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Political Battle Ramps Up Over Iran Nuclear Deal

President Obama discussing the Iran nuclear framework Thursday. ENLARGE Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama ’s bet on a diplomatic agreement to deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon faces an immediate test at home, where he must overcome the politics of skeptical Republicans as well as some Democrats in Congress. The political struggle—part of the most complex battle of Mr. Obama’s presidency—is already under way as the GOP-controlled Congress aggressively presses for a bigger role in reviewing the nuclear-framework agreement reached last week between Iran, the U.S. and five other nations. Mr. Obama also must navigate the complicated leadership factions in the Middle East against the backdrop of the region’s increasing volatility. And he has to do all this amid a hotly contested presidential contest. “The stakes are huge,” said Robert Einhorn, formerly one of the Obama administration’s top officials in negotiations with Iran. “It’s a major […]

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Dollar Sputters After Surge

ENLARGE A growing number of investors are betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will put off any interest-rate increases until the end of 2015. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The dollar’s record rally, which rattled everything from the oil market to U.S. corporate earnings, is running out of gas. Many investors remain bullish for the longer term, but some say the greenback’s biggest gains are in the rearview mirror. The dollar’s downshift reflects heightened concerns that the U.S. economy is cooling, which were reinforced on Friday by a much weaker-than-expected jobs report. That has a growing number of investors betting the Federal Reserve will put off any interest-rate increases until the end of 2015. Just a few months ago, many investors were thinking a Fed rate boost, which would be its first since 2006, could come as soon as June. Higher rates in the U.S. make owning the dollar […]

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Record Gasoline Output to Curb Biggest U.S. Oil Glut in 85 Years

Gasoline Prices Refiners are poised to make gasoline at a record pace this year, keeping the biggest U.S. crude glut in more than 80 years from overflowing storage. They’re enjoying the best margins in two years as they finish seasonal maintenance of their plants before the summer driving season. They’ll increase output to meet consumer demand and they’ve added more than 100,000 barrels a day of capacity since last summer, when they processed the most oil on record. Booming crude production expanded inventories this year by 86 million barrels to 471 million, the highest level since 1930. Analysts from Bank of America Corp. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have said storage space may run out. What looks like an oversupply to banks is turning into an all-you-can-eat buffet for those making gasoline and diesel fuel. “A lot of the excess crude we’ve been sitting on is going to get […]

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This Is What Will Determine If Oil Prices Go Up Or Down

This article  was written by Oilprice.com, the leading provider of energy news in the world. Check out these other articles. Earthquake Case Could Doom Fracking In Oklahoma Saudi Influence On Oil Markets Slipping It appears as if oil prices could be on the verge of a rebound, with new data showing that the U.S. oil patch is hitting an inflection point. While specific shale regions — such as  North Dakota’s Bakken and Texas’ Eagle Ford  — have posted production declines, overall U.S. oil output managed to edge up in recent months. But now that U.S. production has finally dipped, it may augur a new phase for oil markets in which production cutbacks could lead to higher prices. The Energy Information Administration  reported  on April 1 that total U.S. oil production fell for the week ending on March 27, falling 36,000 barrels per day to 9.38 million barrels per day. […]

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Ukraine to triple gas imports from Russia in April – Russian minister

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukraine has asked for 1 billion cubic meters of gas imports from Russia in April, trebling the amount it received in March, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday. On Thursday, Ukraine’s state gas concern Naftogaz and Russia’s Gazprom signed an interim deal for cheaper supplies of gas from Russia for the next three months, providing a breathing space for both sides in their protracted wrangle over pricing. "Naftogaz has contracted 1 billion cubic meters of gas for April," Novak said in an interview with the state-run Rossiya television station. This suggests that Kiev will be getting about 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, while in March the figure stood at around 10 million per day, Novak said in the interview for the news show ‘Vesti on Saturday’ with Sergei Brilyov. Under the agreement signed on Thursday, Kiev is to pay $248 per […]

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The hidden reasons behind slow economic growth: Declining EROI, constrained net energy

It should seem obvious that it takes energy to get energy. And, when it takes more energy to get the energy we want, this usually spells higher prices since the energy inputs used cost more. Under such circumstances there is less energy left over for the rest of society to use, that is, for the non-energy gathering parts–the industrial, commercial and residential consumers of energy–than would otherwise be the case. It shouldn’t be surprising then that as fossil fuels, which provide more than 80 percent of the power modern society uses, become more energy intensive to extract and refine, there is a growing drag on economic activity as more and more of the economy’s resources are devoted simply to getting the energy we want. A more formal way of talking about this is Energy Return on Investment or EROI. The "energy return" is the energy we get for a […]

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Oil prices lower after Iranian framework agreement

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif gets hero’s welcome after returning home from Tehran with framework nuclear agreement in hand. Deal could put more Iranian oil on a market already oversupplied. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) — Brent crude oil prices suffered dramatic losses after the announcement of a framework agreement on oil-rich Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Brent prices were off more than 3 percent to $55.17 per barrel as markets weighed prospects of Iran re-entering the global oil marketplace. A framework agreement announced Thursday in Switzerland outlines Iran’s drawback from the brink of developing a nuclear arsenal through long-range commitments and verification measures. In exchange, Iran can expect some relief from international sanctions. "Iran will receive sanctions relief, if it verifiably abides by its commitments," a document on the deal from the U.S. State Department read. Iran in 2011 exported around 2.5 million barrels of oil per […]

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A U.S. Concession to Reality in the Battle Against Islamic State

Photo Praying for a slain relative at the platform on the Tigris River where Islamic State fighters are believed to have killed hundreds of Iraqi soldiers last June. Credit Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press WASHINGTON — In the battle to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit, from the Islamic State, the United States and Iran have found a template for fighting the Sunni militancy in other parts of Iraq : American airstrikes and Iranian-backed ground assaults, with the Iraqi military serving as the go-between for two global adversaries that do not want to publicly acknowledge that they are working together. The template, American officials said privately this week, could apply in particular to the looming battle to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. Given that President Obama has ruled out the use of American ground troops in Iraq, and that the Iraqi military remains ill-trained for urban warfare, the fight for Mosul will […]

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Iran nuclear pact stirs hope — and fear — of new political order in Mideast

Highlights of the Iran deal View Graphic Patricess 9:10 AM UTC Bluhorizons Comment, Announcing the sale of entire panoply of military technology through IMI as a result of the treaty with Iran, is proof of exactly what "brainless" Americans have been saying. Israelis are digitally smart and "world dumb" as they have been for 3000 years. Always mistaking cleverness and money for intelligence while never having created a civilization like, for example, the Persians, the Arabs, the French, The English, The Chinese, The Celts, The Germans. Having put all their money into "race" like the worst era of the Germans, they fail to stand up to mark of true intelligence. A people that is constantly borrowing and living off of other superior civilizations do not have "brains", as they constantly remind us goys, rather ill fated cleverness. A people’s intelligence does not reside only in its ability to turn […]

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An Iran Nuclear Deal Built on Coffee, All-Nighters and Compromise

Photo Secretary of State John Kerry with Wendy Sherman, the leader of the American negotiating team, in Switzerland on Thursday. Credit Pool photo by Brendan Smialowski/Reuters LAUSANNE, Switzerland — It was just one of hundreds of arguments between American and Iranian officials as they tried to hash out what may prove to be one of the hardest-to-negotiate arms control agreements in history. But it spoke volumes about how two countries that so deeply distrust each other managed to strike a tentative deal. After President Obama revealed the existence of a secret, deep-underground enrichment operation near the sacred city of Qum in late 2009, the White House demanded that it be dismantled and closed. In defiance, the Iranians stuffed the facility, called Fordo, with 3,000 centrifuges — a huge issue for American and Israeli military planners because it is impervious to all but the largest bunker-buster bombs. Iran ’s supreme […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple