BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq will unify customs procedures in all of its border areas, including within semi-autonomous Kurdistan, the prime minister said on Wednesday, signaling a further thaw in ties between Baghdad and Erbil after a resumption of Kirkuk oil flows. The decision will be implemented after the federal government in Baghdad reaches an agreement on the move with the… Read more »
WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, Andrew Peek, explained on Wednesday that the US was strongly urging the Iraqi government to resume the export of oil from Kirkuk to Turkey. Those exports were cut off last year after Iraqi forces, in a military operation engineered by Qasim Soleimani, head of the Quds… Read more »
Market Watch Oil futures on Wednesday marked their highest finish since late 2014, as rising tensions in the Middle East continued to feed concerns over potential supply disruptions in the region.
By Seeking Alpha Brent crude oil could slide below $60/bbl as a surge in U.S. shipments to Asia threatens to undermine the production cut deal between OPEC and its allies, according to ING analysts, in contrast to bullish views from Goldman Sachs and others who see prices supported as strong demand soaks up supply from the U.S.
The United States’s relationships with Middle Eastern states have been built on economic interests. The CIA assassinated the democratically-elected Prime Minister of Iran and replaced him with the US-friendly, export-friendly Shah. We spent 1990 through 1991 fighting off Saddam Hussein to defend our oil interests in Kuwait (though ostensibly for preserving Kuwait’s national sovereignty). It can also be argued that the… Read more »
(FORBES): Saudi Arabia has kept its promise. It has cut oil output by 486,000 barrels a day, in line with the OPEC agreement the Kingdom pulled together last October, helping oil stabilize above $50 per barrel. That’s music in the ears of American frackers, who have been bringing oil rigs back to life at a feverish rate—111 in the last… Read more »