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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Sanctions Must Lift When Nuclear Deal Is Signed

Continue reading the main story Video Play Video|0:58 Iran’s Supreme Leader on Nuclear Deal Iran’s Supreme Leader on Nuclear Deal Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran said on Thursday that he neither accepts nor rejects the framework nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers last week. By Reuters on Publish Date April 9, 2015. Photo by Office of the Supreme Leader. TEHRAN — Iran ’s supreme leader challenged on Thursday two of the United States’ bedrock principles in the nuclear negotiations, declaring that all economic sanctions would have to be lifted on the day any agreement is signed and that military sites would be strictly off limits to foreign inspectors. The assertions by the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , could be tactical, intended to give both the negotiators and himself some political space to get hard-liners and others slowly accustomed to the framework of a deal with the United […]

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China on tap for Iranian ‘Peace Pipeline,’ report says

China’s President Xi Jinping is expected in Islamabad later this month. Talks may include financial support for a long-delayed gas pipeline from Iran. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI. ISLAMABAD, April 9 (UPI) — Pakistani officials said they’re building a natural gas pipeline that could stretch to Iran with anticipation of financial support from the Chinese government. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled in Islamabad in late April. A report published Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal says the Chinese leader will offer support to a project first discussed in the 1990s as the so-called Peace Pipeline. "We’re building it," Pakistani Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the newspaper. "The process has started." The Journal reports as much as 85 percent of the $1.5 billion project could be financed through Chinese loans. Iranian energy officials, meanwhile, are in Beijing discussing bilateral energy ties. For Pakistan, an Iranian gas pipeline, would […]

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Iran’s Strategic Petroleum Reversal for Oil Markets

ENLARGE The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is America’s insurance against war with adversaries such as Iran. Now a potential deal between the two countries could end up creating an SPR-sized problem for oil bulls. If sanctions on Iran are lifted quickly, the extra oil that could find its way to market by the end of 2016 could add up to an amount similar to the SPR’s roughly 691 million barrels. There may yet be no deal with Iran come the end of June. But if there is, and sanctions are lifted, a big tap will open up in the global oil market. Iran’s output in 2008 was almost 3.9 million barrels a day; last year it was 2.8 million. This week, the U.S. Department of Energy speculated that, with a deal in place, Iran might start selling a stockpile of 30 million barrels or more later this year and raise […]

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Latest China Plan for Emergency Oil Will Hold 37 Days of Imports

China is seeking to hoard crude supplies equivalent to about 37 days of imports in its latest plan to build emergency stockpiles amid a collapse in prices. The nation is planning facilities with capacity to store 232 million barrels of crude in the third phase of its strategic petroleum reserve program, according to a deputy director at the National Development Reform and Commission’s energy research institute. The proposal is yet to receive government approval, Gao Shixian said in Shanghai on Friday. The world’s second-biggest oil consumer stepped up purchases to fill its emergency supplies last year as benchmark prices plunged almost 50 percent amid a global supply glut. It currently holds reserves equivalent to about 30 days of imports, with the government seeking to boost that level to 100 days by 2020, according to state-run refiner China Petrochemical Corp. The government has filled four sites that make up the […]

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Infrastructure Gaps Put Canada’s “Energy Superpower” Potential at Risk

ENLARGE Brian Porter, chief executive officer of Bank of Nova Scotia, speaks during an interview in New York. Photo: Jin Lee/Bloomberg News OTTAWA—Canada’s ability to realize its potential as an “energy superpower” is at risk because of infrastructure gaps preventing oil and gas companies from properly accessing global markets, says a top executive at Bank of Nova Scotia . Scotiabank Chief Executive Brian Porter, in remarks prepared for the bank’s annual meeting in Ottawa, cautioned that stalled energy-infrastructure projects, such as pipelines, coupled with Canada’s overreliance on the United States as an export market, will have significant consequences for the country’s economy. Toronto-based Scotiabank is Canada’s third-largest bank by assets and is a lender to the energy industry. Even so, it is rare for a Canadian bank CEO to take such a strong stance on a public policy issue viewed as controversial by some. His remarks come as swooning […]

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Gazprom Neft compensated with Iraqi oil

Gazprom Neft takes possession of Iraqi oil shipped to Turkish sea port of Ceyhan.File Photo by nito/Shutterstock. MOSCOW, April 9 (UPI) — Russian energy company Gazprom Neft said Thursday it received its first batch of oil from the Badra field in Iraq as compensation for field development costs. The Russian oil company, which serves as the operator of the Badra oil field, said it received 500,000 barrels of oil from the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Co. at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. "Gazprom Neft’s buyer is a large Asian company" the company said in a statement. The company, the oil arm of Russian gas company Gazprom, brought Badra online in late 2013 and testing of new pipeline infrastructure to the export terminal at Basra began early last year. The Russian company said the terms of its Iraqi contract call for the eventual production of 170,000 barrels per day. Investors […]

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Iraqi oil producer Gulf Keystone still for sale

Gulf Keystone Petroleum boasts of production success in Iraq, but says potential sale of company is still a viable option. Photo courtesy: Gulf Keystone Petroleum LONDON, April 9 (UPI) — Iraqi oil player Gulf Keystone Petroleum said Thursday it’s still in talks about a sale of the company despite significant achievements in the country. The company, which has headquarters in London, said in its full-year 2014 announcement gross production was 6.4 million barrels of oil, up from the 496,921 barrels produced in 2013. Growth potential for this year is substantial, the company said. The company in March resumed production from the Shaikan reserve area in the Kurdish north of Iraq after receiving payments for future crude oil sales. Production is now expected to increase to levels consistent with the installed capacity of 40,000 barrels of oil per day. Chairman Andrew Simon said 2014 was pivotal , adding his company […]

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Shell’s BG purchase could be catalyst needed for U.S. shale deals

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $70 billion agreement to buy BG Group Plc may be just the signal that other dealmakers need to make their own energy takeover bets, particularly in the U.S. shale sector. Bankers and analysts say that Shell’s move is telling potential acquirers that one of the biggest players is now confident enough to make a big play – that the fears of a further big slide in oil and gas prices may be fading. Following the more than 50 percent collapse in oil prices since the middle of last year, the market has been too volatile to give buyers and sellers clarity on valuations, bankers say, even as potential acquirers knock on doors to examine a range of assets. The Shell deal with BG brings together two European companies with a global reach. A tie-up will ripple across an energy industry ripe for […]

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Refineries revolution to spur use of oil products supertankers

LONDON (Reuters) – The rapid growth of mega refineries is prompting a new class of oil products supertankers, mirroring an earlier revolution in crude oil shipping, as traders look for scale that was previously not economically viable. In the early 1970s, ships capable of carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil were built to mitigate disruptions from the closure of the Suez Canal and to meet growing global demand. Now, the products trade is spurring similar innovation. As the Middle East and U.S. Gulf Coast transform into refining hubs, traders require ever-larger tankers to move oil products such as gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel to Europe, Asia and Latin America. Vessels previously used for crude are starting to carry products instead and new vessels are being purpose-built to carry larger quantities of oil products more efficiently. Trading powerhouses such as Vitol, Total and Shell have already booked vessels that […]

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Exclusive: Shipping lines pull back from Yemen as conflict escalates

LONDON (Reuters) – International shipping lines are being forced to scale back or suspend port calls to Yemen as the conflict gets worse, putting pressure on supplies of food as prices rise in local markets. Yemen imports more than 90 percent of its food, including most of its wheat and all its rice, to feed a population of 25 million. Much of its needs had been serviced by foreign ships. Saudi Arabia and Arab allies have launched air strikes against the Iran-allied Houthi movement, which has taken most of the country and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh. The coalition has deployed naval vessels to intercept ships carrying arms to the rebels, although merchant ships are meant to have free passage. Most ports appear to be under Houthi control or are disputed by combatants. Many shipping companies are now unwilling to risk their vessels, industry sources […]

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