UN Warns of Sanctions for Oil Trading with Syria, Iraq Militants
The U.N. Security Council expressed grave concern on Monday over reports that radical militants have seized oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq and warned that anyone caught trading in oil from the "terrorist groups" could face sanctions. The 15-member council said in a statement that any trade in oil with Islamic State - previously known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - or al Qaeda's Nusra Front, would violate United Nations sanctions as both groups have been blacklisted.
Mortars Land in Saudi Arabia near Iraq
Mortar attack near Arar caused no casualties; Iraq militants have seized land near border. Attack follows raid in south of country by al Qaeda. Three mortar bombs landed inside Saudi Arabia on Monday close to its northern border with Iraq, where Islamist militants have grabbed land in a lightning advance, officials said. The mortars caused no casualties but will stoke security fears in Saudi Arabia, which is also facing militants on its southern border with Yemen, where at least 10 people died in an al Qaeda raid into the kingdom on Friday and Saturday.
Another Big Oil Outage Would Strain Supply
The world's unused spare oil production capacity would struggle to cover for another big outage, industry officials and analysts say, increasing the chance governments may tap strategic reserves should Iraq's southern exports be disrupted. Unrest in Iraq comes as the almost total loss of Libyan supply, Western sanctions on Iran as well as conflict in Syria and northern Iraq are keeping almost 3 million barrels per day (bpd) - more than 3 percent of world demand - off the market. More Saudi Arabian supply, and the U.S.
Terminal in Southern Iraq Achieves Record Oil Exports Despite Unrest
According to loading data and industry news, export terminal in southern Iraq's oil exports in June approaching record highs, despite the attacks on Sunni Islamist insurgents, and most of Iraq's northwestern and central regions fall into these the hands of the rebels. Although the Iraqi government to take action to strengthen security, but the oil giant Exxon Mobil and BP to evacuate some staff, the development of the situation has prompted fears that Iraqi crude oil exports may be slowing. Iraqi officials said…
Crude Falls Below $114 as Iraq Supply Fears Ease
U.S. Brent crude dipped below $114 a barrel on Monday as worries about disruptions to Iraqi crude supplies began to look overdone given that exports have so far been unaffected by a Sunni Islamist insurgency. Brent was down 90 cents at $113.91 by 1336 GMT, off an intraday high of $115.66. U.S. crude for August delivery was down 54 cents at $106.29, after touching $107.45 earlier in the session. The July contract expired on Friday. Traders and analysts said that the rally had faltered as the market was becoming desensitised to the news out of Iraq.
Iraq Battles to Hold Biggest Refinery
Iraqi government forces battled Sunni militants for control of the country's biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki waited for a U.S. response to an appeal for air strikes to beat back the threat to Baghdad. The sprawling Baiji refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shi'ite-led government held off insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its allies who had stormed the perimeter a day earlier, threatening national energy supplies.
Brent Oil Price Rises Towards $114
The price of Brent crude oil rose towards $114 a barrel on Wednesday as Sunni militants pushed forward in northern Iraq, striking the country's biggest refinery and stoking worries about oil exports as some firms pulled foreign oil workers out of the country. Further increasing tensions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country would not hesitate to defend Shi'ite holy sites in Iraq. Brent rose 20 cents to $113.65 a barrel by 1241 GMT. U.S. crude gained 34 cents to $106.70 a barrel after a draw in domestic stocks.
Saudis to Iran: Don't Meddle in Iraq
Saud warns against "foreign interference, outside agendas." Iran: won't hesitate to defend Iraq's Shi'ite holy sites. Saudi Arabia gave an apparent warning to arch enemy Iran on Wednesday by saying outside powers should not intervene in the conflict in neighbouring Iraq. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also said Iraq was facing a full-scale civil war with grave consequences for the wider region. His remarks coincided with an Iranian warning that Tehran would not hesitate to defend Shi'ite Muslim holy sites in Iraq against "killers and terrorists", following advances by Sunni militants there.
Oil Majors Cut Staff in Iraq on Violence Fears
Some oil companies are pulling foreign staff from Iraq, fearing Sunni militants from the north could strike at major oilfields concentrated in the Shi'ite south despite moves by the Baghdad government to tighten security. Iraqi officials say the southern regions that produce some 90 percent of the country's oil are completely safe from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has seized much of the north in a week as Baghdad's forces there collapsed. The government says 100,000 police dedicated to protecting oil facilities are on high alert and well armed.
Kurdish Control of Kirkuk Tough to Roll Back
Iraq's Kurds have established control over the northern city of Kirkuk and its oil reserves and effectively achieved their "dream of a greater Kurdistan", the chairman of Iraq's oil and gas committee said on Tuesday. Adnan al-Janabi, a senior Sunni politician, said the Iraqi army did not have the capability to take the areas back. Moreover, Sunni Arab rebels that have taken Mosul and pushed towards Baghdad appeared to be focused elsewhere. Baghdad's military retreat from the north under the Islamic…
BP Operations Unaffected by Iraq Strife
BP chief executive Bob Dudley said on Tuesday the oil company's operations in Iraq were so far unaffected by violence in the country. "We are just very vigilant in Iraq. Non-essential production people have left but operations continue," he told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Moscow. Last week, militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran the northern city of Mosul and have since pressed south towards Baghdad in an onslaught against the Shi'ite-led government. Dudley said BP's assets were a "long way from the troubles" in the south of the country, near Basra.
Middle East Crude: Supported by Iraq Crisis
The Middle East crude market drew support from the worsening crisis in Iraq as Sunni Islamist militants gained more ground, while U.S. President Barack Obama considered military strikes to halt their advance towards Baghdad. Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran the northern city of Mosul earlier this week and have since pressed south towards Baghdad in an onslaught against the Shi'ite-led government. The Kurds, who run their own autonomous region in the north…
White House: Baiji Oil Refinery Remains in Iraqi Govt. Control
The White House said on Thursday that Iraq's largest oil refinery in the northern town of Baiji remained in control of the government of Iraq despite advances in the region by militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "We understand that that oil refinery remains in control of the government of Iraq but I don't have any other additional information about that issue," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in a daily briefing. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason; Editing by Eric Beech)
Sunni Insurgents Close in on Iraq's Biggest Refinery
Sunni insurgents from an al Qaeda splinter group extended their control from the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday to an area further south that includes Iraq's biggest oil refinery in a devastating show of strength against the Shi'ite-led government. Security sources said militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - Sunni militants waging sectarian war on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian frontier - drove into the town of Baiji late on Tuesday in armed vehicles, torching the court house and police station after freeing prisoners.
At Donkey Springs, Bombers Choke off Iraq Oil Exports
Militants whose bombs have shut Iraq's main northern oil export pipeline for 40 days are preventing repairs, threatening to extend an outage that is already the longest since the days of sanctions in the 1990s. Targeting the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline where it crosses a stretch of desert known as Ain al-Jahash, or Donkey Springs, the saboteurs - described as Islamists by Iraqi officials - have set several more bombs since a first blast halted oil on March 2. Significantly for an Iraqi government…
