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U.S. House Votes Against Approving Iran Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON—The House on Friday voted against approving the Iran nuclear agreement, as congressional Republicans sought to emphasize their united opposition to the deal, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama ’s foreign policy agenda. The 269-162 vote was aimed less at blocking the Iran deal, which already has enough support to be implemented, and more at laying the groundwork for challenges to the deal in coming years. Republicans had earlier hoped to undercut the deal by voting for a disapproval resolution, but those hopes vanished when Senate Democrats lined up enough support to block a disapproval-resolution vote on Thursday. Democrats in both chambers had also gathered enough support to sustain a veto had a disapproval resolution made it to the president’s desk. “This deal is far worse than anything I could have imagined,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio.) “Our fight to stop this bad deal frankly is just […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria: NNPC Bows to Pressure, Lifts Ban on 113 Oil Tankers

(file photo). Photo: Premium Times The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has finally bowed to the pressure mounted by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) and lifted a ban on 113 foreign vessels, mostly very large crude carriers (VLCCs) into Nigeria’s territorial waters less than two months after the ban was imposed. Acting on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, NNPC imposed the ban shortly after Buhari assumed office over concerns that most of the tankers were complicit in incidents of crude oil theft from Nigerian oil terminals. INTERTANKO, whose members were mostly affected by the ban of the 113 vessels, is one of the largest groups in the shipping industry with 207 full members and 285 associate members, and a registered fleet of over 3,000 tankers of over 270 million DWT (deadweight). In his capacity as the then Group General Manager of NNPC in charge of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Opposition in Venezuela Is Unsettled by Leader’s Sentence

Photo At a demonstration in Caracas on Friday, Lilian Tintori read a letter that her husband, Leopoldo López, an opposition leader, had written in prison. Credit Meridith Kohut for The New York Times CARACAS — A year ago Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan opposition leader, walked at the head of rallies of tens of thousands of people, calling for the exit of President Nicolás Maduro and setting off a wave of demonstrations and unrest as the country boiled with discontent. But on Friday, only a few hundred people showed up at a demonstration to support him, a day after he was convicted and sentenced to nearly 14 years in jail for his role in leading last year’s protests. The small size of the crowd told the story: The opposition finds itself discouraged and off balance even as it retains hopes of winning crucial legislative elections scheduled for December. “In Venezuela […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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What’s 40 million tonnes of Chinese steel between friends?

A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in central Sydney August 20, 2013. BHP Billiton last month revised downwards its forecast of "peak steel" production in China, the world’s largest producer of the stuff. It will happen, BHP said, some time in the mid-2020s and the peak will be between 935 and 985 million tonnes, or 960 million in the middle of that range. Rio Tinto, by contrast, is sticking with its call that the peak will come around 2030 and will be around one billion tonnes. BHP’s shift of stance grabbed a lot of media coverage. After all, these are two of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and China is the world’s largest buyer of their product. For BHP and Rio and their shareholders "peak steel" in China is more than just an academic talking-point. When it comes and at what level […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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What Will Drillers Do as Prices Fall? Depends Who You Ask

Goldman Sachs says the world has more oil than it had thought and expects prices to slip below $40 per barrel, and maybe lower, because the glut may linger deep into next year. On the same day, the International Energy Agency said production outside OPEC countries will drop sharply in 2016 with prices so weak. Goldman analyst Damien Courvalin says these cuts may not be enough. He lowered his forecast for 2016 to $45 per barrel from $57. He says prices could collapse to around $20 if production decreases too slowly. Oil markets been unusually volatile, with the price of crude down 26 percent in three months. Prices have risen or fallen more than 3 percent on 14 trading days during that stretch.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Oil-Rig Count Falls in Latest Week

The U.S. oil-rig count fell by 10 to 652 in the latest reporting week, the second straight decline after six consecutive weeks of increases, according to Baker Hughes Inc. BHI -1.12 % The number of U.S. oil-drilling rigs, which is viewed as a proxy for activity in the oil industry, has fallen sharply since oil prices started falling last year. The rig count dropped for 29 straight weeks before climbing modestly in recent weeks. Despite recent increases, there are still about 59% fewer rigs working since a peak of 1,609 in October. According to Baker Hughes, the number of gas rigs declined by six to 196. The U.S. offshore rig count was 31 in the latest week, down two from last week and down 35 from a year earlier. For all rigs, including natural gas, the week’s total was down 16 to 848.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Operational constraints limit crude storage at U.S. refineries: Kemp

A general view of the Tesoro refinery in Carson, California February 2, 2015. U.S. commercial crude stocks are still close to their highest levels in over 80 years, but operational requirements prevent refineries filling on-site storage facilities to their maximum capacity. An increasing proportion of U.S. crude oil stocks is held in off-site tank farms, some owned or leased by refiners themselves, but many owned or leased by marketers and traders. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which surveys storage capacity every six months, total crude in storage at the end of March was 475 million barrels, and the country had capacity to store up to 660 million. Only 182 million barrels of storage capacity, around 28 percent, was on site at oil refineries. The rest was off site at tank farms or in pipelines, railroad tank cars, barges and oilfield tanks. Most of the crude at refineries […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. importing less Saudi oil – for now

U.S. President Barack Obama looks on as King Salman bin Abd alAziz of Saudi Arabia speaks during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House. U.S. imports of Saudi Arabian oil are down, federal data show. Pool Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) — Total U.S. imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia for the week ending Sept. 4 are down roughly 15 percent from last year, U.S. federal data show. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports Saudi Arabian oil accounts for roughly 17 percent of all crude oil imported into the United States, putting it at the No. 2 spot behind Canada. Total imports of Saudi crude for the week ending Sept. 4 were 1.06 million barrels per day, down 15.2 percent from the same week in 2014. Saudi oil imports are down 32 percent from the first week of September 2013. "U.S. […]

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EIA: Oil companies may cut spending further

Federal energy report finds rough road may be ahead for companies working in U.S. shale basins. Photo by photostock77/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) — Companies contributing most to U.S. onshore oil production are expected to cut capital spending as the weak oil market endures, a federal energy report said. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for crude oil prices, closed Thursday at $48.89 per barrel, more than 17 percent below the start of July and more than 50 percent below peak prices in June 2014. Most oil companies are cutting spending on exploration and production and shedding staff. Though some sectors are performing well, the economy in Texas , the No. 1 oil producer in the nation, is feeling pressure from the downward trajectory for crude oil prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration analyzed financial data from 44 companies focused heavily on shale oil production in the United States. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bakken Rig Count at 69

Bakken Rigs The Bakken-Three Forks rig count dropped to 69 rigs running across our coverage area by end of the week on Friday. In recent Bakken news, North Dakota senator, Heidi Heitkamp, pushes back against the latest federal mandate to reduce methane emissions. Read more: Heitkamp Reacts to Methane Ruling The U.S. rig count fell by 16 this week, ending with 848 rigs running by midday Friday. A total of 196 rigs were targeting natural gas (down six from previous week) and 652 were targeting oil in the U.S. (10 less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.) 70 are in ND alone. Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs The Bakken oil rigs were at 69 this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $45.19/bbl on Friday afternoon, a $1.59 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent decreased $.1.69 landing […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple