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Iran oil officials in Beijing to discuss oil supplies, projects

BEIJING (Reuters) – An Iranian delegation is in Beijing this week to push for more oil sales and discuss Chinese oil and gas investments in Iran, just days after Tehran and world powers reached a framework nuclear deal, Iranian oil officials told Reuters. China is Iran’s largest trade partner and oil client, having bought roughly half of Iran’s total crude exports since 2012, when sanctions against Iran were tightened. Amir-Hossein Zamaninia, Iran’s deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs said he and his colleagues would discuss China’s oil and gas projects in Iran, while officials from state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will meet with China’s biggest crude buyers. The NIOC and other officials are expected to meet with regular customers Unipec, the trading arm of top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp, and state trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, which started taking Iranian crude in the mid-1990’s when Tehran sought […]

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U.S. says Iran sanctions face phase-out, Obama knocks Israel demand

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States made clear on Monday that sanctions on Iran would have to be phased out gradually under a nuclear pact and President Barack Obama poured cold water on an Israeli demand that a deal be predicated on Tehran recognizing Israel. "The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms," Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR). "That is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment… We want Iran not to have nuclear weapons precisely because we can’t bank on the nature of the regime changing," he said. Meanwhile White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there was no ambiguity about the U.S. demand that sanctions on Tehran be lifted in phases under a final […]

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Israel Proposes Changes to Iran Nuclear Deal

ENLARGE Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz proposed changes to the nuclear deal announced last week between Iran and six world powers. The demands marked the first time Israeli officials outlined their own alternatives to the nuclear deal. Photo: Associated Press JERUSALEM—Israel’s intelligence chief proposed a dramatic revamp of an agreement forged last week between six world powers and Iran over its nuclear program and said the U.S. Congress was the most likely arena to fend off an unfavorable deal. Last week’s framework, however, leaves almost no room for negotiators on either side to overhaul the terms in the way Yuval Steinitz, the intelligence minister, called for Monday in a meeting with reporters. Instead, the demands are more likely to form the basis of renewed lobbying Israel has vowed to make against the deal, specifically among congressional lawmakers who seek to review the deal and are considering new sanctions against […]

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Iran Deal Roils Waters For Indian Commodity Exporters

NEW DELHI—The prospect of a phased-in lifting of Western sanctions against Iran raised by last week’s preliminary nuclear agreement with Tehran has created uncertainty over the fate of an oil-for-goods barter agreement involving rice, soymeal and other products. Iran has been India’s leading buyer of high-grade basmati rice and soymeal, which has partly been helped because of the barter deal. That deal evolved as a means for India to keep importing Iranian oil and pay for it in a way that would circumvent trade and financial restrictions on Tehran. “We will have to wait and see,” said Arun Kumar Sampath Kumar, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan. He said the situation could become clearer after June 30 once the details of the nuclear deal between Iran and six Western powers are worked out. If sanctions were lifted on Iran, it is likely to become easier for the nation to […]

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Iran expecting foreign cash in oil sector

Iran expects foreign investors will flock to the country’s oil sector if sanctions pressures ease in response to a framework nuclear agreement. File Photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI TEHRAN, April 6 (UPI) — Foreign investors are expected to flood the Iranian market as sanctions relief expands the country’s oil potential, officials said Monday. Iran could see sanctions pressures ease if a framework agreement reached last week in Switzerland enters into force in July. Iran, under the terms of the agreement, would pull back substantially from the brink of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran is limited to around 1 million barrels of oil per day in exports under the terms of a November 2013 deal with international powers. Exports could double if all sanctions are released later this year. "After July 1, foreign investors will flock to Iran, particularly to the oil and petrochemical sectors," Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam, director of the National […]

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Iraqi oil exports reached 2015 record in March

Iraqi Oil Ministry says poor weather in and around port city of Basra curtailed full export potential. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/tcly. BAGHDAD, April 6 (UPI) — Iraqi oil exports of around 92 million barrels per day last month were the highest yet this year, with most of that leaving southern ports, the government said. Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said total exports for March were 92.4 million barrels, which is the highest for any month yet this year. Roughly 90 percent of all exports leave the country through the southern port city of Basra. Most of the rest was shipped across the border to Turkish ports on the Mediterranean Sea. The spokesman said bad weather in and around Basra curtailed some of the export potential and the ministry was working to make up for any shortages. According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, total Iraqi oil production […]

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Libya expects more oil production soon, report

Libyan media report says oil production from a field shuttered since 2013 may be on the verge of restarting. File Photo By Dona_Bozzi/Shutterstock. TRIPOLI, Libya, April 6 (UPI) — Libyan media reports, an oil field shuttered since the middle of 2013, may be on the cusp of resuming operations after the resolution of labor disputes. The Libya Herald reported Sunday operations of the Abu Attifel oil field, last producing around 70,000 barrels of oil per day, may restart soon. The report said Italian energy company Eni stopped operations at the field "in August 2013 following the occupation and closure of oil export terminals by secessionist protestors." More than 1,000 demonstrators descended on the facility in late 2013 demanding jobs . "It is not yet clear what deal, if any, has been reached between the locals and the Libyan National Oil Co., which will allow Abu Attifel to restart production," […]

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Nigeria: Militants Blow Up Pipelines in Delta

Fire incident on the pipeline network of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Ijegun area of Lagos State. An Urhobo militant group, Urhobo Gbagbako, on Friday claimed responsibility for Thursday night’s bombing of the NPDC Oil pipelines at Ighrenene, Afiesere and Ekiugbo communities in Delta State. The group, which made the claims in an email sent to some reporters, said it is also planning to shut down all the oil fields in Urhobo and Isoko areas. The email signed by the group’s s spokesperson, Priest Omodjuvwu, said the bombing of the Ekiugbo/Ighrenene/Afiesere was to draw attention to the neglect of ex-militants of Urhobo extraction. It said the Urhobo had been sidelined in the pipelines protection contracts offered to ex-militants from other ethnic groups and they now want to show that they too had the capacity to cause trouble if ignored. The group said it had sent warning signals […]

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Greenpeace Group Boards Arctic Offshore Drill Rig In Pacific

Petty Officer Third Class Melissa McKenzie of the Coast Guard’s 14th District in Honolulu confirmed the Coast Guard received word from Blue Marlin crew members that a group had boarded the vessel. The office did not receive a request for assistance. The Polar Pioneer left Malaysia in early March. It is one of two drill rigs Shell hopes to use for exploratory drilling during the summer open water season in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast if it can obtain all necessary permits. Shell last drilled in Arctic Ocean waters in 2012. Using two vessels, the company drilled pilot holes and performed other preliminary work in both the Chukchi and the Beaufort seas. Shell was prohibited from drilling into oil-bearing rock because it did not have required response equipment on hand. The company experienced problems in the challenging conditions, culminating with the drill vessel Kulluk, which was used […]

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