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Iran plans full oil market return

Iranian government spokesman said other producers need to prepare to make room for more of the country’s crude oil on the market. File Photo by UPI Photo/Mohammad Kheirkhah TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (UPI) — Once sanctions pressure on the energy sector is released, Iran must work to reclaim its share of the global market, a government spokesman said. Iran, under the terms of a November 2013 agreement, is allowed some oil exports in exchange for commitments to curb parts of its nuclear research activity. A multilateral agreement reached in July to further curb nuclear research activity could result in more export options. Iran in December produced just under 2.8 million barrels per day, down about 20 percent from 2011 levels. The country reported to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries oil production for July at 3.13 million bpd, an increase of six tenths of a percent from the previous month. […]

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How Much Longer Can Saudi Arabia’s Economy Hold Out Against Cheap Oil?

The oil price was near its lowest in more than a decade, cash reserves were being depleted, emerging markets were in turmoil and Saudi Arabia was beginning to panic. “It was a very scary moment,” said Khalid Alsweilem, former head of investment at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the country’s central bank. “And luckily at that point, oil prices started going up. Not by design, by good luck.” That was 1998, and now Saudi Arabia’s fortunes threaten to turn again. This time, luck might not be enough as the government tries to protect the wealth of a nation whose economy has swelled by five times since then. The bastion of conservative Sunni Islam also is paying for an expanding role in regional conflicts in the face of a resurgent Iran and Islamic State extremists who have bombed Saudi mosques. Economists are predicting a budget deficit of as much as […]

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Obama lays out case for Iran nuclear deal in letter to Congress

U.S. President Barack Obama, flanked by guest observers including U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID) (L), delivers remarks before signing the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act into law at his desk in the Oval Office at the White… U.S. President Barack Obama laid out his case for lawmakers to back the nuclear deal with Iran in a letter released by the White House, the latest step by the administration to gain support for a deal critical to the president’s legacy. In an Aug. 19 letter to Representative Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York, Obama spelled out arguments he has made repeatedly in recent weeks: that the deal with Tehran was a good one, that Washington was enhancing its security cooperation with Israel, and that the United States would maintain its ability to punish Iran for destabilizing activities in the Middle East. "Should Iran seek […]

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Atomic energy watchdog says critics ‘misrepresent’ Iran nuclear agreement

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano speaks to reporters Aug. 5 after briefing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Iran nuclear accord. (Michael Mathes/AFP/Getty Images) The international watchdog agency charged with verifying Iran’s compliance with the recent nuclear deal said Thursday that critics of the deal “misrepresent” its plans for doing so. In an unusual rebuttal from his headquarters in Vienna, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said he was “disturbed” by suggestions “that the IAEA has given responsibility for nuclear inspections to Iran.” Amano’s statement came after deal opponents seized on a news service account of IAEA plans to assess the “possible military dimensions,” or PMDs, of Iranian nuclear activity before 2003 to expand their criticism of the broader agreement restricting Iran’s future nuclear program. U.S. intelligence has said that 2003 was when Tehran stopped trying to develop an atomic weapon. The Associated […]

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Algeria Writes to OPEC Over Falling Oil Prices

Algeria has written to OPEC warning that a new drop in oil prices may warrant fresh discussions over the group’s strategy, people familiar with the matter said, the latest sign of economic stress for some members of the cartel. According to the people, Algerian Oil Minister Salah Khebri last week sent a letter to OPEC’s secretariat complaining oil prices have sharply declined since the group decided to keep its ceiling unchanged at a meeting in June. The international oil benchmark, Brent, now trades around $47 a barrel, compared with $62 a barrel at the time of that meeting. “The letter asked OPEC to consider taking some form of action” though it didn’t specify what measures, one of the people said. Another familiar with the letter said that in conversation with other members, Algeria had pressed for closer cooperation with non-OPEC producers. Economically-fragile countries in the Organization of the Petroleum […]

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Barzani remains in office after term expires

KRG President Masoud Barzani and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses reporters at the presidential compound in Erbil on June 24, 2014. (Photo credit: U.S. State Department) Kurdish politicians are continuing negotiations to end a dispute over the legitimacy of Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, whose term expired Thursday.Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) says he remains in power, while political rivals argue that Parliament Speaker Youssif Mohammed should become acting president for an interim period before elections can be held.While the legal picture remains clouded, on a practical level Barzani continues to wield power. On Wednesday his party… 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 .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iraqis Pack Baghdad Square to Support Abadi’s Anti-Graft Measure

Holding aloft signs reading “we are all Abadi” and waving national flags, Iraqis packed a central Baghdad square in a weekend show of support for their prime minister. The display of solidarity for Haidar al-Abadi as he targets the corrupt and shrinks his government was a welcome change at a pivotal moment for a leader more used to bad news. Swathes of Iraq are under Islamic State control, sectarian divisions fester and the economy is slumping. “Abadi’s got the people on his side as well as the religious authorities,” said Sajad Jiyad, an analyst at the Baghdad-based Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform . “If he makes the reforms stick and improves people’s lives, we’ll look back on this as a defining moment,” he said. If he can’t and his rivals fight back, “things could take a turn for a worse.” After weeks of street protests against graft and poor […]

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Israel Misses Gas-Wealth Opportunities

The Tamar Israeli gas-drilling platform in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel. TEL AVIV—Israel couldn’t believe its luck when huge natural-gas deposits were found in its waters five years ago. There was hopeful talk of cementing regional peace with pipelines to energy-hungry neighbors, and of plentiful gas fueling a new economic boom. Instead, what happened since then has spotlighted how unprepared Israel was to deal with newfound energy riches even as it prides itself on being a modern, investor friendly economy. Political feuding and bureaucratic infighting have delayed for years the development of the biggest gas field and now are threatening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile coalition government. No development work started so far on the Leviathan field, the largest in the Mediterranean and estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of gas—enough to supply a country like Turkey for more than a decade. Amid uncertainty about […]

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Nigeria: Surviving the Crude Oil Crunch

editorial The lingering decline in crude oil prices, which has greatly affected Nigeria’s revenue from crude oil exports, has taken another dimension in recent months. About 35 million barrels of the country’s crude oil remained unsold at the international market as at December 2014. Sales have been low this year as the fortunes of August and September deliveries remain uncertain, even as oil prices continue to hover on the lower band of $50 a barrel. As it stands, the nation is on a financial cliff and can fall off except a miracle happens. The one commodity that provides life support for the economy has not only seen its price at the international market fall to as low as $48 per barrel, the volume sold is shrinking as well. There is no sign that things will get better soon. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has even predicted that crude oil […]

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Mexico Cuts Growth Forecast on Oil, U.S. Industrial Output

Mexico cut its growth forecast for this year, a week after a similar move by the central bank, citing declines in oil output and U.S. industrial production. Gross domestic product will expand 2 percent to 2.8 percent this year, down from a May forecast of 2.2 percent to 3.2 percent, Deputy Finance Minister Fernando Aportela said at a news conference Thursday in Mexico City. The economy grew 2.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the national statistics institute said Thursday. While that beat the 2.1 percent median forecast of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, it’s down from 2.6 percent in the previous quarter and at the low end of the full-year range the government projected three months ago. “There are several factors that have limited growth,” Aportela told reporters at a Mexico City event on Thursday. “One of them is what we saw in the U.S., […]

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