan to meet in London on Saturday to help bridge differences, negotiators said, before a end-March deadline for a political framework […]

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France Takes Toughest Line at Iran Nuclear Talks

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—France is again adopting the toughest line against Iran in negotiations aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, potentially placing Paris at odds with the Obama administration as a diplomatic deadline to forge an agreement approaches at month-end. President Barack Obama called French President François Hollande on Friday to discuss the Iran diplomacy and try to unify their positions. The presidents “reaffirmed their commitment” to a deal “while noting that Iran must take steps to resolve several remaining issues,” the White House said. French diplomats have been publicly pressing the U.S. and other world powers not to give ground on key elements—particularly the speed of lifting United Nations sanctions and the pledge to constrain Iran’s nuclear research […]

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Saudi looking beyond oil price slump as rig count spikes

DUBAI/KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – As the global energy industry stares transfixed at a spectacular drop in U.S. rigs, Saudi Arabia is ramping up the number of machines drilling for oil and gas despite a sharp fall in the price of crude. Industry sources and analysts say the OPEC kingpin is looking beyond the halving of global oil prices since June 2014 to a time when crude could again be in short supply. Riyadh is therefore keen to preserve what is known as its spare capacity – the kingdom’s unique ability to raise oil output quickly at any given moment. But to achieve that, Saudi Arabia has to drill much more than in the past, after boosting output to record levels to compensate for global supply outages in the past four years. "The Saudis are probably worried about everyone else reducing capex as a result of low oil prices […]

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Nigeria’s Rating Lowered by S&P as Oil, Politics Hit Economy

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s on Friday because of falling oil prices and rising political risks before delayed elections due next week in the West African country. The foreign and local currency long-term rating was cut one level to B+, four levels below investment grade. The outlook was changed to stable. “The decline in oil prices in the last seven months has significantly affected Nigeria’s external position and external vulnerability,” S&P said in a statement. “The tightly contested general elections may pose risks to Nigeria’s external position and the implementation of what we view as the government’s ambitious fiscal consolidation plans, while the Boko Haram group continues to disrupt the northeast.” Africa’s largest economy, which derives 90 percent of export earnings and 70 percent of government revenue from oil, is struggling with Brent crude prices having halved since June. The International Monetary Fund […]

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Libyan Investment Authority remains upbeat

Libyan investment chief upbeat about future despite threats to oil, one of the main sources of government revenue. UPI/Tariq aL-Hun. Though Libya’s short-term oil potential is waning, officials at a Malta summit said they were confident economic prosperity would come to the nation’s people. The board of directors at the Libyan Investment Authority met in Malta for their first annual meeting this week as violence lingers in the North African country. LIA Chairman Hassan Bouhadi said the investment authority is independent from political issues in a dividing country. "LIA’s assets are protected and the fund aims to develop these investments to establish economic prosperity for the Libyan people," he was quoted Thursday by the Libya Herald as saying. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah K. Jones wrote in a February piece in the Libyan newspaper the country may go broke if oil continues to get caught in the cross fire. […]

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Shell unloads Nigeria assets

Shell unloads assets in Nigeria as part of a strategic review, one day after critical oil spill report from Amnesty International. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Royal Dutch Shell said Friday it completed the sale of its stake in a Nigerian oil field for $737 million as part of a strategic review of onshore assets there. The company sold its 30 percent stake in oil mining lease 30 to Eroton Exploration & Production Co. Eroton took on an additional stake in the area from subsidiaries of Total and Eni. "This divestment is part of the strategic review of Shell Petroleum Development Co.’s onshore portfolio and is in line with the federal government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business," the Anglo-Dutch company said in a statement. The oil mining lease was producing an average 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year. Amnesty […]

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Oil rig count continues slide as debate grows on uncompleted well backlog

The US oil rig count continued to fall this week in response to lower crude prices, although output continues to climb and debate rises on the impact of a backlog of uncompleted wells. On Friday, 825 oil rigs were working domestically, down 41 from last week and down 784 from October 10, according to the Baker Hughes weekly rig count. The number of rigs in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and Montana fell to double-digit levels for the first time in at least four years. Just 99 rigs were drilling in the play, down from 104 the week before and the most-recent high of 198 October 3. Operators have quickly reined in activity there, because of the high cost of wells and transportation to markets from the stranded basin. Likewise, oil rigs drilling the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico dropped by 20 to 285 this […]

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BHI: US rig count plunges in 15th straight week, spurred by offshore dropoff

HOUSTON, Mar. 20 By Matt Zborowski OGJ Staff Writer The US drilling rig count fell 56 units—41 of which targeted oil—to settle at 1,069 rigs working during the week ended Mar. 20, capping off the 15 th consecutive week in declines, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. Since the week ended Dec. 5, the rig count has plunged 851 units ( OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2014 ). The total of 1,069 is the lowest count since the week ended Oct. 30, 2009, and 734 fewer units compared with this week a year ago. The US Energy Information Administration noted this week in its “Today in Energy” update that the last major rig count drop during the 2008-09 recession had little impact on overall oil production because of rig efficiency. “When producers make the decision to lay down some drilling rigs , they generally start by idling the older, […]

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Bakken Rig Count Dips Below 100

Williston’s Population Growth Taxes Infrastructure Williston Service Population Grew 20% The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by five t0 97 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. In recent Bakken news, a study reveals that Williston, N.D. is experiencing population growth that is ten times the normal rate. Infrastructure maintenance and improvements are a growing concern throughout the state as growing populations and oil equipment demands have taxed the current roadways and services. Read more: Population Grows 20% in Williston The U.S. rig count fell another 56 to 1069 rigs running as of today. A total of 242 rigs were targeting natural gas (down 15 from the previous week) and 825 were targeting oil in the U.S. (41 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 99 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across […]

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Smallest Oil Rig Drop in Three Weeks Shows Retreat Easing

(Bloomberg) — The biggest retreat from U.S. oil fields on record is showing signs of subsiding. Oil explorers sidelined 41 drilling rigs this week, the smallest drop in three weeks and down from the average 59-rig decline in February. The count has fallen for 15 straight weeks to 825, reaching the lowest level in more than five years, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday. The country has lost an unprecedented 750 oil rigs in the past 15 weeks as collapsing prices force drillers to let go of thousands of workers and retreat from shale formations. The slide in the rig count threatens to bring to a halt the oil production boom that turned the U.S. into the world’s largest fuel exporter. “While we’re still going to see declines on a weekly basis, the retreat is definitely losing steam,” James Williams, president of energy consulting company WTRG Economics, […]

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