Iraq’s Oil Ministry is taking legal action against The Republic of Turkey and state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ, further ratcheting up tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government over oil exports. The ministry filed an arbitration request with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris in response to reports that oil pumped from Iraqi… Keep reading →
The long-running dispute over oil exports between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi federal leadership in Baghdad rattles on, with Turkey becoming increasingly vocal. Iraqi officials have yet to cement a national oil law that would standardize regulations covering exports and revenue distribution from oil shipped via pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey, where it… Keep reading →
The project is a way from shovels in the ground, but UK-based independent Tullow Oil is working towards bringing the considerable oil resources it’s discovered in Kenya and Uganda to market, which will require an extremely long, heated pipeline to transport the waxy crude. [The Observer] As businesses continue to seize opportunities presented by currently… Keep reading →
The US Department of Energy is conducting a test sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Five million barrels of sour crude are being offered for April, 2014 delivery from the West Hackberry and Big Hill sites on the US Gulf Coast. The sale is reportedly timed to coincide with US refiners’ annual… Keep reading →
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll on the Keystone XL pipeline adds to the drumbeat of strong public support for building the pipeline. The Post/ABC survey shows a nearly 3 to 1 margin, with 65 percent saying Keystone XL should be approved. Details of the poll show why: 85 percent say the pipeline will create a significant number of… Keep reading →
We’ve increasingly seen celebrities voice their views on energy-related issues and recent Academy Award winner Jared Leto just joined the crowd when he signed an open letter to Secretary of State John Kerry urging him to recommend Keystone XL pipeline permit disapproval to President Obama. The dramatic letter compares Kerry’s Keystone decision to his 1971… Keep reading →
The US oil market has been moving on cold weather and the Keystone Pipeline’s southern leg activation, which is alleviating the glut of crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub. While most of the attention has been on whether President Obama will green light the northern portion of the pipeline, the southern portion was constructed… Keep reading →
The conflict between North and South Sudan is rapidly deteriorating amid talk of war. The South last Friday and Saturday reportedly shut in 900 oil wells and signed a deal with Kenya to construct a new pipeline that would divert exports away from the North. “What the South will pay to ship oil north to… Keep reading →
The Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington D.C., recently published “Big Bets & Black Swans – A Presidential Briefing Book” with policy recommendations for President Obama in 2014. Among a plethora of issues addressed, Tim Boersma and Charles K. Ebinger also discuss lifting the ban on U.S. oil exports. Let’s briefly assess the validity… Keep reading →
Presidential Permit for Keystone XL Not a Foregone Conclusion
By Roman KilisekLast Friday the U.S. Department of State released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Keystone XL pipeline project. Instantly, many media outlets were only too eager to suggest that with this report the Keystone decision to be made by President Obama is a foregone conclusion; namely, in favor of the controversial project.… Keep reading →