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Oil Prices Extend Slide on Uncertainty Around Iran, Greece

Oil futures continued to drop in Asian trade Monday as uncertainty over the Iranian nuclear deal carried over from last week and Greece continues to be in limbo. Data showing strong Chinese oil imports for June also failed to limit losses as investors remained cautious over the stability of Chinese stock markets and projections of persistent oversupply of crude oil in the coming months. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in August traded at $51.93 a barrel at 0339 GMT, down $0.81 in the Globex electronic session. August Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.04 to $57.69 a barrel. Oil prices have dropped for two consecutive weeks, during which Nymex oil futures have lost 11.6% and Brent crude has lost 7.2%. U.S. oil prices have seen a sharper drop due to the resilience of shale oil production. The U.S. oil-rig count […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Bulls’ Will Broken as Roiled Economies Pose Risk to Growth

Speculators retreated from bullish oil bets at the fastest pace since 2012 on mounting concern that economic turmoil in Europe and Asia will prolong a supply glut. The net-long position in West Texas Intermediate crude fell 20 percent in the week ended July 7, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Longs dropped 1.7 percent as short wagers jumped 56 percent. U.S. benchmark crude slumped 12 percent in the CFTC report period as the Greek debt crisis intensified and plunging stocks in China threatened to slow the world’s second-biggest economy. Delays in Iran reaching a nuclear accord and lifting curbs on its oil exports did little to stem the rout. Prices may fall further because the world remains “massively oversupplied,” the International Energy Agency said. “Several bearish elements came together to break the back and will of the longs in the market,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran deal would add to oil glut, open door to cement, steel imports

Any nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers loosening sanctions against Tehran could flood an oversupplied oil market with more fuel, yet sectors like cement and steel would see a rise in demand as the country works to revitalize its economy. Officials involved in ongoing negotiations said on Sunday they were close to a deal that would bring sanctions relief in exchange for curbs to Tehran’s atomic program, although no agreement was expected before Monday. Analysts have focused largely on oil in determining the impact on international commodities markets if sanctions are lifted. The timing of any lifting of the measures that have cut Iran’s crude exports as well as a United Nations Security Council arms embargo and ban on its ballistic missile program have been among the major sticking points on reaching a deal. But even with a diplomatic agreement this week it would take time for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Europeans Press for Iran Nuclear Deal on Monday

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry leaves his hotel in Vienna on Sunday. VIENNA—Nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers have reached the make-or-break point, European officials said, warning the diplomacy could fail if there is no final agreement by Monday night. The comments by senior European diplomats in Austria’s capital on Sunday suggested a divergence from Washington on the way forward with Tehran. The Obama administration has also said it is willing to end nearly two years of negotiations if a deal isn’t struck in the coming days to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief. But senior White House officials have also indicated the U.S. wasn’t going to be rushed into a final agreement and it might be willing to roll over an interim accord signed with Tehran in late 2013. That deal locks in modest sanctions relief for Iran and freezes […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Congress promises rough ride for any nuclear deal with Iran

The top Republican in the U.S. Senate cast doubt on Sunday on whether President Barack Obama would be able to win approval in Congress for any nuclear deal with Iran, and some Democrats also expressed reservations. "I think it’s going to be a very hard sell, if it’s completed, in Congress," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told "Fox News Sunday". "We already know it’s going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state." The U.S. Congress could play a key role in the future of any deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, with negotiations reaching a critical juncture in Vienna on Sunday. Obama can enter a deal with Iran, which Congress would review. If the review went against him, Obama could veto the disapproval legislation. Congress could then try to reverse his veto, which is difficult. But if it succeeded, its disapproval would take away Obama’s ability to temporarily […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bureaucrats Go Hungry as Nigeria’s Oil Crisis Hobbles Economy

Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari. Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekopei/AFP/Getty Images It’s been five months since Johnson Umeadi and his wife, Adaku, received their salaries as government workers in southeastern Nigeria. With Nigeria’s finances shot by last year’s collapse in oil prices, they’re struggling with rent and can’t afford school fees for their three children. Shops and grocers are no longer willing to extend them the credit they need to buy basic items such as food and drinks. “It’s like we put all our eggs in one basket and then it went porous,” said Johnson, a 45-year-old employed by a department of Imo state responsible for infrastructure projects in Owerri. “If one of us was working in a private company, or even engaged in petty trading, we would’ve fared better,” he said, declining to disclose his salary. The plight of the Umeadis and others who haven’t received wages has hit everything […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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GOP Leaders: Any Nuclear Deal With Iran Will Face Deep Opposition in Congress

Republican leaders signaled Sunday that any final nuclear deal struck with Iran will face deep opposition in the GOP-controlled Congress. For weeks, Republicans have called for President Barack Obama and his team of U.S. diplomats to walk away from negotiations aimed at curbing Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons. As top officials entered what they labeled a “decisive” phase of talks with Iran and five other global powers on Sunday, GOP leaders said they doubted a final deal would pass muster with most Republicans. “It’s going to be a very hard sell — if it’s completed — in Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said on Fox News Sunday. Mr. McConnell said he worried that any deal would still leave Iran capable of producing a nuclear weapon on relatively short notice. “We already know that it’s going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state,” Mr. McConnell […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Calls U.S. ‘Embodiment of Arrogance’

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a meeting with university students in Tehran on Saturday. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the U.S. the “ultimate embodiment of arrogance” and warned that his nation’s opposition to Washington wouldn’t end if a nuclear accord is reached between Tehran and world powers in the coming days. Mr. Khamenei’s comments on Saturday again raised questions about whether the 75-year-old cleric fully backed an emerging agreement that calls for Iran to constrain its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions. Tehran’s top political leader has consistently railed against the U.S. in the years since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. But the timing of his comments, at a critical juncture in the negotiations, pointed to the continued hurdles the Obama administration faces in trying to forge an agreement with Iran. “The U.S. is the ultimate embodiment of arrogance,” Mr. Khamenei told a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Dozens die in Baghdad bombings

The bombings targeted Shia neighbourhoods in the Iraqi capital [Al Jazeera] Explosions have rocked a string of Shia neighbourhoods across the Iraqi capital, killing at least 35 people and wounding 81, police have said. The deadliest bombing took place in Baghdad’s northern Shaab neighbourhood when a man detonated an explosive vest in a crowded market, killing nine people and wounding 25. Earlier on Sunday, in Baghdad’s Khazimiyah district, a suicide car bombing targeted the Aden checkpoint, killing eight people, including five civilians, and wounding 23. And in the Banook district, six people were killed and 15 injured in a car bombing, police said. In Baghdad’s al-Askan district, a car bomb killed at least four people and wounded 11 on a commercial street as people gathered after sunset to break their fast for Ramadan. Police also said a roadside bomb on a commercial street in Baghdad’s al-Amal neighbourhood killed two […]

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Saudi Arabia borrows $4bn as oil price reality hits home

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Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple