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Iran’s Rouhani intervenes as deadline for nuclear deal approaches

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – Iran’s president spoke with the leaders of France, Britain, China and Russia on Thursday in an apparent effort to break an impasse to a nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers. He also raised the Saudi-led military operation against Iranian-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen, as did U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of nuclear negotiations in Switzerland with Tehran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The United States is pushing for a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers before a March 31 deadline, and officials close to the talks said some kind of preliminary agreement was possible. However, a senior British diplomat acknowledged: "There are still important issues where no agreement has so far been possible. "Our task, therefore, for the next few days is to see if we can bridge the gaps and arrive at a political framework which could then be […]

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KRG solidifies hold on Ain Zalah

The final welded section of the KRG’s Khurmala – Feyshkabour pipeline lies by trenching immediately south of oil storage tanks at DNO International’s pumping station, 3km from the Turkey border. August 17, 2013. (PATRICK OSGOOD/Iraq Oil Report) Recommend 4 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) appears to be appropriating another oil field formerly controlled by Iraq’s federal government – part of a controversial drive to expand control over the country’s disputed territories.The KRG has been lifting crude from the Ain Zalah field, in northwestern Ninewa province, at a rate of roughly 2,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to a worker at the field."They are sending between 100 to 200 trucks to Kurdistan," the worker said. "T…

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U.S. Airstrikes on ISIS in Tikrit Prompt Boycott by Shiite Fighters

Photo Shiite militiamen on Thursday in Tikrit. Thousands of Shiites said they would boycott the fight there against the Islamic State. Credit Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press AL RASHID AIR BASE, Iraq — By Day 2 of the American airstrike campaign against militants holed up in Tikrit, the mission appeared beleaguered on several fronts on Thursday: Thousands of Shiite militiamen boycotted the fight, others threatened to attack any Americans they found, and Iraqi officials said nine of their fighters had been accidentally killed in an airstrike. In Washington, American military leaders insisted that things were going according to plan. They said that they were stepping into the Tikrit fight only after the Iranian- and militia-led advance on the city had stalled after three weeks, and that they welcomed working solely with Iraqi government forces. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of the United States Central Command, told a Senate hearing on Thursday […]

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Yemen Conflict Devolves Into Proxy War

ENLARGE People gather at the site of an airstrike on a residential area near San’a airport on Thursday. Photo: Reuters The conflict in Yemen is quickly devolving into a wider regional conflagration, pitting Shiite Iran and an allied militant group against Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states that came together to launch airstrikes on those militants. The coordinated Arab attacks led by Saudi Arabia began early Thursday morning and targeted the Shiite-linked Houthi militant group in Yemen. They followed weeks of talks on forging a joint military force to combat what some nations see as regional threats from Iran coupled with a U.S. reluctance to intervene. Saudi Arabia, Shiite Iran’s main rival for power in the Middle East, conducted the first round of strikes against the Houthis. In the early hours of Friday, residents of the capital San’a reported an intense barrage of explosions as a second round […]

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Yemen war clouds raise dangers for top oil shipping route

LONDON (Reuters) – Conflict in Yemen risks spilling out into the busy sea lanes that pass it and potentially disrupt the narrow Bab el-Mandeb passage through which nearly 4 million barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and Asia. Oil prices rose as much as 6 percent on Thursday after neighboring Saudi Arabia and its allies launched air strikes on Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels fighting to oust Yemen’s president. The development is a gamble by the world’s top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard. "The collapse of Yemen as a political reality and the power of the Houthis will enable Iran to expand its presence on both sides of the Bab el-Mandeb, in the Gulf of Aden and in the Red Sea. Already discrete numbers of Iranian naval vessels regularly sail these waters," J. Peter Pham of U.S. think tank […]

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Nigeria’s External Reserves Fall Below U.S.$30 Billion

The value of Nigeria’s external reserves, which has been on the downswing in the past few weeks, fell below the $30 billion mark to $29.865 billion as at March 25, 2015, according to latest Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) figures. THISDAY’s findings show that the current level of the foreign reserves, which is derived mainly from the proceeds of crude oil earnings, has fallen by 13.4 per cent or $4.628 billion this year, compared with the $34.493 billion it stood at the beginning of the year. This has been attributed to the significant reduction in forex inflow into the country occasioned by the sustained low crude oil prices. Oil prices however rallied for a second straight day on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began air strikes in Yemen, sparking fears of a bigger Middle East battle that could disrupt world crude supplies. Brent crude was […]

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U.S.: Schlumberger ‘willfully’ violated sanctions

Schlumberger pleads guilty to working against U.S. sanctions in Iran and Sudan for a six-year period ending in 2010. Photo by Steve Oehlenschlager/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) — For six years, a division of oil services company Schlumberger "willfully" violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and Sudan, the Justice Department said. "Over a period of years [ending in 2010], Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd. conducted business with Iran and Sudan from the United States and took steps to disguise those business dealings, thereby willfully violating the U.S. economic sanctions against those regimes," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Carlin said in a statement. The Justice Department said the oil services company agreed to enter a guilty plea and pay a $232 million penalty for conspiring to violate sanctions against trade with Iran and Sudan. Under the terms of the agreement, Schlumberger agreed to halt all activity in those countries for a three-year period. […]

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Halliburton Closing Minot Facility

Halliburton Closing Minot Facility Beginning April 1st, Halliburton will no longer have a presence in Minot, North Dakota. A spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the company will suspend operations and close the facility, transferring employees to their Williston and Dickinson locations. This is the latest in a string of announcements from Halliburton about their efforts to streamline operations in the face of the current crude pricing downturn. Earlier this year the company reported worldwide layoffs of 6,500 people followed by an announcement that they would close their facility in Regina, Saskatchewan in March. Related: Energy Giants Announce Layoffs Spokesperson Susie McMichae said that “The company continue to make adjustments to its workforce based on current business conditions. We value every employee we have, but unfortunately we are faced with the difficult reality that reductions are necessary to worth through this challenging market environment,” said McMichael.

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PetroChina to Slash Spending as Oil Prices Hit Profits

ENLARGE A Petrochina Co. logo and gas prices are displayed at one of the company’s gas stations in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday, March 19, 2015. Photo: Bloomberg News BEIJING— PetroChina Co. has become the latest major global oil company to slash its spending plans for the coming year, after a global drop in oil prices led to a 17% fall in its 2014 net profit. The company is pledging to cut capital spending 8.8%, to 266 billion yuan this year, its lowest level since 2008. The planned spending cut by PetroChina, the nation’s biggest oil-and-gas producer by volume, follows similarly announced cuts by its rivals Sinopec Corp. and Cnooc Ltd. “In 2015, the global economy is expected to continue to recover at a low speed, subject to some unstableness and uncertainties,” PetroChina said in its Thursday filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company has been a […]

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Oil Producers Sound Retreat From China

ENLARGE PetroChina said 2014 net profit dropped 17% amid low oil prices, and pledged to slash spending on exploration and production and other areas this year. Above, a PetroChina oil factory in Dalian, China. Photo: Reuters BEIJING—Global oil companies are unwinding some big bets they made on China—and that is bad news for the Chinese companies, which need their know-how. Falling oil prices have forced oil bosses to slash planned investments that now look less likely to provide good returns. Projects in China, often expensive and geologically risky, are high on the list of those to be cut. Royal Dutch Shell PLC emerged as one of the industry’s biggest China proponents in recent years, pledging billions of dollars to hunt for shale gas while building up businesses producing and selling oil products. The company is now scaling back investment in China shale exploration after several years of costly challenges. […]

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