Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666
Here are some more selected news articles about the oil and gas industry from the week ended 30 November 2019. Go here for Part 1.
This is a feature at Global Economic Intersection every Monday evening.
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Two Injured in Offshore Explosion – Two Equinor employees were injured when a portable nitrogen gas bottle exploded on board the Heimdal platform in the North Sea on Thursday November 28. The two injured employees, a man (22) and a woman (19), were taken care of by health personnel on board Heimdal and were transported to Haukeland University Hospital and Stavanger University Hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening. “This is a serious work-related incident that has strongly affected all of us. Our main priority now is to keep following up and supporting our injured personnel and their next-of-kin. Their colleagues on Heimdal, where the incident occurred, are also being taken care of and we have sent extra personnel offshore to support them,” says Arne Sigve Nylund, executive vice president for Development and Production Norway. There were 70 personnel on board the platform when the incident occurred. It is too early to say something about the cause of the incident, says Equinor. The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway and the police have travelled to the platform to start their investigations. “We have also initiated an internal investigation, and we are helping the police and other relevant authorities carry out their investigations in the best possible way,” says Nylund. He adds that a controlled production shutdown on Heimdal is planned.
North Sea Oil Is Doomed With Or Without Brexit Authored – The uncertainty of the future of Brexit has left the United Kingdom’s economy in stagnation as business investment falters on the eve of the nation’s December general election. “British business investment has fallen 1.1 percent since the June 2016 Brexit referendum, and analysts warn that it could cause long-term damage to the economy,” according to reporting from Al Jazeera this week. The Al Jazeera report continues, “the International Monetary Fund says China-US trade tensions are hurting investment globally. But Brexit uncertainty threatens to turn the UK problem into a crisis.” The crisis is already beginning, as weak investment patterns have already make the UK’s economy too at risk for inflation for the central bank to be able to stimulate it by cutting interest rates, according to a representative from the Bank of England. All of this will have major implications for the oil industry in the UK’s North Sea, from the obvious impacts of economic slowdown on the domestic energy sector to the added uncertainty of Scotland potentially splitting off from the UK to stay in the European Union. If Scotland does decide to break away from the UK definitively, it would make major waves in the North Sea drilling industry (pun most definitely intended). In the extremely possible scenario of an independent Scotland, if operating costs or ease become compromised or complicated, it is likely that many North Sea oil producers would very soon opt to take their business elsewhere. Back when this concern first surfaced in 2016, CEO of oil and gas company Petroplan Andrew Speers told CNBC that “Many of the operators and service companies [in the North Sea] with Scottish operations are global by nature and the most important thing is Scotland remains an easy and profitable place to do business.” At the same time, however, there were some experts that speculated that the opposite could be true, and that an economic slowdown could ultimately be a boon for UK oil producers thanks to a deflated pound sterling. “For those in the U.K. and those producing oil in the U.K. North Sea, the weaker U.K. currency will reduce costs because operating costs are paid in pounds but the product (oil) is sold in U.S. dollars,” IHS Energy director Spencer Welch told CNBC. These concerns and hopes are still as valid now as they were in 2016, as Brexit still hangs in the bureaucratic balance.
Crude oil from Brazil spill washes up on a beach in Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian Navy says it has found small bits of crude oil on a beach in Rio de Janeiro state, the 11th state to be affected by a mysterious and massive oil spill. Authorities reported Saturday finding very small quantities of the black tar -300 grams- but its arrival on a beach in the highly touristic state of Rio is symbolic. The Navy confirmed the oil collected Friday was “compatible” with that found in other states. Authorities have retrieved more than 4,000 tons of oil thus far. The thick, viscous substance first showed up early September and has since polluted more than 720 beaches, rivers and mangroves, hurting fishing and tourism. Authorities have described the spill as one of the country’s worst environmental disasters and say more might be coming.
Oil from spill in Brazil washes up in Rio state — Oil from a spill that has contaminated a stretch of Brazil’s coast was detected in Rio de Janeiro state, the navy said Saturday, as President Jair Bolsonaro warned the country was preparing for the worst. Some 300 grams – a small quantity of oil – were found far from the region’s most famous beaches, in the sand in the town of Sao Joao da Barra, as the spill moves southward. The town is located about 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s tourism capital, and far from the state’s most emblematic beaches such as Copacabana. On Saturday, Bolsonaro said that “we still don’t know how much oil is left in the sea.” “In the worst case, if an oil tanker unloaded all of its cargo into the sea, less than 10 percent has reached our shores, which is why we are preparing for the worst,” Patches of oil have turned up along a 2,000-kilometer stretch of Atlantic coastline, after oil started tarnishing beaches in Paraiba state in late August. It has since spread dramatically and reached Espirito Santo state, which neighbors Rio. Brazil’s environmental protection agency Ibama has identified more than 700 locations where the coast has been contaminated. Workers and volunteers wearing rubber gloves are racing against time to clear beaches ahead of the country’s peak tourism season. According to the Navy, more than 4,500 tons of oil has been removed and more than 5,000 soldiers mobilized for cleaning operations. The spill has proven deadly for dozens of types of animals, including turtles, and has also reached a humpback whale sanctuary off Bahia state, which has some of the country’s richest biodiversity. Early this month, the government named a Greek-flagged tanker as the “prime suspect” for being the source of the oil slicks. The ship, “Bouboulina,” took on oil in Venezuela and was headed for Singapore, it said. The tanker’s operators have denied the vessel was to blame.
Brazilian oil spill keeps advancing and has reached the north of Rio do Janeiro state – Oil from a spill that has contaminated a stretch of Brazil’s coast was detected in Rio de Janeiro state, the navy said over the weekend, as President Jair Bolsonaro warned the country was preparing for the worst. Some 300g – a small quantity of oil – were found far from the region’s most famous beaches, in the sand in the town of Sao Joao da Barra, as the spill moves southward. The town is located about 300km north of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s tourism capital, and far from the state’s most emblematic beaches such as Copacabana. “The samples analyzed are compatible with the oil found on the northeast coast,” the navy said in a statement. On Saturday, Bolsonaro said that “we still don’t know how much oil is left in the sea.” “In the worst case, if an oil tanker unloaded all of its cargo into the sea, less than 10 percent has reached our shores, which is why we are preparing for the worst,” he said, speaking outside a military ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. Patches of oil have turned up along a 2,000km stretch of Atlantic coastline, after oil started tarnishing beaches in Paraiba state in late August. It has since spread dramatically and reached Espirito Santo state, which neighbors Rio. Brazil’s environmental protection agency Ibama has identified more than 700 locations where the coast has been contaminated. Workers and volunteers wearing rubber gloves are racing against time to clear beaches ahead of the country’s peak tourism season. According to the Navy, more than 4,500 tons of oil has been removed and more than 5,000 soldiers mobilized for cleaning operations. The spill has proven deadly for dozens of types of animals, including turtles, and has also reached a humpback whale sanctuary off Bahia state, which has some of the country’s richest biodiversity. It is the third major environmental disaster to strike Brazil this year. In recent months fires ravaged the Amazon rainforest and in January a mine dam collapsed in the southeast, spewing millions of tons of toxic waste across the countryside.
Brazil‘s oil spill ‘criminally deposited‘ on beaches: Bolsonaro –President Jair Bolsonaro has suggested a criminal element to the mystery oil slicks polluting Brazil‘s northeast coast. About 100 oil spills have been detected along the nation‘s beaches since early September.Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said appeared to have been “criminally deposited” there, reported Reuters news agency.The crude oil “does not seem to come from an offshore platform,” Bolsonaro told reporters, suggesting it was from another country, without elaborating because of an ongoing police probe. “It could be something criminal, it could be an accidental spill, it could also be a ship that sank. It is complex. We have on our radar screen a country that could be the origin of the oil.” If the oil originated from a shipwreck, as the president suggested earlier this week, it would still be seeping onto the beaches, he said.
Ex-Petrobras Trader Tells Judge Vitol Bribed Him— A former Petroleo Brasileiro SA oil trader who went by the code name “Phil Collins” told a Brazilian judge he received bribes from Vitol Group to favor the firm in contracts with the crude producer, court documents show. Carlos Roberto Martins Barbosa said he collected payoffs between 2003 and 2005 to steer fuel oil contracts to Vitol with Petrobras, as the state-controlled company is known, and give Vitol more favorable terms. Payments equivalent to 12 cents per barrel were deposited by Vitol into his bank account in Switzerland, according to his Oct. 23 testimony, which was published for the first time on a court website in Brazil’s Parana state. The alleged bribes were paid following negotiations with the head of Vitol in Brazil at the time, Lauro Moreira, and with the consent of the firm’s U.S. boss Mike Loya and then-Latin America head Tony Maarraoui, the ex-Petrobras trader testified. Loya and Maarraoui have previously been cited in court documents as part of Brazil’s sprawling Carwash corruption probe. “In trading, when you want to get a bribe, you don’t make $10 a barrel in one cargo,” Barbosa said in the testimony. “It’s the perpetuity of a few cents in each sale, in each product, that provides the illicit gain.” Investigators say their long-running investigation is zeroing in on commodity trading houses. On Thursday, Brazilian prosecutors said Swiss authorities executed search warrants at Geneva addresses linked to Vitol and Trafigura Group Ltd., which are the subject of a corruption and money-laundering investigation for allegedly bribing employees at Petrobras. One Brazilian prosecutor said top executives of the two firms could face charges for being aware of and engaging in the scheme.
Diesel oil spill from cruise ship cleaned up at Aotea Quay – Thanks to quick action from our Harbours and Environmental Protection teams, Monday afternoon’s diesel spill at Aotea Quay was mitigated swiftly. While less than 100 litres of diesel hit the water, we activated our emergency response procedures immediately and assisted the oil to break up naturally. The most immediate threat to the environment has passed. Meanwhile we’re working with the oil company to see just how the spill occurred, and to prevent it from happening again. We are continuing to monitor the harbour, but no oiled wildlife has been found.The DomPost reports that the diesel spilled into Wellington Harbour while mega-cruise ship Radiance of the Seas was taking on fuel. Harbour master Grant Nalder confirmed that there were reports of penguins in the area of the spill. Initially, there were fears of up to 800 litres being spilled. The official estimate was earlier about 400 litres but this was reduced today to fewer than 100 litres.
Small amount of oil spilt off Taranaki coast – A “small amount” of oil was recently spotted near floating production, storage and offloading ship The Umuroa off the coast of Taranaki. The Umuroa, owned by BW Offshore, has been operating from Tamarind Taranaki’s Tui Oil field and was 60 kilometres off shore when the oil was spotted. In an emailed statement, Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) said a “small amount of oil dispersed naturally” and there had been no reports of any environmental damage. The spokesman said oil across 20-30 metres of water could be seen about 400 metres from The Umaroa. “A helicopter was used to fly over the site at about 6pm Thursday. It found the sheen on the water was dispersing and the area covered getting smaller,” the MNZ spokesman said in an emailed statement. “An aircraft was used to fly offer the site at about 9am Friday. It found no sheen and no oil.” The Taranaki Regional Council said it was notified of the spill by MNZ but had no involvement in the clean up as it was outside its boundary.
Tamarind Taranaki told to stop pumping oil from offshore – Struggling oil company Tamarind Taranaki has been issued an abatement notice to stop pumping crude oil from three wells in the Tui field off the region’s coast after an oil spill last week. Environment Protection Authority (EPA) issued the abatement notice this week to the Malaysian-based company, which is currently under voluntary administration owing more than $190m to creditors. The notice stopped Tamarind Taranaki extracting oil from the Pateke 3H, Pateke 4H and Amokura wells to the Umuroa floating production storage and offtake vessel, or FPSO, in the Tui field until certain conditions were met, the EPA said. Tamarind will be able to resume production when the company complied with the abatement notice conditions, the authority said. Under the conditions the company must “conclusively identify the source of the hydrocarbon sheen and provide evidence to the EPA supporting the conclusion reached, assess the condition of the flowlines and associated connections of Pateke 3H, Pateke 4H and Amokura wells, and provide evidence to the EPA that confirms system integrity will be maintained on start-up.” The authority is continuing to investigate the spill which was detected after a 20-30m long sheen about 400m from the Umuroa was discovered about 60km off shore on November 21. The sheen, estimated by Tamarind to be about 100 litres, dispersed naturally. A subsequent survey undertaken by the company found a 10-12 metre split in the flow line connecting the Umuroa to the Tui 2H well. Tamarind Taranaki can appeal the abatement notice and is working with the EPA to achieve compliance. BW Offshore, which operates the Umuroa, is due to leave the Tui field in December 31 after Tamarind Taranaki decided not to renew its contract in September. The Norwegian-based company estimates it is owed $35.8m (US$23m) by Tamarind in unpaid costs.
Large oil spill reported off Irans Kharg Island – The Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) has confirmed a large oil spill off Kharg Island, the home of the nation’s largest offshore oil field and main oil export loading terminals. The spill – first reported by TankerTrackers – may come from an oil rig off the island’s west coast, according to U.S.-financed Radio Farda, and it began on about November 22. The rig may be one of several in the Abouzar offshore oil field, a large reservoir first developed in the 1970s. The field produces approximately 200,000 bpd of oil, but about 40 out of its 100-plus wells are old and out of production, according to state oil outlet Shana. The spill has spread to at least 12-15 miles in length, according to Iranian sources. Four vessels have been assigned to the task of spraying dispersants to break up the sheen. Given the size and severity, national-level response assets are being mobilized, a PMO official told state media. According to Mehr News, a dive team repaired a leak in the main oil transfer pipeline from the Abouzar field to Kharg Island earlier this month, with no leaks and no effects on production.
A New Pipeline Could Undo America’s Influence In Asia — From the moment that the U.S. re-imposed sanctions in earnest on Iran late last year, Pakistan has been looking at ways to resuscitate a deal that had been agreed in principle before the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) last May. This deal involved moving as much gas as Pakistan needs from Iran’s Asalouyeh into Pakistan’s Gwadar and then on to Nawabshah for further transit if required. At the same time, China has been in long-running discussions with Pakistan over the specific projects that Beijing wanted to place in Pakistan as part of its ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) programme. All the while, the U.S. has been trying to stymie any such arrangement but OilPrice.com understands that the Iran-China-Pakistan deal is now back on, and with a vengeance. Joint statements just over a week ago from both Pakistan and China sides laid out four projects that are part of a ‘broader co-operation’ between China and Pakistan. They all sound relatively run-of-the-mill affairs, although still major undertakings, and are: the upgrading of the Pakistan Refinery Karachi, the building out of a coal to liquid engineering plant based on Thar coal at Thar Sindh, the utilisation of Thar Block VI for coal gasification and fertiliser projects, and the finalisation of the feasibility study on South-North Gas Pipeline Project that traverses Pakistan. The fact that they are much more significant to the global geopolitical balance was evidenced by the U.S.’s furious warnings to Pakistan, based on the fact that all of these projects are in reality a key part of Beijing’s planned China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which, in turn, is a cornerstone of the OBOR initiative. Even as it was, U.S. South Asia diplomat, Alice Wells, warned that CPEC – which, vitally, includes heavy financing from Beijing and, therefore, a massive debt obligation to China by the host country over time – will only profit Beijing. As it stands, the cost of just the first round of CPEC projects has risen from an initial costing of US$48 billion to at least US$62 billion right now. For China, the new pipeline – integral to its plan of making Iran and Pakistan its client states over time – has the added benefit of putting the U.S. on the backfoot in the ongoing trade war. For Iran, the incentives of closer ties with China and Russia are principally financial but also relate to China being just one of five Permanent Members on the U.N. Security Council (the others being Russia, the U.S., the U.K., and France). For Pakistan as well there is the added incentive that it is tired of being lambasted by the U.S. for its duplicity in dealing with international terrorism. In practical terms, Pakistan certainly needs all the sustainable energy sources it can get.
Landmark Siberian gas to test CNPC’s marketing mettle in China’s backwaters – – Across China’s coal-burning northeastern provinces, pipelines are being laid, contracts signed and coal-fired boilers ripped out ahead of the arrival next week of the country’s first piped natural gas from Russia. The ‘Power of Siberia’ pipeline, due to open on Dec. 2, will pipe natural gas around 3,000 km (1,865 miles) from Russia’s Siberian fields to the fading industrial region, which has lagged the push to gas in China’s south and east. The pipeline – which will deliver gas under a 30-year, $400 billion deal signed in 2014 – has the potential to transform northeast China’s energy landscape and even slow the country’s surging imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It will also make Russia a key supplier to China, to rival Turkmenistan and Australia, boosting ties amid Beijing’s trade war with the United States. More immediately, it poses a challenge for the sole marketer of the gas, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), or PetroChina, as it looks to drum up demand in the relatively sparsely populated region that has relied on coal for heating during sub-zero winters. The pipeline will emerge in Heilongjiang, which borders Russia, and feed on to Jilin and Liaoning, China’s top grain hub, where rust belt industries have long been overshadowed elsewhere. The region’s industry and 68 million city dwellers consume just 14 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year, well below the 38 bcm the pipeline will deliver at full capacity by 2025. Russia’s Gazprom has said it expects to supply 4.6 bcm in 2020, rising to 10 bcm in 2021, 16 bcm in 2022, 21 bcm in 2023 and 25 bcm in 2024. With local power prices capped by authorities to support manufacturing, and cheaper imported coal available via Liaoning’s Dalian port, CNPC faces a tough task to sell gas. “It will take a long time to nurture a market in the northeast where gas-fired power generation barely exists and the industrial sector is weak,” said Li Yao, chief executive of consultancy SIA Energy. “With no take-or-pay contracts in place (domestically), CNPC shoulders most of the marketing risk.” Neither PetroChina nor Gazprom has revealed the gas pricing terms, but Beijing-based analysts said the price is linked to crude oil or a basket of competing fuels. Ling Xiao, a PetroChina vice president in charge of gas marketing, said last month Siberian supplies would be priced “slightly lower” than piped imports from Turkmenistan, but the company “will still be making a loss as (the price) exceeds that of domestic city-gate benchmark rates.”
Qatar Targeting 64 Percent Jump in LNG Capacity— Qatar, the world’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas, plans to boost output capacity by almost two thirds after it adds production facilities to exploit recently discovered reserves. The Persian Gulf state will expand its LNG capacity to 126 million tons a year by 2027, thanks to gas from a newly explored section of the planet’s largest field, Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said at a news briefing in Doha. Qatar can currently produce 77 million tons of LNG annually and expects to raise capacity to 110 million tons by 2024. Qatar’s massive North Field extends onshore into the area around the industrial city of Ras Laffan, Al Kaabi said on Monday. “Studies and well tests have also confirmed the ability to produce large quantities of gas from this new sector,” he said. Qatar’s plan for a 64 percent increase in LNG capacity is likely to intensify a global glut in the fuel. The nation is seeking to fend off competition from rival producers such as Australia and the U.S. that have ramped up production and eroded the Gulf state’s historic dominance of the market. Australia has exported about 70 million tons of LNG this year, compared with 71.9 million for Qatar, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The North Field holds more than 1,760 trillion cubic feet of gas, and state-run Qatar Petroleum will “immediately” start engineering work for two additional LNG production plants, or trains, for a combined capacity of 16 million tons annually, Al Kaabi said in a statement. Qatar will be able to produce about 6.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2027, said Al Kaabi, who also serves as QP’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The country is also looking to invest in LNG facilities in importing countries, possibly including the U.K., Belgium, and Italy, Al Kaabi said. QP is a partner in the Adriatic LNG terminal near Venice, Italy.
OPEC and Russia likely to extend oil production cuts at upcoming meeting – OPEC and Russia are likely to extend their oil production deal at least through midyear, but if they were to cut more output, as some speculate, it would blindside what has become a complacent market, analysts said.The ministers head into the Dec. 5 and 6 meeting with oil prices near their highest levels in two months. OPEC and Russia and other allies have an ongoing agreement to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day, with the biggest cuts coming from Saudi Arabia.”At this stage, it’s not perfect for a number of producers, but it’s not catastrophic either,” said Helima Croft, global head of commodities strategy at RBC. “We’re kind of treading water.”The current agreement expires in March, but many analysts expect the OPEC plus group to extend it until its next meeting in June or even to its meeting a year from now.”It’s a very unsettled time for OPEC. The gulf between the haves and have nots has widened. Price relief has not been enough to stave off social unrest in a number of key producer states. … There’s no better option at this point,” Croft said. “…We’ve had almost like a second Arab spring.”Croft expects the deal to be extended until June, and then ministers will again review it. Many other analysts expect the cuts will be extended as well, but some believe OPEC and Russia could cut even more.”A Hollywood shock ending would be if they actually went deeper,” Croft said.
Oil rally pauses as hedge funds await trade talks (Reuters) – Oil prices ran out of momentum last week as hedge fund managers stopped buying and realised some profits following a strong rally since the start of October. Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 29 million barrels in the six major futures and options contracts linked to petroleum prices in the week to Nov. 19. Fund managers became small sellers after buying 176 million barrels over the previous five weeks, records published by ICE Futures Europe and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. Portfolio managers last week sold NYMEX and ICE WTI (-23 million barrels) and European gasoil (-8 million) while buying small volumes of Brent (+1 million) and U.S. gasoline (+2 million). Oil prices have rallied amid expectations the United States and China will reach a limited trade deal, helping the global economy to avoid a recession and supporting oil consumption in 2020. Traders are also increasingly optimistic production growth from U.S. shale will slow next year as price cuts result in fewer new wells drilled (https://tmsnrt.rs/2DgroUp). Neither the trade deal nor the slowdown in U.S. shale output is certain, however, and there is a risk of the market getting ahead of itself. Most hedge fund managers appear content to wait for a stronger signal about the talks before committing more money to the rally, and in a few cases betting on a short-term pullback. With front-month Brent prices already up more than $5 per barrel (10%) since the start of October and $7 (13%) from their August lows, traders stopped buying and made minor sales in a few cases.
Oil kicks off week with gains on fresh hopes for US-China trade talks – Oil prices began the week on a brighter note on Monday, posting early gains as positive noises from Washington over the weekend rekindled optimism in global markets that the United States and China could soon sign a deal to end their bitter trade war. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 10 cents, or 0.17% to $57.87 a barrel by 0220 GMT, having ended last week little changed after tracking ups and downs in the trade talks process. Brent crude futures were at $63.46 was up 7 cents, or 0.11%, the benchmark having also finished little changed last week. “It is still all about trade talks,” “It seems to be dominating markets action at the moment.” Monday’s higher opening prices came after U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Saturday that an initial trade agreement with China is still possible by the end of the year. This came a day after both President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed a desire to sign an initial trade deal and defuse a 16-month tariff war that has lowered global growth – though Trump also he had yet to decide whether he wanted to finalize a deal while Xi said he would not be afraid to retaliate when necessary. At CMC Markets, strategist McCarthy noted that a move by China to protect intellectual property was also providing a supportive atmosphere for the trade talks. “This is a big step forward for potential trade negotiation if they are adopted as official policy,” McCarthy said. Still, concern remains that events in Hong Kong, riven by months of anti-government unrest, could overshadow trade talk progress. U.S. national security adviser O’Brien warned on Saturday that Washington would not turn a blind eye to what happens in Hong Kong, where demonstrators remain angry at what they see as Beijing meddling in freedoms promised to the ex-British colony when it returned to Chinese rule more than 20 years ago. Over the weekend, the city’s democrats won a landslide and symbolic majority in district council elections.
Oil gains, holds near 2-month high as looming OPEC meeting expected to yield deeper cuts – Oil prices recovered late Monday after a mostly down day, having gained in three of the past four sessions. Prices remained near the two-month closing highs scored last Thursday as “the trifecta of positivity: U.S.-Sino trade talk optimism, OPEC+ compliance and a sturdy U.S. macro data scrim, should continue to resonate” with oil bulls, said Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist with AXI Trader. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January delivery closed up 24 cents, or 0.4%, to $58.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained 26 cents, or 0.4%, at $63.65 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. Contributing to the positive tone on the trade front, the Chinese government on Sunday released a document calling for more protection of intellectual property rights. Oil futures hit a two-month high on Thursday before choppy trading action took over at week’s end when China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing wants to work with the U.S. for a trade deal, but was not afraid to “fight back” to protect its own interests, according to the Associated Press. “Traders will be looking for any positive signs that the much-discussed face to face between the U.S. and China will take place before Dec. 15 when the U.S. is scheduled to impose more tariffs,” said Innes. The front-month U.S. benchmark WTI contract ended 0.1% lower last week, while Brent, the global benchmark, logged a weekly gain of roughly 0.1%. Oil prices have climbed of late as global supplies have fallen so far this year thanks to efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, but growth in U.S. shale output and a slowdown in crude demand threaten to ruin that progress. Those are among the big issues that the group will deal with when it holds meetings to discuss the oil market on Dec. 5-6 in Vienna. As officials ready to meet, global benchmark Brent trades around 19% higher year to date, after posting a yearly loss of almost 20% in 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Oil Inches Higher As OPEC Optimism Returns To Markets – Oil edged back from two-month highs this week as ambiguous signals from the US-China trade talks continue to hinder global trade prospects. News of an OPEC+ production cut extension into the mid-2020s and a more stringent export control system for Nigeria and Iraq added some short-term bullish sentiment to oil markets, but both Brent and WTI have since fallen back into their respective comfort zones. Prices were up slightly on Tuesday morning as a little OPEC-driven optimism returned to markets. The US Bureau of Land Management has issued a draft environmental impact statement on opening up 30 percent of protected areas in the Alaskan National Petroleum Reserve (NPR). The Trump Administration seeks to rekindle North Slope oil field development as production rates went into decline. Previous lease sales in Alaska’s NPR were largely unsuccessful as companies were frightened off by prolonged environmental permits. If pushed through, this legislation would revise 2013 Obama-era protections for the nature reserve. As the European Parliament braces for a series of votes on new EU commissioners this Wednesday, the political pressure intensifies for EU members to embrace the New European Green Deal which seeks to make Europe the world’s first-ever “climate-neutral continent”. In addition to fulfilling its Paris Agreement commitments, Brussels wants to use Emission Trading income to fund the fossil-dependent countries’ transformation, simultaneously intending to issue a carbon border tax on imported goods. Interestingly, nuclear energy will be considered clean under the Green Deal. Acting upon the European Commission’s Green Deal, Europe’s wind energy associations have asserted exclusion zones ought to be curbed in order to accommodate more wind farms. WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson told Reuters that Europe would need to reassess its maritime spatial planning approach and take on resolving the compatibility of wind energy with fishing and shipping lanes if it wants to speed up its current rate of 3 GWh annual capacity additions. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow will continue to work with OPEC in what he sees as their common task, stabilizing oil markets. Russian officials have recently started to raise the possibility of increasing the amount of gas condensate exports being exempted from the country’s production quota. Labelling the US shale growth’s environmental consequences “barbaric“, Putin has pledged to maintain Russia’s oil output without resorting to shale drilling.
Oil gains as optimism returns to U.S.-China trade talks – Oil prices rose on Tuesday on hopes of progress towards a trade agreement between the United States and China, the world’s biggest oil users, and predictions of a draw on U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude, the international price benchmark, gained 12 cents to trade at $63.77, while West Texas Intermediate crude gained 13 cents, or 0.2%, to trade at $58.14 a barrel. Top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators held a phone call on Tuesday morning, China’s Commerce Ministry said, as the two sides try to hammer out a so-called Phase 1 deal in a trade war that has dragged on for 16 months. The call took place amid heightened tensions, with China saying it had summoned the U.S. ambassador on Monday to protest against the passage in the U.S. Congress of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. “The optimism that the trade conflict will at least ease somewhat is currently preventing prices from falling,” said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch. “The positive effect this is having on the oil price is more psychological in nature,” he added, noting that he does not expect oil demand to pick up noticeably even after any partial agreement is signed. On the supply side, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets in Vienna on Dec. 5, followed by talks with the broader OPEC+ group featuring other producers that have agreed to cut output, including Russia. “The current consensus is that the OPEC+ supply agreement will be rolled over for at least three months at the group’s next meeting with special emphasis on stricter compliance,” Tamas Varga of oil brokerage PVM said. The head of the International Energy Agency told Reuters that OPEC countries should make the right decision for a “very fragile” global economy. Predicting strong oil production growth from the non-OPEC countries, especially the United States, Brazil, Norway and Guyana, Fatih Birol said: “There will be lots of oil in the markets. I hope they will make the right decision for themselves and for the global economy.”
Oil up Again Amid Hopes OPEC Will Make ‘Right Decision’ – Oil bulls’ hopes to keep crude prices positive until next week’s OPEC meeting are being helped unexpectedly by the International Energy Agency’s hopes that the cartel would make the “right decision” on output amid growing supplies. U.S. West Texas Intermediate and U.K. Brent crude futures rose for a second-straight day after the head of the Paris-based IEA, which typically tries to achieve lower oil prices for consumers with soundbites that highlight oversupply, urged OPEC to consider the “very fragile” market for crude at the cartel’s Dec. 5-6 meeting. NYMEX-traded WTI settled up 40 cents, or 0.7%, to $58.41 per barrel, extending Monday’s modest 24-cent climb. ICE-traded Brent, the global benchmark for crude, closed the New York trading session up 62 cents, or 1%, at $64.27, after the previous session’s 26-cent gain. An anonymous source at OPEC told Reuters last week the cartel and its allies, including Russia, are likely to extend until June current production cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day under their OPEC+ cooperation. There’s speculation, of course, that the group will do more by deepening cuts beyond 1.2 million bpd when it meets next week, although there’s little consensus for now on such thinking. IEA chief Fatih Birol altered some of those dynamics when he told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Oslo on Tuesday that it was up to OPEC+ members to figure out the exact production levels needed of them, although they should be aware of fragile market conditions. Birol also cautioned that a wall of new oil supply was building amid the soft global economy. “It is up to OPEC countries to decide, but what I see is that the pressure is strong on the OPEC plus Russia, as a result of the strong growth coming from the non-OPEC countries – the U.S., Brazil, Norway, Guyana and others,” Birol said. “There will be lots of oil in the markets. I hope they will make the right decision for themselves and for the global economy, which is still very fragile.”
Oil Steady as Stockpile Data Offsets Trade Deal Hope – — Oil steadied as an industry report showing an increase in U.S. crude stockpiles offset optimism that a limited trade deal is getting closer. Futures edged lower in New York after rising 1.1% over the previous two sessions. The American Petroleum Institute reported inventories swelled by 3.64 million barrels last week, according to people familiar with the data. Official government figures due Wednesday are forecast to show supplies slid for the first time in five weeks. President Donald Trump said talks with Beijing on the first phase of a trade agreement were near completion, although he told Fox News later that he was holding up the deal to ensure better terms for the U.S. While a limited pact would be positive, it may not do much to revive crude demand unless existing tariffs are rolled back. China’s economy slowed for a seventh month in November, according to early indicators, highlighting how the trade war is damping economic growth. “The oil market is still pessimistic about the medium-term outlook,” said Daniel Hynes, a senior strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney. “There’s not much optimism about the trade deal delivering something beyond a halt to rising tariffs.” West Texas Intermediate for January delivery dropped 8 cents, or 0.1%, to $58.33 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 7:34 a.m. in London. The contract closed 0.7% higher on Tuesday. Brent for January settlement lost 0.2% to $64.17 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange after climbing 1% in the previous session. The global benchmark traded at a $5.84 premium to WTI. Trump’s comments came after officials on both sides signaled talks were back on track toward an interim deal after negotiators from the world’s two largest economies spoke by telephone. “We’re in the final throes of a very important deal,” the president told reporters at the White House. “It’s going very well.”
Surprise Crude Build Disappoints Oil Bulls – The American Petroleum Institute (API) has estimated a crude oil inventory build of 3.639 million barrels for the week ending November 21, compared to analyst expectations of a 418,000-barrel draw in inventory.Last week saw a build in crude oil inventories of 5.954 million barrels, according to API data. The EIA’s estimates, however, reported a build of 1.4-million barrels for that week.After today’s inventory move, the net draw has swung into build territory for the year, standing at 830,000 barrels for the 48-week reporting period so far, using API data. Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday prior to the data release on trade talk hopes for China and the United States surfaced again on Tuesday, with negotiators for both sides conversing today by phone. Still, no tangible progress has been made.At 2:48pm EST, WTI was trading up $0.24 (+0.41%) at $58.28 – roughly $2.50 per barrel above last week’s prices. Brent was trading up $0.36 (+0.57%) at $62.98, up almost $2 a barrel from last week. The API this week reported a build of 4.378 million barrels of gasoline for week ending November 21, compared to analyst expectations of a smaller build in gasoline inventories of 1.222-million barrels for the week.Distillate inventories saw a draw of 665,000 barrels for the week, while Cushing inventories fell by 516,000 barrels. US crude oil production as estimated by the Energy Information Administration showed that production for the week ending November 15 stayed at the most recent high of 12.8 million bpd for a second week in a row.
WTI Extends Losses After Crude, Gasoline Builds – Oil prices roller-coastered overnight after a bigger than expected crude build (from API) sent prices lower before yet more trade-deal optimism sent prices higher this morning, before sliding back to pre-API levels ahead of the official data.“Despite national growth in gasoline inventories, which are quite common in the autumn as refiners emerge from maintenance, concerns are growing for the extended impact of the loss of the PES refinery in Philadelphia,” Tom Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group Ltd in Wellington, Florida, said in a note. DOE:
- Crude +1.57mm (-878k exp)
- Cushing -97k
- Gasoline +5.132mm (+800k exp) – biggest build since Jan 2019
- Distillates +725k
After API reported big surprise builds in crude and gasoline, official data showed a smaller crude build of 1.57mm barrels and a huge gasoline build of 5.13mm barrels (also Distillates built for for the first time in 10 weeks)… Overall crude inventories are at their highest since July.US crude production continues top rise to new record highs ignoring the ongoing collapse in the US oil rig count…..
Oil snaps 2-day win streak on surprise US inventory build— Oil eased on Wednesday after a report showing U.S. crude inventories grew unexpectedly last week and gasoline stocks surged, but losses were limited by optimism that a U.S.-China trade deal would be reached soon.Brent crude futures fell 27 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $64.00 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 30 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $58.11 a barrel. WTI trade volumes were also on track to be lower for the week ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. U.S. crude stocks swelled by 1.6 million barrels last week as production hit a record high at 12.9 million barrels per day and refinery runs slowed, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a drop of 418,000 barrels.The more bearish news from the EIA was that U.S. gasoline inventories soared 5.1 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.2 million-barrel gain. U.S. gasoline futures dropped 3.63 cents, or 2.1%, to $1.67 a gallon. “Overall, the inventories were disappointing, led by a much greater-than-expected increase in gasoline inventories,” “That’s definitely leading the way down.” Oil prices pared losses slightly after a report showing U.S. oil drillers reduced the number of drilling rigs for a record 12 months in a row, despite fresh production highs. Drillers cut three oil rigs in the week to Nov. 27, bringing the total count down to 668, the lowest since April 2017, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in data released two days early due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.Hopes that Beijing and Washington would strike a trade deal limited losses in oil. Prices had risen for the last two days on expectations that China and the United States, the world’s two biggest crude users, would soon sign a preliminary agreement, signalling an end to their 16-month trade dispute. “The belief in a positive trade deal continues unabated.” That was fuelled by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday, who said the United States and China were close to agreement after top negotiators spoke by telephone and agreed to keep working on remaining issues. Expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia will maintain their deal to restrain supply have supported prices. The producers, known as OPEC+, are expected to extend their supply cut agreement further into 2020.
Oil falls as US rights bill fuels tensions with China – Oil prices fell for a second day on Thursday after official data showed U.S. crude and gasoline stocks rose and President Donald Trump signed into law a bill backing protesters in Hong Kong, fueling tensions with China.Brent crude was down 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.87 a barrel by 0854 GMT, having dropped 0.3% on Wednesday.West Texas Intermediate crude fell 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $57.78, after losing 0.5% in the previous session.China warned the United States that it would take “firm countermeasures” in response to U.S. legislation backing anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. Investors are concerned that the move might delay further a preliminary agreement between the United States and China to put an end to their trade war that has slowed global economic growth, and consequently consumption of oil.”The approval of the Hong Kong legislation backing protesters is likely to put the trade agreement into question as China has reiterated its threat of retaliation,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM.”If investors suspect that the trade agreement is under real danger, expect to see a sharp sell-off in December. For now, investors are taking a wait-and-see approach.”Crude stockpiles in the United States swelled by 1.6 million barrels last week as production rose to a record 12.9 million barrels per day (bpd) and refinery runs slowed, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a drop of 418,000 barrels.Investors have also been focusing on next week’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, which have been withholding production to support prices.”We expect OPEC+ to roll over its current production-cut deal, which is set to expire at the end of March, by three to six months,” UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo said. “The upshot is that deeper cuts by the entire membership are unlikely.” Reuters reported that Russia may call on OPEC+ to exclude condensate – a high-premium light oil mainly extracted during gas production – from its crude oil production numbers.Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday there was no decision yet on this issue. “We are holding discussions, making calculations,” Novak told reporters.In the United States, energy services company Baker Hughes reported that the country’s oil drillers reduced the number of drilling rigs for a record 12th month in a row.
Oil Prices Down Amid Rising Crude Inventories, Escalating Sino-U.S. Tensions -Oil prices traded lower on Thursday in Asia after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that oil crude inventories unexpectedly rose last week. U.S Crude WTI Futures dropped 0.5% to $57.84 by 12:30 AM ET (04:30 GMT). International Brent Oil Futures fell 0.4% to $62.79. The EIA said oil inventories rose 1.572 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 22, compared with analysts’ expectations for a decline of 418,000, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com. “While imports did go up a little, refining is steady at near 90% of capacity,” Investing.com analyst Barani Krishnan said. “So, as much as the bulls would like to create a narrative here, they haven’t got the numbers yet for it.” “After last week’s slight miss on the crude build numbers, this week, the market has completely missed the direction on the crude storage,” Krishnan said. Gasoline inventories jumped by about 5.1 million barrels, versus expectations for a rise of about 1.2 million barrels, the EIA said. Distillate stockpiles were in line with a rise of 725,000 barrels, compared with forecasts for a rise of 750,000 barrels. Separately, energy services company Baker Hughes reported that U.S. oil drillers reduced the number of drilling rigs for a record 12 months in a row. Drillers cut three oil rigs in the week to Nov. 27, bringing the count down to 668, lowest since April 2017, Baker Hughes said. Meanwhile, Sino-U.S. tensions intensified once again after U.S. President Donald Trump signed two bills backing Hong Kong protesters into law. The move is likely to complicate trade talks with Beijing, which has repeatedly criticized the U.S. for meddling in its domestic affairs. In a statement released hours after Trump signed the bill, China said the move highlighted the “sinister intentions and hegemonic nature of the United States.”
Oil drops 4%, cutting gains for the month -Oil prices dropped on Friday, cutting into a winning month for crude.West Texas Intermediate futures fell more than 4% to settle at $55.17, posting a 4.1% loss for the week and snapping a 3-week winning streak. Trading volume was lighter than usual Friday, and crude did still manage to finish the month with a 2.3% gain. European Brent futures fell $1.44 to settle at $62.43. For the month prices were up 6%, making it the best month since April.Traders chalked the decline up to the resignation announcement of Iraq’s prime minister after weeks of deadly protests, as well as investors jockeying for position before the OPEC+ meeting next week. Following weeks of unrest in Iraq, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced plans to resign Friday. Some traders believe an end to the country’s ongoing protests will lead to an end of threats to oil disruption, which is bearish for prices. But RBC’s Helima Croft said tensions in the country may not be over so soon.
Oil Prices Fall Sharply On Rising Tensions, Looming OPEC Meeting — After moving modestly higher in the two previous sessions, the price of crude oil showed a substantial pullback during trading on Friday. Crude for January delivery plunged $2.94 or 5.1 percent to $55.17 a barrel, ending the session at its lowest closing level in a month. The sell-off by oil prices came amid concerns rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the situation in Hong Kong could impact ongoing trade talks. The resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi also contributed to the steep drop, as traders believe the news could help quell weeks of unrest in Iraq. Traders were also looking ahead to next week’s OPEC meeting, where the cartel and its allies are widely expected to extend the current output cut of 1.2 million barrels per day. After President Donald Trump signed two bills in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry threatened strong countermeasures. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused the U.S. of interfering in China’s internal affairs and violating international law and the basic norms governing international relations. “China will take strong counter-measures in response to the U.S. behavior that interferes in China’s internal affairs and undermines China’s interests,” Geng said. “No one shall underestimate China’s determination in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests,” he added. “Nor shall they misjudge China’s resolve in implementing the ‘one country, two systems’ principle and in upholding prosperity and stability in Hong Kong.” With a fresh round of protests expected over the weekend, the dispute over the situation in Hong Kong could potentially derail the long-awaited phase one trade deal.
Oil prices fall sharply as reports of a bearish OPEC outcome find traction – Oil prices posted sharp losses Friday, trimming the November gain, as the much-anticipated approval of a production-cut extension at next week’s OPEC meeting grew more doubtful following speculative reports. Saudi Arabia probably will indicate it’s no longer willing to compensate for excessive production by other members of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries, according to people familiar with the kingdom’s thinking, a Bloomberg report out Friday said. Traders cited that report as helping drive futures down some 5% in an abbreviated, post-holiday session in New York after a quiet start, a move that brought the weekly decline to about 4.5% for the January contract, the steepest weekly retreat for it since early October, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Expectations for the cartel to possibly extend expiring production agreements beyond March when the group meets in Vienna on Dec. 5-6 had driven oil prices to their highest since September as recently as a week ago.Further, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said he would prefer if OPEC and its non-OPEC allies made a decision closer to April on whether to extend their now three-year-old production coordination pact, Russia’s TASS news agency reported Thursday. Russia is considered to be part of OPEC+ with its role as a major producer and policy-influencer, although it is not officially in the cartel.“Oil prices fell almost 5% as fears grew that Russia will block an OPEC+ quota extension,” At Friday’s early close, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for January delivery were down $2.94, or 5.1%, at $55.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. the January contract is up 1.8% for the month, the largest single-month percentage gain since June, Dow Jones Market Data showed. January Brent crude, the global marker, fell $1.44, or 2.3%, at $62.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. January Brent expired at Friday’s close. The contract wrapped the week’s trading down 1.5%, trimming its gain for the month to roughly 3.7%. November’s performance for the contract marked the largest one-month gain since April.
Like It Or Not, Saudis Stuck With OPEC Even After Aramco Public Offering -Saudi Arabia’s planned initial public offering of its state oil company, Saudi Aramco, is stirring speculation that it could spell the end of the price-controlling cartel known as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). But such analysis misses a crucial point.On the surface, it makes sense that the future of Saudi participation in OPEC is in question after its state-owned oil company is listed. After all, a publicly-traded Aramco will be under investor pressure to increase short-term profits and boost shareholder dividends, something it doesn’t have to worry about now. The demand to maximize profits will increase as more shares of Aramco are offered to private investors, especially if the Saudi Royal Family seeks a second listing on large foreign exchange. Upping production would be a natural way for Aramco to respond to demands for more profits. Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, currently produces about 10 million barrels a day. Still, Saudi Arabia has roughly 2 million barrels a day of spare capacity – oil that could be poured onto the market in a matter of weeks if the Saudis choose to.Aramco has a competitive advantage over other oil-producing regions due to its meager cost of production. In its 658-page prospectus for investors, Aramco touts breakeven costs of under $10 a barrel – the world’s lowest. Its closest competitor, the United Arab Emirates which spends $20 to produce a single barrel of oil. The Russians must pay $40 per barrel, and in the prolific shale fields of the United States, the cost is close to $50 a barrel. An increasing number of market watchers, including the International Energy Agency (IEA), are concerned oil demand around the world could start to shrink as soon as 2025. It would make sense for Saudi to try to increase its share of the global market before a slowdown arrives. The kingdom currently provides about 10 percent of the 100 million barrels a day global oil demand. It could quickly increase its slice of the pie by dumping lower-cost oil on the market if it thought those resources might become stranded in a fossil-free future.
Saudi Arabia Arrests At Least 9 ‘High-Profile’ People Despite Jittery IPO Push — Apparently feeling emboldened by the fact that Saudi Arabia suffered zero repercussions over the Oct.3, 2018 state-ordered murder of Jamal Khashoggi, other than crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) briefly being shunned by international elites for a few months, it’s business as usual again in the kingdom of horrors. In a new breaking report, The Wall Street Journal reveals that “Saudi authorities have arrested several high-profile people in recent days, extending an effort to sideline Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s perceived opponents, despite a push to repair the kingdom’s international image to attract investment.” The WSJ counts nine people total arrested in a span of a little more than the past week who are not particularly known for being dissidents or any level of explicitly anti-government activists. They include journalists, intellectuals and businessmen detained since Nov. 16. What additionally makes these detentions particularly brazen on the part of Riyadh authorities is that it comes just in the final stages of the kingdom preparing for the launch of what most see as the biggest listing in history, Saudi Aramco IPO. The damning WSJ report hit the same day that Aramco executives met with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) officials in the UAE to discuss investment options and possibilities in the oil giant’s debut share sale, and at a moment the kingdom is desperate to attract a major anchor investor to ensure success. It appears MbS – no doubt further emboldened by continued support from President Trump even after the Khashoggi affair – realizes a pesky little issue like human rights abuses, including torture of dissidents and continued record pace beheadings and crucifixions, can’t stand in the way.
Saudi-led coalition says to free 200 Yemen rebels amid peace push – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Tuesday it will release 200 insurgents, as efforts pick up pace to end the conflict in the impoverished country. Patients needing medical care will also be allowed to be flown out of Sanaa airport, which has been closed to commercial flights since 2016, coalition spokesman Turki Al Maliki said, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The coalition had decided “to release 200 prisoners of the Houthi militia” and to facilitate “in cooperation with the World Health Organisation flights carrying people in need of medical care from Sanaa”. The initiative coincides with a lull in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and after a senior official in Riyadh said the kingdom had established an “open channel” with the rebels. “We have had an open channel with the Houthis since 2016. We are continuing these communications to support peace in Yemen,” the official told reporters in the Saudi capital. “We don’t close our doors with the Houthis,” he said. The official declined to be identified and did not elaborate, but the development came after a lull in recent weeks following a spike in rebel missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities over the summer. The comment came after Saudi Arabia separately brokered a power-sharing agreement between the Yemeni government and southern separatists.
Despite threats, Iraq’s medical volunteers keep protests alive – A bloodstained letter warning Reham Feras not to return to Baghdad’s Tahrir Square was not enough to keep the 21-year-old medical volunteer from lending her help to Iraq’s anti-government protesters. Fearful that her parents would discover the threatening message left anonymously on the doorstep of their family home, Feras hid the piece of paper before slipping out the front door and going to one of the makeshift clinics at the heart of Baghdad’s uprising. Last month, protests against Iraq’s ruling elite kicked off violent clashes between the demonstrators wearing helmets and goggles, and the heavily-armed security forces. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been taking to streets to demand the removal of a government they perceive as deeply corrupt and an end to foreign interference in the country’s affairs. More than 330 people have been killed since the uprising began on October 1, a toll that could have been higher were it not for the volunteer medics offering first aid and logistical support. Doctors, medical students and even people without prior medical experience have been key in treating the victims of the security forces’ excessive use of violence and relocating the critically wounded to nearby hospitals. “The main groups [that are] giving medical aid and treatment to the protesters are volunteer teams,” Ali Al Bayati, a member of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), told Al Jazeera. Feras, a medical analysis student from Baghdad, was among the approximately 500 volunteers that descended upon Tahrir Square to offer help when the second wave of protests began on October 25. Since then, the number of medics has dwindled to approximately 150, according to the IHCHR. The drop, said Al Bayati, is a direct result of intimidation. “There are some threats towards the medical staff working there from unknown sides,” said Al Bayati. Threats, arrests and abductions have fuelled a collective sense of paranoia among the volunteers. Medics from two makeshift clinics recently took down their tents and left, while others spoke softly, worried that the government’s supporters or staff had infiltrated their protests.
Death toll rises as anti-government protests grip Iraq – Six people were killed and dozens wounded in Iraq’s southern cities of Basra and Nasiriya as a result of clashes with security forces, according to the Iraqi human rights council. Meanwhile in Baghdad, street battles between security sources and protesters continued as demonstrators demanding basic services, employment opportunities, and an end to corruption gathered in Tahrir Square on Sunday. “Three protesters were killed in violent clashes with security forces in Umm Qasr, south of Basra, and 78 others were injured. Meanwhile, three protesters were killed in Nasiriya and 71 people were injured,” the council said in a statement. “We call on the government to act immediately to put an end to the excessive use of violence against protesters.” At least 330 people have been killed since the start of mass unrest in Baghdad and southern Iraq in early October, the largest demonstrations in decades. The death toll in Baghdad, Nasiriya, and Basra over the past 24 hours reached 12, according to security and medical sources. The deaths since Saturday were a result of security forces’ use of live ammunition and tear gas against the protesters, the sources told Al Jazeera. Khaled al-Mahanna, a spokesman for the ministry of interior, said on Saturday night three protesters were killed in Baghdad alone over the past 24 hours. More than 100 others were injured, including 30 members of the security forces in clashes with protesters on Ahrar Bridge.
Iraq Orders Closure of 12 News Outlets – – (Iraq Business News) Iraq’s media regulator should reverse its decision to order the closure of 12 broadcasters over a licensing dispute and should allow media outlets to freely cover protests in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Monday. On November 12, the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) , Iraq’s media regulator, ordered the closure of eight television broadcasters and four radio stations for three months for allegedly violating media licensing rules, and issued a warning against five more broadcasters over their coverage of protests, according to a copy of the closure decision, which CPJ reviewed, and reports by localnews organizationsandpress freedom groups . According to the decision, the commission also renewed the closure of U.S.-funded broadcaster Al-Hurra for an additional three months. The outlet was shuttered on September 2 after it aired a report on alleged state corruption, asCPJ reportedat the time. The decision includes a recommendation to the prime minister’s office to send security forces to the outlets to force them to close. According to CPJ’s review of the outlets’ broadcasts, and an official with the media regulator who spoke to news websiteArab News , none of the outlets have been closed as of November 25. The outlets have critically covered theproteststhat have taken place throughout Iraq since October over a lack of basic services, unemployment, and government corruption, according to CPJ’s review of their broadcasts. ‘Iraqi authorities are using all the means at their disposal, legal and otherwise, to intimidate outlets in an effort to prevent them from covering the ongoing protests in the country,’ said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. ‘We call on the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission to reverse this order and to allow TV broadcasters, radio stations, and journalists to do their jobs.
Iraqi forces kill 45 protesters after Iranian consulate torched – (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 45 protesters on Thursday after demonstrators stormed and torched an Iranian consulate overnight, in what could mark a turning point in the uprising against the Tehran-backed authorities. At least 29 people died in the southern city of Nassiriya when troops opened fire on demonstrators who blocked a bridge before dawn on Thursday and later gathered outside a police station. Police and medical sources said dozens of others were wounded. Four people were killed in Baghdad, where security forces opened fire with live ammunition and rubber bullets against protesters near a bridge over the Tigris river, the sources said, and twelve died in clashes in Najaf. In Nassiriya thousands of mourners took to the streets, defying a curfew to bury their dead after the mass shooting. Video of protesters cheering in the night as flames billowed from the consulate were a stunning image after years in which Tehran’s influence among Shi’ite Muslims in Arab states has been a defining factor in Middle East politics. The bloodshed that followed was one of the most violent days since the uprising began at the start of October, with anti-corruption demonstrations that swelled into a revolt against authorities seen by young demonstrators as stooges of Tehran.
Iraq’s deadly unrest closes roads, schools across south – Iraqi anti-government protesters blocked roads in the country’s south with burning tyres on Wednesday, as schools and public offices stayed shut a day after deadly clashes with security forces. The country has been rocked by the biggest wave of protests since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, leaving more than 350 people dead and around 15,000 wounded since early October. Violence had erupted in the southern holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, with one protester killed as riot police fired live rounds both into the air and directly into crowds of teenagers pelting them with rocks. Fearing more bloodshed, Karbala’s religious authorities ordered their network of private schools in the city, as well as in nearby Babylon and the second holy city of Najaf, kept shut for two days starting Wednesday. Thick columns of black smoke could still be seen rising from Karbala, which is visited every year by millions of Shiite pilgrims from around the world, as demonstrators torched tyres around and inside the city. In Nasiriyah, further south, local authorities ordered all public offices closed for two days, although they had been largely shut already by ongoing sit-ins and marches. Iraq’s street violence has left many thousands wounded. Another 100 protesters suffered injuries in two days of rallies in Al-Hillah, just south of Baghdad, when security forces began using tear gas against protesters. In the protest hot spots of Diwaniyah, Kut and Najaf, activists also cut roads with flaming tyres to keep government employees from reaching their offices. And outside the oil-rich port city of Basra, picketers sealed off the entrance to the Nasiriyah oil field, a contributor to Iraq’s exports of some 3.6 million bpd. The country is OPEC’s second-largest crude producer, and oil exports fund more than 90 percent of the government’s budget.
Iraq PM Announces Resignation After 40 Protesters Killed On Single Deadliest Day -After two months of anti-corruption and anti-government protests have rocked Iraq, resulting in a death toll into the hundreds as the unrest turns increasingly sectarian and which has included the burning of two Iranian consulates, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi says he will resign.He announced in an official statement put out by his office that he will submit his resignation to parliament after the country’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, suddenly pulled support, telling the nation in a Friday sermon that parliament should “reconsider its options” after putting Mahdi in power in the first place.The subsequent statement signed by Abdul Mahdi indicated the following: “In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to parliament a demand (to accept) my resignation from the leadership of the current government.” Local authorities estimate the death toll since protests erupted on Oct. 1 has soared to over 400 people, with thousands wounded, amid reports of ‘live fire’ used by police. This includes security forces reportedly shooting some 40 people dead in Baghdad and in southern provinces in what was possibly the deadliest single day on Thursday. At least on top provincial police chief was removed over shooting deaths this week, after Iraqi clerics had previously urged government forces to refrain from using deadly force. Iraq remains a sectarian powder keg waiting to erupt further, given anti-corruption protests have quickly turned to target neighboring Iran’s influence; however Mahdi’s stepping down may relieve some of that pressure, given he had the close backing of Iran.
Using Iraq and Lebanon uprisings to attack Iran will lead to disaster – The wave of protests shaking the world resembles a global uprising against neoliberalism. This could be a sign of the insoluble crisis of the Western model, and of its inexorable decline. As usual, the picture in the Middle East region is far more complex. In Algeria and Sudan, protests have led to leadership changes; in Libya, Syria and Yemen, the fighting continues with terrible human costs. In the Gulf, fears are rising over a confrontation with Iran, with some attempting a detente. Meanwhile Turkey has launched a dangerous and bloody military operation in Syria’s Kurdish region. Iran now faces its own protests sparked by a 50 percent rise in fuel prices that have angered a population already suffering the severe impact of US sanctions. At the same time, Tehran continues to slowly reduce its commitments to the nuclear deal in response to US “maximum pressure” and EU passivity and bias. The protests in Iraq and Lebanon, while domestic in origin, could yet have dire geopolitical consequences in the framework of an enduring confrontation between the so-called “Arab NATO” and “the Axis of Resistance” led by Iran and comprising Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, which is shaping regional dynamics.It is no secret that the current political structure in Iraq centres on a political majority based largely on Shia-inspired parties sensitive to neighbouring Iran, while in Lebanon, pro-Iranian Hezbollah is a major power broker. This represents a thorn in the side of the US, Israel and the Arab countries affiliated with them (Arab NATO). The Axis of Resistance has systematicallyopposed the Pax Americana in the the Middle East. Along with Iran, both Iraqi pro-Iranian political forces and militias and Hezbollah have pointed to a plot behind the protests. Even the highest Shia religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a statement hinting at a possible plot.There is no conclusive evidence to sustain such claims, but there has been a great deal of media spinning in an attempt to portray these protests as an anti-Iranian, anti-Hezbollah revolt especially in Saudi-funded media outlets. Spinning and manipulation might be intellectually dishonest, but they are not a crime. Using deliberate acts and resources to drive a popular protest towards civilian warfare is, however – and unfortunately, Lebanon and Iraq are not immune from such a risk.
Iran Equipping Destroyers With Vertical Launching System (VLS) Missile Cells – (FNA)- Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Saturday that similar to Damavand, another Iranian destroyer, Dena, is also being equipped with vertical launching system (VLS) missile cells, adding that the two are marking a new chapter in the country’s naval combat capabilities. “In line with directives of the Commander in Chief, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who has called for higher level of immunity for sailing units, Iran’s Navy is devising plans for equipping its vessels with VLS missile cells,” Rear Admiral Khanzadi said today. “That’s why we are working on missiles for vertical launching systems; and it is not just limited to Damavand [destroyer]. A similar project is underway in the Southern [HQ of the navy],” the commander added. Khanzadi added that Iran will soon fire tests missiles from the VLS, highlighting that all vessels of Iran’s Navy will be equipped with the new system. Early in August, he had announced that Damavand destroyer, which has been under overhaul for the past 21 months, was enjoying many new features and would be equipped with VLS missile cells. He went on recounting that over the course of the past 18 months of overhaul, the destroyer has been completely resuscitated with all previous edition’s bugs resolved and may new features added. Damavand destroyer has been equipped with advanced radar systems with long-range radars to detect targets in long distances, the commander highlighted. Khanzadi went on adding that the same process of overhaul and improving the features of the vessels is underway in the Northern fleet of the navy.
Iran says 200,000 took to streets in anti-government protests – (Reuters) – Iran gave a glimpse on Wednesday into the scale of what may have been the biggest anti-government protests in the 40-year history of the Islamic Republic, with an official saying 200,000 people had taken part and a lawmaker saying 7,000 were arrested. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his strongest remarks since the unrest peaked, described the two weeks of violence as the work of a “very dangerous conspiracy”. He also said the unrest, initially sparked by fuel price hikes but which then spiraled, had been completely quelled. Iran has given no official death toll, but Amnesty International said this week it had documented the deaths of at least 143 protesters. Tehran has rejected this figure. A number anywhere close to that would make it the deadliest anti-government unrest at least since the authorities put down “Green Revolution” protests that surrounded the disputed 2009 presidential election, and probably since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah and swept clerics to power. Details of the unrest have been difficult to report from outside Iran, especially after the authorities shut down the internet for a week. Residents and state media said mobile Internet was restored in the capital Tehran and several other areas on Wednesday, after fixed-line internet was partially reconnected on Monday. The Intelligence Ministry said at least eight people linked to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had been arrested during the unrest.
Iran Says Over 700 Banks Were Torched In Vast Protest ‘Conspiracy’ — After early in the week Iran’s top elite Guard commander gave a fiery ‘victory’ speech declaring the mainstay of anti-government protests which gripped major cities across Iran since Nov. 15 had been quelled, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has followed up with denouncing the unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy”. This as according to Reuters Iranian authorities “reported about 731 banks and 140 government sites had been torched in the disturbances.” Given the over week-long and government ordered total internet shutdown which had ensued, this claim can’t be independently verified. However, during the opening days of widespread unrest which had been triggered by a sudden fuel price hike by as much as 300% in some places when government subsidies were slashed, initial videos posted online showed dramatic scenes of banks and gas stations being torched. “A deep, vast and very dangerous conspiracy that a lot of money had been spent on… was destroyed by the people,” Khamenei said while addressing members of the paramilitary Basij force. The Basij were among the elite security forces which spearheaded the crackdown against protests. Over the past days sizable pro-government demonstrations have largely supplanted the anti-government unrest, which state media has touted as proof the “conspiracy” against the Islamic Republic has failed. On Monday Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Gen. Hossein Salami blamed the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel for fueling the unrest as part of continued covert war against Iran. “If you cross our red lines, we will destroy you,” he threatened.
Iran Says at Least 8 CIA Assets Arrested, Blames US for Torching Hundreds of Banks – Major protests in Iran about the increase in gas prices may be over, but Iranian officials are saying that they believe a US-orchestrated conspiracy was involved in violence seen during the rallies, which involved attacks on Iranian banks. Hundreds of banks were attacked, and Iranian authorities say 7,000 protesters were arrested. Iranian intelligence officials say at least eight CIA assets were among those arrested in connection with the violence.The eight people had been given CIA-funded training, nominally to become “citizen journalists.” Six were arrested at the rallies, while the other two were trying to send information abroad.Some 200,000 are estimated to have been involved in protests, and they were overwhelmingly peaceful. The violence appears to have mostly hit southern Iran, and it is believed a lot of it was centered on banks.
UAE To Host European-Led Naval Mission To Secure Gulf Waters – France announced Sunday that a proposed European-led mission to patrol the Persian Gulf will be based out of a recently established French naval base in Abu Dhabi, and that the naval patrol will soon go “operational” amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. Paris has spearheaded efforts to get the European maritime security mission off the ground, in competition with US efforts at establishing an American-led mission, which Iran and some European allies fear could lead to war, given Iranian leaders have condemned any US efforts to “police” the vital Strait of Hormuz. “This morning we formalized that the command post will be based on Emirati territory,” Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters in the UAE capital. “We hope … to contribute to a navigation that is as safe as possible in a zone which we know is disputed and where there has already been a certain number of serious incidents,” she explained of the French-led mission.The maritime patrol is expected to start early next year and will involve some ten European and non-European nations.Parly further condemned the latest Iranian announcements confirming that it is blowing past uranium enrichment limits previously agreed to under the 2015 nuclear deal. The maritime initiative since being first proposed in July has received broad support in Europe, including the UK, following the summer-long ‘tanker wars’ which had resulted in the months-long capture of a British-flagged vessel, later released.
Trump Officials Meet With ‘Strongman’ Haftar’s Political Team In Major Libya Shift — Starting last April President Trump caught many in his own administration off guard when he unexpectedly thanked renegade General Khalifa Haftar for “securing Libya’s oil resources” at a moment the rebel leader assaulted the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli. The public praise and phone call between Trump and the former CIA-backed warlord was a shock at the time given the US has maintained a policy of only recognizing the GNA in line with UN allies.But now that continued recognition appears to be shifting fast after this week Trump admin officials held multiple meetings with an official representing Haftar’s political team named Aref al-Nayed, expected to hold a top leadership position once Tripoli is ‘liberated’ by Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). Revelation of the high level meetings has renewed speculation and confusion over the future of Washington policy in Libya, and if its priorities will shift to more open support of Haftar’s LNA, responsible for a renewed grinding civil war of the past two years which by this past summer had killed at least 1,000.Details of the meetings were first revealed by Defense One as follows:In two meetings with National Security Council officials in Washington this fall, Aref al Nayed, an Islamic scholar and former ambassador to the UAE, has pitched himself as a transitional political leader for Libya after Hifter, the military commander, “liberates” Tripoli, according to documents provided by Nayed and multiple sources with knowledge of the meetings. And the report offers more on Nayed:Nayed, who has previously announced that he is running for president of Libya, fiercely condemns the UN-backed GNA and portrays himself as a consensus choice who will be able to bring together Libya’s tribal factions under a so-called “National Unity Government.” NSC officials were “noncommittal” to Nayed’s proposal, according to a former senior U.S. official familiar with the meetings. Despite the NSC saying’s it remains “noncommittal” it’s highly unusual for such a meeting to take place, tantamount to meeting with a rebel “opposition” group at a moment it’s trying to topple a US-recognized government.The UAE’s front men in Libya are laying siege to the capital of Tripoli.
US Forces Attack Boats Caught Smuggling Oil To Syrian Government – The U.S. military reportedly attacked four tanker ferries on Saturday that were attempting to smuggle oil from the SDF-held areas in eastern Syria to the Syrian government territories. According to local reports, the U.S. warplanes targeted these ferries while they were traveling through the southern region of Syria’s Euphrates River Valley. The reports said the U.S. military managed to destroy the four ferries before they could reach their intended destination, resulting in a number of explosions that were heard in the Euphrates River Valley. The total number of casualties are still unknown at this time.While the ferries did not belong to the Syrian government, they were believed to have been transporting the oil to their territories, which is something that many people in Syria have been forced to do as the U.S. currently occupies some of the Levantine nation’s biggest oil fields. Neither the Syrian government nor the U.S. Armed Forces have reported on this attack that took place on Saturday. It should be noted that the U.S. Armed Forces have carried out similar attacks in the past, especially in the Deir Ezzor Governorate.
‘Filled with hatred and lust for blood’: Turkey’s proxy army in northern Syria accused of abusing civilians – In the month since Turkey intervened to drive US-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters from a broad swath of northern Syria, proxy forces backed by Ankara have been blamed for a growing ledger of abuses against the local population, residents say, undermining Turkey’s stated goal of creating a “safe zone” for civilians.More than 200,000 people have been internally displaced by the Turkish-led offensive, according to the United Nations.Families that have been scattered across eastern Syria say that Turkey’s Syrian Arab proxies have carried out summary executions and beatings, kidnapped or detained their relatives and looted their houses, businesses and belongings.The result, refugees say, is a form of ethnic cleansing – an operation they see as designed in part to force out Kurdish residents and their sympathisers and replace them with Arabs loyal to Turkey. Turkey launched a cross-border military offensive into neighbouring Syria on 9 October with the aim of pushing the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an amalgam of Kurdish-led militias, away from its border.The SDF had spearheaded a US-led campaign against the Isis militant group in northeastern Syria. But Turkey had long viewed the SDF’s presence near the border as a threat because of ties to a Kurdish separatist group in Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which the Turkish and US governments have designated a terrorist organisation. Turkey essentially delegated the ground offensive to a proxy force, the Syrian National Army, an umbrella group in northern Syria consisting of an assortment of rebel forces opposed to the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Many of the group’s factions, made up largely of Syrian Arab fighters, had already fought at Turkey’s behest in two previous military operations over the past three years.
Turkey to test Russian S-400 systems despite U.S. pressure: media – (Reuters) – Turkish F-16 warplanes will fly over the country’s capital Ankara on Monday to test its new Russian S-400 missile defenses, Turkish media said, despite pressure from Washington for Turkey to drop the system. Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s has been a major factor souring relations with the United States, which says the system is not compatible with NATO defenses and poses a threat to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jets. The provincial governor’s office announced on Sunday that the Turkish Air Force F-16s and other aircraft will conduct low- and high-altitude flights over Ankara on Monday and Tuesday to test an air defense system project. Broadcaster CNN Turk and other media said specifically that the flights were to test the S-400 radar system. Ankara began receiving the S-400s last July but they are not yet operational. Dealers said the reports had a negative impact on the lira, which weakened to 5.7380 against the dollar from a close of 5.7140 on Friday. Tensions in U.S.-Turkish relations played a major role in a near 30% slide in the lira’s value last year. As recently as last Thursday, a senior State Department official told reporters Turkey needed to “get rid of” the system. Those comments came after President Tayyip Erdogan met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
OPCW Caught Manipulating Syrian Chemical Attack Report to Blame Assad – WikiLeaks published an email sent by a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), who accused the organization of manipulating their report on an alleged chemical attack that was said to have taken place in the Syrian city of Douma on April 7th 2018. In response to the alleged attack, the US, UK, and France carried out airstrikes on the Syrian government on April 14th 2018. The author of the email was a member of a fact-finding team the OPCW sent to Douma to investigate the attack. The author accuses the OPCW of selectively omitting certain facts. The email, dated June 22nd 2018, reads, “Many of the facts and observations outlined in the full version are inextricably interconnected and, by selectively omitting certain ones, an unintended bias has been introduced into the report, undermining its credibility.” The OPCW team analyzed cylinders at two different locations in Douma. The OPCW report said they had “sufficient evidence” to determine chlorine was “likely released from cylinders.” The author of the email called this claim “highly misleading and not supported by facts.”The email’s author says the samples they analyzed were in contact with a chemical that contained a chlorine atom, which could have been a number of chemicals, and “purposely singling one of chlorine gas as one of the possibilities is disingenuous.”
Leaked email on alleged chemical attack shows 2018 strikes against Syria based on lies –On Saturday, WikiLeaks published an internal email written by a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) fact-finding mission to Syria that exposes the far-reaching effort to suppress and distort evidence in order to claim that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the alleged April 7, 2018, gas attack in Douma, a suburb of Damascus then held by CIA-backed Islamist “rebel” forces. The revelation once again makes clear the lying character of the campaign to justify the US regime-change operation in Syria, which has turned large sections of the country into a wasteland, killing hundreds of thousands of people and turning millions more into refugees.The alleged attack in which as many as 49 people were reportedly killed was seized on by the governments of the United States, Britain and France to justify the launching of air and missile strikes just one week later against Syrian government forces. The attacks took place just hours before an OPCW fact-finding team was due to arrive in Syria to begin an investigation. The assault brought the US and its allies to the brink of open war not just against Syria, but also against the Assad government’s allies Iran and Russia.The alleged attack in Douma came as Assad was consolidating control of the areas around Damascus and shortly after Trump had announced that US troops deployed to control the eastern half of Syria would soon be leaving. The purported Syrian government gas attack was seized on as a casus belli. On April 8, one day after the alleged chemical attack and before any investigation had been carried out, Trump tweeted that there had been a “mindless CHEMICAL attack” by the “Animal Assad” backed by Russia and Iran, and that there would be a “big price to pay.” Under the guidance of Trump’s newly appointed national security advisor, John Bolton, military options were drawn up to attack Syria. The air and missile strikes were launched on April 13, US time. Saturday’s WikiLeaks release makes clear that the OPCW report published in July 2018 was shaped to conform with the public allegations made by the US, UK and France. British Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, in an article based on the WikiLeaks release, noted that the doctoring of the OPCW fact-finders’ report “appears to be the worst instance of ‘sexing-up’ in support of war since the invasion of Iraq and Tony Blair’s doctored dossiers.”
New sexed-up dossier furore: Explosive leaked email claims that UN watchdog’s report into alleged poison gas attack by Assad was doctored – so was it to justify British and American missile strikes on Syria? – A leaked email last night dramatically indicated that the UN’s poison gas watchdog had butchered and censored a critical report on an alleged chemical attack in Syria. If substantiated, the revelations will be severely embarrassing for Britain, France and America, which launched a massive military strike in retaliation without waiting for proof that chemical weapons had actually been used. Unconfirmed reports and videos, showing the corpses of adults and children foaming at the mouth in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, shocked the world in April 2018 and led to a joint Western attack on the supposed culprit, Syria, in which more than 100 missiles, including nearly 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles, were fired. Although the reports and films could not be independently verified, as the alleged events took place in a war zone then under the control of brutal Islamist militants, Western governments, and many Western media, took them at face value. President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: ‘Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!’Britain’s then Premier, Theresa May, was equally confident of her facts, saying after the missile launch: ‘Last Saturday up to 75 people, including young children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma, with as many as 500 further casualties. We have worked with our allies to establish what happened. ‘And all the indications are that this was a chemical weapons attack … We are also clear about who was responsible for this atrocity. A significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack.’ But a dissenting scientist, employed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says in a leaked email that investigations on the ground at Douma have produced no hard evidence that the alleged gas attack took place. It appears that these facts were deliberately suppressed in published OPCW reports.
Syria’s Assad Says Jeffrey Epstein Did Not Kill Himself – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waded into the conspiracy theories around Jeffery Epstein’s suicide, saying the financier and convicted sex offender was murdered as part of a Western plot to eliminate high-profile people who knew too much. Speaking to Russia’s state-run Rossiya-24 station Thursday, Assad commented on the death of Syria Civil Defense co-founder James Le Mesurier, who died Monday after an apparent fall from his Istanbul apartment. Assad and his supporters have repeatedly alleged that Le Mesurier’s organization, commonly known as the White Helmets, were not a rescue group but militant operatives working on behalf of his foes, including the United States and the United Kingdom, which he speculated – without providing evidence – may have been behind a spat of apparent assassinations. “American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was killed several weeks ago, they said he had committed suicide in jail. However, he was killed because he knew a lot of vital secrets connected with very important people in the British and American regimes, and possibly in other countries as well,” Assad told the outlet, as translated by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency. “And now the main founder of the White Helmets has been killed, he was an officer and he had worked his whole life with NATO in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Lebanon,” he added. “Both of us know that they [representatives of the White Helmets] are naturally part of Al-Qaeda. I believe that these people, as well as the previously liquidated [Osama] bin Laden and [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi had been killed chiefly because they knew major secrets. They turned into a burden once they had played out their roles. A dire need to do away with them surfaced after they had fulfilled their roles.”
Israeli Army Will No Longer Release the Bodies of Palestinians They’ve Killed – – Israel’s newly appointed defence minister, Naftali Bennett, said on Wednesday that the Israeli army will no longer release the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, regardless of their political affiliations. Bennett spoke to Israeli security heads, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the matter will be discussed for the government’s approval. Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians started since its occupation of the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war. One such case is Mashhour Arouri, a Palestinian killed in 1976 whose body was released 34 years later. He was one of 317 Palestinians and other Arab nationals whose bodies were withheld by Israeli authorities. Mohammed Abu Sneineh, a lawyer working for Jerusalem Legal Aid Center’s legal campaign, told Middle East Eye that Israel has retained the bodies of at least 50 Palestinians killed since September 2015 when a wave of attacks on Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem began. Abu Sneineh said that Bennett’s announcement will legalise the Israeli security forces’ practice. Some of the cases had already been ruled on at the Israeli Supreme Court in September.
Israel expels Human Rights Watch country director Omar Shakir – Omar Shakir, the local director for Human Rights Watch, left Israel for Germany on Monday after being expelled from the Middle Eastern country.The Israeli government has accused Shakir, a 35-year-old American citizen and the rights group’s director for Israel and the Palestinian territories since October 2016, of backing a boycott of the Jewish state. He has denied the claim. Before departing from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Shakir said his deportation was “an attack on the human rights movement” and an Israeli attempt to “muzzle Human Rights Watch.””We will not stop until the day comes in which all people, Israelis and Palestinians, will be treated equally and have their whole human rights protected,” he said.Shakir was accused in April of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel for its military occupation of the West Bank and its building of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.Israel has formally banned entry of BDS supporters and has pressured Western countries to stunt the movement’s influence. The case against Shakir was based on comments he made before he joined Human Rights Watch, some going back to his student days nearly a decade ago. Shakir appealed his deportation, but Israel’s Supreme Court backed his expulsion earlier this month.
Leaked Chinese documents show how hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims are brainwashed in concentration camps – Nearly 500 prisons and camps have been established in the western China region known as Xinjiang, or East Turkestan as many Uighurs call it.Former detainees have described experiencing torture, medical experiments, rape, forced abortions, and other horrors in the Xinjiang concentration camps.And a round of newly-leaked documents, dubbed The China Cables, is the first official look at the extensive efforts to detain and brainwash the Uighur population.Data obtained by the BBC, as well as other media outlets, includes instructions to the officials that run these camps to “never allow escapes,” to “increase discipline and punishment,” and to maintain secrecy. Daily activities for prisoners are heavily monitored, and only when they are confined for at least a year and show that their behavior, beliefs, and language are changed will they be released, according to the new documents.Among other insights, the documents also show how the Chinese government has been surveilling Uighurs and monitoring their personal data.The newly-revealed documents contradict the government’s claim that these labor, or “re-education,” camps are a means to voluntarily re-educate members of the Muslim Uighur community to counteract extremism and terrorism.Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, considered the documents fake news, according to the BBC.Leaked documents published by The New York Times a week ago show officials were instructed to inform Uighur students that their relatives had been imprisoned in these camps “because they have come under a degree of harmful influence in religious extremism and violent terrorist thoughts.”
The China Cables: Leaked Classified Chinese Documents Confirm China Running Massive Concentration Camps to “Re-educate” Uighurs – Yves Smith – Oddly, a blockbuster leak based on classified Chinese government documents confirm charges that large-scale prison camps in the Xinjiang region use extreme regimentation and torture to turn its Muslim population, the Uighur, into the functional equivalent of Han Chinese, is not getting prominent play in most Western newspapers even though the number incarcerated may exceed one million. Nevertheless “most viewed” tallies show these China Cable revelations are getting traction. The leaked official documents, of which the centerpiece is a nine-page operating manual from 2017, when the prison camps were opening, were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which in turn shared them with 17 partners, many of whom did further digging. . The main document plus four shorter, later “bulletins” describe the policies for the prison camps. From the ICIJ overview: The China Cables,…include a classified list of guidelines, personally approved by the region’s top security chief, that effectively serves as a manual for operating the camps now holding hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs and other minorities. The leak also features previously undisclosed intelligence briefings that reveal, in the government’s own words, how Chinese police are guided by a massive data collection and analysis system that uses artificial intelligence to select entire categories of Xinjiang residents for detention…. The China Cables reveal how the system is able to amass vast amounts of intimate personal data through warrantless manual searches, facial recognition cameras, and other means to identify candidates for detention, flagging for investigation hundreds of thousands merely for using certain popular mobile phone apps. The documents detail explicit directives to arrest Uighurs with foreign citizenship and to track Xinjiang Uighurs living abroad, some of whom have been deported back to China by authoritarian governments. Former inmates now living abroad also state that Chinese officials would interrogate Uighur family members separately and intensively, including children, and would require the families accept “relatives” that would participate in family activities as well as take the children away for hours at a time. Refusing these “relatives” would lead to incarceration. Escapees also report torture, daily sexual abuse of women, and forced surgeries and drug use.
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