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With Fall of Ramadi, Plight of Iraq Sunnis Worsens

Photo Sunni volunteers for the fight against the Islamic State during their first training session at a military base in Amiriyat Falluja, one of the last cities of Anbar Province in government hands. Credit Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images AMIRIYAT FALLUJA, Iraq — More than a thousand Iraqi Sunni fighters stood at attention, dressed in camouflage but holding no weapons, as the tribal leader began exhorting them to fiercely battle the militants of the Islamic State, taking up rhetoric tinged with Arab notions of vengeance. “It is now time for revenge for our martyrs,” said the sheikh, Falih al-Essawi, who was dressed in a military uniform. He checked off the destruction wrought in their lands by the Islamic State, or, as he called them, “the rats of ISIS ”: 25,000 homes leveled, he said, bridges burned, the economy devastated. He and other speakers made an explicit plea to […]

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Is Iran creating its own state within Iraq?

Shia pilgrims carry a symbolic coffin at the holy shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kazim shrine to commemorate his death in the Shia district of Kazimiyah, Baghdad, Iraq, 14 May 2015. Photograph: Karim Kadim/AP Iraq and its security occupy a central part in the debate about a possible nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. The Gulf Arab states fear that Tehran, boosted by the relaxation of economic sanctions, will try to expand and consolidate its “hegemonic” grip over the Middle East. According to this argument, Iranian hegemony will above all affect Iraq, where Tehran seeks to install a government in thrall to it, hindering the formation of a viable democratic system in its western neighbour. The domestic and foreign exponents of this view point to the growing power of Tehran-backed Shia groups fighting the so-called Islamic State (Isis) as proof of attempts to plant an Iranian “deep state” in […]

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What about Iraq, right now?

Two sets of highly regarded experts warn we are losing our fight against the Islamic State in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Islamic state’s grip on Libya hardens . So naturally the press wants to talk about 2003. Kim and Fred Kagan,  who were instrument in the successful Iraq surge write, “The seizure of Ramadi on Sunday leaves President Obama’s strategy against the Islamic State in ruins not only in Iraq but also throughout the Muslim world. It means that the Iraqi security forces will almost certainly not be able to recapture Mosul this year and, therefore, that the Islamic State will retain its largest city in Iraq. Worse, it gives the group momentum again in Iraq even as it gains ground in Syria and expands in the Sinai, Yemen, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This defeat was avoidable.” They argue, “Neither the Islamic State nor any other al-Qaeda offshoot has ever taken […]

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Libya’s NOC chief sees higher oil prices, not relying on OPEC

LONDON The head of Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) sees higher oil prices and said the company is working to boost output and regain market share taken by other producers. Speaking on a visit to London, NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah said he saw signs of oil demand increasing across the globe and a fall in the supply of shale oil in the United States. "There is a general consensus that oil prices will recover. The worst of the market is behind us now," he said on Tuesday at the Platts Global Crude Oil Summit. "It is expected that the oil price will start to rise by the beginning of the second half of this year and continue to rise in 2016." Brent crude was trading at around $65 a barrel, up from a low near $45 seen in January but still nearly half the level set in June 2014 […]

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Support for renewables lacking, global reports find

Global reports find support for low-carbon economies not advancing as well as expected. Photo by akiyoko/Shutterstock. PARIS, May 19 (UPI) — A report from the International Energy Agency in Paris finds the pace at which renewable energy is advancing is lagging far behind global goals for 2030. A joint IEA-World Bank report on a U.N. initiative, Sustainable Energy for All, finds the share of renewable energy on the global grid grew from 17.8 percent in 2010 to 18.1 percent two years later. The initiative calls for at least twice that by 2030. Substantial investments beyond the $400 billion rate in renewables, to at least $1 trillion, are needed to achieve the goals. The lack of investments, the report found, was one of the main drivers behind the slow pace of progress. A survey from the International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, finds subsidies for the energy industry amounted to $492 billion […]

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Shell-BG deal may be end point rather than harbinger: Russell

KUALA LUMPUR May 19 (Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own). There is a widespread assumption that weak commodity prices are likely to spark a wave of merger and acquisition activity as stronger companies seek to buy assets on the cheap. The $70 billion buyout of BG Plc by larger rival Royal Dutch Shell is generally viewed by investors and analysts as the first big deal in a likely series of major mergers and acquisitions in the resource sector. After all, the last time commodity prices fell sharply, around 15 years ago, there was a rash of mega-mergers, such as Exxon with Mobil and Conoco with Phillips in the energy space, and BHP with Billiton and Rio Tinto’s purchase of Alcan. Notwithstanding the Shell-BG deal, it appears executives may be more cautious this time around, eschewing mega-mergers in favor of smaller acquisitions and in-house […]

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Asian refiners forced to get creative to stay competitive

KUALA LUMPUR Faced with competition from mammoth new refineries in the Middle East and soft fuel demand in key markets, Asian refiners are trying a variety of tactics to cope from investing in refineries in emerging markets to using cheaper energy sources. Less complex and older refineries in Asia, however, might be forced to cut run rates or shut, industry executives said at an energy conference. "We have to explore ways and means to survive the decline in demand and try to maintain refining capacity," vice-president Michio Ikeda of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Japan’s largest refiner is considering investments in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia and also increasing petrochemical production. It is also using lower cost energy sources such as bitumen and petroleum coke, and alternative feedstocks such as naphtha, reformate and […]

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Flood of new cash sustains U.S. oil firms; energy dealmakers gripe

HOUSTON U.S. oil companies, still smarting from the crude price rout, are attracting a wave of new investment from unlikely sources – hedge funds and private equity firms flocking to the energy market for the first time to bet on a rebound. By pouring billions of dollars into energy shares and bonds in the past few months these newcomers, dubbed "energy tourists" by Houston’s seasoned dealmakers, have thrown a lifeline to scores of companies that a few months ago looked like potential targets for bigger rivals or distressed debt and restructuring specialists. "You’ve got generalist funds that have never invested in energy coming out of the woodwork," Michael Ames, an energy investment banker at Raymond James, told a meeting of oil and gas executives this month. So far this year, 40 oil and gas companies raised $18.7 billion in new share sales, while 35 firms issued $26.4 billion in […]

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EIA launches redesigned International Energy Portal

image of International Energy Portal, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Portal On May 18, EIA launched a beta version of a redesigned International Energy Portal designed to help users access international energy data and to provide new and expanded tools and capabilities to examine trends in global energy markets. Increased access to data. The International Energy Portal includes a powerful data browser that provides country-level energy data; many countries have at least 30 years of historical data. The data browser provides users the ability to view and download complete datasets for consumption, production, trade, reserves, and carbon dioxide emissions for different fuels and energy sources. New user-driven customization. The portal’s data browser, as one example, provides users with the ability to convert between U.S. and European common units of measurement for energy. Users can also compare data across different energy sources […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple