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Iran Nuclear Deal Seen Opening Last Big Frontier Market in 2016

An economy bigger than Thailand’s and oil reserves rivaling those of Canada make Iran the most important market still closed to major equity investors, according to investment bank Renaissance Capital. Lifting sanctions could open the Islamic Republic’s stock market to investors in early 2016, Renaissance’s Charles Robertson and Daniel Salter wrote in a report on Monday. Inflows could total $1 billion in the first year, they said. Diplomats from Iran and six world powers have been holding talks over more than two weeks in Vienna to clinch an accord that would curb the country’s nuclear program in return for easing sanctions. Negotiators cleared one of their last remaining roadblocks on Sunday when they agreed on the phased lifting of a United Nations arms embargo, according to two diplomats. “We are confident that Iran opening up will be one of the most interesting and positive developments for the emerging and […]

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OPEC sees more balanced oil market in 2016

A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. The oil market should be more balanced next year as China and the developing world use more oil while supply of fuel from North American shale grows more slowly, OPEC said on Monday. In its monthly report, the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it expected world oil demand to increase by 1.34 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2016, up from growth of 1.28 million bpd this year. World oil demand growth should outpace any increase in oil supply from non-OPEC sources and ultra-light oils such as condensate, increasing consumption of OPEC crude, it said. "This would imply an improvement toward a more balanced market," OPEC’s in-house economists said in the report. OPEC has increased production sharply over the last year as its most powerful member, Saudi Arabia, and other core producers in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Former BP boss takes helm at Kurdish oil player

Tony Hayward now chairman at Kurdish oil player Genel Energy after management reshuffle. File Photo by UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg LONDON, July 13 (UPI) — Former BP boss, Tony Hayward , was appointed Monday as the chairman of Genel Energy, one of the largest oil players in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Genel, which has headquarters in London, said Hayward, the former chief executive officer, was appointed chairman when Rodney Chase resigned from the position Sunday. Murat Ozgul, chief commercial officer since 2008 and president of Turkey and Kurdish operations, ascends to CEO. Hayward credited the new CEO with helping Genel boost net Kurdish oil production to more than 100,000 barrels per day, which he said makes it one of the largest independent producers traded on the London Stock Exchange. Genel in January said it was trimming capital expenditure plans by 30 percent to $200 million and reducing its workforce […]

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Iraq Begins Military Operation to Drive ISIS From Anbar

Photo Shiite fighters launched a rocket on Sunday toward Islamic State militants from the outskirts of Fallujah, in Anbar Province, Iraq. Credit Reuters BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government declared on Monday that it was beginning a major military operation to retake the western province of Anbar from the Islamic State, which occupies much of the area including its major cities, Ramadi and Falluja. It was not immediately clear if the operation would be more effective than an earlier one that Iraq announced in May , when the Islamic State seized Ramadi, the provincial capital, after holding Falluja for more than a year. Little has changed on the ground since then. But a barrage of 29 American-led airstrikes near Ramadi on Monday signaled that the United States was strongly backing the operation, a week after President Obama vowed a “long-term campaign” to defeat the Islamic State, also known as ISIS […]

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Iraq gets first funding to rebuild war-struck regions

Iraq and the World Bank signed a $350 million loan agreement on Sunday to fund emergency reconstruction in towns recaptured from Islamic State militants, a deal Baghdad said marked the first international help to rebuild areas devastated by war. Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said around a third of the money would go toward repairing roads and bridges, with a similar amount allocated to restoring electricity networks, water and sewage. Iraq faces a budget deficit of up to $20 billion this year as it grapples with low oil revenues and the heavy cost of war with Islamic State insurgents. The militants hold much of north and west Iraq, but have been driven out of parts of Diyala and Salahuddin provinces north of Baghdad by Shi’ite militia, Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S.-led air strikes. The extensive damage from those battles has left the Iraqi government, whose revenues […]

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Saudi oil production at new high

Oil production from Saudi Arabia reaches new high, but demand from the de facto head of OPEC also expected to surge. Photo by ekina/Shutterstock VIENNA, July 13 (UPI) — With oil demand from the Middle East expected to surge, Saudi Arabia reported to OPEC its crude oil production was at its highest levels in more than 30 years. Saudi Arabia reported to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries it produced 10.56 million barrels of oil per day in June, a 2.2 percent increase from the previous month. Saudi Arabia has maintained a high level of oil production despite the slump in crude oil prices, arguing it needs to protect its market share in an economy in flux because of the glut of U.S. oil. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said during an April meeting in Beijing his country was a reliable partner to China, which at the time was […]

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Nigeria Military Leaders, Faulted in Fighting Militants, Are Fired

Photo Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, shown reviewing troops last month, was dismissed as leader of the Nigerian Army on Monday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images NIAMEY, Niger — Nigeria ’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari , dismissed all of his country’s top military officials on Monday, his spokesman announced, after weeks of mounting violence in which Boko Haram fighters have killed hundreds of civilians. The Nigerian military’s handling of Boko Haram’s bloody six-year uprising has been widely seen as dismal. It has been faulted not only for failing to stem the extremist group’s murderous rampages, but also for making the situation worse through widespread human rights violations. The country’s news media has been urging Mr. Buhari for weeks to get rid of the architects of what is seen in Nigeria as a failed campaign to stop the Islamist militant group. On Monday, some analysts questioned why Mr. Buhari, who […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple