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European Official Not Ready to Stiffen Russia Sanctions

BRUSSELS — Rattled by a newly aggressive Russia but still loath to confront the reality of violent conflict, Europe needs to draw clear lessons from the war in Ukraine in order to respond to a new and dangerous era, according to Donald Tusk, the former prime minister of Poland who took over recently as representative of the European Union ’s 28 leaders. Mr. Tusk, who will meet President Obama in Washington on Monday in his role as president of the European Council, said in an interview that Europe was not yet ready to further tighten sanctions against Russia despite continuing provocations by President Vladimir V. Putin. But he said he was eager for Europe to take a more robust stance alongside the United States in countering Russian efforts to redraw the borders of Ukraine, in dealing with chaos in countries like Libya, and in confronting the threat of jihadist […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Industry response to peak oil not enough long term

President and Vice President, Illinois Renewable Energy Association We were asked recently if peak oil remains an issue. Just as cold weather stimulates doubt regarding climate change the current low price of oil stimulates doubt about peak conventional oil. Such short-term anomalies confuse the public and bring out a new round of denials regarding the existence of these long-term trends. Researchers documenting peak conventional oil provide data indicating it occurred around 2005. Since then the production of conventional oil has been virtually flat. The dramatic increase in the production of oil shale in the United States obscured recognition of the long term implications of the drop in conventional oil supplies. As major independent oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and Shell spent more money on developing new sources of oil the actual amount of oil secured per capital expenditure declined. In response, oil companies cut back on expenditures and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Falls as Dollar Weighs, Drilling Report Disappoints

Oil prices fell sharply Friday as the dollar climbed in reaction to strong U.S. jobs data and a report on domestic drilling activity disappointed the market. Light, sweet crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the U.S. benchmark, turned negative early in the session as the dollar climbed, followed later by global Brent futures. The drop accelerated after a weekly report on U.S. drilling activity was released but regained some ground into the close. Though the oil market has stabilized after a steep selloff between June and January, analysts say fundamentals remain weak with continued supply growth and slower-than-expected demand. The international market has rebounded more strongly than the domestic one as supply interruptions in Libya and Iraq have brought a measure of balance back into the global market; still, both leading contracts lost ground for the week, with the U.S. benchmark declining for the third week in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Slips as Winter Nears an End

By Timothy Puko Natural-gas prices halted a brief rally, slipping as traders prepare for the end of winter. The front-month April contract settled down 0.2 cents, or 0.1%, at $2.839 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It ended a three-session rally even though prices briefly surged to their highest intraday point in a week. Private and government meteorologists are showing normal and above-normal temperatures for at least half the country by mid-March. It would be the end of an arctic chill across the eastern half of the country that led to the coldest February in about 30 years. It would also appear to be the end of the season’s spike in heating demand, analysts said. "It seems the fears of winter are evaporating," said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy. Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating fuel, so single-digit temperatures […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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World Rig Counts Declining

The weekly  Baker Hughes Rig Count  for North America and the International monthly rig count is out. In the charts below the monthly data is through February 2015 and the weekly data is as of March 6th. World Rig Count World Rig Count, counting oil, gas and miscellaneous rigs are down 684 rigs over the last three months. The annual spikes you here are caused by Canada. World Rig Count Less Canada Removing the seasonal Canadian spikes gives you a better picture of what is happening to the world rig count. Canada Rig Count This is the first time since before 2000 when the Canadian rig count did not peak in February. International Rig Count The International Oil Rig Count is down only 67 in the last three months but was unchanged from last month. It now stands at 982. *The US, Canada or FSU countries are not included […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraqi Forces Said to Near ISIS-Held Tikrit

BAGHDAD — Iraq ’s largest offensive against Islamic State militants came a step closer to the city of Tikrit on Friday, with Shiite militiamen and Iraqi troops advancing into the town of Dour, according to Iraqi state television. Dour, just south of Tikrit, is home to Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest-ranking member of Saddam Hussein’s government who was never captured after the 2003 American-led invasion. A prominent figure in the ruling Baath Party, he went on to make common cause with Islamist insurgents against American occupying troops and is now believed to be an ally of the Islamic State. Despite setbacks in some villages over the past four days, the Islamic State fighters have managed to hold on to Tikrit, using suicide attacks and roadside bombs to augment their defense against a pro-government force of at least 30,000, most of them from Iranian-backed Shiite militias. The militias have played […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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IOCs asked to suggest contract changes

Rick Vierbuchen (R), then president of ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures, shakes hands with Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, the director general of the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), after signing an initial deal for the West Qurna 1 field on Nov. 5, 2009. (MOHAMMED AMEEN/Reuters) Iraq is asking international oil companies (IOCs) to propose amendments to their multi-billion dollar oil field contracts, in addition to cutting costs and slowing down projects this year, as Iraq’s financial crisis squeezes available funding. In a Feb. 9 letter to IOCs obtained by Iraq Oil Report, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that the contracts and development activity should be changed in light of the recent crash in oil prices. "The consequence of the oil price fall is not just on the …

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Ecuador’s Oil Export Revenue Falls 44% in January

QUITO—Ecuador’s crude oil export revenue totaled $598 million in January, down about 44% from a year earlier, due to lower oil prices, the central bank said on Friday. Lower oil prices are expected to drag down economic growth, in a country whose oil sector generates about one-quarter of total government revenue and about a half of exports. Economists say Ecuador’s economy will likely grow between 1% and 2% this year. The average price of crude oil in January decreased 55% to $41.40 a barrel from the previous year. In terms of volume, Ecuador exported 11.57 million barrels of crude oil in January, a 25% increase from a year earlier and an increase of about 8% from December. All of the oil was exported by Ecuador’s state-owned companies. Crude oil is Ecuador’s main export, which the Andean country sends primarily to Asia, the U.S. and the Caribbean. The central bank […]

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China Blocks Web Access to ‘Under the Dome’ Documentary on Pollution

BEIJING — “Under the Dome,” a searing documentary about China ’s catastrophic air pollution, had hundreds of millions of views on Chinese websites within days of its release one week ago. The country’s new environment minister compared it to “Silent Spring,” the landmark 1962 book that energized the environmental movement in the United States. Domestic and foreign journalists clamored to interview the filmmaker, a famous former television reporter, though she remained silent. Then on Friday afternoon, the momentum over the video came to an abrupt halt, as major Chinese video websites deleted it under orders from the Communist Party’s central propaganda department. The startling phenomenon of the video, the national debate it set off and the official attempts to quash it reflect the deep political sensitivities in the struggle within the Chinese bureaucracy to reverse China’s environmental degradation , among the worst in the world. The drama over the […]

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China faces unprecedented environment, development conflict: minister

China’s Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining gives a press conference for the third session of the 12th National People’s Congress ( NPC ), on environmental protection in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Ran) BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) — China’s newly appointed environment chief said Saturday that the world’s second largest economy is faced with the unprecedented conflict between environmental protection and development in human history. Environmental Protection Minister Chen Jining made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature. "China’s environmental problem is still severe," he said, citing woes in poor environmental quality, grave ecological damage and high environmental risks that come with unreasonable industrial layout. The minister said that China needs to do more to cut pollution but also stressed that environment protection is a common issue that every other […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple