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SOCO Oil Company Paid Large Sums to Officer in Congo, Activists Say

Photo Virunga National Park, the oldest in Africa, has been the center of an intense conflict between the forces of economic development and environmental conservation. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times NAIROBI, Kenya — When a British oil company began prospecting for oil in Africa’s oldest national park , drawing worldwide concern and inspiring an Oscar-nominated documentary last year, the company was adamant in denying any wrongdoing. Though soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have engaged in a campaign of intimidation and coercion against nearby residents who are opposed to drilling in the park, the company said it could not be held responsible for their actions. “We can’t tell the army to go and kiss off,” Roger Cagle, the deputy chief executive director of the oil company, SOCO International, told The Telegraph newspaper in Britain. He said that the soldiers had been assigned by the […]

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Overpopulated Egypt Seeks to Reduce Fertility Rate by 2030

CAIRO — Egypt aims to reduce its surging fertility rate over the next 15 years, a government minister said Tuesday, in an effort to address overpopulation concerns in the Arab world’s most populous country. With around 90 million people — a population the United Nations projects to hit 103 million by 2030 — Egypt has struggled for decades to provide its citizens with jobs and services. Most Egyptians live on a tiny sliver of land along the Nile River and the Mediterranean coast, away from the vast desert that makes up most of the country. According to a plan laid out by Minister of State for Population Hala Youssef, the government will provide financial incentives to keep children in school, expand family planning services and boost public awareness — while working closely with non-governmental organizations and local communities. The aim is to get Egyptian women to attain a fertility […]

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Nigerian Fuel Marketers Say They Are Working to Ease Shortages

There are indications that fuel marketers, may have agreed to distribute fuel brought in by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, after talking with the new administration last weekend. This is as many petrol stations in Lagos still sell above the official pump price of N87, as other cities are still suffering from shortages despite the end of a fuel distribution strike. After the negotiation last weekend, fuel is expected to become available not just at NNPC retail stations but those owned by major and independent marketers to reduce the queues of double-parked cars. Nigeria now depends wholly on swapping its crude for fuel imports, Obafemi Olawore, Executive Secretary for Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) said, as those waiting for subsidy payments are unable to secure commercial loans to bring in fresh supplies."At the moment we are unable to import because we don’t have the support from the […]

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Canadian crude in high demand amid shortages

Brisk demand along with supply disruptions due to Alberta’s wildfires have propelled Canadian heavy crude oil prices to their highest this year. Recent prices for Western Canadian Select heavy crude, a blend of bitumen from the oil sands and conventional heavy oil, reflect an unusually narrow discount to North American benchmark oil. The weakened Canadian dollar has also boosted returns for Canadian producers, even as OPEC holds firm on output to keep world prices low in a bid for more market share. Last month, wildfires in the Cold Lake region of northeastern Alberta forced Cenovus Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to shut down major operations and evacuate staff, cutting bitumen production by a total of 230,000 barrels a day, or about 10 per cent of the province’s oil sands output. “With the forest fires and the shutdown of those projects – though those are starting to come […]

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Disappearing Bakken oil discount adds to output slowdown signs

NEW YORK Oil traders scrambling to secure crude in the U.S. Midwest have pushed North Dakota’s Bakken to a near premium for the first time in two years, a rally stoked by record refinery runs and an unprecedented slump in Canadian imports. Yet some traders say the surprising strength emerging from opaque physical crude markets in the heartland of the fracking boom also points to a more important, lasting factor: declining production of Bakken crude, a long-anticipated but as yet unproven twist in the shale revolution. The buying frenzy pushed Bakken delivered at Clearbrook, Minnesota WTC-BAK, to trade just 35 cents a barrel below the West Texas Intermediate benchmark last week, dealers say, the narrowest discount since July 2013. On Tuesday, it widened slightly to a 75-cent discount. Four months ago, it traded at a $7.50 discount. "The rapid spread contraction may be indicative of a faster-than-anticipated production decline, […]

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US 2015 power-sector coal consumption to hit 1991 low: EIA

US coal consumption for the power sector will total an estimated 792.9 million st in 2015, the lowest amount since 1991, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. Lower natural gas prices are the main reason behind the decline, the agency said in the June edition of its Short Term Energy Outlook. In 2014, coal consumption in the power sector totaled 851.4 million st. Tuesday’s report is another indication of how far the US coal industry has fallen since the shale boom has increased gas supplies and lowered prices. The year-over-year drop comes despite the agency’s forecast for the average US residential electricity costumer to spend 4.8% more during June, July and August, reflecting a 2.6% increase in the average electricity usage and a 2.1% increase in the average retail price of electricity. Article continues below… Platts Coal Trader provides the latest prices for key benchmark coals, as well as: […]

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US EIA lowers Q2 natural gas demand forecast by 1.47 Bcf/d to 64.49 Bcf/d

The US Energy Information Administration Tuesday lowered its estimate for US natural gas consumption in the second quarter by 1.47 Bcf/d to 64.49 Bcf/d. In its June Short-Term Energy Outlook, EIA said that demand for US gas for the full year is expected to average 76.73 Bcf/d — 140 MMcf/d below last month’s estimate — compared with 73.47 Bcf/d in 2014. "Consumption growth in 2015 is largely driven by demand in the industrial and electric power sectors," the report said. The agency lowered its Q3 demand estimate by 500 MMcf/d to 65.94 Bcf/d. –Jasmin Melvin, [email protected] –Edited by Valarie Jackson, [email protected]

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Canada’s long-term oil output growth slashed 1.1 million b/d: CAPP

The growth in Canada’s heavy and light oil production by 2030 has been revised down 1.1 million b/d, primarily due to the near 50% drop in global prices in the past several months, a senior official at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Tuesday. "Low prices seem to have taken a toll, and output by 2030 will now be 5.3 million b/d, compared with a forecast of 6.4 million b/d we made last June," said Greg Stringham, CAPP’s vice president for oil sands and markets. "Over the shorter to medium term of five to 15 years, the pace of growth remains consistent. But then we see signs of a slowdown." His comments came after CAPP on Tuesday released its 2015 Crude Oil Forecast, Markets and Transportation annual report. The most hit will be light oil producers in Alberta and Saskatchewan, several of whom have drilled wells but not […]

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Canadian Oil Group Cuts Long-Term Growth Forecast

CALGARY, Alberta—Canada’s long-term crude output will continue to grow, but at a slower pace than previously projected, reflecting a slew of project postponements due to the slump in oil prices, the country’s major energy trade group said Tuesday, The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expects Canadian crude output—mostly from Alberta’s oil sands—to reach 4.96 million barrels a day by 2025. That is below its previous estimate of 5.6 million barrels a day and the 6.0 million barrels a day it had forecast back in 2013. CAPP projects crude output this year will reach 3.89 million barrels a day on capital spending of 45 billion Canadian dollars ($36.3 billion). That is slightly above last year’s output of 3.74 million barrels a day on a sharp 40% drop in spending. The lower forecast is the latest sign of a global retrenchment in oil and gas investment that has hit the most […]

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Tentative Deal Reached to End Strike at Texas Refinery

A tentative agreement has been reached to end a strike at a large Texas refinery that, if finalized, would mark the conclusion of a broader walkout at refineries across the U.S. that at its height included 15 plants and 6,500 striking workers. Management at Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC -1.12 % ’s 451,000-barrel-a-day Galveston Bay refinery accepted a contract offer presented by union negotiators late Monday, according to a statement from the United Steelworkers local 13-1. The deal still needs to be ratified by the more than 1,000 rank-and-file workers at the refinery south of Houston who walked off the job Feb. 1. Marathon on Tuesday confirmed the deal to end the work stoppage and finalize a new collective-bargaining agreement at the refinery. It added that if workers ratify the deal, then “we look forward to returning our employees to work.” The Galveston refinery workers were the final holdouts among […]

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