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Halt to Libya’s Zueitina oil port, linked fields cuts output more

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – All crude flows to Libya’s Zueitina port have stopped after protesters demanding jobs blocked a pipeline, forcing the closure of several eastern oilfields, oil officials said on Tuesday. State oil firm NOC confirmed the port closure, reported by Reuters on Monday, but did not specify the impact on production. The closure should lower oil output to as low as 400,000 barrels a day, according to estimates based on previous production figures. "The protesters closed the pipeline to the port," Mohamed El Harari, spokesman for state oil firm NOC, said. He said that several oilfields in eastern Libya would have to close. "This will have a big impact on oil production," he said, without giving a figure. A port official said the security situation at the terminal was normal, adding that the port would technically stay open. Libyan oil ports and oilfields regularly have to shut […]

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Saudi finance minister: our position is very strong despite cheap oil

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s financial position is very strong despite the plunge in oil prices since last year, and the kingdom is focusing spending on economuc development projects to stimulate the private sector, Finance Minister Ibrahim Alassaf said on Tuesday. In a speech to a major financial conference, Alassaf also said he was optimistic that the global economy was emerging from its slump, citing indicators from Europe and Japan. But he added that one couldn’t expect a return to growth levels of 10 years ago. Low oil prices are a challenge to oil exporting countries in general, including Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh is able to use its spending to avert the negative impact, Alassaf said. He said a new Council of Economic and Development Affairs, created by King Salman on taking the throne in January, would help to accelerate decision-making and support government efforts to improve the business […]

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Iran’s oil sector not yet open, U.S. says

Iranian oil sector not yet open for U.S. business opportunities, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department said. File photo by Maryam Rahmanian/UPI WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) — The Iranian oil sector is not yet open to U.S. interests and action there may face significant scrutiny from Washington, the State Department said. Deputy Oil Minister Abbas Moqadam said Monday representatives from the United States are expected in Iran this week. If sanctions are lifted, Iran can expect "the presence of major international U.S. oil and gas companies," he said. The Iranian government is pressing for more sanctions relief from a framework agreement slated to take force in mid-2015. Jeff Rathke, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said he had doubts about the validity of the minister’s comments. "We’ve been quite clear that we don’t consider Iran to be open for business yet, and that if there is any […]

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Saudi Arabian City of Najran Hit by Mortars

ENLARGE This photo shows an army tank being transported, in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia, near the border with Yemen on April 23. Mortars and long-range rockets struck the city on Tuesday. Photo: Associated Press Mortars and long-range rockets blasted cars and punched holes in buildings in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Najran on Tuesday, a Saudi official said, underscoring the threat posed to the nation’s territory by the instability across its southern border in Yemen. The attack was the first significant offensive against a Saudi city since a Saudi-led campaign of airstrikes began in March against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants . A Saudi military official told state television that the Houthis were responsible, while three Houthi officials said local Yemeni tribesmen launched the attack in coordination with the Houthis. It wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible. As the shelling intensified, Saudi authorities took emergency steps. They […]

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IMF says may agree on $800 million loan to Iraq in weeks

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iraq has requested financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and agreement may be reached within weeks on a loan of about $800 million (529 million pounds), a senior IMF official said. Iraqi finances have been hit hard by the plunge of oil prices since last year as well as by the Islamic State insurgency. The government has projected a budget deficit of about $25 billion this year, in a budget of some $100 billion. Aid from the IMF could ease the pressure and by increasing investor confidence, help Iraq raise money from other sources. Baghdad has said it plans to issue $5 billion of debt in its first international bond sale for nine years. "Teams will work on the issue in coming weeks. We hope we can reach a conclusion relatively soon," Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, […]

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Libyan oil exports to slow as protests block pipeline to Zueitina port: sources

Exports from Libya’s 70,000 b/d capacity Zueitina oil export facility are likely to slip after protesters blocked a pipeline feeding the port, sources said Tuesday. The latest wave of civil unrest in Libya — this time said to be workers demanding improved pay and conditions at the port — could see the North African country’s oil exports drop further from already significantly reduced levels. Production in Libya has fallen to an estimated 400,000 b/d with exports likely to be only half that after output was shut in at the major Elephant (El Feel) field in late April, adding to the ongoing disruption elsewhere in the country. At Zueitina, loadings continue from stockpiles, one trading source said, but that could not continue indefinitely. Article continues below… "Exports from stock are still going on [but] if the unrest remains, Zueitina will be [exporting] less," the source said. Another said the disruption […]

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Iraq exports continue upward trend

Tugboats position a single point mooring (SPM) buoy in the Basra Gulf in January 2012 as Iraq expands its export capacity. (ALI ABU IRAQ/Iraq Oil Report) Recommend Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Iraq’s oil exports are hitting record highs, as the country addresses some of the crude quality problems and political disputes that had recently constrained oil sales.Exports rose to 3.077 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, according to an Oil Ministry statement – a 3 percent increase over March – setting another high-water mark for the post-Saddam Hussein era.Iraq could have exported even more oil from its main outlets in the Basra Gulf, but two of the three operational single… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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King’s changes make Saudi policy less predictable

RIYADH (Reuters) – Changes in Saudi Arabia’s leadership have concentrated power in an inner circle of the Al Saud dynasty, removing constraints on the monarch and making the conservative kingdom’s strategic positions less predictable. The world’s top oil exporter has always prized stability, developing policies slowly and altering them rarely, partly because of the need to balance rivalries among ruling family members and their conflicting interests. That may now be changing. Since inheriting the throne from his brother in January, King Salman has embarked on a war in neighboring Yemen, restructured the oil sector and shaken up domestic governance, including the line of succession. Whether this is the beginning of a much more assertive foreign policy aimed at countering rival Iran, a new energy strategy or a more authoritarian security approach, as analysts have speculated, remains unclear. But what is increasingly apparent is that Riyadh’s new rulers enjoy more […]

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Report: 2.2 million Iraqis displaced by Islamic State

BEIRUT (AP) — A Norwegian humanitarian group says a record 38 million people have been internally displaced in their countries worldwide, with 2.2 million Iraqis alone forced to flee from their homes in 2014 after the Islamic State group overrun their areas. The study by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Center was released Wednesday. It says 11 million were newly displaced last year – mostly because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, accounting for 60 percent of the new displacement. The group says at least 1.1 million Syrians also fled their homes last year. Syria has the highest number of internally displaced, with 7.6 million dislodged because of the conflict, now in its fifth year. That’s at least 35 percent of the population.

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Iran to release seized Maersk vessel after it pays fine

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran says a Marshal Islands-flagged cargo vessel seized by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz will be released within two days, after it pays a fine. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told reporters Wednesday says the April 28 seizure of MV Maersk Tigris followed a legal complaint by an Iranian private company. Afkham says that, "based on the information we have acquired, it is likely that the dispute will be settled within next two days." Iranian forces boarded the ship after firing warning shots across the bridge, prompting the U.S. Navy to dispatch a destroyer and a plane to the area in response. Danish shipping company Maersk Line chartered the container ship from Rickmers Ship Management in Singapore and insists it had no "special cargo" such as military equipment.

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