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Egypt: Minister – Oil Sector Carries Out Ambitious Program to Increase Natural Gas Production

Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Sheriff Ismail on Thursday 19/06/2014 said that the oil sector is carrying out an ambitious program for increasing rates of producing natural gas to meet the local needs. In statements while on an inspection tour of Desouk gas field in Kafr el-Sheikh, Ismail added that the plan will be implemented through developing the newly-discovered oil fields and enhancing exploration operations. He further noted there are positive signs about high productivity in the Delta area. The amount of subsidy for petrol, solar and mazut in Egypt during 2012/2013 fiscal year hit 128 billion pounds, said Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Sherif Ismail. Meanwhile, Ismail said that this amount of subsidy for petroleum products drains the state budget, adding that it is difficult now to revoke the subsidy system as it is related to several regulations, including the standard of living, unemployment rate, new projects […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt court confirms death sentences for over 180

The Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and over 180 others were sentenced to death Saturday by an Egyptian court in the latest mass trial following last year’s overthrow of the country’s Islamist president. The ruling by the southern Minya Criminal Court is the largest confirmed mass death sentence to be handed down in Egypt in recent memory and comes from Judge Said Youssef, who earlier presided over the mass trial. It is the second death sentence for the Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie since the crackdown against his group began. The court acquitted more than 400 others in the case and family members of the accused wailed or cheered the verdicts. The case stems from an attack on a police station in the town of el-Adwa near the southern city of Minya on Aug. 14 which killed one police officer and one civilian. Similar revenge attacks […]

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Libya oil output gets lift

Two Libyan oil fields resumed deliveries to a key refinery in the country following a court order on political stability, two state energy companies said. State-owned National Oil. Co. said production resumed at the southern El-Feel field. Authorities at Sirte Oil confirmed oil was flowing from the Zilten oil field in the east of the country, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Libyan oil production has slumped considerably from its pre-war peak of about 1.4 million barrels per day. Oil output has suffered amid internal political rivalries in a country working to rebound from years of dictatorship under Moammar Gadhafi . Resumption of production from the two fields follows a court order that shot down the election of Ahmed Miitig as the next prime minister. Acting Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani refused to recognize the Islamist leader’s appointment. El-Feel and Zilten combine for around 60,000 barrels of oil per day […]

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Libya’s Benghazi rocked by fierce fighting

At least four people have been killed in clashes in Benghazi between forces loyal to the former general Khalifa Haftar and fighters he has declared as "terrorists". At least 14 people were also wounded in Sunday’s fighting, Reuters news agency reported, as fighting prompted dozens of families to flee the port in the latest bout of violence to hit the country. "There are now heavy clashes in Sidi Faraj and al-Hawari [in western Benghazi]. Our forces are attacking with tanks and rocket launchers," Haftar’s spokesman Mohamed el-Hejazi said. The sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard on the streets of  Sidi Faraj, and families were fleeing affected areas, witnesses said.  Electricity was cut to a large part of the city, with state news agency LANA saying a rocket fire had hit a power station, and that technicians were trying to restore power. Haftar has declared war against groups including Ansar al-Sharia […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Libya's Benghazi rocked by fierce fighting

At least four people have been killed in clashes in Benghazi between forces loyal to the former general Khalifa Haftar and fighters he has declared as "terrorists". At least 14 people were also wounded in Sunday’s fighting, Reuters news agency reported, as fighting prompted dozens of families to flee the port in the latest bout of violence to hit the country. "There are now heavy clashes in Sidi Faraj and al-Hawari [in western Benghazi]. Our forces are attacking with tanks and rocket launchers," Haftar’s spokesman Mohamed el-Hejazi said. The sound of heavy weapons fire could be heard on the streets of  Sidi Faraj, and families were fleeing affected areas, witnesses said.  Electricity was cut to a large part of the city, with state news agency LANA saying a rocket fire had hit a power station, and that technicians were trying to restore power. Haftar has declared war against groups including Ansar al-Sharia […]

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Libya maintains optimism over oil sector

It’s possible Libyan oil production could more than double to 700,000 barrels per day within the next two months, a Libyan delegate to OPEC said Wednesday. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties met Wednesday in Vienna for a regular conference. Libyan envoy to OPEC Samir Salem Kamal said if major oil fields closed by labor strikes and protests are brought back online, production could increase from the current rate of around 200,000 bpd. "Libya could get to 700,000 bpd in two months," he said . The envoy said negotiations were ongoing in an effort to bring closed fields back into production. The Libyan National Oil Corp. lifted a state of emergency at operations at the eastern Zueitina oil terminal earlier this year. It was in the control of forces vying for more autonomy in the region. Internal conflicts in Libya have spilled over into […]

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Air strikes hit Benghazi

Air strikes have hit three areas of the Libyan city of Benghazi, shortly after reports emerged of a ceasefire deal between former general Khalifa Haftar and a government crisis committee. The strikes on Tuesday took place in the western part of the city, which has been targeted in the past by troops loyal to Haftar.  Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Tripoli, said that the airstrikes lasted for at least thirty minutes. A source close to the armed group Ansar al-Sharia told Al Jazeera that the group had given Haftar supporters 72 hours, ending Tuesday, to leave the Benina area of Benghazi, close to the airport. Earlier, sources in the Government Crisis Managing Committee, which includes tribal elders, the minister of justice and various brigades in Benghazi, told Al Jazeera that a truce deal had been reached with Haftar, a claim denied by Mohamed Hejazi, Haftar’s spokesperson. However, Reuters quoted Hejazi saying […]

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Offshore Tunisia eyed for new oil campaign

Circle Oil, an Irish exploration company with a focus on the Middle East, said it started an offshore drilling campaign in Tunisia, its first. The company said it started drilling operations in the offshore reserves of the El Mediouni-1 exploration well. The company said the well is located in areas already producing oil and natural gas. Its primary target is dubbed the Birsa Sands. Circle Oil said Monday it estimates there may be as much as 46 million barrels of oil in the prospect, which it says is "substantially larger" than the recoverable commercial threshold of 10 million barrels of oil. Drilling operations in the company’s first-ever offshore well should take as long as seven weeks, it said. Tunisian oil production has declined steadily since reaching a peak of 120,000 barrels of oil per day. A 2014 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates Tunisia has "significant" formations […]

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Icon of Egypt’s 2011 revolt sentenced to 15 years

A court on Wednesday convicted a prominent activist from Egypt’s 2011 uprising for demonstrating without permit and assaulting a policeman, sentencing him to 15 years in prison. The sentence against Alaa Abdel-Fattah is by far the toughest against any of the liberal, pro-democracy activists behind the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year regime. It is also the first conviction of a prominent activist since former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office as president on Sunday. In the 11 months since el-Sissi ousted the country’s first freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, authorities have launched a massive crackdown on Islamists, detaining at least 16,000 and killing hundreds. That crackdown has overshadowed another, albeit smaller, campaign against secular activists opposed to what they see as the return of Mubarak-era policies. Security officials said that while Abdel-Fattah was convicted and sentenced in absentia, he did turn […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Icon of Egypt's 2011 revolt sentenced to 15 years

A court on Wednesday convicted a prominent activist from Egypt’s 2011 uprising for demonstrating without permit and assaulting a policeman, sentencing him to 15 years in prison. The sentence against Alaa Abdel-Fattah is by far the toughest against any of the liberal, pro-democracy activists behind the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year regime. It is also the first conviction of a prominent activist since former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office as president on Sunday. In the 11 months since el-Sissi ousted the country’s first freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, authorities have launched a massive crackdown on Islamists, detaining at least 16,000 and killing hundreds. That crackdown has overshadowed another, albeit smaller, campaign against secular activists opposed to what they see as the return of Mubarak-era policies. Security officials said that while Abdel-Fattah was convicted and sentenced in absentia, he did turn […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple