Tag Archives: Oil

Iraqi oil bosses were wooed by shopping trips, cash and offers of new TVs from businessmen seeking lucrative contracts to rebuild export infrastructure after the U.S. invasion that brought down former ruler Saddam Hussein, British prosecutors told a London jury. Michael Brompton, a prosecutor for the U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office, …

Turkey on Sunday called for the European Union to end what it said was the bloc’s prejudice against Turkish Cypriots, defending its launch of a fresh round of hydrocarbon drilling off the Mediterranean island, Reuters reported. Turkey began drilling for oil and gas near Cyprus last year despite warnings from …

Oil production is reported to have stopped at the 70,000-BPD Al Ahdab field on Sunday, as security guards seeking permanent employment blocked access to the site. According to Bloomberg, the 50,000-BPD Badra field is also at risk of closure from Monday. Al Ahdab is developed by China’s CNPC, while Badra …

President Donald Trump has claimed that the United States no longer needs Middle Eastern oil, but according to a Bloomberg report, American refineries still use the kind of oil the Middle East region produces. “We are now the number-one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world. We …

Crude oil futures topped $70 per barrel in early trading Monday amid rising tensions in Iraq and Iran following the killing of a top Iranian military commander in Baghdad. Benchmark Brent crude futures reached $70.72 early in Monday’s session, up 1.28 percent, before falling back below the $70 mark to …

China’s largest oil and gas producer CNPC has announced the discovery of an oilfield that could hold over a billion tons of reserves in the northwest of the country. According to CNPC, the proven reserves at Qingcheng oilfield in the Ordos basin stand at 358 million tons, while its estimated …

“I am making a very serious statement that we don’t want war; we don’t want to engage in a military confrontation … But we won’t blink to defend our territory,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif told CNN in an interview. Asked what the consequence of an American or a …

Ayatollah Khamenei on Tuesday ruled out talks with Washington after Donald Trump blamed Tehran for a crippling attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. “Iranian officials, at any level, will never talk to American officials … this is part of their policy to put pressure on Iran,” Iranian state TV quoted …

For more than four years, Yemen’s army and allied popular forces — led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement — have been defending the country against a devastating Saudi-led military campaign meant to reinstate a former Riyadh-friendly government. The war has so far claimed over 91,000 lives and taken a heavy …

Yemeni drones have hit two oil facilities of Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Aramco in the country’s east, causing huge fires before dawn on Saturday. A spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry said in a statement that the attacks targeted two Aramco factories in Abqaiq and Khurais. The statement did …

Iraq will struggle to generate enough electricity unless it continues to use Iranian gas for three to four more years, the electricity minister said on Tuesday, resisting U.S. pressure to stop the imports from its Middle East neighbor. Iranian oil exports have tumbled since the United States imposed new sanctions …

The Iranian oil tanker that was recently released after being seized by the British Marines has safely arrived at its destination and sold its cargo, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has said. Responding to the announcement, a US official told Reuters that Washington will continue to target any individuals or states …

A towering inferno has erupted at a state-run ONGC oil and gas processing plant at Uran, outside Mumbai, reportedly killing five people and injuring at least 11 more while forcing the evacuation of area residents. The fire broke out in a stormwater drainage system around 7 am local time on …

Iraqi and Jordanian officials announced that Amman would receive its first shipment this week of a planned 10,000 barrels per day (BPD) of oil from Iraq’s province of Kirkuk as apart of an agreement made between the two neighboring countries in early 2019. Hala Zawati, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and …

China’s crude oil imports from Venezuela plunged 62% in July from the previous month, Chinese customs data showed on Sunday, as growing tension between Washington and the Maduro government made buyers wary of taking oil from the South American exporter. Arrivals of crude oil from Venezuela were 703,742 tonnes last …

A gas pipeline exploded near Basra in southern Iraq on Wednesday and halted supplies to a local power station, but did not affect gas or oil output, oil ministry officials and police said. A technical fault due to scorching summer temperatures appeared to have caused the blast in al-Haritha 10 …

Iraq is close to reaching a deal with oil majors BP and Eni for an export pipeline project that was initially planned as part of a mega-deal with U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil, according to five senior Iraqi oil officials involved in the negotiations. Under the proposed $400 million agreement, British …

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has seized the British oil tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported. UK authorities said the tanker had ‘veered off course’ before capture. The Stena Impero was headed to Saudi Arabia but left the international sea lanes and headed north towards …

Iraq’s oil exports from its southern ports have reached 3.42 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in July, two oil officials said on Monday. Exports from its southern Basra terminals fell to 3.39 million bpd in June from 3.441 million bpd in the previous month. Officials said repair works …

A senior Iranian official has called for the seizure of a British oil tanker in case London refuses to release the Iranian vessel it has illegally detained in Gibraltar. “If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities’ duty to make a reciprocal move and seize …