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Iran supreme leader says fate of nuclear deal still unclear

AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is saying the fate of a historic nuclear deal with world powers is still unclear as lawmakers in both the Islamic Republic and the U.S. review it. Referring to the U.S., Khamenei said: "In their understanding of the deal, of which its fate is not clear since it is not clear if will be approved here or there, their intention was to find a way to penetrate into the country." The remarks by Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters in Iran, suggests he supports politicians’ role in approving the deal. Khamenei has not publicly approved or disapproved the deal, though he repeatedly offered words of support for Iran’s nuclear negotiators. Khamenei was quoted Monday by his official website.

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Iran expects petrochemical exports surge after sanctions lifted: IRNA

An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition (IOGPE) in Tehran April 15, 2011. Iran expects to increase petrochemical exports by up to a quarter by the end of 2016 after sanctions are lifted, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday. Sanctions against Iran, due to be lifted in coming months after a July deal between Tehran and six world powers to curb its nuclear program, do not specifically target the petrochemical sector, but exports have slumped since banking and shipping restrictions were introduced in early 2012. "We expect our exports of petrochemical products to increase by 20 to 25 percent in a short time, between a year and a year and a half," Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs, managing director of the Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. "When banking, insurance […]

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Iraqi Premier Trims Size of Cabinet in Effort to Curb Corruption

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi has abolished four ministries and cut his cabinet to 22 from 33 in a push to cut wasteful government spending as lower oil prices choke off revenue. Three deputy prime minister positions and four ministries, including those overseeing human rights and women’s affairs, were scrapped, according to a decree posted Sunday on Al-Abadi’s website. The responsibilities of eight other ministries will be merged into four. Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in recent weeks to protest corruption in OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer. With the plunge in crude and the battle against Islamic State militants depleting state coffers, bribery and abuse of power are compounding the nation’s economic woes. Iraq is among the world’s most corrupt nations, according to an index compiled by Transparency International. Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, urged the prime minister on Aug. 7 to tackle the problem […]

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Libya calls for air strikes against Isis

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Israel: Cabinet Approves Deal To Develop Leviathan Natural Gas Field

Israel’s Cabinet on Aug. 16 approved a deal with a U.S.-Israel consortium that would move forward development of the huge Leviathan natural gas field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, officials said, Reuters reported. The deal still needs the approval of Israel’s parliament. Leviathan, with estimated reserves of 622 billion cubic meters, is slated to begin production in 2018 or 2019 and is expected to supply billions of dollars of natural gas to Egypt and Jordan in addition to supplying Israel. Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs. Copyright © 2015 Stratfor Global Intelligence, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 221 West 6th Street Suite 400 – Austin, TX 78701, USA unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences | forward email

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Brazilians Return to Streets to Urge Rousseff’s Ouster

RIO DE JANEIRO — Tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets of cities across Brazil on Sunday to express their ire against President Dilma Rousseff , reflecting a low ebb for her as she grapples with a colossal bribery scandal and a declining economy. Still, the protests in some cities seemed to lack some of the urgency of huge demonstrations this year calling for the ouster of Ms. Rousseff, a leftist who won re-election just 10 months ago, suggesting tension may be easing somewhat on the president as congressional and business leaders try to prevent a political crisis from intensifying. The protest in Rio de Janeiro had something of a Carnivalesque feel to it; some demonstrators wore bathing suits as they marched through the Copacabana district as trucks blared samba. But vitriol also marked the event, with some urging the president to kill herself or calling on […]

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Ethanol acts as lone bright spot amid China commodity gloom

Sugar farmers harvest at a field in Guangxi province, southern China January 17, 2007. Recent news from China makes depressing reading for commodities producers, with a slowing economy, tumbling stock prices and a currency devaluation all signaling weaker demand. There is one exception: the world’s second biggest economy has begun importing ethanol in volumes big enough to stir hopes that it might herald an opening of a major, until now barely accessible, market. "If it becomes constant, that’s big news. China’s a place where everyone looks and says, ‘what if,’" said Jordan Fife, a merchant with BioUrja Trading LLC in Houston. State-run grain trader China National Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, known as COFCO, has begun shipping ethanol from its recently acquired mills in Brazil in recent months, the first shipments from the world’s second-biggest exporter since 2012, according to trade sources and Brazilian trade data. Other Chinese buyers have […]

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June oil production ties record peak

Oil production in June matched its record peak from last year. Oil production in June rose to its highest levels since its record peak late last year, North Dakota regulators said Friday, adding that the current level of production could be maintained for about two years. Preliminary June numbers from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources had production at 1,211,178 barrels per day. This was an increase of more than 8,500 daily barrels from the final May tally of 1,202,615 barrels per day. The active rig count in the state was at 74 on Friday. Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, said production has maintained due to operators primarily drilling in the most productive parts of the oil patch and increasing efficiencies with staff and equipment. Well completions by hydraulic fracturing increased from a final May count of 116 to a preliminary total of 149 […]

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Hedge Funds Resume Flight From Oil as Prices Sink to 6-Year Lows

After showing some short-lived optimism, hedge funds resumed their retreat from the U.S. oil market, cutting bullish positions for the seventh time in eight weeks as prices dropped to the lowest since 2009. Money managers’ net-long position in West Texas Intermediate crude declined 11 percent in the week ended Aug. 11, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Short positions climbed to the highest level since March, a signal speculators see prices continuing to fall. Futures markets this summer have plunged the most since trading began in 1984, as the U.S. enters a period in which refinery demand usually falls. A global surplus will last through 2016, the International Energy Agency said Aug. 12. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reported the day before that its output climbed last month to the highest level in more than three years. “The consensus view is that we’ve got further to fall,” […]

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