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Tensions Flare Between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in U.S. Coalition

Photo Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, center, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. He is making his first official visit to Washington. Credit James Lawler Duggan/Reuters WASHINGTON — A remarkable clash between two key American allies in the Middle East burst into the open here on Wednesday as the Iraqi prime minister publicly criticized the Saudi air campaign in Yemen and a top Saudi official retorted that there was “no logic to those remarks.” The exchange, driven by sharply opposing views of Iran in the region, reflected the challenges facing the Obama administration as it tries to hold together a diverse coalition, including Sunni Arab states and Shiite-dominated Iraq , in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS . Iran is a sometimes patron to Iraq but an ideological archrival to Saudi Arabia . The United States remains caught in a difficult balancing act as it […]

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Tensions Between Iran and Saudi Arabia Deepen Over Conflict in Yemen

Photo Saudi tanks were deployed near their country’s border with Yemen on Thursday. The Saudis are leading a coalition trying to stop the Houthi rebel group, which is backed by Iran. Credit Fayez Nureldine/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia deepened on Thursday as Iranian leaders lashed out with rare vehemence against the continuing Saudi air campaign in Yemen , even hurling personal insults at the young Saudi prince who is leading the fight. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , the supreme leader of Iran, on Thursday denounced the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen as “a crime” and “a genocide,” while all but taunting Saudi Arabia that its war in Yemen was doomed to fail. A regional coalition led by Saudi Arabia extended its bombing campaign for a 16th night in its effort to stop the Houthi movement and its allies from dominating Yemen. The Houthis […]

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Saudi Arabia Maneuvers to Retain Oil Crown

ENLARGE Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. The kingdom’s oil exports declined 5.7% in 2014 compared with 2013. Photo: HEINZ-PETER BADER/REUTERS Saudi Arabia is struggling to maintain its share of the global oil market in a contest that pits the world’s largest crude exporter against traditional allies in the U.S. and Persian Gulf. The Saudi kingdom’s oil exports declined 5.7% in 2014 compared with 2013. Oil shipments to its fastest-expanding customer, China, reached their lowest levels since 2011 in the first two months of 2015, according to the China General Customs Administration. And its U.S. sales nearly halved in January compared with a year earlier, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. China and the U.S. are Saudi Arabia’s biggest importers, with 10% and 8%, respectively, of the kingdom’s production. In China, Saudi Arabia is suffering from depressed demand and better deals being offered by its rivals in Russia, Kuwait […]

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Riyadh reasserts oil market influence

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi says oil production from the OPEC leader is steady in a fluid energy market.(UPI Photo/Michael Kleinfeld) NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) — Production commitments from Saudi Arabia, coupled with a low price prediction from the United States, dealt a blow to crude oil prices Wednesday. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said at an economic conference in Riyadh late Tuesday he was optimistic oil markets would recover, adding production from the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Countries was steady . "Oil production in the kingdom is stable and the kingdom’s production per day in March amounted to 10.3 million barrels of oil," he said. An OPEC decision in November to keep production steady increased the downward pressure on oil markets favoring the supply side because of increased output from the United States. U.S. oil production is around 9.3 million bpd. Brent crude […]

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Iranian media calls for boycott of Saudi oil

Militants loyal to Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi take their positions in Taiz, Yemen. Iran’s Fars News Agency called for a boycott of oil from Saudi Arabia to protest Riyadh’s decision to launch a military offensive in neighboring Yemen. Photo by Anees Mahyoub/UPI TEHRAN, April 7 (UPI) — The international community should boycott oil from Saudi Arabia to rob the government in Riyadh of the will to keep fighting in Yemen, Iranian media said. Saudi Arabia in late March announced the start of a pan-Arab military offensive in Yemen dubbed Operation Decisive Storm. Riyadh said the offensive was meant to defend the government in Sanaa and to "prevent the Houthi militias from controlling the country by force." The operation pit Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-led country, against Shiite Iran, which is said to be backing the Houthi militia. An op-ed from the semi-official Fars News Agency in Iran called […]

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Saudi’s Naimi says ready to help improve oil prices, but not alone

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said on Tuesday that the kingdom stood ready to "improve" prices but only if other producers outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) joined the effort. Naimi said Saudi Arabia had pumped around 10.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, marking an increase from previous months. He did not say why output had risen. Naimi also said he expected oil prices that have languished near six-year lows to improve in the near future. Oil prices extended gains late on Tuesday as traders took Naimi’s comments as sign he may be open to renewed talks with producers like Russia and Mexico over curbing production in order to revive prices. U.S. crude rose 3.5 percent to close at $53.98 a barrel, near its highest this year. "The kingdom is still ready to help bring back stability to the […]

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Saudi Arabia Sees Crude Price Rising as It Boosts Oil Production

Ali al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. Photographer: Vladimir Weiss/Bloomberg Saudi Arabia increased oil production in March to the highest in at least 12 years and expects crude prices to rise in the “near future,” according to oil minister Ali al-Naimi. The kingdom, which led the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year in refusing to cut output, produced 10.3 million barrels a day last month and will keep pumping for now at around 10 million, al-Naimi said Tuesday at a conference in Riyadh. The March figure is the highest since at least 2002, when the Joint Organisations Data Initiative began compiling output statistics. OPEC will not cut production without cooperation from non-OPEC producers, al-Naimi said. Supply from Saudi Arabia, the biggest in OPEC, has added to a global glut that reduced oil prices by almost half since June. Russia is pumping oil at a rate close to the post-Soviet […]

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Saudi Arabia’s Crude Output at Record High in March

By Summer Said Saudi Arabia raised its crude output to 10.3 million barrels a day in March, its oil minister Ali al-Naimi said, signalling an unexpected strong demand from its customers. Mr. Naimi did not give a reason for the increase in output, according to the official Saudi News Agency. The Kingdom’s previous record peak was 10.2 million barrels a day in August 2013. It told the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that it produced 9.64 million barrels a day in February. Mr. Naimi said that the kingdom’s production will continue at around 10 million barrels a day, signalling that his country is determined to ride out the price slide without making any output cut. "In terms of petroleum, I expect that prices will improve in the near future, that the Kingdom’s production will continue at approximately 10 million barrels per day," Mr. Naimi said in a speech […]

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Saudi crude output to rise to 9.8 million b/d in 2015: Jadwa Bank

Intense competition in key export markets and higher domestic consumption will drive Saudi Arabia’s average crude oil production to 9.8 million b/d in 2015, according to a forecast by Saudi bank Jadwa Investment. This is up from 9.6 million b/d in its previous forecast in January, Jadwa said in a research note Wednesday. The kingdom’s response to falling crude oil prices since mid-2014 has been to aggressively cut its official selling price to maintain market share. Exports to China and the US, which together accounted for 34% of Saudi’s exports in early 2014, have now fallen to just 26%. Article continues below… Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government actions, exploration and technology Daily futures summary Weekly API statistics, and much more "In the US, Saudi’s […]

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