Crude Prices Stagnate Amid Doubts About Global Demand

Oil Market Summary 03/08/2010 to 03/12/2010   Crude oil prices tread water for the week as uncertainty about demand continued to weigh on the market. Prices were down slightly on the week, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate settling on Friday at $81.24 a barrel, compared with $81.50 a week ago.   Not even relatively bullish forecasts for oil demand, such as the International Energy Agency’s report on Friday raising its forecast by 70,000 barrels a day for 2010, or the decline in the dollar could propel oil prices forward.. » read more

Obama czar in 'clean energy' corruption?

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Iran Starved of Gasoline by Trio Of Swiss Suppliers

Over the last few months, a trio of Swiss-based traders have halted supplying gasoline to Iran. The three gasoline suppliers, Glencore International, Trafigura and Vitol have forced Iran to begin looking elsewhere for alternative sources of gasoline imports. Furthermore, it could force the nation to push on with bringing domestic gasoline prices closer towards market rates. The trio are thought to have stopped the flow of supplies to Iran because of the burgeoning level of political risk involved. Glencore and Trafigura are reported to have stopped their exports at the back end of last year, while more recently Vitol has ceased participating in Iran's tenders for fuel supplies in the last couple of months.. » read more

An Ominous Drilling Sign for the Truth

The year is 2010 and to anyone not in denial, the industrialized nations have entered the greatest calamity the world has ever known: ·       35 Million Americans on Food Stamps: 12 Percent of U.S. Population on Food Stamps Highest Since Records Kept in 1969, and that’s before the Obama administration announced a planned three-year budget freeze on government discretionary spending. (My Budget 360) ·       18 Million empty houses in the United States and 39 million Americans who are no longer working or looking for work, and that’s before Federal Reserve finishes rewriting the rules of American “capitalism” as US Housing, the Automobile Industry and the American Dream are dismantled. (The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.. » read more

Yemen’s Push Into the Gas Sector Fails to Stimulate Great Excitement and Raises Disturbing Questions

With Yemen’s oil revenues plunging, the government’s push into the gas market seemed like an economic saving grace for a state wracked by poverty and terrorism, but analysts warn more thought should be given to carving out the country's post-petroleum era. The infamous Christmas Day bomber’s attempts to blow up a jet approaching Detroit – which Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for – has drawn unwanted attention to the country’s vulnerability to terrorist movements. Dwindling oil and water resources, high poverty and illiteracy, a ballooning population, rebel uprisings and separatist movements have made Yemen ripe for extremism. Nestled in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is highly reliant on oil money, which accounts for 70 percent of the budget. But total reserves amount to about 2.. » read more

Iraqi Elections Likely To Fuel Ethnic Tensions, Further Delay Access To Kirkuk's Reserves

The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country.   The Iraqi Kurds have repeatedly called for Kirkuk to be transferred to the control of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which already administers three provinces in the predominantly Kurdish north of Iraq. The other ethnic groups in Iraq – including the Arab-dominated government in Baghdad – are equally insistent that Kirkuk should remain under central control and that any oil or gas revenues should be divided between the entire population of the country rather than all going to the KRG.   The failure to resolve the issue of the eventual status of Kirkuk threatens not only prospects for permanent political stability in Iraq but also hopes of extracting the province’s huge reserves and building new oil and gas pipelines from Kirkuk to Turkey, and from there to energy-hungry Western markets.   “We are very interested in the oil and gas reserves in Kirkuk.. » read more

Gazprom: Angel or Demon?

Gazprom faces regular opprobrium for its bullying ways of using energy as a pressure and political tool. Seen by some, mostly Russians, as the symbol of a successful and strong Russia, others see it as a dominating juggernaut, economic right arm of the Kremlin implementing, or should we say, imposing its policies by using energy as a weapon.   Just like Louis XIV used to say “L’Etat c’est moi” (I am the State), Gazprom could say the same in light of its commercial power and the unconditional governmental backing it enjoys. However, just like Monsanto generates passionate debates with its genetically engineered seeds, Gazprom’s activities cannot be simply labeled as right or wrong and subject to final judgments.   Though far from being an angel, Gazprom is not necessarily a demon either.. » read more

Kurds Push for Oil Law with Baghdad Amid South’s Sudden Bright Future

  While the Iraqi government has made overtures to its Kurdish counterpart in the north to end an oil standoff, much remains in doubt without an actual law keeping the industry in check - rules which this time the Kurds are pressing for rather than Baghdad. For a long time, the northern Kurdistan region was seen as the most attractive oil market in the country but the latest bid rounds in December and subsequent contract signings in the south have made it suddenly “less clear that Baghdad actually needs an oil law with Kurdistan, because they’re actually doing pretty well on their own,” said David Bender, an analyst in the Middle East practice of the Eurasia Group’s Washington office. Iraq’s government initially pushed for petroleum-sector legislation, but lately the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been motivated to act “so they don’t get sort of left behind, with this new international oil interest in Iraq,” Bender argued. Thirty-eight companies from 17 countries have exploration and production contracts in the Kurdistan region, according to Ashti Hawrami, the KRG’s national resources minister. Several medium and large discoveries have been made, while one private sector refinery has been built and another is almost finished, Hawrami noted in a Feb.. » read more

The Future's so Bright, I've Got to Wear Lead

The third Bush/McCain term courses on like a runaway, coal-fired steam train. Mr. Obama, CEO of Gopasskiss, Incorporated, formally known as the United States of America, will offer up $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to build two new nuclear power plants in Georgia. This was the centerpiece in John McCain’s energy strategy.. » read more

Libya Faces Tough Energy Sell Following Scant Oil & Gas Claims and Government Fiascos

The Libyan government has been sounding off lately about boosting the profile of its oil and gas market, but it’s questionable whether international companies will ignore the government’s missteps in the industry - not to mention the recent lackluster energy finds - and keep injecting money into the North African country.   The head of Libya’s National Oil Corp., Shokri Ghanem, has his eye on expanding gas exploration and production in a bid to raise exports to Europe, as well as privatizing oil refineries and the petrochemical sector, according to an interview he gave this month to the Oxford Business Group.   Once an international outcast for its penchant for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, Libya now wants foreigners to take a greater stake in the oil market and in turn encourage local firms to play a larger role as well.   More than two-dozen companies from around the world are betting on Libya these days, said Ronald Bruce St John, an analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington-based think tank.. » read more

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