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Exxon denies reports on review of U.S.-Iranian ties

WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) — Exxon Mobil said Friday reports that it was lobbying the U.S. government on sanctions imposed on Iran are inaccurate. "Exxon Mobil is not lobbying on Iran sanctions," Ken Cohen, Exxon’s vice president of Public and Government Affairs, said in a statement . "Erroneous media reports resulted from errors in a consultant’s lobbying disclosures. Current U.S. law prohibits American companies from operating in Iran." Bloomberg news reported Exxon hired a lobbying company , the Nickels Group, formed by former Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla. to monitor Iranian sanctions measures. "We are not lobbying on Iran sanctions," Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman, told Bloomberg. "We are monitoring activities related to Iran in the U.S. government." Nickles served as Senate Whip and chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget before leaving office in 2005. Bloomberg reports Exxon’s work with the Nickles Group is the first time since […]

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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Bombing at Saudi Mosque

Photo The wreckage of a mosque after a suicide bombing in Al Qudaih, Saudi Arabia. The attack on Shiites took place during midday Friday Prayer. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility Friday for a suicide bombing during midday prayer at a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Health Ministry said at least 21 people had been killed and more than 120 others injured. It appeared to be the first official claim of an attack inside the kingdom by the Islamic State, which has seized control of much of Syria and Iraq. The group attributed the attack to a new unit, the Najd Province, named for the central region of Saudi Arabia around Riyadh. But it was unclear whether the attack was planned by Islamic State leaders, initiated independently by a Saudi sympathizer, or merely claimed opportunistically […]

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Germany’s Wintershall Interested in Occidental’s Libyan Oil Assets

ENLARGE Illustration: Reuters Germany’s Wintershall Holding GmbH has expressed an interest in buying stakes in Libyan oil-and-gas assets from Occidental Petroleum Corp. OXY 0.18 % , Libyan officials said, a rare move by a western company to increase its foothold in the war-torn country. Houston-based Occidental has sought and obtained permission from Libya’s state-run National Oil Co. to allow Wintershall access to confidential data of fields it partly owns, Libyan officials said. “Occidental has been asking approval of NOC for disclosing information to Wintershall,” an official said. Occidental has been trying to sell up to a 40% stake in its Middle Eastern and North African interests since October 2013, as it tries to focus on its prolific North American assets. Its Libyan fields have been producing insignificant amounts, the company said in its 2014 report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as the country remains divided by a […]

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Yemen struggles with food shortages as shipments stay slow

* Several ships waiting clearance to deliver goods * Aid groups say hunger growing LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – A trickle of aid, medicine and commercial food cargoes is reaching Yemen yet the process remains slow as more ships await clearance to discharge at ports and logistical chains buckle due to fuel shortages and war. Before Saudi Arabia launched air strikes in Yemen in March, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country imported more than 90 percent of its food – most of it by sea. It faces increasing problems as many shipping companies have pulled out and those still willing to bring cargoes endure a long wait for clearance from Saudi-led warships trying to prevent arms supplies reaching Iran-allied Houthi fighters. In recent days over 130,000 tonnes of wheat has reached Yemen in commercial ships as well as other supplies including sugar and fuel, partly helped by a five-day truce […]

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Nigeria: May 29 Handover – No Facts From Jonathan On Fuel Crisis – Buhari

APC Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. By Levinus Nwabughiogu, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke Abuja — The president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari, yesterday, lamented that the out-going administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has failed to provide the in-coming government with all the necessary information needed for a smooth take-off next week, particularly on how to tackle the current fuel scarcity in the country. The President-elect spoke on a day the Senate directed its committees on Petroleum Resources ( Upstream and Downstream ) to immediately commence investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the fuel crisis in the country. The Senate directive was sequel to the motion by the Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, who had called on the lawmakers to pay serious attention to the fuel crisis that had created great hardship for Nigerians at the moment. Senator Ningi wondered why a country that has abundant oil resources should […]

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Nigeria — Africa’s largest oil producer — crippled by fuel shortages

Fuel shortage causing long lines in Nigeria 01:56 Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but fuel shortages have paralyzed the country that just a year ago was declared Africa’s largest economy. At one gas station in Lagos, crowds push at the gates waving empty jerry cans. Cars queue for a kilometre down the road creating gridlock. Similar scenes are being repeated at almost every petrol station across Nigeria. "I’ve been here since 4 a.m. It’s not good," says local resident Abdulsalam Mohammed as he finally drives his car to the petrol pump. "Now it’s almost 3 p.m. Nobody can work today." "We are an oil producing country, very rich, a giant in Africa," says Seun Olewale, another driver who is carrying empty fuel cans. "But the experience we are getting now is so hard." The shortages have been going on since March despite the fact that, according […]

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Statoil comes up dry in Norwegian Sea

OSLO, Norway, May 22 (UPI) — The Norwegian government said Friday energy company Statoil came up empty-handed when drilling in a frontier prospect near the Helm field in the Norwegian Sea. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Statoil is finishing drilling operations at wildcat wells , those drilled in an area not previously known to contain oil or gas reserves, about three miles north of the Hyme field. "The well is classified as dry," the NPD said in a data review. The company spent more than $790 million on developing the Hyme prospect, getting the project into production ahead of schedule in early 2013. Statoil estimates the field holds as much as 30 million barrels of oil equivalent. Most of the recoverable reserves exist as oil deposits. The company said the field, discovered in 2009, should be able to produce oil and natural gas past 2020. NPD said preliminary data […]

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Fed on track to hike rates as economic headwinds wane: Yellen

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was clearer than ever on Friday that the central bank was poised to raise interest rates this year, as the U.S. economy was set to bounce back from an early-year slump and as headwinds at home and abroad waned. Yellen spoke amid growing concern at the Fed about volatility in financial markets once it begins to raise rates, and a desire to begin coaxing skeptical investors toward accepting the inevitable: that a 6-1/2-year stretch of near-zero interest rates would soon end. In a speech to a business group in Providence, Rhode Island, Yellen said she expected the world’s largest economy to strengthen after a slowdown due to "transitory factors" in recent months, and noted that some of the weakness might be due to "statistical noise." The confident tone suggested the Fed wants to set the stage as early as possible for its […]

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U.S. issues corrective action order over oil pipeline spill in California

LOS ANGELES Owners of the oil pipeline that ruptured in California this week must take numerous corrective measures, including an in-depth analysis of factors contributing to the spill, before they can restart the line, federal safety officials said on Friday. The corrective action order issued on Thursday by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration is not regarded as a disciplinary enforcement sanction against the company, Texas-based Plains Pipeline LP, officials said. But it requires Plains to perform a detailed and lengthy list of actions before the oil line resumes operations, starting with removal of the failed pipe for metallurgical examination, purging the line of remaining petroleum and independent review of inspection results. It also requires a "root-cause analysis" of the spill, exploring not only the direct cause of the failure, but "every contributing factor" that may have played a part, including any safety compliance issues, said […]

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U.S. oil platform on fire in Gulf Of Mexico; no injuries: Coast Guard

An oil platform caught fire and was evacuated in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore Louisiana in the early hours of Friday, though no injuries were reported, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Fire-fighting crews worked to contain the fire on Friday near Breton Island, 50 miles (80 km) offshore New Orleans, the Coast Guard said. All 28 people were evacuated from the platform. It was unclear what caused the incident or how much oil leaked into the ocean, but the Coast Guard said it has observed a 1.4 nautical mile rainbow sheen drifting southwest of the platform. The platform, owned by Texas Petroleum Investment Co, has an estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil on board, the Coast Guard said. It was not clear if the company also operated the well. The well has been shut and production stopped, the Coast Guard said. The company was not immediately available for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple