There were conflicting opinions emerging from the American and Iranian camps following the latest round of discussions at the nuclear summit in Switzerland when Sec. Ernest Moniz met with his Iranian counterpart. “In comments to the Iranian news media, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that 90 percent of the technical issues had been worked out. Mr. Salehi said that he hoped to resolve a remaining “point of difference” in a meeting Tuesday afternoon with Mr. Moniz.
A senior American official was far more cautious in comments made to reporters Tuesday morning.
“We have definitely made progress in terms of identifying technical options for each of the major areas,” said the official, who declined to be identified by name under the protocol for briefing reporters.” [NY Times]
Oil prices ended lower Tuesday as expectations of a 10th week of record builds in U.S. crude, despite a weakening dollar.”Traders and investors have forecast that crude stocks in the United States rose last week to above 452 million barrels, a Reuters poll showed. That would be the biggest domestic stockpile in at least 80 years.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will issue its weekly inventory report at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), two hours after the market’s close and ahead of Wednesday’s official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.” [CNBC/Reuters]
In the final years of the Obama administration, officials want to focus on reforms to make energy production on public lands cleaner and safer, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.”The Interior Department is also working to improve the way it manages leases, in part to ensure that the government and taxpayers get a fair price for resources.
Jewell outlined her plans Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, framing her speech as the middle of an eight-year-long process by the Obama administration to reform how the country’s main land management agency deals with oil, gas, coal and renewable energy on its property.” [The Hill]
