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Nigeria’s Government to Run Down Oil Savings Account to Pay Debt

Nigeria’s government plans to run down its oil savings to offset revenue shortfalls and pay debt, such as salaries for state workers. The Excess Crude Account, which has a balance of about $2 billion, will be drawn down by $1.7 billion to allocate to the federal, state and local arms of the government, Accountant-General Ahmed Idris told reporters on Monday in the capital, Abuja. Nigeria accumulates revenue in the ECA when the oil price exceeds the benchmark estimated in the budget. Those savings have dwindled from $21 billion in 2008, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. A lack of savings and an almost 50 percent slump in oil prices in the past year is putting pressure on the government of Muhammadu Buhari to deliver on promises that helped to sweep him into office on May 29. Buhari, 72, said last month his government is facing severe financial […]

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‘Perfect storm’ causing gasoline shortages in Mexico: analyst

Pemex said Monday it has planned "additional volumes of gasoline imports in order to regularize supplies" in several states following what one analyst described as a "perfect storm" of shortages involving red tape and crime. The state company traditionally prides itself in ensuring supplies of all fuels to industry and consumers. But long lines have formed in recent weeks at the pumps of the service stations that still have gasoline on sale. The problems have arisen in at least half a dozen states, though not in Mexico City, with its population of 20 million. Pemex cited several factors for the shortages, including a new billing system that has failed to register the orders made by service stations for new supplies. Another reason, in the area around the northern industrial capital of Monterrey, is that the Cadereyta refinery there is undergoing major maintenance. And in northern border states as Coahuila, […]

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Report: Brazil’s Petrobras wading dark waters

Brazilian oil ambitions may be larger than reality, a survey from British energy consultant group Douglas-Westwood finds. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/project1photography LONDON, July 6 (UPI) — British energy consultant Douglas-Westwood said the prospects of turning 16 billion barrels of potential Brazilian barrels of oil into reality may be dubious. Douglas-Westwood said it was questioning whether Brazilian energy company Petrobras can turn ambition into reality in deepwater prospects. "Brazil’s huge deepwater potential remains constrained with Petrobras having to revise their production target for 2020, which now forecasts domestic oil output to increase to 2.8 million barrels per day – 40 percent lower than its projection 12 months ago," a forecast published Monday read. Petrobras last week published a management plan through 2019 that reflects the downturn in crude oil prices. The Brazilian company cut overall spending plans by 40 percent, but allocated 84 percent of that to exploration and production, […]

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Eni starts production at giant Venezuelan gas field

Italian energy company Eni announces start to gas production at field in Venezuela said to be among the largest in the world. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr. CARACAS, Venezuela, July 6 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday it started production at the Perla gas field, the largest field of its kind found off the coast of Venezuela. "Perla was for Eni one of the most significant start-up projects of 2015, and the today result confirms the validity of our development model that allowed us to reach production in an industry-leading time to market," Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said in a statement. Considered among some of the largest gas discoveries in the world, Eni said the Perla field off the coast of Venezuela holds an estimated 17 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It’s situated about 30 miles offshore in the Cardon IV reserve area, […]

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China Woes Sink Commodities

Commodities are on track for their worst day since November as a steep sell off in China’s stock market takes a toll on investors outlook for raw-materials demand. The S&P GSCI, an index that tracks a broad basket of commodities, was recently down 4.3% at 415.42 with oil and copper futures leading the declines. The losses come after China’s government halted new companies from selling shares to the public and announced plans to establish a fund to stabilize the country’s stock market over the weekend. The Shanghai Composite has lost more than a quarter of its value since setting a high on June 12. China’s crumbling stock market is another symptom of the transformation that is underway in the country’s economy. Beijing spent years tightening access to credit and cutting government spending in an effort to reform China’s economy away from export-led growth to internally-driven demand. But China’s economy […]

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China stocks fall again despite support measures

SHANGHAI Chinese stocks fell on Tuesday, taking little comfort from a slew of support measures unleashed by Beijing in recent days, and unnerved by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s failure to mention the market chaos in a statement on the economy. Before the market opened, Li said in comments posted on a government website that China had the confidence and ability to deal with challenges faced by its economy, but had nothing to say on the three-week plunge that has knocked around 30 percent off Chinese shares since mid-June. After a brief pause in the slide on Monday, the CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen ended down 1.8 percent on Tuesday, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC lost 1.3 percent. [.SS] The ChiNext growth board .CHINEXTC, home to some of China’s giddiest small-cap valuations, fell 5.1 percent. Qi Yifeng, analyst at consultancy CEBM, said […]

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CNOOC’s new output to lift China’s oil production from 2014 record

BEIJING China’s crude oil output looks set to rise this year from a record in 2014 as new production from third largest producer CNOOC helps to counter reductions from its two bigger rivals. Output growth from China would add to a global glut even as exporters such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia produce at near record highs and U.S. shale producers keep ramping up output. With the global oversupply as much as 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd), international crude prices have been nearly cut in half over the past year. While there is no official Chinese production outlook, information from the biggest state oil companies indicates the nation’s output will rise slightly in 2015, largely due to increased production from CNOOC Ltd, the listed unit of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation. "What we have spent in the last few years has […]

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Loonie Storm Alert Is Sounded With Oil Poised to Swamp Demand

One of Wall Street’s favorite short bets looks ready for a comeback after the Canadian dollar plunged to its lowest point in more than two months. The currency’s fall Monday undoes all its gains since the Bank of Canada first expressed hope at its April interest-rate decision the economic fallout from crude oil’s price collapse would be short-lived. Crude prices had stabilized in recent months and helped the currency recover, but Brent crude fell below $60 a barrel Monday for the first time since April. The renewed pressure on crude prices comes after signs the fallout from their first leg down wasn’t as short-lived as the Bank of Canada thought. A report last week showed the economy contracted for a fourth straight month in April, bringing annualized growth to the slowest in two years. That’s raised doubts about the central bank’s forecasts for a strong rebound in the second […]

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Refracking Is the New Fracking

The technique itself is nothing new. Oil crews across the world have been schooled on its simple principles for generations: Identify aging, low-output wells and hit them with a blast of sand and water to bolster the flow of crude. The idea originated somewhere in the plains of the American Midwest, back in the 1950s. But as today’s engineers start applying the procedure to the horizontal wells that went up during the fracking boom that swept across U.S. shale fields over the past decade, something more powerful, more financially rewarding is happening. The short life span of these wells, long thought to be perhaps the single biggest weakness of the shale industry, is being stretched out. Early evidence of the effects of restimulation suggests that the fields could actually contain enough reserves to last about 50 years, according to a calculation based on Wood Mackenzie Ltd and ITG Investment […]

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Oil Shock Models with Different Ultimately Recoverable Resources of Crude plus Condensate (3100 Gb to 3700 Gb)

This is a guest post by Dennis Coyne The views expressed are those of Dennis Coyne and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ron Patterson. The post that follows relies heavily on the previous work of both Paul Pukite (aka Webhubbletelescope) and Jean Laherrere and I thank them both for sharing their knowledge, any mistakes are my responsibility. In a previous post I presented a simplified Oil Shock model that closely followed a 2013 estimate of World C+C Ultimately Recoverable Resources (URR) by Jean Laherrere of 2700 Gb, where 2200 Gb was from crude plus condensate less extra heavy oil (C+C-XH) and 500 Gb was from extra heavy (XH) oil resources in the Canadian and Venezuelan oil sands. In the analysis here I use the Hubbert Linearization (HL) method to estimate World C+C-XH URR to be about 2500 Gb. The creaming curve method preferred by Jean Laherrere suggests […]

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California grid expected to maintain reliability despite drought

graph of coal production at mines with mountaintop removal permits, as explained in the article text According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) , the bulk power system in California is not expected to lose grid reliability this summer, despite a drought that has lowered hydroelectric generation . Overall, NERC expects more than 72 gigawatts (GW) of electric generating capacity to be available this summer in the part of the electric grid covering much of California. Summer electricity demand is expected to peak at nearly 53 GW, resulting in a reserve margin of 38% for the region. California’s hydroelectric generation varies seasonally. From January 2014 to April 2015, hydroelectricity accounted for 6% to 14% of the state’s monthly generation , averaging near 9%. graph of 2014 coal production at mines with mountaintop removal permits, as explained in the article text Since early 2014, much of California has […]

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Baker Hughes wins Johan Sverdrup contract

Norwegian arm of struggling oil field services company Baker Hughes bags contract for Johan Sverdrup reserve basin, one of the largest ever discovered off the coast of Norway. Photo courtesy of Statoil. STAVANGER, Norway, July 6 (UPI) — The Norwegian arm of oil services company Baker Hughes received a $187 million contract for onshore services supporting the Johan Sverdrup field, Statoil said. "Drilling will commence in 2016," Oivind Reinertsen, Statoil’s senior vice president for Johan Sverdrup development, said in a statement. "Together with Baker Hughes we will quickly establish an integrated operations team, working closely with the [Norwegian] drilling and rig contractor Odfjell to plan and optimize well deliveries." The contract for Baker Hughes runs for six years and includes four-year options for the life of field, one of the largest discoveries ever made on the Norwegian continental shelf. There was no statement on the contract from Baker Hughes, […]

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In Greece, ATM Lines, Bank Transfer Limits Enter Second Week

ATHENS—Many Greeks went to bed Sunday night jubilant after the runaway success of a referendum urging the government to push back in negotiations with its eurozone creditors. On Monday, they woke up to the start of a second week of restrictions on money transfers and lines outside ATMs. The capital controls, which limit withdrawals to €60 ($66) a day and forbid electronic transfers outside of Greece, are fast choking the economy. The head of the country’s banking association said banks would remain closed through Wednesday; few expect them to open soon after that. The European Central Bank tightened the screws Monday, demanding that Greek banks put up more assets as collateral to secure the emergency lending that is keeping them alive, if not fully functioning. The move doesn’t directly affect the amount of emergency loans they receive. It is unclear when they might run out of cash. There are […]

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Germany Stays Tough on Debt Relief for Greece

Germany stood firm against debt relief for Greece the day after the country’s voters issued a resounding “no” to more austerity, signaling a tough fight ahead on one of the few opportunities for compromise on any potential bailout for Athens. About 61% of Greek voters cast their referendum ballots on Sunday in support of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s stance against the pension cuts and tax increases that Greece’s creditors—the rest of the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund— say are necessary to get Greece’s economy going again. That leaves cutting debt as a possible make-or-break element of any deal to keep Europe’s currency union intact. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, whose country has emerged as one of the few friendly voices for Greece in the eurozone, made no mention of the debt issue at a joint news conference in Paris. But opposing comments from their […]

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Oil falls on Greece vote, China stock market turmoil

LONDON Oil prices fell sharply on Monday after Greece rejected debt bailout terms and as China rolled out emergency measures to prevent a full-blown stock market crash, adding to worries about poor demand growth at a time of global oversupply. The result of Greece’s referendum has put in doubt its membership in the euro, pulling down the single currency EUR= against the dollar. A strong dollar tends to pressure commodities as it makes fuel more expensive for holders of other currencies. Commodities were also sucked into market turmoil that has seen Chinese shares .CSI300 fall as much as 30 percent since June due in part to an economy that is growing at its slowest pace in a generation. Chinese brokerages and fund managers have agreed to buy massive amounts of stocks to support markets, helped by China’s state-backed margin finance company, which in turn would be aided by a […]

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Oil, Commodities Tumble as Investors React to Greek Vote

Risk aversion dominated energy and commodity markets in Asian trade Monday as prices fell sharply, led by oil and industrial metals, on heightened fears of Greece’s exit from the eurozone. Even gold, traditionally viewed as a safe-haven by investors, failed to live up to that epithet as a broad-based selloff hit the markets. On Sunday, Greeks overwhelmingly voted against their international creditors’ conditions for further bailout aid , adding to uncertainty around the country’s eurozone membership and heightening risks of market contagion. “Markets are due for a bumpy ride as the face-off ensues,” Singapore-based Phillip Futures said. Nymex crude-oil futures for August delivery fell as much 4% in early Asian hours, before paring some losses to trade $1.83 lower at $55.05 a barrel in the Globex electronic session. ICE Brent crude fell $0.51 to $59.81 a barrel. Asian investors are also reacting to the sharp fall in oil prices […]

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Stocks, euro fall but no rout after Greek ‘No’

LONDON Shares fell in Europe and Asia, the euro stumbled and yields on weaker euro zone economies’ bonds rose after Greece overwhelmingly voted against conditions for a rescue package, but there was no rout and contagion was limited. Investors sought low-risk assets including Bunds, but the yield premium of Italian 10-year debt over Germany remained below last Monday’s eight-month highs. The euro EUR= lost half a percent to $1.1064 and 0.6 percent against the safe-haven Japanese yen EURJPY=. It fell as low as $1.0967 in Asia before rebounding, taking some support from the resignation of Greece’s outspoken finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. Some bankers, including JPMorgan, said the vote made it more likely that Greece would leave the single currency. Other investors said the European Central Bank’s response would be key to the extent of contagion. "The market is, rightly or wrongly, taking a great deal of credence of the […]

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Kerry Says Difficult Issues Still to Be Resolved for an Iran Deal

VIENNA—Key elements of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers were falling into place Sunday, but U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned there were important sticking points that may yet scuttle the deal. Mr. Kerry said the Obama administration could walk away from the negotiations if Iran proves “intransigent” on the remaining issues by Tuesday. That is the new deadline for a comprehensive agreement aimed at blocking Iran’s ability to move swiftly toward nuclear weapons in exchange for easing tight international sanctions. Senior U.S. and Iranian officials said advances have been made on two of the thorniest issues: the pace of sanctions relief for Iran and a United Nations investigation into charges that Tehran has secretly developed nuclear weapons technologies in recent decades. European Union foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini said late Sunday that a final agreement, which has taken more than a decade of diplomacy, […]

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Kerry Warns Iran That U.S. Will Not Accept an Unsound Nuclear Deal

Photo Secretary of State John Kerry, at the nuclear talks with Iran in Vienna on Sunday, said the negotiations could go either way. Credit Hans Punz/European Pressphoto Agency VIENNA — Secretary of State John Kerry warned Iran on Sunday that hard choices were still needed to seal a landmark nuclear accord, and that the United States was prepared to walk away if a sound agreement could not be reached. “We are not yet where we need to be on several of the most difficult issues,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement in front of the Palais Coburg, the Vienna hotel where the talks are being held. “This negotiation could go either way.” Mr. Kerry’s remarks came two days before a target date for wrapping up the agreement and as foreign ministers from the other world powers involved in the talks are heading here for what is intended to be […]

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Iran Deal Seen Imminent After Atomic Agency Breakthrough

A nuclear deal with Iran looks imminent after a logjam over monitoring was broken and with foreign ministers set to rejoin U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a record ninth-straight day of talks later on Sunday. Kerry began morning meetings at Vienna’s Palais Coburg with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, a U.S. administration official said. The impending agreement could be announced as early as Monday, according to two Western officials who asked not to be named in line with rules. “The extension of negotiations is not a desired alternative for any of the parties,” Zarif’s deputy, Abbas Araghchi, said Saturday on state television. “All parties involved are determined to come to a conclusive end.” This is the 20th round of high-level talks since U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani opened negotiations nearly two years ago. After Kerry negotiated for eight straight days at the […]

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Iran Wants to Double Oil Exports After Sanctions Lifted

TEHRAN—Iran wants to double its crude exports soon after sanctions are lifted and is pushing other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to renew the cartel’s quota system, a top Iranian official said. Both developments could set up a clash with Saudi Arabia, which is scrambling to raise its own export numbers and has opposed the return of production limits on individual OPEC members. Iran’s efforts underscore how the country’s full return to the export market would upend the status quo among leading producers if Tehran clinches a deal with six world powers that would lift sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities. The latest deadline for a deal is Tuesday and officials said the elements of an agreement were falling into place over the weekend, though there were still important sticking points that could scuttle it . Should sanctions be lifted, Iran’s deputy […]

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Nuclear Inspectors Await Chance to Use Modern Tools in Iran

Photo Metallic seals like this one have long been used to prevent unauthorized access to nuclear equipment. New electronic and fiber-optic seals beam back confirmation that they remain intact. Credit International Atomic Energy Agency VIENNA — On the outskirts of this graceful city, the Iran Task Force of the International Atomic Energy Agency is preparing to move quickly if American and Iranian negotiators here manage to cut a deal on Iran’s nuclear program in the coming days. The 50 or so members of the agency’s most elite inspection unit are readying an array of new surveillance gear that is far more sophisticated than anything used before in Iran. It includes laser sensors, smart cameras and encrypted networks that would let the inspectors closely monitor Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, in real time, from their command post overlooking the Danube. In many corners of the world, the agency’s nuclear sleuths went digital […]

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Bomb attacks on Shiite districts kill 15 people in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say bombings targeting Shiite districts have killed 15 people in and around Baghdad. Police officials say a bomb exploded Sunday night near a cafe in the Shiite district of al-Obeidi on the eastern edge of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 14 others. Another evening bomb blast near a small restaurant killed four people and wounded 11 others in the southeastern suburb of Jisr Diyala. Earlier, a bomb went off at a bus stop in the northeastern suburbs of the capital, killing four people and wounding nine. Another bombing near a bus stop killed three people in Baghdad’s northwestern district of Shulla. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

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Islamic State suicide bombers strike in Iraqi refinery town

BAGHDAD Islamic State suicide bombers and fighters attacked the center of Iraq’s northern oil refinery town of Baiji overnight, forcing the army and Shi’ite fighters to pull back, military sources and the local mayor said on Sunday. The town of Baiji and its refinery – Iraq’s largest – have been a battlefront for more than a year. The hardline Islamists seized the town in June 2014 as they swept through much of northern Iraq towards the capital Baghdad. Control of Baiji neighborhoods has changed hands many times during the conflict. The latest Islamic State offensive comes after authorities said they controlled nearly the whole town and expected to drive insurgents from the refinery within days. The militants attacked around 8 pm (1300 EDT) on Saturday with two suicide car bombings. The blasts were followed by fierce clashes that lasted until midnight and drove the army and mainly Shi’ite Hashd […]

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China stocks rise as Beijing’s emergency moves brings some relief

SHANGHAI Chinese stocks rose on Monday, as an unprecedented series of support measures unleashed by Beijing brought some relief to a market whose headlong slide over the past three weeks had raised fears about the stability of the world’s second-biggest economy. In an extraordinary weekend of policy moves, brokerages and fund managers vowed to buy massive amounts of stocks, helped by China’s state-backed margin finance company, which in turn would be aided by a direct line of liquidity from the central bank. The CSI300 index .CSI300 of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed up 2.9 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained 2.4 percent. [.SS] That represented a significant pullback, however, from an initial burst of euphoria that pushed both indexes up around 8 percent when trading began, raising questions about whether the rebound can be sustained. Oliver Barron, China policy research analyst at NSBO, […]

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China’s Market Rout Is a Double Threat

Photo Investors at a brokerage house in Beijing on Friday. The Chinese stock market has lost about $2.7 trillion in value since its peak on June 12. Government measures to bolster share prices have faltered, threatening the air of invincibility surrounding the administration of China’s president, Xi Jinping. Credit European Pressphoto Agency HONG KONG — For nearly three years, President Xi Jinping of China has crushed opposition by silencing and often locking up anyone who dares defy the government. But that aura of invincibility has been shaken by stock market speculators who have made a mockery of efforts to halt a steep slide in share prices. The losses — Chinese shares have shed more than a quarter of their value in three weeks — pose an added risk, and possibly greater danger, to a global economy grappling with Greece’s difficulties in repaying foreign loans and its possible exit from […]

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China’s ZTE pushing ahead with high-power wireless charging vehicle test deployment

ZTE Corporation, China’s largest listed telecommunications equipment company, is developing high-power wireless charging systems and services for electric vehicles, with a focus on public charging infrastructure. At a China-US workshop on electric vehicle standardization held in June ( earlier post ), Academus Tian, VP of ZTE New Energy Vehicle Co., presented an overview of ZTE’s efforts in wireless power transfer (WPT). Tian said that ZTE’s inductive charging WPT module has a potential capacity of up to 30 kW, with a gap of 20 cm and efficiency of up to 90%. The footprint of the device is less than 1 m 2 ; frequency is 85 kHz. ZTE, which has aggressively partnered with a number of passenger and commercial vehicles makers over the past few years, has recently launched a series of commercial vehicle (bus) WPT trials. In September, in a joint R&D project between ZTE and Dongfeng Automobile, the […]

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Shell Arctic oil drilling to commence within weeks

Arctic oil rig Oil and gas giant Shell is expected to begin drilling for oil in the Arctic within the next two weeks. Thirty ships left Dutch Harbor in Alaska on Thursday for the Arctic to support two initial exploratory wells. The company has already committed about $7bn (£4.5bn) to the controversial project, and is confident it will find huge quantities of oil in the region. But if the initial wells do not find oil, Shell will contemplate walking away from the region entirely. The US Department of the Interior gave the green light to Shell to commence Arctic oil exploration in May this year, and the Anglo-Dutch group clearly believes it will get the remaining necessary permits in the next week or two. The initial two wells will be in relatively shallow water of about 40 to 50m deep, off the coast of Alaska, and they will use […]

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Russia Seen as Biggest Oil-Market Loser When Iran Comes Back

Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images In Iran’s push for a nuclear deal, it’s had few better allies than Moscow. But if an agreement is reached this week, President Vladimir Putin’s regime will have at least one reason to reflect on its support. Russia, which vies with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to be the world’s largest oil producer, has the most to lose when Iran returns to the global energy market, according to a dozen analysts and executives at oil companies, banks and trading houses interviewed by Bloomberg. “Iran is going to be competing in Europe head-on with Russia,” said Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citigroup Inc. Iran has been barred from selling oil in Europe since 2012 when the European Union imposed a ban on crude imports. Coupled with tougher U.S. sanctions making it more difficult to buy Iranian oil with […]

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Russia mulls new sanctions against Western countries, Finland a possible target

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a Security Council meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 3, 2015. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo) MOSCOW — Russia will consider new selective retaliatory measures against some specific Western countries, the nation’s security chief said Friday, pointing at Finland as a possible target. The tough statement appears to herald a new round in spiraling Russia-West confrontation over Ukraine. It followed a session of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, who vowed to firmly resist Western pressure and ordered to draft a new response. Russia may, for example, revise favourable conditions for Finnish timber traders in response to Helsinki’s refusal to issue a visa to the Russian lower house speaker, the council’s secretary, Nikolai Patrushev said. He added in televised remarks that Russia wouldn’t necessarily make the move, but wants to consider this and other retaliatory measures. Finland has […]

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With ‘No’ Greek Vote, Tsipras Wins a Victory That Could Carry a Steep Price

Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece addressed the nation on Sunday amid a referendum on the European bailout. Credit Pool photo by Reuters ATHENS — Now comes the hard part. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras may have won a victory at home on Sunday as the Greek people dealt a resounding “no” to European austerity policies. But Greece risks paying a high price for that decision. While the vote sharply consolidated Mr. Tsipras’s popularity, that could fade quickly if he leads the country deeper into bankruptcy and financial chaos, creating a new round of instability with consequences for Greece and the broader European project. If anything, Mr. Tsipras is likely to find it harder, rather than easier, to strike a new financing deal quickly with European creditors, heightening the risk that Greece will careen out of the eurozone unless Europe decides to give Mr. Tsipras and his defiant nation […]

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Yanis Varoufakis Abruptly Resigns as Greek Finance Minister

Photo Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, before a speech in Athens on Sunday, a day in which voters rejected the terms of a European bailout. He resigned early Monday. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters ATHENS — Greece’s combative finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, who took a strong stand in demanding that creditors write off some of his country’s debts, abruptly resigned on Monday morning. Mr. Varoufakis had played a central role in rallying votes for a resounding no on a referendum on Sunday that asked Greeks whether they were willing to accept an arrangement with creditors that would require considerable further austerity, such as pension cuts. Mr. Varoufakis had threatened last week to resign in the event of a yes vote, and his decision to step down after he and his allies prevailed in the referendum was unexpected. His resignation appeared to be the first move at conciliation toward Greece’s creditors […]

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Eurozone Central Bank Now Controls Destiny of Greece’s Battered Banks

Continue reading the main story Slide Show Slide Show|10 Photos Greeks Celebrate Victory for the ‘No’ Side Greeks Celebrate Victory for the ‘No’ Side CreditEirini Vourloumis for The New York Times FRANKFURT — Now that Greek voters have said no to the economic demands of its international creditors, the fate of the country’s struggling banks is in the hands of the European Central Bank . Greece ’s banks, closed since last Monday because they are perilously low on cash, have been kept alive in recent weeks by emergency loans from the European Central Bank. On Monday, the central bank’s policy makers plan to convene to determine how much longer they are willing to prop up the Greek banks, now that the country has essentially said no to the unpopular dictates of the other eurozone countries. No economy can function properly without banks; if they topple, so would the Greek […]

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Greek bank closures may deplete supermarket shelves

* Ban on int’l bank transfers crimps local operations * Finance Ministry: Firms can fax requests to wire money * Firms are finding solutions but remain cautious By Martinne Geller and Lefteris Karagiannopoulos LONDON/ATHENS, July 3 (Reuters) – A halt to international payments from Greek bank accounts is hurting Greek businesses and their foreign partners and threatening supplies of vital goods like food and clothing into the debt-crippled country. With banks closed, people limited to withdrawing 60 euros ($66.62) per day and Greece’s future in the euro possibly hinging on a referendum on Sunday, Greek shoppers have been stocking up on essentials like sugar, flour, pasta, rice, beans, canned and paper goods. Shelves remain full for now as retailers have inventories in storage. But capital controls put in place after Greece defaulted on a loan to international creditors have essentially frozen companies’ cash flows and credit. This has severely […]

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European heat wave gives Germany record temperature

AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau BERLIN (AP) — Europe’s heat wave has pushed the mercury to its highest level in Germany since measurements began in 1881. The country’s national weather service says an automated measurement station recorded a temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.54 Fahrenheit) in Kitzingen, northern Bavaria, on Sunday afternoon. Weather service spokesman Uwe Kirsche said Monday that the record won’t be official until technicians have manually checked the station. But he says "we assume that our equipment worked properly." The previous record of 40.2 Celsius was measured in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe in 2003. Storms across parts of Germany on Sunday night brought temperatures back down.

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Oil drops on rising U.S. rig count

LONDON Oil prices fell on Friday as a rising U.S. rig count stoked fears of global oversupply and after Chinese regulators opened an investigation into suspected stock market manipulation. U.S. oil drilling increased this week for the first time after 29 weeks of declines, a sign U.S. oil production may start to increase more strongly again after a slowdown due to a period of low oil prices. Oil rigs increased by 12 to 640 following a slump that cut the number of active U.S. rigs from a peak of 1,609 in October to a nearly five-year low last week, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc ( BHI.N ) said. "This is the first weekly increase in 30 weeks and is an indication that the slump in drilling activity has ended," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "Oil prices have retreated on that news," Fritsch told […]

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Tanker arrivals create volatility in U.S. oil stocks: Kemp

LONDON U.S. crude stocks unexpectedly rose by almost 2.4 million barrels last week, breaking a run of eight consecutive weekly declines and sending oil prices sharply lower. But did the market overreact when the stock numbers were released on Wednesday – misinterpreting normal week-to-week variability in the data as a fundamental shift in the balance between supply and demand? Tanker arrivals create quite a bit of “noise” in the weekly inventory data which can easily be confused with shifts in the supply-demand balance over short periods. Reported crude stockpiles are driven by three factors: domestic crude production, crude imports, and refinery runs. Domestic output is fairly constant week to week, but imports and runs are highly variable. In 2014, U.S. refineries processed an average of 15.8 million barrels per day (bpd). Domestic crude production was around 8.7 million bpd in 2014 and the country imported around 7.3 million bpd […]

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Crude oil values rise across the Mediterranean on Kirkuk outage

Most Mediterranean and Urals crude markets have strengthened this week, boosted by the absence of Iraq’s Kirkuk from the prompt spot market, prompting end-users to seek replacement barrels. Flows from northern Iraq — where Kirkuk is produced — to tanks operated by Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil in Ceyhan, Turkey, were halted early last month amid ongoing disagreement over oil and gas payments between the Kurdistan Regional Government and central government in Baghdad. Loading delays at Ceyhan have risen above 20 days, sources said. "The situation is a total disaster," a crude trader said. "There has been no news from SOMO, and vessels have been waiting for nearly a month on demurrage. People should be nominating vessels for the July program." Article continues below… The Platts Global Energy Awards is a competitive awards program honoring excellence and accomplishments in the global energy industry. The 17th annual awards […]

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Iran nuclear talks in endgame, negotiators push on sticking points

VIENNA A year and half of nuclear talks between Iran and major powers were creeping towards the finish line on Friday as negotiators wrestled with sticking points including questions about Tehran’s past atomic research. Iran is in talks with the United States and five other powers – Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia – on an agreement to curtail its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. "We are coming to the end," said a senior Western diplomat, who added there was no plan to carry on for long past next Tuesday. "Either we get an agreement or we don’t," he said, adding that the process "remains quite difficult". Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Iranian state television that "a lot of progress has been made, but still various technical issues remain that need the other party’s political will". Still, all sides say a deal is […]

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Iran Minister Urges Nuclear Accord and Turn to ‘Common Threat’ of Extremism

VIENNA—Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Friday Iran and six major powers are closing in on a final nuclear agreement and urged his negotiating partners to complete the agreement and turn their attention to the “common threat” of violent extremism. “At this 11th hour, despite some differences that remain, we have never been closer to a lasting outcome,” Mr. Zarif said in a video message released Friday evening, days from the July 7 deadline for the talks. “But there is no guarantee,” he said. “They have opted for the negotiating table,” he said of the six-power group, “but they still need to make a critical and historic choice: agreement or coercion.” Western officials have said the nuclear talks are making progress but have also said a number of differences remain in reaching deal that would block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting sanctions. They have […]

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Iran Seeks Faster Sanctions Relief as Zarif Makes Video Appeal

Iran is pushing to accelerate U.S. and European sanctions relief with just four days left to resolve nuclear talks in Vienna, as Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a lasting accord has “never been closer.” Negotiators haven’t yet agreed on the scale and speed of sanctions relief, nor have they settled all the steps Iran must take, according to four diplomats from countries participating in the negotiations. They asked not to be named in line with rules. One of the diplomats said Iran may get substantial sanctions relief by December, while others said sanctions are unlikely to be eased before 2016. “At this 11th hour, despite some differences that remain, we have never been closer to a lasting outcome,” Zarif said in a video released Friday and filmed on a terrace at the Palais Coburg in Vienna, where the talks are being held. The foreign minister earlier told Al […]

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Iraq, Kurdistan Oil Deal Close to Collapse

By Matt Bradley BAGHDAD–An oil-sales deal between Iraq and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government is close to collapse about six months after it was signed, undermining the country’s unity as it struggles to fight Islamic State and contain an escalating financial crisis. Months of acrimony between Baghdad and Erbil, the KRG’s capital, came to a head in June, when the Kurdish side reduced the amount of oil it sold through Iraq’s state-owned Oil Marketing Company, known as SOMO, and began ramping up its independent sales of oil through the Turkish port at Ceyhan. The sales undercut an agreement struck in December that gave Iraq’s central government access to revenue from Kurdish oil, which accounts for about 15% of the 3.8 million barrels the country pumps each day on average. In exchange, the Kurds were to get 17% of federal expenditure–an amount KRG officials say hasn’t materialized. "The oil deal […]

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Iraq displaced “could reach 10 million by end 2015″

The UN children’s agency says 3,000 people a week are fleeing western Anbar province. Photo: UNHCR Overwhelming numbers of displaced families fleeing violence in Iraq and a lack of funding have left the UN potentially unable to bring in supplies for August, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF warned Tuesday. In the year since terrorist fighters swept through Iraq’s central provinces, some eight million people have been affected. UNICEF says that number could rise to 10 million by the end of the year. Daniel Johnson has more. According to UNICEF’s country representative Colin McInness, many basic services have collapsed, a year since extremists from the ISIL group launched their offensive in central Iraq. And he said nearly 3,000 people a week are fleeing western Anbar province. "These people require water, they require hygiene, they require basic shelter, they require basic food items. The funding situation is desperate; without adequate funding […]

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As Saudis Keep Pumping, Thirst for Domestic Oil Swells

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia is poised to break records for oil production this summer, analysts said, as domestic-energy needs soar during its scorching summer and the holy month of Ramadan and threaten its ability to ramp up exports. Saudi Arabia has said it produced a near-record 10.3 million barrels a day in May, a mark that industry observers said could increase to 11 million barrels this summer as air-conditioning use increases with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The country has the ability to produce 12.3 million barrels a day for 90 days, but it has never pumped this much. Saudi output averaged 9.22 million barrels a day from 2006 to 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of its oil is exported. For the past three years, Saudi domestic energy demand has been rising by about 8% due to an expanding population and new construction and large-scale projects. More […]

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Syrian army and Hezbollah launch major assault on border city: TV station

AMMAN The Syrian army and its allied militia have launched a major assault on the rebel-held Syrian city of Zabadani, the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah’s television station said on Saturday. It said heavy artillery and aerial bombardment were being deployed to capture the city, located north-west of the Syrian capital near the frontier with Lebanon. The Syrian army has long sought to wrest control of Zabadani from Sunni militants. The city is close to the Beirut-Damascus highway that links the two countries and capturing it would be a major strategic gain for President Bashar al Assad’s government. Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside the Syrian army in Syria against the militants, has in recent months stepped up its assault on rebel outposts along the Qalamoun mountain region straddling the Lebanese Syrian border. An announcement of the start of a major military campaign by the Syrian army and the Lebanese group […]

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China brokerages pledge to buy at least $19.3 billion in shares to stabilize market

BEIJING China’s top 21 securities brokerages said on Saturday that they would collectively invest at least 120 billion yuan ($19.3 billion to help stabilize the country’s stock markets after a slump of nearly 30 percent since mid-June. A flurry of official policy moves over the past week, including an interest rate cut and a relaxation of margin lending rules, has failed to arrest the sell-off. The rout in China’s highly leveraged stock market has become a major worry for global investors, who fear a meltdown could destabilize the world’s second-largest economy at a time when growth is already slowing. The brokerages met on Saturday in Beijing to discuss the market situation and expressed "full confidence" in the development of China’s capital markets, a statement on the website of the Securities Association of China said. "Twenty-one securities brokerages will jointly invest 15 percent of net assets as of the end […]

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Rapid Expansion of Utility-Scale Solar in China

Solar is taking over the Gobi Desert in China’s Gansu province. China is a difficult solar market to track from the outside. Government subsidies are opaque and bureaucratic, interconnection problems run rampant, and non-Chinese businesses often have a hard time getting into the country. There’s no doubt that the Chinese PV market is growing at unprecedented speed. But determining its overall health is more of an art than a science. So perhaps the scientists can help. NASA recently published a fresh batch of satellite images of China’s utility-scale solar boom in Gansu province. While they don’t tell us much about market conditions on the ground, they do illustrate the boom underway in the country. With ample sunshine and a wide-open desert, Gansu is ideal for PV project development. Last year, more than 5 gigawatts of projects were installed in the province, making it a leader. Below are two satellite […]

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Shell Arctic oil drilling to commence within weeks

Arctic oil rig Oil and gas giant Shell is expected to begin drilling for oil in the Arctic within the next two weeks. Thirty ships left Dutch Harbor in Alaska on Thursday for the Arctic to support two initial exploratory wells. The company has already committed about $7bn (£4.5bn) to the controversial project, and is confident it will find huge quantities of oil in the region. But if the initial wells do not find oil, Shell will contemplate walking away from the region entirely. The US Department of the Interior gave the green light to Shell to commence Arctic oil exploration in May this year, and the Anglo-Dutch group clearly believes it will get the remaining necessary permits in the next week or two. The initial two wells will be in relatively shallow water of about 40 to 50m deep, off the coast of Alaska, and they will use […]

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There will be blood

WALL STREET loves a good scrap almost as much as the wildcatters who drill for oil do. No wonder that the fight over the finances of America’s shale-oil industry has turned nasty. In one corner are shortsellers, including David Einhorn, a hedge-fund manager whose scalps include Lehman Brothers. They argue that “fracking”—the business of blasting oil out of rocks using water, sand and chemicals—is a bottomless pit into which too much cash has been thrown. In the other corner are America’s oil pioneers, who say that shale can thrive even though the benchmark American oil price has dropped from over $100 a barrel last year to $57 today. The oilmen are backed by plenty of other investors who are still pumping money into shale firms: some $35 billion of equity and bonds has been raised since December. Related topics Both sides have a point. It makes sense to be […]

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