Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Reads: 06October 2019 – Part 2

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

Here are some more selected news articles about the oil and gas industry from the week ended 05 October 2019. Go here for Part 1.

This is a feature at Global Economic Intersection every Monday evening.

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Oil spill near Kharg Island contained – The Iranian Offshore Oil Company said the leak in the 24-inch oil pipeline from Abouzar Oilfield to Kharg Island, in the Persian Gulf, has been fixed and the spilled oil in the region has been cleaned up. According to reports, the leakage occurred on September 13, about 4 kilometers off the coast of Kharg Island, the Oil Ministry news agency Shana reported. Members from the HSE department of IOOC were dispatched to find the leak location and took measures to fix it. After plugging the leakage, the oil spill was cleaned by spraying oil spill eater, which is the world’s most environmentally safe and cost effective bioremediation product, for the mitigation of hazardous waste, spills and contamination. However, after a few days the oil spill reached the coast of Kharg Island and was also soon cleaned up. IOOC is in charge of developing oil reservoirs in the Persian Gulf, including Abouzar, Forouzan, Hendijan, Bahregansar, Reshadat, Soroush, Norouz, Salman and Doroud fields. It is in charge of collecting associated petroleum gases on Kharg Island and in the Bahregan oil region in the Persian Gulf.

India saw ‘absolutely no disruption’ in oil from Saudi Arabia (video) Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s minister of petroleum and natural gas, says India has “very diversified” crude oil sources and is not dependent on any specific country

Erdogan- Impossible For Turkey To Stop Its Iranian Oil & Gas Imports –Returning from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Friday that it remains “impossible” for Turkey to halt its oil and gas purchases from Iran in conformity to US sanctions. He affirmed commitment to continuing to buy oil and gas from Iran despite US threats, with no plans to halt or even reduce imports in the future. He said further he was “not afraid” of possible US sanctions over continued dealings with Tehran, Reuters reported. This as the Trump administration has gone after Chinese shipping companies this week over alleged sanctions busting activity related to Iranian oil imports to China and other east Asian ports.No doubt Erdogan has to be taking note of the lengths to which Washington is prepared to go, which included rattling the global shipping industry this week by sanctioning Chinese firms China Concord Petroleum Co., Kunlun Shipping Co., Pegasus 88 Ltd., and COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman & Ship Management Co, in its long-haul campaign to see Iranian oil exports go to “zero”.Turkey has long been exclusively reliant on imports to meet the growing energy needs of its 80 million citizens. Turkish media sources note that even the country’s electrical grid is heavily tied to natural gas imports, as “almost 40 percent of its electricity is produced in gas-fired plants.”

A 12,000-Mile Trip May Be Null Due to Iran Oil Sanctions – More than two months and 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) ago, the tanker Da Yuan Hu left Singapore and headed to Mexico to pick up a shipment of crude oil. On Thursday, with less than two weeks to go until it reaches its destination, its long quest could be in jeopardy. The ship, along with dozens of others, is now ensnared in the standoff between the U.S. and Iran. The White House announced penalties against the vessel’s owner, China’s COSCO Shipping Tankers (Dalian) Co., in connection with violating sanctions by shipping Iranian crude. Indian Oil Corp. is considering alternatives to the Da Yuan Hu, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. The announcements by the U.S. Treasury and State departments left shipbrokers and charterers scrambling to cancel bookings with sanctioned companies and letting provisional charters lapse. Uncertainty still remains on whether cargoes that have already been loaded onto the vessels of sanctioned firms would be allowed to deliver, or whether they would have to transfer their loads to unsanctioned tankers. The Da Yuan Hu was supposed to transport oil from Mexico’s Dos Bocas to India’s eastern coast of Paradip, the people said. While the company is looking for a replacement, its plans may still change, one of the people said. An Indian Oil spokesman declined to comment. Supertanker Yuan Qiu Hu, earlier chartered by Atlantic Trading & Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Total U.S., was headed to Galveston to pick up oil for delivery to South Korea. The vessel has since slowed to under 2 knots, from more than 9 yesterday as it puttered off the eastern coast of the U.S.

August non-OPEC unplanned oil production outages fell to lowest level since at least 2011 — Unplanned oil production outages among countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell to 64,000 barrels per day (b/d) in August, the lowest level since the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) began tracking global production outages in 2011. Unplanned outages in major non-OPEC oil producers such as the United States, Russia, and Canada have abated, leaving Sudan and South Sudan as the only remaining non-OPEC producers with unplanned outages in August. The decline in non-OPEC unplanned outages may have contributed to the resilience of the global oil market following the disruption of almost 5.7 million b/d of Saudi Arabian crude oil production on September 14, 2019. EIA tracks both OPEC and non-OPEC production outages. In its estimates of outages, EIA differentiates among declines in production resulting from unplanned production outages, permanent losses of production capacity, and voluntary production cutbacks. EIA’s estimates of unplanned production outages are calculated as the difference between estimated effective production capacity (the level of supply that could be available within one year) and estimated production. EIA publishes historical unplanned production outage estimates in EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).The duration of any supply outage mainly depends on the cause of the disruption. When an outage is related to weather, natural disasters, labor strikes, technical failures, or accidents, the disruption generally ends within weeks, such as is often the case in non-OPEC countries. Disruptions tied to political disputes or conflicts – such as in Sudan and South Sudan – often last for years.

Oil Price Projected to Hit $185 in 2050 – Brent crude oil is projected to hit a value of $185 per barrel in 2050, in 2018 dollars, in the high oil price case of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest International Energy Outlook report. The report also offers a low oil price case, which places oil at $45 per barrel, in 2018 dollars, in 2050 and a reference case, which has oil at $100 per barrel, in 2018 dollars, in 2050. The reference case reflects current trends and relationships among supply, demand and prices in the future and includes some anticipated changes over time, the report highlights. The high and low oil price cases address the uncertainty associated with world energy prices, the report notes. “In the high oil price case, energy demand increases because non-OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) economies grow more quickly than in the reference case, despite tighter petroleum supply conditions,” the report states. “Although energy consumption rises, higher oil prices limit the growth in liquid fuels and consumers conserve or switch to alternative fuels whenever possible,” the report adds. The report notes that in the low oil price case, lower economic activity, “especially in countries that are not a part of the OECD”, discourages energy consumption. “Simultaneously but independently, greater resource availability and lower extraction costs encourage additional petroleum supplies, despite the reduced economic growth. The resulting lower oil prices encourage liquid fuels consumption and discourage energy conservation and fuel switching,” the report adds.

Oil will hit levels ‘we haven’t see in our lifetimes’ if Iran isn’t stopped, Saudi Crown Prince says – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has warned of astronomical oil prices in the event that tensions escalate in the Persian Gulf, two weeks after his country was hit by a drone and cruise missile attack that Riyadh and Washington have blamed on Iran. “If the world does not take a strong and firm action to deter Iran, we will see further escalations that will threaten world interests,” the crown prince said in an interview with the CBS program “60 Minutes” over the weekend. “Oil supplies will be disrupted and oil prices will jump to unimaginably high numbers that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes.” The predawn attack on Sept. 14 hit two of state oil giant Saudi Aramco’s largest facilities, forcing the country to temporarily shut down roughly 50% of its output, or more than 5% of the world’s daily crude production. The following Monday, international benchmark Brent crude rose as much as 19.5% to $71.95 per barrel at the open ⁠ – the biggest jump on record ⁠ – before paring gains. The Middle East “represents about 30% of the world’s energy supplies, about 20% of global trade passages, about 4% of the world GDP,” the crown prince, who is next in line for the Saudi throne and considered the kingdom’s de facto ruler, told CBS. “Imagine all of these three things stop. This means a total collapse of the global economy, and not just Saudi Arabia or the Middle East countries.” Energy industry experts have cited figures between $100 and $150 per barrel for the price of oil if the adversaries – OPEC’s highest and third-highest oil producers, respectively – went to war. Aramco quickly promised it would restore its oil output to normal by the end of September, and has already brought roughly 50% of that back online, company executives said. Two weeks later, Brent was trading at $61.48 Monday morning London time. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, at war with the Saudis since the kingdom launched a bloody offensive on its southern neighbor in 2015, claimed responsibility for the attack. But officials in the U.S., U.K. and Saudi Arabia say the rebels would not have been capable of launching an attack of such scale and precision and assert the Iranians were behind it, something Tehran has vehemently denied.Washington and Riyadh also blame Iran for a series of mysterious sabotage attacks on several foreign oil tankers in the Gulf near the vital Strait of Hormuz, the narrow conduit through which 30% of the world’s seaborne oil passes. Iran denies those allegations as well. The attacks began taking place shortly after President Donald Trump’s administration ended waivers for countries importing Iranian oil, amplifying the effect of crippling sanctions it’s imposed on Iran since late 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal. Animosity between Washington and Tehran has skyrocketed since then.

Aramco Crude Production Restored To Pre-Attack Levels, Official Says –Despite the worst attack on its infrastructure in the oil giant’s 80-year-plus history, Saudi state-owned oil giant Aramco has succeeded in making all of its shipments in the month of September, says Ibrahim Al-Buainain, the CEO of Aramco’s trading arm. Moreover, the oil giant has also managed to restore its oil-production capacity to pre-attack levels, meeting an accelerated two-week timeline announced by the firm earlier this month.Saudi oil output was cut in half by an attack on Aramco facilities, an attack that was allegedly orchestrated by Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran (though Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels initially took credit for it).In the wake of the attack, oil prices soared, as the kingdom warned that the equivalent of 5.5% of global production had been temporarily taken offline. Initially, Aramco warned that the damage could take months to repair. However, the Saudis adjusted that prediction just days after the attacks as repairs reportedly progressed much more quickly than Aramco had initially anticipated, according to a senior executive.And oil prices have erased all of the spike gains…

Trump’s Latest Trade War Move Sends Oil Tanking – Oil prices fell again on Monday on waning hopes of a breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade war.Late last week, Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration was considering more extreme measures aimed at China, including putting limits on American investments in China, de-listing some Chinese companies from American stock exchanges, as well as putting caps on the value of Chinese companies that managed index funds can hold in the U.S.No decision has been made, but Bloomberg reported that President Trump gave the go-ahead to his advisers to explore some potential moves. Some China “hawks” have described the plans as a possible “financial decoupling” of the U.S. and Chinese economies.In response to that press report, the Trump administration issued only a partial and qualified denial, according to Bloomberg. “The administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time,” Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley said to Bloomberg, without addressing some of the other ideas allegedly put forward.But Trump’s top trade adviser Peter Navarro seemed to hint at the fact that the administration was considering precisely those moves, while simultaneously calling the reports “fake news.”“There’s some significant issues related to Chinese stocks listed on public exchanges,” he said on CNBC. “There’s some interesting and significant transparency issues with Chinese stocks, but that’s all I’m going to say, I’m not going to talk about what’s going on behind closed doors.” The precise policy under consideration is not the main point. Rather, turning to restrictions on investment flows and other punitive measures would amount to yet another escalation in the trade war. It would severely undercut whatever slim goodwill has been built in recent weeks between the two countries, and it would make a breakthrough in trade talks infinitely harder.

Oil drops 3.3% on Chinese data, Saudi output recovery – Oil fell on Monday as China’s economic outlook remained weak amid an ongoing trade war with the United States and market fears of supply shortfalls and conflicts in the Middle East after the Sept. 14 attack on Saudi Arabia faded. Brent crude futures were down $1.16, or 1.9%, at $60.75 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.84, or 3.3%, to settle at $54.07. Both benchmarks were on track for little price changes in September after volatile month where prices spike nearly 20% after the attacks halved Saudi Arabia’s output, but have pared nearly all those gains as output has been quickly restored. For the quarter, however, global benchmark Brent was set for a 8.6% loss, while WTI was down about 6.1%, as concerns that the trade war between the United States and China has plunged global economic growth to its lowest levels in a decade weighed on oil demand growth. China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was slightly improved this month, increasing from 49.5 in August to 49.8 in September, but remained below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. China, the world’s largest crude importer, warned of instability in international markets from any “decoupling” of China and the United States, after sources said U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges. “The U.S. and China are still far from any type of agreement. The concern is oil demand is not going to be there,” said Kyle Cooper, an oil analyst at IAF Advisors. Saudi Aramco last week restored full capacity to the level before the attacks on its oil facilities, Ibrahim Al-Buainain, chief executive officer of its trading arm, said on Monday at a conference in the United Arab Emirates. The world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has restored capacity to 11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) after the attack knocked out 5.7 million bpd of the kingdom’s output, sources told Reuters last week, though Saudi Aramco has yet to confirm its operations have been restored fully.

False Optimism In Oil Won’t Last – Oil prices fell on Monday on diminished hopes of a breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade war. Prices then stabilized in early trading on Tuesday, on news that U.S. oil production fell in July (much of which could be attributed to temporary hurricane-related outages). Saudi Aramco said that it is producing more than 9.9 mb/d, largely restoring production to levels seen prior to the Abqaiq attack. The company is still working on restoring damaged spare capacity. Saudi Arabia said that Aramco would pay $75 billion in annual dividends, an effort made to attract more investors ahead of the company’s IPO. The government also said that it would overhaul royalty payments and cut corporate tax. Fitch cut Saudi Aramco’s credit rating due to geopolitical risks from A+ to A, with a stable outlook. “The downgrade reflects rising geopolitical and military tensions in the Gulf region, Fitch’s revised assessment of the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia’s economic infrastructure and continued deterioration in Saudi Arabia’s fiscal and external balance sheets,” Fitch said in a release. BP CEO Bob Dudley is expected to retire next year, ending his tenure at the British oil company that began in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster nearly a decade ago. A growing number of U.S. oil companies are looking to list on the London Stock Exchange after falling out of favor with investors in New York and Toronto, according to the FT, which cited a few small-cap African-focused E&Ps that chose London rather than North America for a public listing. “There are investors in London with appetite for smaller cap African E&Ps,” Cary Bounds, Vaalco chief executive, told the FT. “Analysts in North America have an educated understanding of shale play but they struggle with us. London analysts understand how to value our business.” Royal Dutch Shell provided a quarterly update ahead of its official third quarter earnings release at the end of October. Shell said its upstream production fell by 2.7 percent compared to a year earlier, while its LNG liquefaction rose by at least 10 percent. It also expects $250 to $350 million in write-offs due to unsuccessful exploration drilling.

Oil prices recover on lower output from US, Russia, OPEC – Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday on reports that output from the world’s largest oil producers fell during the third quarter, although a resumption in Saudi supply and demand concerns kept a lid on gains. Brent crude futures rose 61 cents to $59.86 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 48 cents at $54.55 a barrel. Front-month prices for both contracts posted their largest quarterly falls this year on Monday, hurt by a slowdown in global economic growth amid the U.S.-China trade war. “Although oil has been given every opportunity to jump well above $70 per barrel due to geopolitical events, the fact that it did not is telling,” Tamas Varga of oil brokerage PVM said. “It suggests that the market is not concerned about eventual supply shortages but worried about global recession and possibly about supply surplus next year,” he added. Oil prices are likely to remain steady, with Brent averaging $65.19 a barrel and WTI $57.96 in 2019, as flagging demand outweighs supply shocks, a Reuters survey showed. Output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries fell to the lowest in eight years in September at 28.9 million bpd, down 750,000 bpd from August’s revised figure and the lowest monthly total since 2011, a Reuters survey found. Output at the world’s two largest producers, the United States and Russia, also fell in July and September respectively. Russia’s output declined to 11.24 million bpd in Sept. 1-29, down from 11.29 million bpd in the previous month, sources said, although it is still above the quotas set in an output deal between Russia and OPEC. U.S. crude oil output fell 276,000 bpd in July to 11.81 million bpd as federal offshore Gulf of Mexico production slid, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration monthly report released on Monday. U.S. production peaked at 12.12 million bpd in April.

Oil Prices Rebound After Ugly Day On Big Surprise Crude Draw – Oil prices tumbled back below pre-Saudi-attack levels today, near 2-month lows, as a global growth scare was sparked by disappointing PMIs around the world spooking the global energy demand bounceback narrative. WTI almost tested $52 handle intraday.“Demand fears are overriding supply fears,” Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc., said by telephone. API:

• Crude -5.92mm (+2.25mm exp)
• Cushing +373k
• Gasoline +2.133mm
• Distillates -1.741mm

After the previous week’s surprise crude build, traders expected another notable rise in stocks, but were surprised when API reported a large 5.92mm draw. Ahead of the print, WTI was trading well below the pre-Saudi attack levels… WTI hovered around $53.70 into the API print and kneejerked back above $54 after the surprise draw…

Oil prices rise after surprise fall in U.S. crude stocks (Reuters) – Oil rebounded from several days of falling prices after industry data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories and offset weak economic readings in the United States that have depressed global stock markets. Brent crude rose 47 cents, or 0.8%, to $59.36 a barrel by 0657 GMT, claiming back some of the ground lost over the past three sessions. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $54.29 a barrel, up 67 cents or 1.3%. Front-month WTI prices settled down for a sixth straight session on Tuesday, their longest losing streak this year, after U.S. manufacturing activity dived to a 10-year low as U.S.-China trade tensions weighed on exports. “Brent and WTI have erased those (Tuesday) losses in early trade,” Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA in Singapore said, although the trading volume was low because of regional holidays. “We would expect the rallies to quickly run out of steam as we approach $61.00 and $55.00 a barrel,” he said. Oil pared some losses in post-settlement trade on Tuesday after American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed U.S. crude stocks fell last week by 5.9 million barrels, against expectations for an increase of 1.6 million barrels. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly oil inventories report is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday. Oil prices are now below levels from before the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi oil facilities as the world’s largest oil exporter has restored its full oil production and capacity. ” Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said he would be willing to meet the oil minister of regional rival Saudi Arabia while in Moscow, but that the Saudis have a problem with meeting, according to the official IRNA news agency. “The energy market must be non-political in order to prevent unilateral and illegal interference,” Zanganeh said upon arrival in Moscow for a meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

WTI Tumbles After Bigger Than Expected Crude Build – Oil prices have erased the immediate gains following last night’s surprise crude draw reported by API as global growth scares accelerate and weigh on energy demand forecasts.“Demand fears are overriding supply fears,” Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc., said by telephone. DOE:

• Crude +3.104mm (+2.25mm exp)
• Cushing -201k
• Gasoline -228k (+600k exp)
• Distillates -2.418mm

After last week’s huge surprise builds in Crude stocks (and at Cushing), last night’s API-reported big draw goes against analyst expectations of another build, but the analysts were right as DOE printed a 3.1mm barrel build. This is the 3rd weekly build in a row… “There’s a possibility that exports were super-sized” and after the Saudi Aramco attacks, “some customers were worried about their flows and wanted a more reliable flow, which would make the export number higher,” says Bob Yawger, director of the futures division of Mizuho Securities USA As the oil rig count continues to collapse, traders are watching avidly for signs that US Crude Production is topping out

Oil Sinks Deeper Into Red as Stockpiles, Demand Concerns Grow – Oil prices fell for a seventh-straight session on Wednesday, succumbing to the double whammy of a bigger-than-expected build in crude inventories and a slump in Wall Street stocks. WTI futures settled down 98 cents, or 1.3%, at $52.64 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent settled down $1.20, or 2%, at $57.64. Crude prices have fallen without a pause since their last settlement higher on Sept. 23, losing about 11% in the seven-day stretch. Wednesday’s slide came as concerns about the U.S. economy triggered another sharp selloff on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 off 1.7%, falling below 2,900. The ADP reported this morning that September private payrolls came in below expectations at 135,000. That followed Tuesday’s equity losses after the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI came in at a 10-year low. That raises questions about future demand for oil in the U.S. at a time when global economies are already struggling. Meanwhile, U.S. oil inventories showed a gain of 3.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts were expecting a rise of about 1.57 million barrels of crude for the week ended Sept. 27, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com. “At the outset, a headline build that’s double expectations is certainly bearish, considering that the API even called for a drawdown of nearly 6 million barrels,” Investing.com analyst Barani Krishnan said. “And imports are still averaging below 7 million bpd, so we should logically have less oil in circulation, all things being equal.” “The mitigating factor might be that refinery runs remain grossly under the 95% level that we’ve become used to,” Krishnan added. “It could be the lingering impact of the recent floods in Texas and the disruption brought to refineries there.” The EIA said gasoline inventories for the week fell by about 230,000 barrels, confounding forecasts for a build of about 450,000 barrels. Distillate stockpiles dropped by about 2.4 million barrels. Analysts had been looking for a decline of about 1.8 million barrels.

Oil extends losses as economic data, growing inventories drag – Oil futures extended losses on Thursday as weak economic data weighed on the outlook for fuel demand which was made worse by a larger than expected rise in U.S. crude inventories. “Crude oil prices fell as rising inventories added to the weakening economic backdrop,” said ANZ Bank in a note on Thursday. Brent crude oil futures fell 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $57.52 a barrel by 0052 GMT, after tumbling 2% in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 9 cents, or 0.2%, to $52.55 a barrel, after sinking by 1.8% on Wednesday. “What’s impossible to ignore is the economic realities being signaled in the latest run of doom and gloom financial market data which offers few if any reason for oil investors to be optimistic over the outlook for global demand,” World equity benchmarks hit their lowest levels in a month on Wednesday as signs of a slowdown in U.S. economic growth and weak earnings in Europe fanned fears that the U.S.-China trade war could push the global economy into a recession. “While the near-term triggers may continue to relate to oil demand, next week U.S.-China trade talks remain the unknown variable which could lend a modicum of support,” U.S. crude inventories rose 3.1 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, far exceeding analyst expectations for an increase of 1.6 million barrels. WTI futures are on track for eight straight sessions of declines, their longest losing streak since November 2018. Brent futures are now below levels seen before the Sept. 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia oil facilities that briefly halved more than half the kingdom’s output.

Oil ends little changed after touching near two-month lows (Reuters) – U.S. crude futures were slightly lower on Thursday, drawing some support from the stock market after earlier touching nearly two-month lows on weak economic data. U.S. crude settled at $52.45 a barrel, down 19 cents. Global benchmark Brent crude settled up 2 cents at $57.71 a barrel. During the session, both benchmarks tumbled to the lowest level seen since early August, plunging as weak U.S. economic figures were released. U.S. services sector growth slowed to its most anaemic pace in three years last month, and job growth in the largest slice of the American economy was the weakest in half a decade, a survey of purchasing managers showed. Even as U.S. crude pared losses late in the day, crude futures have found lower lows in each of the last eight sessions, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. “From both a supply and demand situation it seems to be a problem: storage is the supply side, economic data is the demand side and they’re both on the wrong side of the letter,” Yawger said. Across the Atlantic, economic data has also put pressure on crude. Euro zone business growth stalled in September, a survey on Thursday showed. Lending oil some support were hopes that the United States and China might make progress in resolving their trade dispute and figures showing output in the United States – which has been the fastest source of supply growth – fell in July. “Next week U.S.-China trade talks remain the unknown variable which could lend a modicum of support,” said Stephen Innes, market strategist at AxiTrader. The talks are set to resume on Oct. 10. This year, Brent has risen about 7%, supported by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, plus involuntary outages such as a drop in Iranian and Venezuelan exports due to U.S. sanctions. Nonetheless, concern about the worsening economic outlook has overshadowed support from the supply side and the prospect of further output disruption in the Middle East appears of limited concern to investors. Brent spiked to $72 a barrel on Sept. 16 following attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations that shut more than half of the country’s output. But both oil benchmarks are now below their pre-attack levels after the Saudi authorities resumed output.

Oil Markets: Everything Is About Weak Demand – Oil prices dropped sharply during trading on Thursday but recovered on hopes of more aggressive action from the Federal Reserve. The U.S. jobs report on Friday revealed more weakness, but it wasn’t as poor as feared. Geopolitical risk has receded from the top of minds of oil traders. Everything is about weak demand now. Largely due to the Abqaiq attack, OPEC’s oil production fell sharply in September. It was the single-largest disruption in history when it occurred, although its short duration meant that the outage fell short of the PDVSA strike in 2002 in terms of total volumes lost. Still, oil prices languish as demand continues to weaken. “Oil-demand growth is hitting the skids as macroeconomic, trade, and political risk drivers continue to intensify, from Brexit to impeachment through Persian Gulf conflict risk and the U.S.-China trade war,” Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, told Bloomberg. Iraqi security forces have tried to violently suppress widespread protests in the country, and there is little sign of a resolution. Oil production has not been affected yet. The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve is thought to be a massive trove of oil that can be readily deployed. For instance, in a hypothetical outage in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. should be expected to withdraw 3.5 mb/d of oil from the SPR. But the reserve might not be able to pull that off. Changes in pipeline flows, and huge increases in upstream production mean that only about 1.5 mb/d can be drawn down at a time, according to Platts. Climate Action 100+, a group of investors overseeing $35 trillion, says that of the most polluting companies in the world, only about 9 percent have aligned their operations with the Paris Climate Agreement. The investor group has already pressured oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP to take more aggressive action. Exxon and Shell both issued profit warnings this week ahead of their third quarter reports later this month. Exxon said its earnings would be around 50 percent lower than the same quarter last year, largely due to lower oil prices. Ecuador said that it would leave OPEC in January due to fiscal problems.

Oil edges higher but on track for big weekly loss – Oil futures edged higher on Friday but were on track for a large weekly loss on fears that slower global economic growth will hurt fuel demand, while Saudi Arabia said it has fully restored oil output after recent attacks. Brent crude oil futures rose 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $57.79 a barrel by 0138 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $52.57 a barrel. For the week, Brent futures were down 6.7%, marking its largest weekly loss since December, while WTI was down 6%, its biggest decline since July. Weak U.S. services sector and jobs growth data on Thursday added to worries about global oil demand and exacerbated fears that a protracted U.S.-China trade war could push the global economy into a recession. “Concerns about global oil demand are rising, and next week’s U.S.-China trade talks, the significant X factor, will be particularly important, given the sharp drop in the oil price over the last week,” said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman also said on Thursday the world’s top crude oil exporter has fully restored oil output after attacks on its facilities last month that knocked out more than 5% of global oil supply. “The mood wasn’t helped by news that Saudi Arabia has managed a speedy recovery from the recent attacks,” ANZ Bank said in a note on Friday. However, recent data showing a slowdown in U.S. shale output and drilling activity could lend some support.

US oil prices snap 8-day losing streak, fall over 5% for the week – Oil futures settled higher Friday, with U.S. benchmark crude breaking an eight-day string of losses, but still posted its biggest weekly loss since mid-July, after a run of weak economic data underlined concerns over global demand. Oil prices staged a rebound Friday, said Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. “This has nothing to do with a change of sentiment towards the commodity.” West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery CLX19, +0.38% rose 36 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $52.81 a barrel, with the U.S. benchmark logging a 5.5% weekly loss. That was the biggest weekly net and percentage loss since the week ended July 19, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The global benchmark, December Brent crude BRNZ19, +0.10%, rose 66 cents, or 1.1%, to $58.37 a barrel – for a 4.4% weekly decline. Over in the U.S., weekly data on active domestic oil rigs was supportive for prices. Baker Hughes BHGE, -0.97% on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil fell by three to 710 this week. That followed declines in each of the last six weeks.Still, “given how global growth concerns and rising U.S. oil inventories are bringing demand-side dynamics back into the picture, oil is positioned to extend losses,” said Otunuga.Attacks on Saudi oil production facilities on September 14 briefly provided a supply side shock before recent weak economic data revived fears about global oil demand. “A flare up in U.S.-China trade tensions is likely to fan concerns over the global economy, ultimately igniting fears around falling demand for crude, [and] while geopolitical tensions may spark negative supply side shocks, this will ultimately be countered by demand-side themes,” said Otunuga. The U.S. and China are due to resume talks on their two year old trade dispute next week. Oil prices ended up after the U.S. Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 136,000 new jobs in September, slightly less than forecast, and the pace of job growth fell to the slowest in four months, but the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, the lowest rate since December 1969. Back on Nymex, November gasoline RBX19, +0.17% rose 1.1% to $1.5734 a gallon, with the contract registering weekly decline of 2.1%, while November heating HOX19, +0.18% rose 1% to $1.8945 a gallon – ending down 2.1% for the week. November natural-gas futures NGX19, -0.13% climbed 1% to $2.352 per million British thermal units, with prices down 2.2% for the week.

Exclusive: In Saudi Arabia, criticism of Crown Prince grows after attack (Reuters) – Some members of Saudi Arabia’s ruling family and business elite have expressed frustration with the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following the largest-ever attack on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure last month.It has sparked concern among several prominent branches of the ruling Al Saud family, which numbers around 10,000 members, about the crown prince’s ability to defend and lead the world’s largest oil exporter, according to a senior foreign diplomat and five sources with ties to the royals and business elite. All spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack has also fanned discontent among some in elite circles who believe the crown prince, known in the West by the initials MbS, has sought too tight a grip on power, the sources said. Some of these people said the event has also fueled criticism among those who believe he has pursued an overly aggressive stance towards Iran. “There is a lot of resentment” about the crown prince’s leadership, said one of the sources, a member of the Saudi elite with royal connections. “How were they not able to detect the attack?” This person added that some people in elite circles are saying they have “no confidence” in the crown prince, an assertion echoed by the four other sources and the senior diplomat. The crown prince nonetheless has staunch supporters. A Saudi source within circles loyal to the crown prince said: “The latest events won’t affect him personally as a potential ruler because he is trying to stop the Iranian expansion in the region. This is a patriotic issue, and so he won’t be in danger, at least as long as the father lives.”

Iran’s oil minister dismisses tensions over Aramco attack; says Saudi energy minister is a ‘friend’ — Geopolitical tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia might be the biggest issue facing the Middle East right now but Iran’s oil minister has insisted he has a good rapport with his Saudi Arabian counterpart.“Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman (Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister) has been a friend for over 22 years,” Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh told an energy conference in Moscow on Wednesday.Although Iran and Saudi Arabia are both members of OPEC, they are known to disagree over OPEC policy – Saudi Arabia has led cuts to OPEC production but Iran, under U.S. sanctions on its oil industry, did not want to cut output. It is currently exempt from the output cuts agreed by OPEC and a group of non-OPEC producers.Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia has long been tensed because of the rival religious powers’ power struggle (often by proxy) in the region.“Despite this long-term up and down political relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia we have been friends and I hope to be friends in future, we have no difficulty with him,” he said, adding that the difficulty in Saudi-Iranian relations was not created from the Iranian side. “We believe that all the Muslim countries, all the neighbor countries, should have a peaceful environment between themselves … Our enemy is another country out of this area,” he said, making a thinly veiled swipe at the U.S.

Saudi Arabia accepts cease fire in Yemen – “Saudi Arabia has agreed to a limited cease-fire in several areas of Yemen including the capital Sana’a, which is controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, as part of broader efforts to end a four-year conflict that has threatened to escalate into regional war.A Yemeni government official and a diplomat said attempts were underway to expand the truce. Saudi officials couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.Last week, the Houthis announced a unilateral halt to the hundreds of drone and missile attacks that have targeted OPEC’s largest producer in recent years.The apparent breakthroughs follow a devastating attack on major Saudi oil facilities that briefly halved the country’s output and rattled global markets this month. Yemen’s Houthis said they carried out the attack using a swarm of unmanned aircraft, but the U.S. has said Iran was responsible.” yahoo, Bloomberg, etc.————– This doesn’t fit the US government BS narrative in which it was IRAN who attacked at Abqaiq and Khareus. Pompeo scoffed the other day at the idea that the Yemeni rebels could have done the deed, but here we have the obvious truth.Saudi Arabia would not have negotiated a cease fire with the Yemeni rebels if it had not been the Yemenis who attacked them. They know that if there is not a cease fire there will be more attacks against their petroleum infrastructure and possibly their desal plants without which they cannot survive. Remember this the next time Pompeo tells you anything. He evidently forgot the word “honor” in the West Point motto.

Fitch downgrades Saudi Arabia’s credit rating stressing a ‘risk of further attacks’ – Saudi Arabia’s strong credit rating has been taken down a notch by a major ratings agency thanks to geopolitical risks and concerns over the safety of its economic infrastructure. Fitch has downgraded the kingdom’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating from A+ to A, the New York-based agency announced Monday. Its outlook remains stable. “The downgrade reflects rising geopolitical and military tensions in the Gulf region, Fitch’s revised assessment of the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia’s economic infrastructure and continued deterioration in Saudi Arabia’s fiscal and external balance sheets,” Fitch said in a release. The downgrade comes roughly two weeks after the heart of the kingdom’s oil infrastructure was hit by a drone and cruise missile attack that Riyadh and Washington have blamed on Iran. Riyadh was quick to rebuke the agency’s move. “The Ministry of Finance is disappointed that Fitch took a swift decision to downgrade the Kingdom,” read a statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s finance ministry within a few hours of Fitch’s announcement. “Rather, the event highlights Saudi Arabia’s outstanding capacity to effectively deal with adversities, commitment to maintaining stability in the global oil markets, and the Kingdom’s status as an important international ally,” it said. “As such, the downgrade of the rating comes across as somewhat speculative without direct reference to the swift, decisive and effective response to the event,” the ministry added.

The Military Officials Who Knew Saudi Arabia Would Fail – While it’s seems axiomatic that most Americans suffer from historical amnesia, that’s not necessarily true for the U.S. military. And as America and Iran were sprinting towards a military confrontation last week, a recently retired senior U.S. military officer expounded on what he called “the bumbling, incompetent and feckless stupidity of it all.” The target of the officer’s ire was not Donald Trump (whom he admires) or Mike Pompeo (who he doesn’t), but Saudi Arabia’s March 2015 decision to go to war against the Iranian-allied Houthi tribal movement in Yemen – “which is,” he argues, “how all of this nonsense got started in the first place.” He explained: “We didn’t see the [Saudi] invasion [of Yemen] coming and we were shocked when it happened. But we were pretty blunt. We told them, ‘you can’t win and you’ll bankrupt your country. It’ll be a quagmire.’ And we were right.” This officer’s “we-told-ya-so” narrative, as it turns out, is accurate. Saudi Arabia’s invasion of Yemen to destroy the Houthi rebellion (and reinstate the government of Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi) not only surprised the Obama administration, it was met with nearly open disdain by the U.S. military. Key senior officers of the U.S. Special Operations Command viewed the Houthis as a robust counter to al-Qaeda’s strength in Yemen and even argued that America take steps to support them. “The Houthis were only nominally Iran’s surrogates,” a military officer told me at the time, “but they were also our quiet partners against al-Qaeda.” Yet back in 2015, because of the Saudi invasion (with support from nine other Arab states), the possibility that the Pentagon could count on Houthi backing was not only off the table, senior Pentagon officials predicted that the tribe would strengthen its ties with their Shia co-religionists in Iran – something that, prior to the Saudi invasion, it hadn’t wanted to do. That’s why key segments of the U.S. military thought the Saudi invasion was a mistake.

Yemen- Houthis claim capture of thousands of troops in Saudi raid – Yemen’s Houthi movement has said it carried out an attack near the border with the southwestern Saudi region of Najran and captured “thousands” of enemy troops including several Saudi army officers but there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities in Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the Yemen-based rebels said in a statement on Saturday that three “enemy military brigades had fallen” in the attack, which he said was launched 72 hours earlier in the vicinity of Najran and was supported by the group’s drone, missile and air defence units. Houthi-run Almasirah TV quoted the spokesman as saying they captured “thousands” of enemy troops, including many officers and soldiers of the Saudi army, as well as “hundreds of armoured vehicles”. The Houthi military spokesperson said the operation reveals to Saudi Arabia that the Yemeni fighters are capable of further penetrating into Saudi territories “in case it continues its aggression against Yemen”. Reporting from Sanaa, Al Jazeera’s Mohammed al-Attab said the Houthis claimed to have carried out “sniper shooting and other tactics in order to further tighten their grip on the three military brigades” claimed to have been captured. “The Houthi military spokesperson revealed that those who have been captured will be put in undisclosed areas in order to protect them from Saudi airstrikes,” he said. “They are assuring the families of the prisoners of war that they will be kept in a secret place in order to keep them safe from any harm.” The Houthis, who control the northern part of Yemen, have recently stepped up their drone and missile attacks across the southern border of Saudi Arabia. The rebels claimed responsibility for a September 14 assault on two facilities run by Saudi’s state oil company, Aramco. The attack slashed Saudi Arabia’s crude oil output by half, accounting for about five percent of the world supply. However, the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany and the UK said Iran was behind the attacks, ratcheting up already heightened tensions in the region.

Houthis claim to have killed 500 Saudi soldiers in major attack – Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have killed 500 Saudi soldiers, captured a further 2,000 and seized a convoy of Saudi military vehicles.The extraordinary claims at a press conference on Sunday, involving still photographs and inconclusive videos of captured soldiers, many not in uniform, could not be corroborated, and there was no independent confirmation from Saudi Arabia.The Houthis, showing pictures of upturned Saudi vehicles and immobilised convoys, claimed the attacks had occurred over the past three days in the southern Najran region of Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, and would continue with greater intensity.“Operation Victory from God is the largest military one since the brutal aggression began. The enemy suffered heavy losses … and wide swathes of territory were liberated in only a few days,” said the Houthi spokesman, Mohammed Abdul Salam.He also claimed hundreds of Saudi soldiers lay dead or injured on the battlefield, and Riyadh had little option but to consider how to withdraw. He said the Houthis would end their attacks if the Saudis took reciprocal measures.The attacks, if verified, would be a remarkable show of force inside Saudi Arabia and mark another embarrassment for the kingdom, after its US-made Patriot missile defence system failed to protect two Saudi Aramco oil sites from an attack by drones and cruise missiles earlier this month. On Saturday, the Houthis claimed they had captured three Saudi brigades – a major proportion of the kingdom’s army. The group also says it was responsible for the oil attacks, but this has been disputed by western and European governments.

Footage appears to show Canadian-made armoured vehicle captured by Yemen rebels in fighting with Saudis – Yemen’s Houthi rebels have released video footage of the aftermath of a battle with Saudi forces which appears to show a captured Canadian-made light armoured vehicle. The footage was released Sunday in what the rebels say started as an ambush inside Saudi Arabia but then turned into a major cross-border battle. The footage of the battle was shown on Houthi-run Al Masirah TV and Al Jazeera. The rebels claimed that the attack killed or wounded 500 Saudi soldiers. Saudi Arabia has not acknowledged the fighting and the Houthi claims have not been independently verified. The footage shows the captured light armoured vehicle, another destroyed light armoured vehicle as well as armoured trucks provided to the Saudis by the U.S. company Oshkosh. The footage also showed Saudi troops who were taken prisoner. Over the years, Saudi Arabia has purchased light armoured vehicles from Canada’s General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada in London, Ont. In 2014, the then Conservative government announced a deal worth an estimated $15 billion to sell Saudi Arabia more than 700 light armoured vehicles. That controversial deal was later approved by the Liberal government. A Saudi-led coalition, which has been provided with arms and intelligence from the U.S. and other western nations, intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis overthrew the government. Saudi Arabia has faced severe criticism for its role in the ongoing war in Yemen, with allegations it has conducted unlawful airstrikes on civilians.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels release Saudi attack video – Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday broadcast footage they said was of a major attack on Saudi Arabia in August that killed or wounded 500 soldiers with thousands of others surrendering. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, described an ambush on the Saudi forces that then developed into an “all-out” cross-border offensive that trapped the troops inside Saudi Arabia.”More than 200 were killed in dozens of [missile and drone] strikes while trying to escape or surrender,” Saree said.The fighting took place in the southern region of Najran with video images aired showing armoured vehicles hit by blasts and surrendering soldiers.Saudi Arabia has not yet responded to the Houthi claim. Al Jazeera was not independently able to verify the footage or claims broadcast on Houthi-run Al Masirah TV.Saree said the offensive 72 hours earlier had defeated three “enemy military brigades”, leading to the capture of “thousands” of troops, including Saudi army officers and soldiers, and hundreds of armoured vehicles.He said the prisoners “will be treated according to the ethics and the customs on the basis of a deal to exchange the POWs with the aggressors.”The video showed armoured vehicles, some ablaze, with stencilled Saudi markings, along with large piles of weapons and ammunition the rebels say they seized. The images also appeared to show bodies and men in Saudi military uniforms. Several identified themselves as Saudis.

Houthis announce release of hundreds of prisoners – Houthi rebels have announced the unconditional release of 350 prisoners, including three Saudi Arabians, days after the Yemeni group claimed to have captured thousands of Saudi troops following an incursion into Saudi Arabia, according to Houthi-run Al Masirah TV. A statement by the Houthi National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs (NCPA) carried by Al Masirah TV said the individuals were on the list of persons drawn up as part of the prisoner exchange deal agreed in Stockholm in December.The United Nations-brokered prisoner swap, one of the three pillars of the breakthrough deal, involving some 7,000 detainees on each side had stalled as the two sides – the Houthisand the Yemeni government – struggled to agree on its implementation.”Our initiative proves our credibility in implementing the Sweden agreement and we call on the other party to take a comparable step,” said Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the NCPA, in the statement carried by the Houthi-run broadcaster.”We decided to release 350 prisoners because nothing from Sweden agreement have been achieved. The release is going take place today,” the NCPA statement read.Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the release, put the number of those freed at 290.The detainees were taken in Houthi raids since 2014, when the rebels overran the capital, Sanaa, and much of the north.The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths – who supervised the Stockholm agreement – welcomed the offer to unilaterally release a number of detainees, saying he hoped it would lead to further progress on an agreed prisoner exchange deal. The Houthis said the release of the prisoners was a gesture of goodwill to the Saudi-UAE-led coalition, which has carried out the bombing in support of the internationally recognised government of Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi since 2015.

Three Saudi Brigades Annihilated in Devastating Houthi Offensive in Saudi Arabia – Many may have hitherto been led to believe that the Houthis were a ragtag armed force lacking in sophistication. Many, seeing the drone and missile attacks on Saudi oil plants, may have declared it to be a false-flag attack carried out by Riyadh to boost Aramco’s market value; either that or it was an operation carried out by Iran or even Israel. On Saturday September 28, the Houthis put paid to such speculation by confirming what many, like myself, have been writing for months; that is, that the asymmetrical tactics of the Houthis, combined with the conventional capabilities of the Yemeni army, are capable of bringing the Saudi kingdom of Mohammed Bin Salman to its knees. The Yemeni army’s missile forces are able to carry out highly complex attacks, no doubt as a result of reconnaissance provided by the local Shia population within the Kingdom that is against the House of Saud’s dictatorship. These Houthi sympathisers within Saudi Arabia helped in target identification, carried out reconnaissance within the plants, found the most vulnerable and impactful points, and passed this intelligence on to the Houthis and Yemeni army. These Yemeni forces employed locally produced means to severely degrade Saudi Arabia’s crude-oil-extraction and processing plants. The deadly strikes halved oil production and threatened to continue with other targets if the Saudi-conducted genocide in Yemen did not stop. On Saturday 29 the Houthis and the Yemeni army conducted an incredible conventional attack lasting three days that began from within Yemen’s borders. The operation would have involved months of intelligence gathering and operational planning. It was a far more complex attack than that conducted against Aramco’s oil facilities. Initial reports indicate that the forces of the Saudi-led coalition were lured into vulnerable positions and then, through a pincer movement conducted quickly within Saudi territory, the Houthis surrounded the town of Najran and its outskirts and got the better of three Saudi brigades numbering in the thousands and including dozens of senior officers as well as numerous combat vehicles. This event is a game changer, leaving the US, Mike Pompeo and the Israelis and Saudis unable to lay the blame on Iran as all this took place a long way from Iran. The large-scale operation was preceded by Yemeni rocket artillery targeting Jizan airport, with 10 missiles paralyzing any movements to and from the airport, including denying the possibility of air support for the encircled troops. The Houthis also hit the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in a key operation that targeted Apache helicopters, forcing them to leave the area. Nearby military bases were also targeted so as to cut off any reinforcements and disrupt the chain of command. This led to the Saudi forces fleeing in disorganization. Images shown by the Houthis show a road in the middle of a valley on the outskirts of Najran with dozens of Saudi armored vehicles trying to flee while being attacked from both sides by Houthi RPGs together with heavy and light weapons. Visual confirmation of the debacle can be seen in the number of casualties as well as in the number of prisoners taken. Images show lines of Saudi prisoners walking under Yemeni guard towards prison camps. This is something extraordinary to behold: the Saudi army, the third largest purchaser of weapons in the world, getting comprehensively walloped by one of the poorest countries in the world. The numbers say it all: the Houthis were able to control more than 350 kilometers of Saudi territory. Given that the Saudi military budget is almost 90 billion dollars a year, this achievement is made all the more extraordinary.

MBS must shelve his vicious war in Yemen -Never underestimate the power of blowback. Right now, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), the de facto ruler of the House of Saud, is staring at it, an ominous abyss opened by the Houthis in Yemen. This past weekend, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier Yahya al-Sari clinicallydescribed how Ansarallah, also known as the Houthi rebel movement, aided by what Yemenis describe as “popular committees,” captured three Saudi brigades of 2,400 – ragged – soldiers, plus Yemeni and Sudanese mercenaries as well as several hundred battle vehicles. At least 500 Saudi soldiers were killed, Ansarallah said. (A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition denied the claim). This was part of the significantly named Operation Nasrallah in Najran province, Saudi Arabia. The Houthis, who did learn a lot, tactically and strategically, from Hezbollah, duly praised mujahideen and ‘popular committees’ involved in Operation Nasrallah.Col. Pat Lang, in his blog, offers a particularly useful observation on the captured Saudi vehicles. Some belonged to the Saudi National Guard (SANG): “I suppose these troops were from the modernized SANG that the US has worked hard to train and equip for fifty years or more. The easy surrender of these Bedouins is very bad news for the Saudi monarchy.” Najran, the site of the successful raid, is a Shi’ite majority province. But unlike the Eastern province, concentrating the bulk of the Saudi oil industry, where the Shi’ites are Twelvers – believers in twelve divinely ordained leaders, awaiting the reappearance of the last of those twelve imams as the promised Mahdi – in Najran the majority are Ismailis. Until recently, they had been relatively accommodating to the rabidly anti-Shi’ite House of Saud.Not anymore. As I reported before, increasingly daring Houthi operations inside Saudi Arabia can only be successful with solid, on-the-ground intelligence. As for the captured, ragged Saudi soldiers, Mohamed Al-Bukhaiti, who is part of Ansarallah’s political wing, confirms they are mostly takfiris – true believers who think they see among their fellow Muslims legions of apostates, deserving of the death penalty – and jihadis. The capital Sana’a was taken over by the Houthi movement, and not only the Houthi tribe.This is essential to understand the fact that most of north Yemen has by now adhered to the Houthi movement – which also happens to double as the government of north Yemen. It’s not far-fetched to project that the Houthi movement may end up uniting the overwhelming majority of Yemen against the House of Saud.Al-Emad was keen to point out that among the dizzyingly complex Yemeni tribal mosaic, the only unifying factor is the fight against a foreign invader – and in this case serial bomber, responsible since 2015 for provoking the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world according to the UN.

Fire engulfs new Saudi high-speed rail station in Jeddah – Online videos showed what appeared to be major structural damage. The station is the centerpiece of a new multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project. A massive fire on Sunday ripped through a new high-speed train station leaving at least five people injured in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah. Videos posted on social media showed black plumes of smoke billowing out of the Haramain train station and helicopters flying over the scene. Online videos showed nearly a dozen people on the roof of the structure. The fire department is currently fighting the blaze with air support, and has brought many sections of the blaze under control. Those injured have been taken to hospital, according to the official Twitter account of the Mecca region. It stated that 16 medical teams were working at the scene and had treated another four injured at the site. There was no immediate known cause of the fire. The €6.7 billion ($7.3 billion) Haramain Railway was inaugurated last September to connect the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina with the Red Sea city of Jeddah with electric trains traveling up to 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour). Read more: Saudi Arabia offers foreign tourists visas for first time Officials described the 450-kilometer (280-mile) line as one of the most important transportation expansion projects in the kingdom’s rail network and the biggest electric speed train project in the Middle East.

Map Shows “Four Times As Many Jihadist Militants” Around The World Than Before 9/11 – A recently produced map outlines that nearly two decades after 9/11 and in the wake of the so-called “war on terror” global militant jihadists are stronger than ever in terms of numbers. It’s yet more confirmation that American interventionism abroad has actually done more to fuel Islamic terrorism than it has to stamp it out – Libya and Syria being foremost recent examples of Washington fueling jihad for half-baked, destabilizing regime change projects, to say nothing of Bush’s Iraq war, which CIA officers themselves have admitted birthed ISIS in the first place. The map published by the DC-based Center For Strategic and International Studies lays out just how expanded the global Salafi-Jihadist terrorism threat has become over the past few years. There are nearly four times as many Salafi-Jihadist militants around the world today than before 9/11: https://t.co/0B8TleXYrf pic.twitter.com/1L378hIbdD “Despite nearly two decades of U.S.-led counterterrorism operations, there are nearly four times as many Sunni Islamic militants today as there were on September 11, 2001,” the prior CSIS study found. By the numbers, they include –

• Syria: largest number of fighters at between 43,650 and 70,550 (most now in Idlib province)
• Afghanistan: between 27,000 and 64,060 and increasingly resurgent
• Pakistan: between 17,900 and 39,540
• Iraq: between 10,000 and 15,000
• Nigeria: between 3,450 and 6,900
• Somolia: between 3,095 and 7,240

Of course, it remains that many of the very think tanks highlighting the expanded jihadist threat use such numbers to argue, ironically enough, simply doing more of the same anytime there’s a push from the administration to “bring the troops home”.

Iran’s President Asserts Wherever America Has Gone, Terrorism Has Expanded – Publicly available evidence seems to indicate there is some truth to the Iranian’s president’s words. Take, for example, a recent article in the journal Environmental Pollution, which discusses the results of a study undertaken in Nasiriyah near Tallil Air Base.Over the years, Dr Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist at the University of Michigan has conducted several investigations in Iraq to better understand the affects of pollutants and toxic chemicals on the Iraqi people from the US-led war in Iraq.According to Savabieasfahani, the levels of thorium in children born with congenital disabilities near the Talil Base were up to 28 times higher than compared to children who were born without congenital disabilities and whom lived further away from the military base.The culprit behind these defects is depleted uranium (DU). For a significant period of time, DU was so attractive to U.S. and NATO militaries due to its dense nature, which allows it to pierce even armored trucks. It was used on a large scale during the first Gulf War, and has been used quite extensively by the U.S. ever since.The American military used some 944,000 rounds of DU bullets in Iraq and Kuwait during the first Gulf war, and was estimated to use 4,000,000 pounds in the 2003 invasion.Since the Iraq war, incidences of cancer and congenital defects have increased significantly. By detecting thorium in the teeth and hair of Iraqi children born with congenital disabilities near the base in question, the causative link between DU and these defects seems to be ever more apparent. Thorium is a decay-product of depleted uranium and is otherwise radioactive.As Truthout explains:“For years following the 2003 U.S-led invasion, Iraqi doctors raised alarms about increasing numbers of babies being born with congenital disabilities in areas of heavy fighting. Other peer-reviewed studies found dramatic increases in child cancer, leukemia, miscarriages and infant mortality in cities such as Fallujah, which saw the largest battles of the war. Scientists, Iraqi physicians and international observers have long suspected depleted uranium to be the culprit. In 2014, one Iraqi doctor told Truthout reporter Dahr Jamail that depleted uranium pollution amounted to ‘genocide.’” The U.S. military has doomed the futures of countless innocent children who probably wouldn’t have even been born during Saddam Hussein’s rule. For what? And what does it take to wake up the American public to the fact that just because the U.S. is not actively bombing Iraq into oblivion at this point in time, it does not mean that we turn our minds off from the fact a grave crime has been committed? Victims of that crime will continue feeling the effects of this collective punishment for decades to come. Will these victims receive justice?

Iran sentences man to death for spying for the CIA – (Reuters) – Iranian courts have sentenced one person to death for spying for the CIA and jailed two others for 10 years for the same crime, as well as imprisoning a fourth person for 10 years for spying for Britain, the judiciary said on Tuesday. The verdicts come amid spiraling tensions between Tehran and the United States since President Donald Trump last year withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy in order to force Tehran to renegotiate the pact. It was not immediately clear if any of the cases were linked to Iran’s announcement in July that it captured 17 spies working for the CIA. “One person has been sentenced to death for spying for America’s intelligence service … but the ruling has been appealed,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili was quoted as saying by the judiciary’s news website Mizan. The other two men, identified as Ali Nefriyeh and Mohammad Ali Babapour, received final 10-year sentences for spying for the CIA, and were ordered to repay $55,000 they had received, he said. Mohammad Amin-Nasab was sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for British intelligence, Esmaili said.

Pentagon shifts Mideast command center to US in preparation for war on Iran – In an action with ominous implications, the Pentagon over the weekend shifted the operations of the command and control center for its warplanes in the Middle East from its long-time base in Qatar to a South Carolina air base more than 7,000 miles away. The transfer of the so-called US Air Force Combined Air and Space Operations Center from the Al Udeid Air Base in the Qatari desert to South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base was carried out on Saturday. After a 24-hour period, operations were shifted back again to Al Udeid. The Washington Post, which was invited to witness the transfer and first reported on it Sunday, cited US commanders as indicating that the transfer, which amounted to a dress rehearsal, was carried out with some “urgency” due to “constant Iranian threats of targeting US bases in the region in case of any military conflict.” The report added that issue had become more pressing following the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil installations, which temporarily cut the kingdom’s production in half and sent oil prices soaring by 20 percent. While Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, Washington, the Saudi monarchy and the major European imperialist powers have blamed Iran, while as yet providing no evidence to support their accusations. “Iran has indicated multiple times through multiple sources their intent to attack U.S. forces,” Col. Frederick Coleman, commander of the 609th Air and Space Operations Center, told the Post.

The U.S. Navy Isn’t Ready to Take On Iran – Whatever lay behind the indecisive Trump administration response to the alleged Sept. 14 Iranian missile and drone strike on Saudi oil facilities, one thing is clear. The United States’ ability to project power into the Persian Gulf region via carrier strike groups, the go-to U.S. option in such situations for decades, is not what it used to be, nor what it might have been. Not long ago, a modern version of gunboat diplomacy – dispatching carriers or guided missile cruisers to the region to loiter menacingly offshore – could have decisively influenced events. In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton reacted to provocative Chinese war games off Taiwan by sending two carriers to the Taiwan Strait, leading Beijing to back down in a humiliation cited frequently today as a reason for China’s own naval buildup. Today, however, such a deployment would no longer elicit the same response in a potential adversary. In part, the change reflects the closing of the enormous technological advantage the U.S. Navy had enjoyed for decades over any realistic rival. New classes of quiet diesel submarines and new developments in mine and torpedo technology make operations close to tense coastlines far more dangerous today than in the past. As a result, U.S. aircraft carriers are no longer immune from risk when entering waters within range of enemy forces. More serious still is the deployment of Russian and Chinese area denial systems, like the so-called carrier killer DF-21 antiship missile developed in the last decade by China. Its range of over 1,000 miles far outstrips the range of any warplane on U.S. flight decks today. Sailing a U.S. carrier strike force through the Taiwan Strait these days – in a show of support for pro-democracy forces in Hong Kong, for instance – would risk catastrophe. Iran does not yet possess anything as sophisticated as China’s DF-21. However, its domestically produced Noor antiship missile (itself a reverse-engineered rip-off of an earlier Chinese cruise missile) is dangerous at over 100 miles. In 2016, the USS Mason, a destroyer ship, discovered as much when it was targeted by several Noor missiles apparently fired by Iran’s Houthi rebel allies in Yemen. The combination of these missiles and Iran’s fleet of fast and cheap patrol boats has been enough to keep the USS Lincoln out of the Persian Gulf as tensions between Iran and the United States increased this summer. President Donald Trump’s options will be limited, likely confined to surface warships and submarines capable of launching long-range cruise missiles, warplanes based in politically sensitive and unreliable Middle Eastern countries, or strategic bombers such as the B-52 and B-2s based half a world away. Naval air power, which since World War II has been the main weapon in the U.S. arsenal in such scenarios, is quite suddenly nearly irrelevant.

Iraqi PM For First Time Confirms Israel Responsible For Multiple Strikes On Iraq – For the first time Iraq’s government has issued formal charges blaming Israel for a spate of attacks on Iraqi soil over the past months. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Monday the result of weeks-long investigations into multiple airstrikes and violations of Iraq’s airspace show Israel’s military to be the culprit. “Investigations into the targeting of some Popular Mobilization Forces positions indicate that Israel carried it out,” Abdul Mahdi told Al Jazeera. Though Tel Aviv was long suspected of prior ‘mystery’ airstrikes on Iran-backed paramilitary bases in July and August, with even Netanyahu strongly hinting responsibility in an Aug. 30 campaign speech, Mahdi’s condemnation marks the first high level allegation from a top Iraqi official. The ‘mystery’ explosions that have rocked ammunition depots and bases in and around Baghdad have been stepped up through September, including incidents on Sept. 9, 19, and 22, resulting in dozens of killed and wounded; and more recently last Friday on Imam Ali base near the border with Syria.In total international reports count nine strikes on Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) – in some cases while they were allegedly operating just across the country’s western border with Syria. Iraq’s prime minister also raised the spectre of war amid a broader standoff between Tel Aviv’s and Tehran, saying “many indicators show that no one wants war in the region except for Israel,” according to a translation by Reuters.

Iraqi protesters gunned down as demonstrations and strikes spread across Middle East – For a second day in a row, Iraqi security forces on Wednesday responded to mass protests against unemployment, poor social services and government corruption with live ammunition, rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas, reportedly leaving at least nine people killed and hundreds wounded. Both protesters and hospital employees said the real toll is far higher, as heavily armed troops were deployed alongside elite black-clad counterterrorism units and police. Witnesses reported the sustained crackle of automatic weapons fire, while black smoke hung over the city from burning tires at protesters’ barricades. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, facing the worst crisis since he formed a government a year ago, convened a meeting of his National Security Council on Wednesday. Afterwards, he issued a statement affirming “the right to protest” and “freedom of expression,” while condemning alleged acts of “vandalism” against public and private property. He also paid tribute to the security forces and blamed the violence on “infiltrators” and “aggressors who … deliberately created casualties.” In the streets, the security forces had clearly gotten the message. They used extreme force to drive protesters from Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and prevent them from approaching the heavily fortified Green Zone, the center of the Iraqi government as well as the location of the US and other Western embassies, along with the offices of military contractors. Counterterrorism troops also used live ammunition against protesters who attempted to storm Baghdad’s international airport. The murderous repression unleashed by the Iraqi security forces dramatically swelled the demonstrations, which began with a relatively small protest Tuesday. After that demonstration was broken up with excessive force, an appeal on social media brought thousands into the streets on Tuesday night, when more violent clashes erupted. As part of the repression, the government shut down the internet nationwide on Wednesday. Nonetheless, the demonstrations grew Wednesday, spreading throughout the country. Several thousands of people marched Wednesday night outside of the local administration building in the southern oil center of Basra. The government has sent its counterterrorism troops into the southern city of Nassiriya, where the authorities reportedly “lost control” amid gun battles and the burning of government buildings. Protesters also burned the government building in the Shia holy city of Najaf. The mass upheaval has shaken the government above all because it has spread throughout the heartland of Iraq’s Shia majority, the ostensible political base of the main ruling parties. It has also broken out without the leadership of any of the political parties. Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army fought US forces in Baghdad 15 years ago and who has in the past mobilized major demonstrations, was in Iran and played no apparent role in the demonstrations.

Martial Law Unfolding in Iraq: 30 Protesters Dead, Internet Blackout, 24-Hour Curfews – Now in their third day, mass anti-government protests across Iraq have resulted in 30 dead and over 1000 wounded, amid a brutal police crackdown which has involved unprepared security forces firing live rounds on demonstrators.Several major cities are now under curfew and the government has cut internet access for much of the country. In a signal of just how dire and growing the mayhem is, Iran has now sealed key border crossings with Iraq just ahead of an annual Shia pilgrimage this month, where crucial Iran-Iraq border crossings swell with pilgrims. Iraqi television confirmed the Khosravi border crossing was closed, with more potentially to follow, per Reuters:Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said last week 3 million Iranian pilgrims were expected to visit Kerbala for the religious ritual of Arbaeen, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.Baghdad is now under round-the-clock curfew as of Thursday, after unrest started Tuesday, reportedly driven chiefly by youth and fueled by popular anger over corruption, unemployment, and the lack of basic services. Government authorities have said extreme measures are necessary to prevent “infiltrators” from attacking police and public property. The AFP reports the latest Thursday night:Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Iraq’s capital and across the south on Thursday, the third day of mass rallies that have left 30 dead.“We’ll keep going until the government falls,” pledged 22-year-old Ali, an unemployed university graduate. Indeed though Baghdad officials including President Barham Salih have essentially admitted police regretfully early on used a “heavy-handed response” in a situation which unexpectedly spiraled “out of control.” Meanwhile, there is some evidence to suggest insurgents in some parts of the country used the opportunity to fire back on police. Late in the day Wednesday Reuters reported armed elements were active among the demonstrators in the south of the country, in what marked a major escalation:Curfews were imposed earlier in three southern cities while elite counter-terrorism troops opened fire on protesters trying to storm Baghdad airport and deployed to the southern city of Nassiriya after gunfights broke out between protesters and security forces, police sources said.According to figures from Iraq’s Human Rights Commission, over 1,000 have been injured and over 60 arrested, also as communications are more difficult, given about 75% of the country is without internet access, per cybersecurity monitor NetBlocks.

Iraq in flames — Iraqi security forces opened fire on unarmed civilians for the fourth day in a row Friday as protesters poured into the streets once again in defiance of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s declaration of a round-the-clock curfew. The death toll was reported at 65 Friday night, with more expected to be killed in overnight clashes. The real number of dead is undoubtedly far higher. The number of wounded, from live ammunition, rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon, has been reported at over 1,500. Heavily armed soldiers, members of Iraq’s elite counterterrorism squads and riot police have been deployed in an attempt to prevent demonstrators from marching on central Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and on the Green Zone, the heavily fortified center of the Iraqi government, the US and other Western embassies and the various military contractors hired to prop up the regime. Snipers on rooftops have been deployed to pick off protesters. The government has shut down the internet across Iraq in its bid to suppress the organization of fresh protests. There have also been reports of masked death squads going to the homes of known activists and assassinating them. Thus far, these repressive measures have proved counterproductive, with every state killing fueling the popular anger against the government. Unrest has gripped the impoverished Shia neighborhoods of Sadr City, where more than a decade ago militias confronted American troops. Crowds there reportedly have set fire to government buildings as well as the offices of Shia-based parties that support the government. The protests, which have demanded jobs, improved living conditions and an end to corruption, are the largest and most widespread that have broken out in Iraq in the more than 16 years since Washington launched its war to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. Most of those confronting US-trained security forces in the streets are unemployed youth and young workers whose entire lives have been shaped by the criminal US war of aggression, the subsequent eight years of US occupation and the bitter sectarian conflicts instigated by Washington as part of its divide-and-rule strategy. The effects of the US war amounted to sociocide, i.e., the systematic destruction of an entire society. The number of Iraqis who lost their lives due to the war is estimated at well over a million. What had been among the most advanced healthcare, education and social welfare systems in the Middle East were demolished, along with the bulk of the country’s infrastructure. Within three years of withdrawing most of US troops from Iraq, the Obama administration began sending another 5,000 back in to wage the so-called war against ISIS, which reduced the predominantly Sunni cities of Anbar province and Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, to rubble. Having spent trillions of dollars and sacrificed the lives of 4,500 troops – along with tens of thousands of wounded – Washington has proved utterly incapable of establishing a stable US puppet regime in Baghdad.

Turkey plans to occupy northeast Syria with $27 billion program – In its latest stunt apparently designed to encourage refugees to believe that Turkey will provide them housing that is nicer than what most people in Turkey have, Turkey has floated the idea of a $27 billion program for taking over part of northeast Syria. Calling this a “safe zone,” Turkey says that its security concerns give it a right to occupy part of Syria. Ankara has talked up the “safe zone” for months, but only now has it floated an ambitious settlement program for 1 million Syrians with modern housing that is the largest of its sort in history. Iran’s Press TV, apparently representing the view of Iran’s government, argues that the plan means “carving out a patch of land in the Arab country for itself.” Ankara’s latest proposal is the building of 200,000 homes for more than 1 million Syrian refugees who currently reside in Turkey. Many of these refugees are from areas such as Aleppo, but Turkey doesn’t want to let them move back to areas closer to home, such as near Jarabulus or Idlib Province. Turkey wants to funnel them into an area along the northeastern border of the country where the US and the Syrian Democratic Forces are present. It’s goal is to demographically change the area from a historically Kurdish region, to one housing Turkish-supported Arab refugees in settlement-style towns, unconnected to the indigenous people and dependent on Turkey for support. The size of the project would be ambitious for even the most wealthy and powerful countries, which Turkey is not. Yet, Ankara envisions building up to 140 towns, each with 5,000 residents, in ten new “districts.” These towns, according to photos published and pushed by Turkish media and picked up in other media, such as Iran’s Press TV and Arab News, will look like the most modern towns, more luxurious than most towns in Turkey. Turkey’s government says that its aim is to “settle 2 million Syrians, with the support of the international community, by providing a peace corridor 30 kilometers deep and 480 kilometers long in the first phase.” Acting as if there are no indigenous people in northeast Syria, Turkey plans a settlement program that brushes away the property rights of existing Syrian owners, and seeks to build model villages with 1,000 residences each, including houses, barns, youth centers and two mosques each. Each village will have a sports facility and two schools, with 16 classrooms each. Each house will be 100 square meters, according to the plan published in Hurriyet. This will require 92.6 million square meters of land, according to the article. Another 140 million square meters of agricultural land are needed. Hurriyet refers to this as “the settlements,” an indication that Turkey may be seeking to model its policies after Israel’s actions in the Golan and West Bank, except expanding them on a more ambitious and rapid scale. Like Israel, Turkey believes that it must take over part of Syria to create a safe zone the way Israel views the Golan. Unlike Israel, it hopes it can move 1 million people into an area of Syria rapidly without any international repercussions and actually get international support to do so.

Jihadists ‘Storm’ U.S. Air Base, Bomb Military Convoy in Surprise Somalia Attacks – Jihadists in Somalia have attacked a U.S. military base in the southern Lower Shabelle region of the country on Monday, while a second attack targeted a European peace-keeping envoy in the capital of Mogadishu. In the first attack, two cars packed with explosives were driven towards the Balegdole air base before being detonated at its gates. Bursts of gunfire then followed as jihadists tried to breach the base. Al-Shabab, Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked insurgent group, said it was responsible for the attack in a statement and claimed its fighters had been successful in entering the base. “After breaching the perimeters of the heavily fortified base, the mujahideen [holy warriors] stormed the military complex, engaging the crusaders in an intense firefight,” the statement said. Al-Shabab are known for often exaggerating their statements however, and a statement from the U.S. Ambassador to Somalia’s office denied that entry was made. “The United States condemns the attacks today in Baledogle and Mogadishu,” the statement said. “We commend the Somali security forces who repelled the attack against the Somali National Army (SNA) Base in Baledogle, Lower Shabelle region. “The security forces stopped this ultimately failed attack due to their alertness and swift response, not allowing the attackers to breach the outer defensive perimeters of the base.” The Bolegole base, roughly 100 km (60 miles) west of Mogadishu, houses Somali special forces, U.S. special forces and Ugandan peace-keeping troops. In the second attack, a bomb blast targeted a peace-keeping envoy from Italy. The Italian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the convoy was hit by explosions, but stated that no injuries had been reported. Images of the attack seen by Newsweek showed that a light-armored vehicle had been sheared open from the attack and extensive damage had been caused to nearby buildings.

Anti-Sisi protesters return to Egypt’s streets in teeth of fierce repression — In the teeth of a massive police state crackdown, Egyptian workers and youth took to the streets again Friday to demand an end to the six-year-old dictatorship of General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who seized power in a bloody 2013 coup. The protests, which followed similar demonstrations last week, were launched after Friday’s prayers and were largest in towns and cities outside of Cairo. The Egyptian capital was under a complete lockdown. Every street leading into Tahrir Square, the iconic scene of mass demonstrations during the Egyptian revolution that toppled the US-backed dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak, was blockaded by police-military checkpoints. The regime also closed down subway stations in the center of the capital to further restrict movement. Streets in central Cairo were clogged with police buses, cars and armored vehicles, while uniformed riot police and heavily armed plainclothes thugs covering their faces with balaclavas roamed the area. At Cairo’s Al-Fateh mosque, a rallying point for the mass demonstrations in 2011, dozens of police vehicles and scores of police, some carrying assault rifles, were deployed at exits as prayers let out. The Interior Ministry even issued an order to doctors at Cairo hospitals to report any patients seeking treatment for injuries suffered in demonstrations. According to Middle East Eye, police were deployed to Kasr Al Ainy, one of Cairo’s main hospitals, to patrol wards and inspect ambulances as they arrived. While there were no demonstrations in central Cairo, at least 200 people were arrested there anyway. At some checkpoints, police were demanding people’s cellphones, checking to see if there was anything on them indicating sympathy for the anti-Sisi protests. Despite this crackdown, crowds marched and chanted slogans against the regime in a number of cities, including Luxor, Qena and Sohag, as well as al Warraq, an island in the center of the Nile river on the northern outskirts of metropolitan Cairo.

Nearly 2,000 arrested as Egypt braces for anti-Sisi protests Egypt is bracing itself for a second weekend of protests on Friday, with authorities stepping up arrests and tightening security in major cities amid calls for a “million-man march” against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Egypt’s Ministry of Interior warned on Thursday of “decisive” action against any attempts to “destabilise peace” as rights groups say nearly 2,000 people have been arrested since last weekend’s rare protests demanding el-Sisi quit. Among those arrested was Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University and well-known columnist, who called for the president’s departure in a Twitter post. “I have no doubt that the continuation of el-Sisi’s absolute rule will lead to disaster,” Nafaa said. “Egypt’s interest requires his departure today before tomorrow.” Rights group calls for ‘immediate release’ of Egyptian protesters (3:21) Nafaa’s arrest on Wednesday followed the detention of Hazem Hosny, a spokesman for former army chief Sami Anan who was jailed last year for attempting to run against el-Sisi in a presidential election. Khaled Dawoud, the head of Al-Doustor Party who has been a vocal critic of the president’s policies, was also arrested. Security forces have also deployed more troops to major cities, with police stopping and searching pedestrians on key thoroughfares and squares. Authorities have also blocked news websites and disrupted access to messaging platforms, according to monitoring groups. Last weekend’s unprecedented display of dissent is a response to calls for action from a former Egyptian military contractor, Mohamed Ali. The part-time actor, who said he worked with the military for 15 years, accused el-Sisi and his aides of squandering public funds on vanity projects despite widespread poverty. In a series of videos posted online, he admitted to benefitting from government corruption, describing how his company, Amlak, was awarded lucrative state contracts without going through the proper bidding process. His description of opulent palaces and luxury hotels that he claimed to have built for el-Sisi – and for which he has yet to be paid – struck a nerve with many Egyptians living under harsh austerity measures imposed under a $12bn loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. The programme has led to an increase in poverty rates. Official figures show one in three Egyptians live below the poverty line.

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