Mozambique's election is likely to be tense, with the ruling party winning.
Mozambique will vote on Wednesday, in a highly charged general election that is likely to result in victory for the ruling Frelimo party, which has governed this Southern African nation since its founding in 1975. Four candidates are in the running to replace President Filipe Nyusi who is leaving office after two terms. Daniel Chapo is the favourite, a 47-year-old lawyer who is a popular choice among businessmen and seen as a new face for the party. He is up against Venancio Montdlane, an independent charismatic candidate who attracts large crowds…
Engineers say two oilfields in south-east Libya have been shut down
Engineers at the fields said on Tuesday that two oilfields have stopped production, and another had its output reduced. This shows a plan announced on Monday to reduce production is in effect. Although the eastern-based administration announced on Monday that the oilfields would be closed, neither the internationally recognised government of Libya in Tripoli nor the National Oil Corp, which controls Libya's oil resources, have confirmed this. Khalifa haftar, the eastern Libyan military commander, controls most of Libya's oilfields. On Tuesday, engineers from Amal and Nafoora said that production had been halted.
Libya's east-based government will close all oilfields
The Libyan government in the east said Monday that all oilfields were closing, stopping production and exports. However, Tripoli's National Oil Corp., which controls Libya's oil resources, did not confirm this. Libyan factions have been locked in a struggle for control over the central bank and its oil revenues. Khalifa haftar, the eastern Libyan military commander, controls most of the oilfields in Benghazi. Libya, the largest oil producer in the Mediterranean region, has experienced little stability since an uprising supported by NATO in 2011.
Libya says Probe of Seized Tanker to Start After Quarantine
Libya's internationally recognized government will start an investigation into a tanker over alleged sanctions-breaking after a period of quarantine ends in two weeks, the coast guard commander who seized the vessel said on Wednesday.The coast guard at Misrata seized the Gulf Petroleum 4 three days ago, Rida Issa said, after the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said the tanker had broken an arms embargo and other international agreements by offloading jet fuel in Benghazi.Benghazi is the seat of…
Mozambique Army, Islamist Insurgents Battle Near Gas projects
Mozambican troops battled Islamist insurgents in a town in a northern town on Monday close to billion-dollar gas projects being developed by ExxonMobil and Total, police said.The General Commander of Mozambique's police, Bernardino Rafael, said the insurgents attacked Mocimboa da Praia and its army barracks before dawn on Monday, wounding dozens of people.Mocimboa da Praia is about 350 km (220 miles) by road from the city of Pemba in Mozambique's northernmost province of Cabo Delgado and is just south of the Afungi peninsula…
Libyan Oil Revenues Fall to Zero as Ports Blocked
Libya's vital oil revenues fell to zero in January, the central bank said on Monday, after forces and tribesmen allied to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar blocked major oil ports.Haftar is embroiled in a conflict with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and has been trying to seize the capital by force since April.Tribesmen and forces loyal to him closed all eastern ports and major fields last month in a power play, part of chaos in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.The oil shutdown has caused losses exceeding 2.5 billion Libyan dinar ($1.78 billion)…
NOC Condemns Calls for Oil Export Terminals to be Shut
Libya's state oil firm NOC on Friday condemned calls to shut oil export terminals in eastern Libya controlled by military commander Khalifa Haftar ahead of a summit in Germany where he will face pressure to halt his campaign to take the capital.Tribal leaders in eastern and southern Libya called on Thursday to shut the terminals in protest at what they called the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli's use of oil revenues to pay for foreign fighters.Eastern Libya and part of the south of the country is controlled by the Libya National Army (LNA) of Haftar…
Chevron Pulls Staff from Northern Iraq
Chevron Corp removed its expatriate staff operating in northern Iraq as a security precaution, a spokeswoman said on Monday, joining other oil companies pulling staff following the U.S. killing of an Iranian general in the country.U.S. officials last week called for American citizens to leave Iraq hours after a drone strike killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.Chevron said a small contingent of expatriate employees and contractors temporarily left its Kurdistan region operations as a precautionary measure. Other U.S.
Oil Hits $70 a Barrel
Oil prices rose a further 2% on Monday, pushing Brent above $70 a barrel, as rhetoric from the United States, Iran and Iraq fanned tensions in the Middle East after a U.S. air strike which killed a top Iranian military commander.Brent crude futures soared to a high of $70.74 a barrel and was at $69.74 at 0940 GMT, up $1.14, or 1.66%, from Friday's settlement.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.92 a barrel, up 87 cents, or 1.38%, after touching $64.72, the highest since April.The gains extended Friday's more than 3% surge after a U.S.
Petrochemicals: Weak Margins Sweep Asia
Asian petrochemical makers, who are unable to pass down sky-high feedstock costs, are resorting to run cuts or extending cracker shutdown periods to tie through the bad times.The gloom was evident across South Korea, Asia's top naphtha importer, as well as Southeast Asia as crude-derived naphtha premiums were recently either setting new records or were near record levels because of a supply crunch following drone attacks on Saudi oilfields in mid September and heavy refinery maintenance.Buyers are even more concerned now given mounting tensions between the United States and Iran after U.S.
US Oil Workers Leaving Iraq After Air Strike
Dozens of U.S. citizens working for foreign oil companies in the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra were leaving the country on Friday, the Oil Ministry said, after a U.S. air strike killed a top Iranian commander in Iraq.The U.S. embassy in Baghdad urged all its citizens to leave Iraq immediately, hours after the U.S. killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.Iraqi officials said the evacuation would not affect operations, production or exports.Company sources told Reuters earlier the workers were expected to fly out of the country.Oil production in Iraq…
OP/ED: Offshore Wind
Set to Soar, Taking Offshore Support Industry With it.Offshore energy development is opening a new front in the United States -- the Atlantic seaboard, with strong winds, a shallow continental shelf and a proximity to dense population centers is driving strong interest in offshore wind development. The offshore oil and gas supply chain stands to benefit in a big way from billions in coming investment. In fact, it is already playing a role. Companies in the Gulf of Mexico, which traditionally support the offshore oil and gas sector…
FERC Green Signal for Calcasieu Pass LNG
Venture Global LNG announced that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the company’s 10 MTPA Calcasieu Pass facility on the Gulf of Mexico.On August 31, 2018, FERC notified Venture Global LNG that it plans to issue a Final Order for the Calcasieu Pass facility and the associated TransCameron Pipeline no later than January 22, 2019, in line with the Notice of Revised Schedule for Environmental Review issued on May 18…
Saudi Arabia Halts Red Sea Oil Exports after Tanker Attacks
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was suspending oil shipments through a strategic Red Sea lane after Yemen's Iran-aligned rebels attacked two tankers in the waterway, underscoring the risk of an escalation in tensions in the region.Brent crude futures rose 59 cents to $74.52 a barrel by 1008 GMT, extending their rally into a third day but falling from a 10-day high in earlier trading.Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Iran have been locked in a three-year proxy war in Yemen, which lies on one side of the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the southern mouth of the sea…
Key Oil Export Terminals Reopen in Libya
Tripoli-based National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday four export terminals were being reopened after eastern factions handed over the ports, ending a standoff that had shut down most of Libya's oil output.Production and export operations would be restored "within the next few hours", an NOC statement said, although the restart at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, where workers were evacuated and storage tanks damaged in fighting last month, was expected to be gradual.A tanker at Hariga was due to start loading 1 million barrels of crude on Wednesday afternoon…
Libya's Oil Output Down Sharply in 2018
Libya's national oil production fell to 527,000 barrels per day (bpd) from a high of 1.28 million bpd in February following recent oil port closures, the head of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement on Monday.The NOC had not previously stated how high the country's production had climbed after partially recovering to more than 1 million bpd a year ago.In the video statement dated July 8 the chairman of Tripoli-based NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, said the Feb. 23 closure of the El Feel oilfield due to protests led to the loss of 80…
Oil Slips as U.S. Crude Stockpiles Show Surprise Build
U.S. crude stocks up 1.3 mln bbls vs 3.5 mln draw forecast-EIA. Oil fell on Thursday after U.S. government data showed an unexpected build in crude oil stockpiles. U.S. crude futures fell $1.20 to settle at $72.94 a barrel, retreating from Tuesday's 3-1/2-year high of over $75. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents to settle at $77.39 a barrel. U.S. crude stockpiles rose 1.3 million barrels last week, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data. Analysts had expected a 3.5 million-barrel decline. "An unexpected build in the U.S.
Oil Nears 3-1/2-year High on Middle East Sabre Rattling
OPEC supply cuts since 2017 have tightened market; oil has also risen on U.S. sanctions threat against Iran. Oil traded near its highest in 3-1/2 years on Thursday, boosted by potential disruptions to flows from Iran and the Middle East despite a fresh demand from U.S. President Donald Trump that OPEC cut prices. Brent crude futures were at $78.12 a barrel at 1050 GMT, down 12 cents. U.S. crude futures were up 32 cents at $74.46, within sight of Tuesday's 3-1/2-year high above $75. "If Trump continues to believe that OPEC are not doing enough…
Oil Tight on Libyan Port Struggles
Libyan oil production could face protracted disruption as factions in the east seek to seize control of crude exports, adding pressure to a tight global market. Eastern factions have tried to take over oil exports in the past but have struggled to find buyers because Western nations insist they will deal only with the internationally recognised National Oil Corporation (NOC) based in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. But this has not stopped eastern forces from seeking control of the ports, accusing Libya's western-based government of failing to share revenues fairly.
Struggle to Control Libyan Oil Ports Adds to Global Supply Worries
Libyan oil production could face protracted disruption as factions in the east have sought to seize control of crude exports, adding pressure to a tight global market.Eastern factions have tried to take over oil exports in the past yet struggled to find buyers as Western nations insist they will only deal with the internationally recognised National Oil Corporation (NOC) based in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.But this has not stopped eastern forces from seeking control of the ports, accusing…
