As global oil prices beat a hasty retreat from the relative highs of recent years – dropping roughly $20 per barrel in weeks – market watchers have attempted to diagnose the situation. A popular view now is that Saudi Arabia is willing to take a short-term budgetary hit from lower prices in order to force… Keep reading →
Russian and Chinese leadership signed a host of preliminary agreements yesterday covering everything from oil & gas, to nuclear power, finance, satellite navigation and high-speed rail. Russia has long been skeptical about cozying too close to China, which is both a huge market and potential business partner, but also a competitor and potential rival. It… Keep reading →
Depending upon which side of the fence one sits, major oil supply disruptions are typically considered bad luck, but in Opec’s case, recent supply disruptions have helped balance the market and support prices. “OPEC has been lucky – 3.5 million bpd of shale production has been absorbed through disruptions. They’re running out of luck,” –… Keep reading →
We’ve posted a number of times on the merits of U.S. energy exports, because whether the subject is exporting crude oil or natural gas, there are compelling economic and energy reasons to lift restrictions on America’s ability to be a major player in global markets. While those restrictions remain, America and Americans lose. A number… Keep reading →
Price volatility provides opportunities for traders to make handsome profits (or losses), so we took a look at midcap exploration and production equities based in the US that exhibited above-average volatility year to date. These stocks have been at least 1.5 times as volatile as the overall market: Whiting Petroleum, with a market cap of $9.23… Keep reading →
In This Issue:
– Doing Business in China
– U.S-China Relations
– Energy & Environmental
– Food Safety
– Health Care
– Trade
– Excerpt from Doing Business in China:
The U.S.-China Business Council has released the results of its 2014 China Business Environment Survey, identifying the following Top 10 issues: Competition with companies in China; IPR enforcement, Foreign investment restrictions; Human resources: Talent recruitment and retention; Cost increases; Uneven enforcement/implementation of Chinese laws; Licensing; Transparency; Nondiscrimination/national treatment; and Overcapacity in the Chinese market. According to the USBC, “Doing business in China can be a study in contrast for American companies. On the one hand, it remains a strong and growing market for American goods and services. On the other, it is a challenging and sometimes frustrating place to do business for multinational companies, with numerous regulatory barriers preventing the market from being as accessible — and large — as it should be.”
Earlier this month Oilprice.com’s Nick Cunningham wrote this piece explaining that the debate over exporting U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been won – citing the openness of the Obama administration and leading Democrats to exports. Cunningham writes: In fact the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats have received little blowback for the LNG projects that have received… Keep reading →
The US Gulf Coast is becoming the country’s preeminent petroleum storage hub as shale oil and natural gas liquids flow south to the massive refining and export center. In a move designed to capitalize on that trend, Enterprise Product Partners yesterday announced the $4.4 billion acquisition of storage company Oiltanking. And according to The American… Keep reading →
Shale Insight: Economist Says Natural Gas Boom Carrying U.S. Recovery Observer-Reporter: For nearly an hour, Stephen Moore expended a lot of energy speaking about energy and the economy – and their inextricable link. “You cannot understand economics unless you understand energy,” he said in his opening. “The industry is carrying the rest of the U.S.… Keep reading →
Please find below a summary of recent development regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia and a summary of the U.S. sanctions to date.
U.S. Sanctions
On September 12, the United States, in coordination with the EU, imposed additional sanctions against Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Specifically,
the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”): (i) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN”) list; (ii) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (“SSIL”); (iii) amended the bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to debt of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian financial services sector to cover new debt of more than 30 days maturity (previously the bar related to debt of 90 days or longer); (iv) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to new debt of more than 30 days maturity of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian defense and related materiel sector; and (v) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons in support of deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale exploration or production projects that have the potential to produce oil in Russia and that involve any person designated on the SSIL in connection with the bar; and
the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”): (i) added five entities from the Russian defense or related material sector to the BIS Entity List; (ii) added five entities from the Russian energy sector to the BIS Entity List, which are now subject to an export licensing requirement for certain energy projects; and (iii) imposed an export licensing requirement on certain Commerce Control List items known to be destined to Russia for a military end use or user (expanding the current licensing requirement for such exports to China to also cover Russia).
