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Get gas flowing, Noble tells Israeli government

Noble Energy wants full Israeli support for an agreement that would open up key gas basins in the Mediterranean Sea. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock HOUSTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) — Parliamentary support for a framework agreement for Israeli oil and gas development is a welcome step, but full backing is needed, Noble Energy said. The Israel Antitrust Authority ruled that Israeli energy company Delek Group and its partners at Noble Energy, which has headquarters in Texas, control all of the gas reservoirs off the nation’s coast. A compromise deal from 2014 called on Noble and Delek to sell their stakes in the Karish and Tanin fields off the coast of Israel, which combine for an average 20.5 trillion cubic feet of reserves, in exchange for maintaining their holdings in Leviathan and Tamar, two of the largest gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea. On Monday, the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, […]

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U.S. Designing Secret Way to Monitor Iran’s Nuclear Program

WASHINGTON—The U.S. intelligence chief said Wednesday that the government is designing a secret way to monitor Iran’s compliance with a pending agreement aimed at curbing its nuclear program, which will go beyond scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency. “We are fielding some independent capabilities, which I can’t go into…that will enable us to have good insight into the nuclear industrial enterprise of Iran, if I can call it that,” U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at a Washington conference called the Intelligence and National Security Summit, without offering any details. Mr. Clapper, who has spent more than 50 years working in a variety of government intelligence posts, stopped short of predicting whether the Iranian government would abide by the nuclear agreement, which the White House and five other world powers brokered with the Iranians. But he said the U.S. and others would likely know if Iranians […]

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U.N. Atomic Agency Queries Iran on Ambiguities About Past Nuclear Work

The United Nations atomic agency has sent questions to Iran in a bid to shed light on continued “ambiguities” about Tehran’s past nuclear work, the organization said Wednesday. Under an agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the organization had until Sept. 15 to submit the questions that relate to written information Tehran provided on Aug. 15 about its past nuclear activities. Iran says its nuclear program has always been purely peaceful. Many Western officials believe Iran worked in the past on gaining nuclear weapons know-how. The IAEA probe into Iran’s work has become a flash point of critics of the July 14 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers with critics saying the terms of the probe will allow Tehran to avoid a serious accounting for its past actions. “The IAEA submitted on 8 September questions to Iran on ambiguities regarding the information Iran provided […]

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Republican Revolt Stalls House Debate on Iran Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders on Wednesday postponed debate on President Obama’s landmark nuclear accord with Iran amid a revolt by some Republicans who claimed the White House had not disclosed secret side agreements on the deal. The delay of the historic debate because of Republican infighting opened a new twist in the White House’s effort to move forward with the accord, but it appeared it would have little impact on its prospects. Under the legislation passed this spring that gave Congress a say in the nuclear deal, lawmakers have until mid-September to approve or disapprove the accord. If they do nothing, it goes into force. On Tuesday, the administration succeeded in securing the votes needed in the Senate to block the Republican disapproval resolution on the deal in that chamber, sparing Mr. Obama from having to use his veto pen. But even as the White House seemed to […]

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Saudi Arabia August oil output dips slightly: industry source

A gas flame is seen in the desert near the Khurais oilfield, about 160 km (99 miles) from Riyadh, June 23, 2008. Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production fell slightly by 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday, but still maintained historically high output levels in line with a strategy of defending market share. The world’s top oil exporter pumped 10.26 million bpd in August, while crude supplied to the market was at 10.18 million bpd, down by about 78,000 bpd from July, the industry source said. Supply to the market, both domestically and for export, may differ from production depending on the movement of oil in and out of storage. "Production is based on customers’ needs. It is an indication that Saudi is trying to match the customers’ needs," the source said. This week Saudi-based industry sources said the kingdom’s level of […]

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Arab Gulf countries to discuss unifying oil product pricing

The six oil ministries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will meet Wednesday to discuss the possibility of unifying the prices of oil products, Kuwait’s oil ministry said in a statement late Sunday. The meeting, planned for Doha will be attended by undersecretaries from each of the ministries — from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia andthe United Arab Emirates– according to state-run KUNA news agency. The group will review a memo prepared with the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) to increase cooperation on energy and petroleum strategy. The Kuwaiti ministry highlighted the importance of the Doha meeting in light of rapid changes in the global oil industry and the need for stability, KUNA reported. No further details on the plan were given. Refined product prices in the region vary considerably with different levels of subsidies applied in each. Changing direction remains a political challenge. The […]

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Pemex 2016 Spending Budget Reduced as Woes Build After Reform

As Petroleos Mexicanos seeks investment from outside Mexico, it’s losing some support from the government. President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Tuesday that Mexico’s budget proposal would include 293 billion pesos ($17 billion) for Pemex investment in 2016, down from 366 billion pesos this year and the lowest amount allocated to the world’s ninth-largest crude producer since 2007. As the Mexican state-owned oil producer heads for an 11th straight year of production declines, it now faces a 20 percent cut in its budget for investments in oil fields next year. That puts further pressure on Pemex, which has lost money 11 quarters in a row, as foreign firms line up to bid for the right to drill in Mexican territory. With the goal of boosting supply, the company has no plans to pump less to support prices, Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said Tuesday. The reduction of the company’s investment, which […]

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Tanker-Rate Slump Ending as Asia Refiners Restock African Crude

For operators of very large crude carriers, the tankers that move as much as 2 million barrels of oil across oceans on a single trip, the fourth quarter can’t come fast enough. Since July, shipping rates have dropped by 47 percent after later-than-usual maintenance caused Asian refineries to close and demand to fall. Now rates are poised to reach their highest levels in a final quarter since 2008, according to analysts who point to growth in the amount of crude scheduled to be loaded from West African countries in October. Nigeria is aiming for a 9.5 percent rise in the number of barrels shipped compared with last year, while Angola’s programs show a 6.7 percent increase. The total of Nigeria and Angola’s loadings is set to be the highest for an October since records began in 2008. The most likely buyer for the added barrels is Asia, with China […]

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China’s crude imports are robust, details are not: Russell

A container box is loaded on to a truck at a port in Rizhao, Shandong province, August 12, 2015. If you were looking for a bright spot in China’s dismal trade numbers for August, your eyes may be tempted to focus on crude oil imports. A total of 26.59 million tonnes, equivalent to 6.26 million barrels per day (bpd) were imported, according to customs data. While this was a 13.4-percent drop from July’s 30.71 million tonnes, it’s worth bearing in mind that July was the record high in terms of tonnes and some pullback was always likely. August’s imports were up 5.6 percent from the same month last year. What’s more important is that crude imports are up 9.8 percent in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2014, at 220.67 million tonnes, or about 6.63 million bpd. A gain of almost 10 […]

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U.S. Oil Production to Fall, EIA Says

Government forecasters on Wednesday said U.S. oil production fell to a nearly one-year low and that low crude prices are likely to keep U.S. production falling through 2016. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, in its monthly short-term energy outlook, said that production fell by 140,000 barrels a day in August from the prior month. Production averaged 9.6 million barrels a day at its peak in April, the highest level since 1971, and has steadily declined since then to 9.1 million, the lowest since September. Oil traders have been closely focused on U.S. production in recent months, after a global glut of crude oil sent prices plunging in 2014. With the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries producing above its target of 30 million barrels a day, investors say U.S. production needs to fall to make the market less oversupplied. The agency has pushed back its expectations for a U.S. […]

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