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Obama Weighs Options if Iran Nuclear Talks Fail

WSJ’s Jerry Seib explains what legislators will expect from a nuclear deal with Iran and how Congress could react. Photo: AP The White House began discussing its options in case of failure to reach a nuclear deal with Iran as faltering talks fueled criticism of President Barack Obama ’s negotiating strategy. Iranian officials and Secretary of State John Kerry continued their quest for an agreement in the Swiss city of Lausanne. But American lawmakers seized on the lack of progress late Wednesday to renew calls for tough new sanctions. The White House said Mr. Obama is prepared to walk away from the negotiations. Alternatives to diplomacy include stiffer economic sanctions, military action or an extension of the interim agreement with Iran that expires June 30, the White House said—exactly the type of measures that the Obama administration has said the talks were intended to avoid. “In the unfortunate circumstance […]

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March oil exports rebound to record levels

A ship docks at the al-Basra Oil Terminal on Nov. 27, 2013. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI) Recommend 224 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Iraq’s oil exports rose to 2.98 million barrels per day (bpd) in March – a 15 percent jump from February – marking the highest monthly output the country has achieved in the post-Saddam era.Oil sales increased by nearly 400,000 bpd, up from 2.59 million bpd in February, according to data released by the Oil Ministry. The increase was mostly due to better weather in the Basra Gulf, which allowed more tankers to load.Buyers paid an average of $48.24 per barrel, up slightly from $47.43…

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Syrian rebels capture main border crossing with Jordan

BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say Syrian rebels and members of al-Qaida’s local affiliate have captured the only functioning border crossing with Jordan and three nearby military posts. Ahmad al-Masalmeh, a Syrian opposition activist based in the southern city of Daraa, says militants completed "combing" operations in the area early Thursday, adding that government forces withdrew in the direction of the nearby Sweida province. Syrian state TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that government forces have regrouped near the Nasib border crossing and taken "positions in new military points." The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says helicopter gunships attacked rebel positions in the area early Thursday. The Nasib crossing is considered a crucial gateway for Syria’s government and for Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian merchants.

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Iraq Crude Exports Rise 15% in March to Highest in 35 Years

Iraq boosted crude shipments in March to the highest level in more than three decades, adding to a global supply glut that has helped push down oil prices by 46 percent in the last year. OPEC’s second-largest producer shipped 92.4 million barrels in March, or 2.98 million barrels a day, Oil Ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said by phone from Baghdad. Iraqi exports gained 15 percent from February, when foul weather at the country’s southern oil terminals limited shipments to 2.59 million barrels a day, according to the Oil Ministry. “The ministry has made extraordinary efforts to boost crude oil exports to compensate for the delays in loading of tankers due to bad weather,” Jihad said in a statement earlier Wednesday. Iraq’s monthly shipments rebounded amid an oversupply fed partly by the U.S. shale boom and increased output from Russia. U.S. crude inventories expanded in the week ended March 27 […]

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Big oil tanker backlog builds at Iraq’s Basra port after bad weather

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A backlog of over 30 oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra and shippers face lengthy delays of up to three weeks to load oil because of bad weather and possible oil quality issues, shipping industry sources said. The problems could delay or limit the number of oil export cargoes from Basra in April, potentially pushing down tanker freight rates, two Singapore ship brokers familiar with the issue said. More than 30 oil tankers, two-thirds of them supertankers (VLCC), with a combined capacity of around 50 million barrels are currently lying outside Basra, some of them since mid-March, Reuters shipping data shows. "The bad weather (in February) has caused all these delays," said Sadiq Jaafar, head of marine consultancy firm Sadiq Jaafar & Associates in Baghdad. The strong winds and storms created a backlog into March and April, said two other maritime […]

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Turkish Blackout Shows World Power Grids Under Threat

A massive power failure that crippled life in Turkey for almost 10 hours on Tuesday highlights the threats facing grids worldwide. Turkey’s most extensive power failure in 15 years, which left people stranded in elevators and traffic snarled, wasn’t the result of a lack of electricity. The prime minister said all possible causes — including a cyber-attack — were being investigated. While the source of the problem is still unknown, recent revelations that a 2008 oil pipeline explosion in Turkey was orchestrated via computer and the high-profile attack last year on Sony Pictures Entertainment demonstrate the increasing ability of hackers to penetrate systems. For power grids, technology being added to make them more reliable and productive is also giving attackers an entry point into vital infrastructure. “Every country, including the U.S., will be looking at it to see what the vulnerabilities were and learn some lessons about protection,” said […]

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First Saudi Sovereign Debt Since ’07 Seen This Year as Oil Bites

An oil installation stands in Saudi Arabia’s northeastern Gulf port of Jubail. The world’s biggest oil exporter hasn’t issued debt with a maturity of more than 12 months for eight years, choosing instead to run down reserves when necessary to fund expenditure. Photographer: Bilal Qabalan/AFP/Getty Images Saudi Arabia may issue sovereign debt for the first time since 2007 this year after oil’s decline sent its cash reserves plunging, according to Ashmore Group Plc. Assets of the biggest Arab economy’s central bank tumbled by 76 billion riyals ($20 billion) in February, the largest monthly drop since at least 2000. The country has a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 2.6 percent, according to International Monetary Fund estimates, among the lowest in the world, and may now take advantage of record low interest rates and ample bank liquidity, said John Sfakianakis, a Riyadh-based director at Ashmore and former chief economic adviser to Saudi’s […]

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Oil platform fire kills 4 in Gulf of Mexico, 302 evacuated

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – At least four people died after a fire broke out on an oil processing platform in the Gulf of Mexico early on Wednesday, leading to the evacuation of 302 workers, Mexican state-run oil company Pemex said. The fire, which burned throughout the day, erupted overnight on the Abkatun Permanente platform in the oil-rich Bay of Campeche. Forty-five people were treated for injuries and 16 of them were hospitalized, two with serious injuries, Pemex said. Eight firefighting boats were brought in to battle the flames, Pemex said, noting that one of the fatalities was from the state-run giant and another was a contractor for Mexican oil services firm Cotemar. Two others have yet to be identified. Videos posted on Twitter showed the offshore platform engulfed in flames, lighting up the night sky, as rescue workers looked on from nearby ships. The fire broke out in the […]

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Nigerian President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari Sets Out His Agenda

Photo In Kano on Wednesday, the victory of Muhammadu Buhari made for news and commerce. It was Nigeria’s first peaceful transition at the ballot box. Credit Samuel Aranda for The New York Times KANO, Nigeria — Nigeria ’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, did not smile while making his acceptance speech on Wednesday — understandably, as terrorism and corruption were his main talking points. A day after piling up substantial vote totals against the incumbent president, Mr. Buhari, a former general who once rose to power in a military coup, further consolidated something extraordinary for Nigeria: the peaceful passing of power from one political party to another through the ballot box. The country is now a democratic nation like others, Mr. Buhari suggested Wednesday, both in his words and in the fact that the democratic process had worked well enough that he could give the speech at all. But in his […]

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Exploration Companies Find Oil, Gas in Falkland Islands

Dow Jones Newswires By Alex MacDonald LONDON–Three U.K.-listed oil companies announced Friday that they have discovered oil and gas at their jointly owned Zebedee well in the Falkland Islands. The well will now be plugged and the Eirik Raude rig will then drill the first exploration test of the Elaine/Isobel complex in the southern part of the North Falkland basin. The results of this well, called the Isobel Deep well, are expected in late April. "We now look forward to the results of the upcoming Isobel Deep well, potentially the highest impact well in this campaign," said Andrew Lodge, Exploration Director at Premier Oil PLC (PMO.LN). The other companies involved in the exporation project in the U.K. island territory, situated in the southern Atlantic to the east of Argentina, are Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd.(FOGL.LN) and Rockhopper Exploration PLC (RKH.LN). -Write to Alex MacDonald at [email protected]

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