Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Reads: 30May 2021 – Part 2

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

Here are some more selected news articles for the week ending 29 May 2021. Go here for Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Read 30May 2021 – Part 1.

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

Please share this article – Go to very top of page, right hand side, for social media buttons.

Line 5 causing division and cross-border tensions – As both Canada and the U.S. await the heavily anticipated court decision of the Line 5 pipeline, people are holding their breath and hopeful for good news. Michigan and its Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered Canadian-owned Enbridge to close its 67-year-old pipeline over concerns about its environmental safety, which delivers a massive amount of oil and energy requirements (540,000 barrels a day) to Ontario, Quebec, and midwestern states, as well as more than half the propane consumed in Michigan. Concerns about the pipeline’s aging condition and potential environmental dangers are years in the making. Late in 2020, Whitmer brought a salvo to the dispute, giving Enbridge until May 12, 2021 to cease operations of the pipeline, with Enbridge not complying. The two sides are to meet again in mid-May. While Whitmer and the state are ordering the pipeline to close, business leaders in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin are urging the court to keep Line 5 in operation. In the article, Christopher Guith, senior vice president, policy, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute said, “unfortunately, millions of Americans and Canadians are likely to pay the price [of this political theatre].” After seeing events unfold at gas stations in the U.S. after the Colonial pipeline hack, shutting down Line 5 could have massive negative ramifications from an economic standpoint – higher prices, lost jobs, as well as a disruption of daily lives of individuals and companies. Recently former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall says he finds it upsetting that it took a potential shutdown for the federal government to finally take a stance and defend Canadian oil. Speaking to CJME in Saskatchewan, Wall said, “It took the threat of the shutdown significantly impacting our central Canadian fellow citizens to get the federal government to find interest in pipelines,” he said. “Maybe even the spectre of a shutdown will help convince voters in central Canada to demand something different from federal parties in terms of their energy policy.29dk2902l “Any protracted shutdown is not good for the industry and the timing is not great.”

Part Of The Plan – Crude Oil Industry Prepares As Capline Pipeline Closes In On ‘Flip Day’ – Over the next few months, a variety of market players – crude oil producers, midstreamers, refiners, and exporters – will be making preparations for one of the most anticipated infrastructure additions in recent years. Actually, it’s not technically new; it’s the long-planned reversal of the 632-mile, 40-inch-diameter Capline, which for a half-century transported crude north from St. James, LA, to Patoka, IL. Line-filling will begin this fall and Capline will start flowing south from Patoka in January 2022, providing Western Canadian and other producers with new pipeline access to Gulf Coast markets. Upstream of Patoka, the impending reversal has been spurring the development of new pipeline capacity to supply the soon-to-be-southbound Capline, and in Louisiana, refiners and exporters have been making plans for the crude that will be flowing their way into St. James. Today, we discuss the broad impacts of the “new” Patoka-to-St.-James pipeline. Big enough for a full-grown Great Dane to walk through without scraping his ears, Capline is the biggest-bore crude oil pipeline ever built in the Lower 48. Originally called the Cajun Pipeline (and subsequently shortened to Capline), the project was a genuine gamechanger in that it enabled large volumes of imported oil and offshore Gulf of Mexico production to be transported north to a slew of refineries in the Midwest, with the Patoka hub serving as a key distribution point at Capline’s northern terminus. As shown by the time-faded 1988 map in Figure 1, a number of new pumping stations were added along the pipeline’s route through the 1970s and early ’80s, gradually increasing Capline’s throughput to a staggering 1.2 MMb/d.Throughout the 2010s, there was talk that Capline’s flow direction might be reversed, thereby providing another way for crude oil from Western Canada, the Bakken, and even the Niobrara and SCOOP/STACK to reach export docks and refineries in Louisiana. Finally, in August 2019, Capline’s current owners – Plains All American (with a ~54% ownership interest), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC; ~33%) and BP (~13%) – announced that they had sanctioned the Capline reversal project, with plans to feed crude into the pipeline at two primary points: at the Patoka hub and in northern Mississippi, the latter at a proposed interconnection between Capline and an extension of the Diamond Pipeline. (More on that in a moment.)

More Canadian heavy crude US-bound — Heavy Canadian crude shipments to the US are set to rise as more pipeline expansions come on stream and oil sands output climbs above pre-Covid levels. Pipeline capacity to ship heavy crude from Canada to the US is scheduled to rise by at least 420,000 b/d this year. The expansions are expected to increase Canadian heavy crude’s market share in the US Gulf coast refining hub and could lead to higher heavy sour crude exports. Canadian crude accounted for close to 56pc of all US imports in March. And oil sands output has rebounded. Heavy crude production from oil sands projects involving steam extraction rose to a record 1.7mn b/d in March, 160,000 b/d higher than in the same month last year, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator. Alberta’s oil production rose to 3.6mn b/d in March, about 50,000 b/d higher than February and 40,000 b/d up on March last year. Oil sands production made up the bulk of the increase, averaging 3.1mn b/d (see graph). The largest boost to export capacity will come from Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement project, which will increase capacity from western Canada to the US midcontinent by 370,000 b/d. Enbridge has completed about 60pc of the work in Minnesota and the line is on track to start up in the fourth quarter, chief executive Al Monaco says. The project will expand Line 3 capacity from Alberta to Wisconsin to 760,000 b/d from 390,000 b/d and will enable Enbridge to capitalise on growing heavy crude demand amid a declining global heavy supply outlook, Monaco says. The nearly 700km Minnesota segment is the last section needed to complete the project, but regulatory and legal issues have delayed progress. Opponents are suing to stop the expansion and the Minnesota Court of Appeals heard arguments in March on a challenge to the state’s approval. Producers expect the expansion to provide substantial relief to pipeline congestion. Enbridge needed to reject 52pc of requests for space on its two largest heavy crude lines for June, representing just over half of its near 3mn b/d Mainline system. Enbridge has had to reject on average 47pc of all nominations for capacity on the lines in the first six months of this year. The rejections should drop to 10pc once Line 3 comes into service, Canadian producer MEG Energy says. Congestion has led MEG to revise down its expected Canadian crude sales to the US Gulf coast for 2021. Volumes on the BP 2 crude pipeline in Indiana should increase by 10pc towards the end of 2021 when the Line 3 expansion goes into service, BP Midstream says. The BP 2 line moves crude from the Griffith terminal in Indiana to BP’s 430,000 b/d Whiting refinery. Enbridge is also boosting capacity on its 280,000 b/d Express crude pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Casper, Wyoming. The firm plans to complete the second phase of the 50,000 b/d expansion in the second quarter. The line connects to the Platte system, which moves crude from Casper to Wood River, Illinois. Enbridge boosted capacity on the Mainline system by 100,000 b/d in 2019 and is considering further increases. The company told investors in December that it has the option to increase Mainline capacity by another 200,000 b/d and to expand other lines including Flanagan South, from Flanagan, Illinois, to Cushing, Oklahoma, the Southern Access extension from Flanagan to Patoka in Illinois, and the Seaway pipeline from Cushing to the Houston area. Enbridge is also weighing a plan to reverse its 180,000 b/d Southern Lights pipeline from Illinois to Alberta to add more southbound capacity. Midstream firm TC Energy was planning a 50,000 b/d expansion of its Keystone pipeline system from Hardisty to Patoka, but says it does “not have a timeline to share” on any increase in capacity.

Line 3 construction will resume in June — Heavy construction activity will resume in June on Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement pipeline. Environmental activists and some Indigenous communities still oppose it. – The relative calm of the spring thaw in northern Minnesota will soon give way to the sounds of heavy machinery putting huge segments of pipe into the ground. Enbridge Energy will resume major construction activity next week on its $4 billion Line 3 pipeline. The project, when completed, will carry Canadian oil across the top of the state to a terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. It’s replacing the original Line 3 which was built in 1968. “We’re replacing it with a pipe where the pipe wall is almost twice the thickness, and the actual alloy is actually stronger, so it would be stronger even if it were the same thickness as before,” Mike Fernandez, a senior vice president at Enbridge, told KARE. “And the stations that have been set up operationally are more sophisticated from a technologically standpoint.” The planning and permitting process began in 2014, after the Canadian company determined the original pipeline was aging in too many places. “We were doing more and more integrity digs and we were finding pipes that were rusting,” Fernandez explained. “And so, we came to the conclusion, along with the Obama Administration, that we needed to look at replacement rather than continuing to do more and more integrity digs.” The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the Line 3 project in 2018, and again the following year after their original decision was nullified by a court ruling. By then work was well underway on the segments in Wisconsin and Canada. Work on the Minnesota portion began in December of 2020 after all the state and federal permits had been approved. Worked paused for the spring thaw and now labor contracts are in place to shift back into high gear, with a combined work force of more than 5,000. Many environmental organizations and some Native American Minnesota communities remain opposed. Three lawsuits aimed at stopping the project and blocking it from being used after it is built are still being debated in federal and state court. Others are planning to stop or delay construction through acts of civil disobedience.

US oil, gas rig count climbs 4 to 547 as Permian drilling hits 13-month high- The US oil and gas rig count climbed four to 547 in the week ended May 26, rig data provider Enverus said May 27, as Permian basin drilling activity pushed to a 13-month high. The number of active oil-focused rigs climbed one to 424 while the number of rigs chasing mostly gas was up three at 123. But the modest nationwide increase belies a steep increase in the Permian basin rig count, which climbed seven to 244 – the highest since the week ended April 22, 2020. It was the biggest one-week jump in Permian rigs since the week ended March 24. Rig counts were mixed across the other major oil-focused plays. SCOOP-STACK rig count was up two at 24, the highest since April 2020, while Bakken operators added a single rig for a total 18, putting the rig count there at the highest since May 2020. But the Eagle Ford rig count was steady at 41, and operators in the Denver-Julesburg play dropped a single rig leaving a total 13 active in the basin. Rig counts were mostly higher across the major gas-focused basins. Haynesville operators added two rigs for a total 52 active in the play, while the Marcellus basin rig count was up one at 34. Notably the dry portion of the Marcellus saw a gain of two rigs for a total of 22, while in the wet portion rig counts fell one to 12. The Utica basin rig count was steady at 11. Despite pushing to a one-year high last week, Bakken rig counts are still only around one-third of their prepandemic level seen in early 2020. Platts Analytics expected production to decline in line with the sharp decline in rig counts seen last year. Instead, operators have relied on the basin’s large number of drilled-but-uncompleted wells and reduced flaring rates to not only uphold, but grow production, in recent months. But these forces are unlikely to maintain growth going forward as the number of DUCs dwindles and infrastructure constraints reduce anti-flaring efforts, according to a forecast by S&P Global Platts Analytics. From May 2020 through April 2021, the number of Bakken DUCs dropped from 877 to 647, according to data by the US Energy Information Administration. Flaring rates in the Bakken also fell from 13% in March 2020 to 8% in February 2021, providing additional gas that previously would have been flared, according to the North Dakota Industrial Commission. Platts Analytics therefore expects production to slide from 2.1 Bcf/d at the start of summer to 1.7 Bcf/d by October. The EIA expects Bakken production to decline 55 MMcf/d month over month in June.

U.S. crude output soars 14.3% in March -EIA – (Reuters) – U.S. crude oil output jumped 14.3% to 11.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in March from 9.8 million bpd in February, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its monthly 914 production report on Friday. Output sank 1.3 million bpd in February when extreme weather froze natural gas and oil wells and cut power supplies to million of customers in Texas and other South Central U.S. states. That 1.4 million bpd increase in March was the biggest monthly gain on record, according to EIA data going back to 2005. Most of the increases were in the biggest producing states with Texas up 26.4% to an 11-month high of 4.7 million bpd and New Mexico up 17.6% to a record 1.2 million bpd. In North Dakota, meanwhile, output gained just 1.4% to 1.0 million bpd. Meanwhile, monthly gross natural gas production in the U.S. Lower 48 states jumped by a record 7.8 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in March to an 11-month high of 102.6 bcfd after falling by a record 8.1 bcfd in February to a 31-month low of 94.8 bcfd, EIA said. Gross natural gas output peaked at 107.1 bcfd in December 2019. In top gas producing states, output rose 18.5% in Texas to 27.8 bcfd in March and held steady in Pennsylvania near a record high of 21.2 bcfd.

Unlike IEA, Rystad Energy sees need for hundreds of new oilfields – Thousands of new oil wells and hundreds of new oilfields will be needed to meet global demand even if it falls sharply towards the middle of the century, Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy said on Friday. Its analysis stands in sharp contrast to the conclusions of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which said last week that investors should not fund new oil, gas and coal projects if the world wants to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. The IEA’s scenario sees oil demand declining to 24 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2050, while Rystad sees oil demand falling to 36 million bpd by the same time. “Given that output from oil wells declines by an average of more than 20% per year, the international oil industry will still need to drill thousands of new wells in existing fields, as well as developing around 900 new oilfields with collective resources of about 150 billion barrels of oil,” the consultancy said in a note. Most of these projects were expected to be redevelopment, extensions or tie-backs to existing platforms, meaning the required investments will be moderate as existing infrastructure is reused, it added. Rystad said developments were needed to deliver about 10 million bpd in 2030s, as it saw a slower fall in demand than the IEA, which the consultancy said was overestimating the impact of biofuel growth and behavioural changes. Even if oil demand remains at 36 million bpd in 2050, it should be possible to reach the target of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, it added. Rystad’s analysis is likely to be welcomed by oil companies and oil producing countries, such as Norway, which have questioned the IEA’s analysis as it undermines the case for the industry to carry on producing oil in the medium term. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said a lack of investments in new projects could lead to more volatile prices.

Biden budget aims to raise $35B from cutting fossil fuel tax benefits -President Biden’s budget proposal released Friday takes aim at specific tax provisions that benefit the fossil fuel industry and projects that eliminating these measures will generate $35 billion over the course of a decade. The new $6 trillion budget proposal is a more detailed proposal than the “skinny” version released last month, which had called for spending an additional $14 billion on tackling climate change and proposed funding increases for the Energy Department, Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency. The White House has also previously, in its infrastructure plan, said that it wanted to “eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuels,” but the new proposal gets much more specific. “These oil, gas, and coal tax preferences distort markets by encouraging more investment in the fossil fuel sector than would occur under a more neutral tax system,”a Treasury Department document states, outlining the administration’s tax proposals. Among the benefits Biden hopes to cut are those received by the fossil fuel industry for enhanced oil recovery, a method of extraction that allows companies to get to fuel they wouldn’t be able to otherwise reach, and another for “intangible” costs like wages, repairs, supplies and other expenses that are needed for oil and gas drilling. Biden is also targeting a provision that allows oil and gas companies to deduct as much as 15 percent of the revenue they get from a well. Biden’s budget is a proposal and Congress will enact its own spending plans, but the budget is reflective of an administration’s policy priorities and goals. Industry criticized the parts of the budget that would eliminate these benefits, arguing that it would push production overseas. “Increased taxes on American energy will only undermine economic recovery and job creation, push natural gas and oil investments overseas and lead to less government revenue, not more,” American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement to The Hill.

Biden administration lists lesser prairie chicken under Endangered Species Act, setting up clash with oil and gas industry – The Biden administration called for new protections under the Endangered Species Act for an iconic birdof the Great Plains on Wednesday, a move with major consequences for the oil and gas industry.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials proposed listing as endangered a portion of the lesser prairie chicken’s population living in Texas and New Mexico, whose range overlaps with the oil- and gas-rich Permian Basin. The agency stopped short of awarding the same protections to the birds’ northern population, in Oklahoma and Kansas, on the grounds that their numbers had declined less drastically. The decision, one of nearly two dozen new conservation measures the administration has adopted in the past four months, underscores President Biden’s push to unravel his predecessor’s environmental policies. In a separate move Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency abolished a rulerestricting what sort of studies the agency can use in crafting public health rules. Biden has targeted Trump’s energy and environmental policies or proposed one of his own at the rate of about one a day, according to a Washington Post analysis.Although administration officials have emphasized the need to heed scientific findings on climate change and other pressing environmental threats, Wednesday’s actions highlight the difficult terrain they must navigate.For a small bird, the lesser prairie chicken has had an outsize impact on national politics. It has roamed millions of acres over several states in the Great Plains, grasslands that have been carved up over the years to make way for corn and soybean fields, sprawling cities, and the Midwestern drilling rigs used to suck oil and gas out of the ground. The chickens have lost about 90 percent of their historic population, Fish and Wildlife Service officials said.

North Dakota, Using Taxpayer Funds, Bailed Out Oil and Gas Companies by Plugging Abandoned Wells – When North Dakota directed more than $66 million in federal pandemic relief funds to clean up old oil and gas wells last year, it seemed like the type of program everyone could get behind. The money would plug hundreds of abandoned wells and restore the often-polluted land surrounding them, and in the process would employ oilfield workers who had been furloughed after prices crashed.The program largely accomplished those goals. But some environmental advocates say it achieved another they didn’t expect: It bailed out dozens of small to mid-sized oil companies, relieving them of their responsibility to pay for cleaning up their own wells by using taxpayer money instead.Oil drillers are generally required to plug their wells after they’re done producing crude. But in practice, companies are often able to defer that responsibility for years or decades. Larger companies often sell older wells to smaller ones, which sometimes go bankrupt, leaving the wells with no owner.These “orphaned wells” become the responsibility of the federal or state governments, depending on where they were drilled. While oil companies are required to post bonds or other financial assurance to pay for plugging them, in reality those bonds cover only a tiny fraction of the costs, leaving taxpayers on the hook. One estimate, by the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a financial think tank, found that those bonds cover only a tiny fraction of the expected costs of cleaning up the nation’s oil and gas wells.But in North Dakota, it turned out that most of the wells the state plugged were not truly orphaned, but had solvent owners. After the industry warned last year that the pandemic-driven oil-crash was threatening its finances, state regulators stepped in, assumed ownership of more than 300 wells, and used CARES Act funds to plug them, meaning the companies avoided paying anything themselves.”What happened was a bunch of people got a free ride,” said Scott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, a grassroots environmental group in the state. Skokos said it only deepened his sense that the state had bailed out the industry. In October, regulators were granted permission from state lawmakers tosend about $16 million of the CARES Act funds as grants to oil companies to help them buy water to hydraulically fracture new wells, a step the regulators said was necessary to expend the funds by the end of the year. Nine companies took advantage of the program. In one case, a single company, Continental Resources, received $5.4 million, according to state records.Wyoming also sent about $30 million in Covid relief funds to oil companies as grants to either frack new wells or revive or plug old ones.

Judge will not let North Dakota intervene in Dakota Access dispute -A federal judge will not allow the state of North Dakota to intervene in the lawsuit over the Dakota Access Pipeline. The decision came in Friday’s order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who also declined to grant the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request to shut down the pipeline during an ongoing environmental review. He denied North Dakota’s request “without prejudice,” which means the state could try to intervene again down the road. The attorney general’s office will watch how the case proceeds, said Troy Seibel, chief deputy attorney general for North Dakota. Boasberg “didn’t feel as though he needed us to be in the case right now, but he left the door open for us to get into the case in the future,” Seibel said. The attorney general’s office had asked the judge to allow North Dakota to become a formal party in the tribal lawsuit, to defend the pipeline. State officials did not want Boasberg to side with Standing Rock and grant an injunction forcing the line to shut down. Boasberg’s ruling allowing Dakota Access to continue operating came as a relief to North Dakota’s oil industry, as the line has the capacity to carry about half of the state’s daily oil output to market. State officials were thrilled with that part of the ruling. They feared a shutdown would have led to job losses in the Bakken oil patch and a hit to tax revenue collected from oil production.

Judge Allows DAPL to Keep Pumping Oil Despite Lack of Permit – A federal judge ruled Friday the Dakota Access Pipeline may continue pumping oil despite lacking a key federal permit while the Army Corps of Engineers conducts an extensive environmental review. The Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes challenging the pipeline, which they say is operating illegally beneath a reservoir near their reservation, failed to “demonstrate a likelihood of irreparable injury,” according to James Boasberg of the D.C. District Court, who criticized the Biden administration repeatedly in his ruling and noted the tribes’ burden of evidence was far higher than the government’s. It also highlights how Supreme Court precedent has made NEPA “virtually impossible to enforce,” according to Eric Glitzenstein, the Center for Biological Diversity director of litigation. “Here, an environmentally devastating pipeline was constructed in flagrant violation of the law, and yet there is no remedy because of recent Supreme Court rulings that severely undercut lower courts’ ability to halt a project before NEPA review can even take place,” he told E&E. “We have the Roberts court to thank for that absurd outcome.”

PIPELINES: All eyes on Army Corps after Dakota Access dodges shutdown — Monday, May 24, 2021 — Tribes challenging the Dakota Access pipeline said they will be closely monitoring a crucial environmental review of the project after a federal judge on Friday declined to halt operation of the conduit.

Dakota Access Pipeline gains win-win with court ruling and Biden inaction | S&P Global Platts –The future of the 570,000 b/d Dakota Access Pipeline is still at risk, but the primary crude artery out of the Bakken Shale is in a much stronger position after a federal court ruling kept the oil flowing and the Biden administration opted against intervening on an existing pipeline system. The May 21 court ruling essentially decided there is a minimal threat of oil spills from the four-year-old pipeline and the risk fails to rise to the necessary “irreparable harm” level needed to shutter the 1,200-mile pipeline, even though DAPL is basically being allowed to operate illegally without the necessary federal permitting that was previously yanked. The US Army Corps of Engineers — now under President Joe Biden — could have decided to close the pipeline for now while a court-ordered environmental review is conducted that could put DAPL back in good legal standing after it is completed in March 2022. But the Army Corps punted the decision to US District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia, who instead criticized the Army Corps for inaction. “That was essentially Biden’s chance to exert some influence and he didn’t take it,” Ajay Bakshani, analyst for East Daley Capital. told S&P Global Platts May 24. “It’s definitely positive for the Bakken.” The end result is DAPL will keep operating — with plans to expand capacity by the end of the year — although a negative Environmental Impact Statement from the Army Corps next year could again threaten DAPL’s viability. The DAPL case was closely watched by industry and environmental observers alike because it could potentially set a standard for attempting to close existing pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Now, drilling activity should ramp again with the removal of much of the legal uncertainty, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Platts Analytics expects Bakken crude and condensate production to rise from 1.1 million b/d in May to 1.34 million b/d by the end of 2022. Impacts on other pipelines While Biden has opposed some proposed projects, most notably the Keystone XL Pipeline, he has not taken stances in legal fights against other pipelines, including DAPL, the Line 5 shutdown fight in Michigan, Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement project, and the planned Byhalia Connection near Memphis that is part of the Diamond Pipeline extension project. The White House clearly wants to support environmental concerns and tribal rights, but there also remains the need to ensure energy security, and closing existing pipelines can cause major disruptions, said James Coleman, an energy law professor at Southern Methodist University said May 24 in an interview. Coleman pointed out the recent, regional fuel shortage issues from the one-week closure of the Colonial Pipeline from a cyberattack. “It’s still a little bit of a black box, but their actions on Dakota Access certainly are good news for other existing pipelines, such as Line 5,” he said. Any additional legal appeals are a long-shot at best, Coleman said, so the future of DAPL largely remains in the Army Corps’ court. “It puts the Biden administration in a tough position,” he said. “This isn’t the end of the road for the plaintiffs because the Biden administration could change its mind at any time.”

Oil spill reported on Crow Indian Reservation -An oil spill of unknown size and duration has been reported on the Crow Indian Reservation.Richard Mylott, a spokesperson for Region 8 of the Environmental Protection Agency, said his understanding is that the spill is coming from a gathering line, a pipeline used to transport crude oil from a wellhead to a central collection point. Gathering lines generally transport a lower volume of oil than transmission lines. He said there are currently no known impacts or threats to surface waters. “EPA will continue to monitor reports and will respond to any requests or needs for assistance,” he said. According to DrillingEdge, which compiles information about oil and gas wells,Soap Creek Associates, Inc., has 31 operational wells in the area of the reported spill. Those wells produced 3,100 barrels of oil this past January.Montana Free Press first learned of the spill through communication with Richard White Clay, who has been active with the Crow Allottee Association, an organization that advocates for the interests of landowners on the Crow reservation. He said another association member with an allotment near Soap Creek reported the spill to him. “They found an oil spill in their creek and they sent some photos over,” he said. The National Pipeline Mapping System lists an incident involving a hazardous liquid material on the Crow Reservation between Fort Smith and Lodge Grass. Credit: National Pipeline Mapping SystemThe National Pipeline Mapping System shows there has been an incident involving a pipeline transporting a hazardous liquid between Lodge Grass and Fort Smith. According to NPMS, there are four pipeline operators with oversight of pipelines in Big Horn County: Cenex Pipeline, LLC; WBI Energy Transmission, Inc.; Northwestern Corporation; and Phillips 66 Pipeline, LLC. It’s unknown if any of those companies operate the gathering line that’s believed to be the source of the spill. In a Tuesday morning email to MTFP, Clifford Serawop, Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Crow Agency office, said BIA’s Land Service staff would be responding to the incident. “Even though it’s allotted land, it’s still land that’s held in trust, so we want to make sure we take care of it,” Serawop said.Allotted land conveys ownership to a landowner with restrictions on its transfer and use. The land is held in trust for tribal members by the federal government.Montana Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Moira Davin said DEQ is aware of the spill, but is not acting as the lead on a response. “It sounds like EPA and reservation staff will be the main leads,” she said.

Biden Backs Massive Alaska Drilling Project Approved Under Trump -The Biden administration is facing backlash from climate activists and scientists after filing a court briefWednesday in defense of a major Trump-era Alaska drilling project that’s expected to produce up to 160,000 barrels of oil a day over a 30-year period – a plan that runs directly counter to the White House’s stated goalof slashing U.S. carbon emissions.”This is a complete denial of reality,” said Jean Flemma, director of the Ocean Defense Initiative and former senior policy adviser for the House Natural Resources Committee. “The project is expected to produce about 590 million barrels of oil. Burning that oil would create nearly 260 million metric tons of CO2 emissions – about the equivalent of what is produced by 66 coal-fired power plants.”Approved by the Trump administration in October of last year, fossil fuel giant ConocoPhillips’ multi-billion-dollar Willow Master Development Plan aims to establish several new oil drilling sites in part of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and construct hundreds of miles of pipeline.Environmental groups promptly sued the Trump Bureau of Land Management and Interior Department over the move, charging that the agencies signed off on Willow “despite its harms to Arctic communities, public health, and wildlife, and without a plan to effectively mitigate those harms.”But in a briefing submitted in the U.S. District Court for Alaska on Wednesday, Biden administration lawyers defended the Trump agencies’ decision to greenlight Willow against the environmental coalition’s legal challenge.”The agencies took a hard look at the Willow Project’s impacts, including impacts from the alternative proposed water crossings and impacts from building gravel roads and other infrastructure,” the filing reads. “The analysis did not suffer for lack of specific project information.” The Biden administration’s filing does not explain how support for the massive drilling project – a top priority of Alaska’s Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan – comports with the White House’s pledgejust last month to cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030.

Biden administration backs Alaska oil project approved under Trump – The Biden administration defended a proposed ConocoPhillips oil development in Alaska on Wednesday, backing the project pushed by Alaskan Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the centrist lawmaker the administration has wooed as a potential swing vote.The decision by the Interior Department to defend in court the Trump administration’s October 2020 decision and allow the Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to proceed comes despite Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s opposition to the project last year when she was a member of Congress.The NPR-A region on Alaska’s North Slope has been producing oil for decades and is separate from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. President Joe Biden issued a moratorium blocking drilling in ANWR on his first day in office, freezing the Trump administration’s plans to allow oil exploration there.The Willow project, consisting of five wells that collectively could produce up to 160,000 barrels of oil a day, would be one of the first major new oil projects in Alaska in years. The development would include a new gravel mine, airstrip, more than 570 miles of ice roads and nearly 320 miles of pipeline to the Alaskan landscape. The Justice Department, in a court filing with the U.S. District Court of Alaska, defended the Trump-era decision to allow the project against environmental advocacy groups’ allegations that Interior had failed to adequately assess the project’s environmental impacts.Both Alaska Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Murkowski discussed the project during an Oval Office meeting with Biden on Monday. Sullivan said he left behind information on the project and Biden promised to get back to him shortly.”I talked extensively with the president on the Willow project,” Sullivan told POLITICO on Wednesday. “I told him ‘It hasn’t been controversial until you guys put a pause on it.'” Biden was receptive to the project, Murkowski said, and she said she told him the Alaska lawmakers had briefed “just about everyone in your Cabinet and any senior adviser who would listen.”

Biden Admin Sides with Trump Admin on ConocoPhillips Project – — The Justice Department is defending the Trump administration’s approval of a massive ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. project in federal court, over the objections of environmentalists who say the government didn’t adequately consider the venture’s effect on polar bears and the climate. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, the Biden administration said Wednesday that Conoco’s Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska was approved only after years of analysis, consultation and public input. “Plaintiffs seek to stop the extraction of resources from the petroleum reserve by cherry-picking the records” of the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, the administration told the court. President Joe Biden previously directed the Interior Department to review its 2020 approval of the Willow project, which has the potential to produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day. The project could include as many as five drilling sites, hundreds of miles of ice roads, an airstrip and a gravel mine site, among other infrastructure. Conservation and indigenous groups have argued the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management failed to sufficiently analyze the environmental and climate impact of the project. Environmentalists also have argued that planned gravel mining activities imperil a potential denning habitat for polar bears. In February, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency order blocking ConocoPhillips from opening a gravel mine site and building roads. The three Republican members of Alaska’s congressional delegation — Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan as well as Representative Don Young — pressed the issue with Biden in the Oval Office on Monday after he signed into law a measure that allows cruise ships to resume visits to the state, according to a person familiar with the matter. Sullivan even handed the president and White House staff a full-color one-page briefing on the project to help make his case. In its filing with the court, the Biden administration argued the federal government followed applicable clean water, animal protection and environmental laws in approving the project. And, the administration noted, the Willow venture is set to take place on “valid leases” within the petroleum reserve, where Congress has specifically mandated oil development. Environmentalists blasted the administration’s move Wednesday. “It’s incredibly disappointing to see the Biden administration defending this environmentally disastrous project,” Kristen Monsell, a lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity said in a news release. “President Biden promised climate action and our climate can’t afford more huge new oil-drilling projects.”

Biden officials condemned for backing Trump-era Alaska drilling project — Joe Biden’s administration is facing an onslaught of criticism from environmentalists after opting to defend the approval of a massive oil and gas drilling project in the frigid northern reaches of Alaska.In a briefing filed in federal court on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice said the Trump-era decision to allow the project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’s north slope was “reasonable and consistent” with the law and should be allowed to go ahead.This stance means the Biden administration is contesting a lawsuit brought by environmental groups aimed at halting the drilling due to concerns over the impact upon wildlife and planet-heating emissions. The US president has paused all new drilling leases on public land but is allowing this Alaska lease, approved under Trump, to go ahead.The project, known as Willow, is being overseen by the oil company ConocoPhillips and is designed to extract more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years. Environmentalists say allowing the project is at odds with Biden’s vow to combat the climate crisis and drastically reduce US emissions.”It’s incredibly disappointing to see the Biden administration defending this environmentally disastrous project,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that have sued to stop the drilling. “President Biden promised climate action and our climate can’t afford more huge new oil-drilling projects.”The Arctic is heating up at three times the rate of the rest of the planet and ConocoPhillips will have to resort to Kafkaesque interventions to be able to drill for oil in an environment being destroyed by the burning of that fuel. The company plans to install “chillers’ into the Alaskan permafrost, which is rapidly melting due to global heating, to ensure it is stable enough to host drilling equipment. Monsell said the attempts to refreeze the thawing permafrost in order to extract more fossil fuel “highlights the ridiculousness of drilling in the Arctic”. Kirsten Miller, acting executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, said Willow “is the poster child for the type of massive fossil fuel development that must be avoided today if we’re to avoid the worst climate impacts down the road”.

Cosco bulker spills oil off Sakhalin after fuel tank breach – (video) A bulk carrier, identified as Cosco’s Kang Shun, had its hull breached during entry into Boshnyakovo Anchorage, western Sakhalin Island coast, causing it to spill oil into the sea.A collision with a bunker barge caused a breach in one of the ship’s fuel tanks and close to one tonne of fuel oil leaked into the sea, according to the statement by the regional branch of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies (EMERCOM).A response team was deployed to treat the oil spill and no injuries were reported on the 55,600 dwt supramax, which at the time of the accident had some 12,000 tons of coal on board. The incident took place on May 21. As of this afternoon local time, the ship has yet to depart.

Sakhalin ship collision results in oil spill: report – A collision between a bulk carrier and a smaller ship resulted in a bunker fuel spill off the coast of Sakhalin. According to marine news provider Maritime Bulletin, the lighter struck the larger ship in the fuel tank area, an action that resulted in the spill a few days ago. Oil booms were deployed and a clean up operation is underway although the amount of bunker fuel spilt was not reported. While major spills from ships have fallen significantly since the Exxon Valdez incident and subsequent Oil Pollution Act (1990), enacted under President Geoge Bush’s administration, smaller spills, some involving bunkering operations, are more common. According to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, there were no spills from ships over 700 metric tonnes last year and three incidents where betwen 7 and 700 mt of oil were spilt. The total volume of oil lost to the environment from tanker spills in 2020 was approximately 1,000 mt, according to ITOPF.

Russian Watchdog Says No Significant Contamination Detected In Oil Spill Area In Norilsk – Specialists from Russia’s environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, have not found any signs of significant pollution in the country’s northern city of Norilsk near the area of a major diesel spill at a power station last May, the agency’s head, Svetlana Radionova, said on Monday. “Rosprirodnadzor is controlling the situation. There is no significant contamination and what we can see now [was] expected. The main thing is that there are forces and means, and the work is under control. It [the Nornickel mining giant] has an understanding that it will clean everything until the territory is completely cleaned of even minor contaminants,” Radionova wrote on Instagram. The official noted that during a regular check-up of the site, oily film was detected on the surface of the stream, formed due to melting snow and flowing from under the road mound, adding that the soil is treated with sorbents. Late last May, some 21,000 tonnes of diesel fuel leaked from a thermal power plant of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, which is affiliated with Nornickel, and contaminated two rivers and surrounding soil. It was initially believed that the spill had been caused by the melting of permafrost that supports the faulty power plant’s fuel tank in motion. A criminal case was launched into the incident. Russia’s environmental watchdog, in turn, opened a probe and estimated the damage at 148 billion rubles ($2 million). Nornickel disagreed with the amount and conducted its own probe which estimated the damage at seven times less than that. Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company eventually made the 146.2 billion ruble payments to compensate for the damage.

New report helps UK MCA prepare for offshore oil spill challenges — The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) future oil spill response plan will be informed by a new report that maps out possible threats to the UK’s coastal areas, marine life, and traffic as a result of hydrocarbon releases from energy industry operation and shipping. The report on the review of the hydrocarbon release risk on the UKCS over the next decade was delivered for the MCA, by Xodus Group, in association with London Marine Consultants. The review evaluated the risk of a serious mineral oil release occurring in UK waters from vessels of more than 1,000 gross tonnage (GT), including oils carried as cargo, bunker fuel, and from offshore installations. It includes the nature of risk and the likelihood of a serious hydrocarbon release in UK waters considering developments in ship and rig design and operations, and analysis of historical releases and near misses. The report also provides a look-ahead during the 2020s, to anticipate how changes in the industry, aging infrastructure, and/or decommissioning will affect the level of risk. The review will inform the MCA’s oil spill preparedness planning and associated activities for the next decade and consists of five reports: Oil cargo and bunkers; Qualitative review of the spill risk from ships; The offshore risk, overall assessment of the risk and a summary report for the project.

Dutch court rules oil giant Shell must cut carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 in landmark case – A Dutch court on Wednesday ruled oil giant Royal Dutch Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels. That’s a much higher reduction than the company’s current aim of lowering its emissions by 20% by 2030. The landmark ruling comes at a time when the world’s largest corporate emitters are under immense pressure to set short, medium and long-term emissions targets that are consistent with the Paris Agreement. The climate accord is widely recognized as critically important to avoid an irreversible climate crisis. Shell’s current climate strategy states that the company is aiming to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050, with the company setting a target of cutting its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2035. A spokesperson for Shell said the company “fully expect to appeal today’s disappointing court decision.” “We are investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels,” the spokesperson said via email. “We want to grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly.” Shares of Shell were trading 0.2% higher in London. The stock price is up almost 10% year-to-date, having tumbled nearly 40% in 2020. The lawsuit was filed in April 2019 by seven activist groups – including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace – on behalf of 17,200 Dutch citizens. Court summons claimed Shell’s business model “is endangering human rights and lives” by posing a threat to the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement. Under the Paris Agreement – a deal adopted in 2015 and signed by 195 countries – nations agreed to a framework to prevent global temperatures from rising by any more than 2 degrees Celsius, although the accord aims to prevent global temperature rises exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.Roger Cox, a lawyer for environmental activists in the case, said in a statement that the ruling marked “a turning point in history” and could have major consequences for other big polluters. Meanwhile, Sara Shaw, Friends of the Earth’s international program coordinator for climate justice and energy, said the organization hoped the verdict would “trigger a wave of climate litigation against big polluters to force them to stop extracting and burning fossil fuels.”

US blacklists 13 ships working on Nord Stream 2 pipeline project – The US has imposed sanctions on thirteen vessels involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, shortly after exempting the pipeline’s Russian operator and CEO. The US Treasury Department added two Russian-flagged AHTS vessels Vladislav Strizhov and the Yury Topchev to a sanctions list on Friday and prohibited their dealings with US banks and companies. Another eleven vessels from Russia’s Marine Rescue Service, including the pipe layer Akademik Cherskiy and offshore support vessel Artemis Offshore, were placed on a less restrictive sanctions list, prohibiting US firms provision of goods and services. Russia’s Marine Rescue Service and Samara Heat and Energy property fund were likewise placed on that less restrictive sanctions list. Last week, the US said it won’t sanction the pipeline’s Russian-owned operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, nor its CEO, Matthias Warnig. The sanctions against the vessels are seen as a symbolic move as the vessels are Russian-owned and flagged and are expected to continue pipe laying operations. Another Russian pipe layer on the US sanctions list, Fortuna, has already started operations on the Nord Stream 2 in German waters. Nord Stream 2, which crosses the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, has been opposed by the US, which claims it will increase German reliance on Russian gas and make Berlin more susceptible to Russian politics.

Russia’s Northwest Komi Republic hit by 100-ton oil spill – A ruptured pipeline in Russia’s northwestern region of Komi has leaked 100 tons of oil last week, including nine tons that flowed into a local river, posing a threat the area’s ecosystems and populated areas, the state environment watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said on Monday. The pipeline is operated by Russian oil producer Lukoil, officials have determined. It comes nearly a year after a leak from a fuel storage facility operated by Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel led to the worst Arctic oil spill in history.Local media report that the leak came from a pipeline that connects the Oshskoye oil field in the neighboring Nenets autonomous district to a nearby Lukoil storage facility. The oil has reached the Kolva river and traveled downstream to Usinsk, a town of 45,000 people located 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow.Environmentalists and officials fear the slick could travel via tributary rivers and eventually reach the Barents Sea.Lukoil said in a release that it has dispatched 150 workers to staunch the spill, though the Meduza independent Russian news site reports that as many as 230 liquidators have arrived to eliminate the slick. Initial estimates said that the spill involved six to seven tons of fuel. But on Sunday, Lukoil’s subsidiary, Lukoil-Komi, admitted that 90 tons of oil had spread into local soil and waterways. “The leak occurred at a distance of about 300 meters from the coastline of the Kolva River,” the city administration of Usinsk, which declared an emergency last Wednesday, said on its social media account. “Therefore, the bulk of the oil-derived liquid [ … ] spread into the soil, mainly occupying a natural lowland close to the leak.” While oil booms are usually used to contain oil spills on water, there is too much moving ice on the Kolva at this time of year to use that technique, officials said.”The work to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill will be extremely difficult because of the ice drift in the river,” Komi Republic head Vladimir Uyba told the Independent Barents Observer. Activists have feared that Lukoil is hiding the real magnitude of yet another disastrous oil spill in Russia’s Arctic. Locals had reportedly noticed dead fish in the river on May 10, before the accident was officially confirmed, according to a report in The Moscow Times.

Lukoil oil spill headed towards the Barents Sea – An oil spill in the Komi Peninsula is four to five-times bigger than initially thought, and may flood into the Barents Sea on Russia’s north-eastern coast if unchecked, environmentalists warned on May 17.Komi officials declared an emergency last week after oil spilled out of the Oshskoye field, operated by Russian oil major Lukoil. The oil spread into the soil and local waterways, but was thought to have been contained on land. Initially Lukoil said 20 tonnes of oil product had spilled, but now it is reported that closer to 90-100 tonnes have leaked, nine tonnes of which have already got into the local Kolva river that empties into the Arctic region’s Barents Sea, officials in the town of Usinsk 1,500 km north-east of Moscow said as cited by the Moscow Times. If the 100 tonnes figure is confirmed that would make the spill five times larger than last year’s spill by mining giant Norilsk Nickel, then dubbed the Exxon Valdez of Russia.The energy-rich Komi region witnessed one of the worst oil spills in Russian history in August 1994, when its ageing pipeline network sprang a leak that was officially said to have totalled 79,000 tonnes, or 585,000 barrels. Independent estimates put the figure at up to 2mn barrels, reports Reuters.Russia already suffered its worst post-Soviet environmental disaster last year after a power unit belonging to Norilsk Nickel spilled over 20,000 tonnes of oil into rivers in the Pyasino region flowing to the Kara Sea in June 2020, making it one of the worst ecological catastrophes in the history of the Arctic region. Comparable to the 37,000-tonne spill of the Exxon Valdez tanker, the spill was declared a federal emergency by the Kremlin and Norilsk was fined $2bn for the accident.The Lukoil spill is the first environmental disaster this year, but the polluted water has been swiftly carried downstream from the Kolva into the connecting Pechora and Usa rivers and is now advancing toward the Barents Sea, environmentalists say. The local authorities said around 230 people were working to contain the spill, but environmentalist fear that the size of the spill is too big to prevent it flowing into the sea and causing yet another environmental catastrophe. The oil slick already in the water will take many days to clear up, Komi Environment Minister Alexei Kuznetsov told the state-run TASS news agency on May 17.

Komi oil spill may cost 1 billion rubles in damage – Izvestia – A recent oil spill in the Russian Arctic may cost as much as 1 billion rubles ($13 million) in damage, experts told the Izvestia newspaper.Authorities in the republic of Komi declared an emergency on May 14 after the spill at the Oshskoye field, operated by a subsidiary of oil giant Lukoil, in the neighboring Nenets autonomous district spread into local soil and waterways. At first, Lukoil reported that 20 tons of oil had spilled into local soil and waterways, but a few days later authorities said that number was closer to 90 tons. The spill on land has been largely contained, but nine tons of crude oil reached the Kolva river, Lukoil estimated.If nine tons of oil reached the river, the government is likely to assess damage at around 700 million rubles, Andrei Loboda from the Humanity social project told Izvestia. However, that figure could rise to 1 billion rubles if the pollution has spread from the Kolva to the Usa and Pechora rivers. Russia’s environmental protection watchdog Rosprirodnadzor told Izvestia that it is waiting for results of analyses of water and soil samples from the affected area before it estimates the cost of the damage.

Total to supply LNG to India’s steel industry – Steel giant ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) has signed with France’s Total for the supply of up to 500,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to run its steel and power plants located in Hazira, Gujarat state. The LNG will be sourced from Total’s global portfolio and offloaded either in Dahej or Hazira LNG Terminal, on the west coast of India until 2026. Total said it sees the deal as a contribution to the decarbonisation of India’s steel industry, which still rely heavily on coal. “The supply of LNG will contribute to the reduction of AMNS’s carbon emissions, in line with Total’s ambition to offer its customers energy products that emit less CO2 and to support them in their own low-carbon strategies,” said Thomas Maurisse, senior VP LNG at Total. The French supermajor is the world’s second largest privately owned LNG player, with a global portfolio of nearly 50 mt/y by 2025 and a global market share of around 10%.

Fears of oil leak after vessel sinks off Coromandel coast {rnz.co.nz} Maritime officials are monitoring a launch that sank on the Coromandel Peninsula last night, to make sure no oil is leaking. The vessel was carrying 200 litres of marine diesel oil when it apparently hit rocks in Humbug Bay near Whitianga, Waikato Regional Council said in a statement.Swells of between three and four metres are expected this afternoon, which could push the launch onto the rocks.Salvors are preparing to recover the vessel, depending on weather conditions.

Sri Lanka braces for major oil spill as cargo vessel expected to sink – A Singapore-flagged cargo vessel, which caught fire near the Colombo beach last week, may sink, raising severe environmental concerns in the island nation, according to media reports on Wednesday. Desperate attempts to extinguish the fire seemed to fail as authorities prepared for a major oil spill. The Colombo Gazette newspaper reported that the MV ‘X-PRESS PEARL’ was “unstable” and “expected to sink”. Apart from the 325 metric tonnes of fuel in its tanks, X-Press Pearl was loaded with 1,486 containers carrying about 25 tonnes of hazardous nitric acid. The Marine Environment Protection Authority has warned that any oil spillage will move towards the sensitive Negombo lagoon, which is a major tourist attraction, the report said. The authorities had earlier asked local people to avoid coming in contact with the debris and slush from the ship. The cargo vessel was carrying a consignment of chemicals and raw materials for cosmetics from Hazira in Gujarat to Colombo Port. It caught fire 9.5 nautical miles from the coast in Colombo, where it was anchored outside the Port of Colombo on May 20. A major operation was launched to extinguish the flames of the ship. A special team of the Sri Lankan Navy, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Marine Environment Protection Authority reached the fire-hit container ship on May 21. Following a call for help, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Tuesday sent two ships – ICG’s Vaibhav and patrol vessel Vajra – and an ICG aircraft to firefight and augment pollution control measures. Due to rough seas and bad weather, the cargo ship is now tilted to the right, as a result, some of the containers on board have tumbled into the sea and some of them have sunk, officials said. News channels on Wednesday showed catastrophic images of the south-west coast from Colombo to Negombo covered with black slush, debris and industrial-sized containers bent out of shape.

Sri Lanka monitors oil spill from burning vessel – Pieces of items from the burning foreign ship X-Press Pearl are seen washed to the shore of Kapungoda, outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 26, 2021. Sri Lankan authorities said on Wednesday it is monitoring an oil spill from a burning foreign vessel near the Port of Colombo, warning that the oil spill may waft towards the Negombo lagoon in the west coast of the country. Till Wednesday noon, rescue teams from the Sri Lanka Navy and the Indian Navy were involved in joint efforts to douse the flames onboard the container ship “X-PRESS PEARL” registered under the flag of Singapore, which was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tons of Nitric Acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics from the port of Hazira, India on May 15.

Oil Inches Up Amid Resume of Iran Nuclear Deal Talks| Al Bawaba – Oil was up Monday morning in Asia, with investor sentiment boosted by signs of the U.S.’ continuing economic recovery from COVID-19 and the improved outlook for fuel demand. Investors are also monitoring the progress of talks to revive a 2015 Iranian nuclear deal that is likely to increase global crude supply. Brent oil futures gained 0.63% to $66.77 by 1:13 AM ET (5:13 AM GMT), with the contract rolling over to the Aug. 21 contract on May 23. WTI futures were up 0.63% to $63.98. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during the previous week that the U.S. was “ready” to lift sanctions on the country’s oil, banking and shipping sectors, causing oil prices to fall. “Iran’s oil production has been rising in recent months, likely in anticipation of a lifting of the sanctions,” ANZ analysts said in a note. However, Iranian speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the expiry of the three-month monitoring deal between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency would cease the latter’s access to images from inside some Iranian nuclear sites. Talks between the two sides continue in Vienna throughout the week. On the weather front, investors are monitoring a low-pressure system located over the western Gulf of Mexico, which has a 60% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Elsewhere in the U.S., the spread of COVID-19 continues to slow down, with the country ending its first week since June 2020 with no days of infections exceeding 30,000. Death rates continue to fall in France and Italy, furthering improving the fuel demand outlook. In Asia, however, several countries continue to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in India stood at 303,720 as of May 24, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) has reportedly pushed back its Joint Technical Committee meeting, initially due to have taken place on May 25, has reportedly been postponed to May 31. However, the cartel’s ministerial meeting will still take place as scheduled on Jun. 1.#160;

Oil prices up sharply as U.S. official raises doubt that Iran will comply with nuclear commitments – Oil futures climbed Monday, finding support as a U.S. official said there aren’t yet any signs that Iran will comply with the nuclear commitments required to lift sanctions on the country, casting doubts that Tehran would soon be able to resume crude exports. A lack of cooperation by Iran, as well as “skeptical comments about Iranian compliance” by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, both “lower the odds that a new agreement is reached and therefore, suggest sanctions are not likely to be lifted in the near to medium term,” Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research, told MarketWatch. On ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, Blinken said the U.S. hasn’t yet seen whether Iran is “ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do” to have sanctions removed. Talks between Iran and world powers have been continuing, with reports of some progress. Oil prices had posted declines for last week amid increasing expectations that a new nuclear deal would be reached, said Richey. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose $2.47, or 3.9%, to settle at $66.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest front-month contract finish since May 17, according to Dow Jones Market Data. July Brent crude, the global benchmark, added $2.02, or 3%, at $68.46 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Oil Prices Decline As Tension Arises in Iran, US Nuclear Talks | Al Bawaba – Oil prices declined on Tuesday as the ongoing tension between Iran and the US in negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement and lift Iranian oil export sanctions raised investor caution. International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $68.12 per barrel at 0744 GMT for a 0.36% drop after closing Friday at $68.37 a barrel. American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $65.78 per barrel at the same time for a 0.40% fall after ending the previous session at $66.05 a barrel. The downward oil price movement was driven by the toing and froing between Iran and the US in negotiations on potentially lifting the current US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the US’s return to the 2015 nuclear deal, leading investors to take a “wait and see” stance. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday the US has no other option than to lift all sanctions on Iran, which violates the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif urged the US administration on Monday to lift current sanctions against Iran, which were imposed under former US President Donald Trump. In response to a recent statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken regarding US sanctions on Iran, Zarif said on Twitter: “Lifting Trump’s sanctions, is a legal and moral obligation. NOT negotiating leverage.” “Didn’t work for Trump – won’t work for you”, Zarif said. Zarif called on authorities to release Iran’s billions of dollars taken hostage abroad because of Washington’s “bullying.”Speaking on ABC News’ This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Blinken said on Sunday that the lifting of US sanctions on Iran depends on Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear commitments toward Washington. “Iran, I think, knows what it needs to do to come back into compliance on the nuclear side, and what we haven’t yet seen is whether Iran is ready and willing to make a decision to do what it has to do. That’s the test and we don’t yet have an answer,” Blinken said.

Oil edges up as rising demand faces Iran supply worries (Reuters) -Oil prices moved a shade higher on Tuesday as rising demand from the approach of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer driving season and lifting of coronavirus restrictions mixed with worries that Iran’s possible return to the market will cause a supply glut. After gaining over 5% in the prior two sessions, Brent futures rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $68.65 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 2 cents to settle at $66.07. That was the highest close for both benchmarks in a week. In post-settlement trade, Brent crude pared gains slightly and U.S. crude fell to $65.99 after trade group the American Petroleum Institute released weekly inventory estimates. U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories fell last week, according to two market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 439,000 barrels in the week ended May 21, the data showed, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. API did not respond to a request for comment. During the session, crude prices were supported by the decline in the U.S. dollar to a 19-week low versus a basket of currencies as inflation worries recede. A weaker dollar makes it less expensive for holders of other currencies to buy commodities priced in dollars, like oil. The small price moves in oil came as the market waited for direction from weekly U.S. oil inventory reports that are expected to show U.S. crude inventories declined by 1.1 million barrels last week. “Oil prices … remain at high levels as the high season for oil demand is approaching and as restrictions are lifted in much of Europe and the United States,” said Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy. Parts of Europe and the United States are recording fewer COVID-19 infections and deaths, prompting governments to ease restrictions. However, in areas such as India – the world’s third-biggest oil importer – infection rates remain high. Indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran are due to resume in Vienna this week. Talks were resurrected after Tehran and the U.N. nuclear agency extended a monitoring agreement on the Middle Eastern country’s atomic program. Analysts have said Iran could provide about 1 million to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in additional oil supply if a deal is struck and sanctions lifted.

WTI Rebounds After Inventory Draws Across Crude & Products – WTI slipped back below $66 this morning as investors weighed signs of an improving demand outlook in some regions against the prospect of more crude supply flowing from Iran. “The potential for a return of Iranian oil supply into the market has been keeping oil prices from gaining further,” The swings in crude and product stocks in the last couple of weeks have been noisy thanks to the Colonial Pipeline shutdown. This week we should start to put that behind us, although product stocks may still be impacted. API

• Crude -439k (-1mm exp)
• Cushing -1.153mm
• Gasoline -1.986mm (-1.1mm exp)
• Distillates -5.137mm (-2mm exp)

DOE

• Crude -1.66mm (-1mm exp)
• Cushing -1.008mm
• Gasoline -1.745mm (-1.1mm exp)
• Distillates -3.013mm (-2mm exp)

Analysts expected inventory draws across the entire complex and last night’s API data confirmed that and the official data just confirmed that further with significant drawdowns in stocks across crude, gasoline, and distillates (7th week in a row).. It is also worth noting, as Bloomberg points out that Midwest gasoline stockpiles are of great interest with a big travel weekend ahead starting at the end of the work week. This means more folks getting out of Chicago and Detroit to breathe in the forest air in places like Wisconsin and Upper Michigan for Memorial Day.

Oil settles higher on stronger demand outlook as U.S inventories fall – Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday as a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles reinforced expectations of improving demand ahead of the peak summer driving season, offsetting worries that a possible return of Iranian supply would cause a glut. Brent settled up 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.87 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 14 cents, or 0.2%, at $66.21 a barrel. Both benchmarks pared losses after government data showed U.S. crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub fell last week to the lowest since March 2020. Refiners ramped up utilization rates to pre-pandemic levels. Gasoline product supplied rose to 9.5 million barrels per day, a proxy for demand, while distillate demand was also higher. Gasoline consumption generally rises beginning around U.S. Memorial Day, which is May 31 this year, when people take to the roads. Prices found some support from lifting of coronavirus curbs. “An urge to ‘hit the roads’ in heading out on vacations that were precluded by the pandemic last year will be supporting the gasoline market,” But market players were also closely watching developments in Iranian-U.S. nuclear talks which could lead to lifting sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and releasing Iranian oil on the market. “Prices should remain supported over the summer with the only thing keeping oil from price increases being the potential return of Iranian oil,” Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei said he was optimistic Tehran would reach an agreement soon, although Iran’s top negotiator said serious issues remained. Analysts have said Iran could provide additional supply of about 1 million to 2 million bpd if a deal is struck. Iran and global powers have held talks in Vienna since April to work out steps Tehran must take on nuclear activities and Washington should take on sanctions to return to full compliance with the pact Iran reached with world powers in 2015. Russia said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+, should consider a possible increase in Iranian output when assessing further steps. OPEC+ is bringing back 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production through July, easing cuts to 5.8 million bpd.

Oil prices edge higher, boosted by U.S. economic data – (Reuters) -Oil prices rose 1% on Thursday, bolstered by strong U.S. economic data that offset investors’ concerns about the potential for a rise in Iranian supplies. Brent rose 59 cents, 0.9%, to settle at $69.46 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 64 cents, or 1%, to settle at $66.85 a barrel. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped more than expected last week, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department. The U.S. economy, which in the first quarter notched its second-fastest growth pace since the third quarter of 2003, is gathering momentum, with other data on Thursday showing business spending on equipment accelerated in April. “That’s given us more of a risk-on attitude about the markets,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “We’re back to focusing on supply and demand.” The prospect of Iranian supplies re-entering the market has pressured prices. Iran and global powers have been negotiating since April about Washington lifting sanctions on Iran, including its energy sector, in return for Iranian compliance with restrictions on its nuclear work. Those talks will be a major issue for a June 1 meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a group known as OPEC+. The group is likely to continue gradually easing oil supply curbs at a meeting on Tuesday, OPEC sources said, as producers balance expectations of a recovery in demand against a possible increase in Iranian supply. Analysts said any increase in supply from Iran would be gradual, with JP Morgan estimating Iran could add 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this year and a further 500,000 bpd by August 2022. Concerns also remain about demand in India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer. India has been hard-hit by the coronavirus, and only about 3% of its population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Reuters vaccine tracker https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access.

Oil futures end mixed, score gains for week and month – Oil futures saw choppy trading on Friday, with U.S. prices ending the session lower following five consecutive session gains, but prices tallied a rise for the week, as well as the month of May. The moves for oil come just a day after prices for U.S. benchmark crude marked their highest settlement since 2018. “The growth in the U.S. is expected to overwhelm the drag of weakness in India and Southeast Asia.” On Friday, West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell 53 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $66.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange following five consecutive gains. Prices based on the front-month contract on Thursday rose 1% to mark the highest settlement since Oct. 29, 2018. The front-month July Brent crude, which expired at the end of the session, climbed 17 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $69.63 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, with prices marking their highest finish since March 11 of this year, according to Dow Jones Market Data. August Brent contract,, which is now the front month, fell 48 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $68.72 a barrel. Based on the front-month contracts, WTI crude rose 4.3% for the week, as well as the month. Brent saw a weekly advance of 4.8% and monthly climb of 3.5%. Traders also awaited the outcome of a meeting on Tuesday of OPEC+, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, who will assess the latest oil-market conditions and decide on production levels. A current OPEC+ agreement calls for a gradual increase in production, which began in May and will run through July. Some commodity experts expect that OPEC+ may adjust its plans to ease output limits based on expected Iranian production, with negotiations between Washington and Tehran under way since April. However, he said that “no change to current policy is expected.” Meanwhile, the recovery in the U.S. from COVID is giving way to rising demand for crude and its byproducts, analysts say. Data from the Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed weekly declines for domestic crude, gasoline and distillate supplies. Still, Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. drilling rigs for oil was up a fourth straight week, up three at 359 this week, implying that an increase in oil production may be on tap. On Friday, June gasoline fell 0.5% to $2.14 a gallon, with prices up nearly 3.5% for the week and up 3.4% for the month. Read U.S. gasoline demand may hit a record this summer: GasBuddy June heating oil added 0.6% to about $2.04 a gallon, settling 2.8% higher for the week, with a monthly rise of 6.4%. The June contracts expired at the end of the trading session. July natural gas tacked on almost 1% to settle at $2.99 per million British thermal units. Prices based on the front-month contracts ended 0.3% higher for the week and were up nearly 1.9% for the month.

Light Crude Up 4.3% for the Week | Rigzone Oil posted its biggest weekly gain since the middle of April ahead of the U.S. Memorial Day weekend that kicks off the country’s summer driving season. West Texas Intermediate rose 4.3% this week. A spate of positive U.S. economic data this week continued to highlight the recovery taking shape in the world’s largest oil-consuming country, while Americans are expected to unleash demand built up during the pandemic from this weekend onward. With more drivers taking to the road and with some of the lowest gasoline stockpiles in almost 30 years, some see the U.S. facing a supply squeeze on par with those seen when a hurricane knocks out oil refineries in Texas and Louisiana. “The demand outlook appears very robust, especially in the U.S., and it’s really improving in Europe as well,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. “There’s optimism that the advanced economies are going to have Covid in the reaview mirror by the end of the summer.” Still, futures declined on Friday, snapping a five-day winning streak, as prices have remained stuck in a $10 range since March. Supply concerns remain over international talks to revive the Iran nuclear accord, which could pave the way for more oil flowing from the country. At the same time, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies meet next week, with delegates saying the alliance looks set to rubberstamp oil-output increases. “The most immediate risk to the upside would be an agreement at the nuclear talks between world powers and Iran in Vienna,” Bob Yawger, head of the futures division at Mizuho Securities, said in a note. “Nobody wants to get caught long over the weekend and see an agreement get done.” WTI for July delivery declined 53 cents to settle at $66.32 a barrel. Brent for July settlement, which expires Friday, was up 17 cents at $69.63 a barrel. The more active August contract lost 48 cents to $68.72 a barrel. Ministers from the OPEC+ alliance are set to meet on June 1 to assess the global market and their production policy. All but four of 24 analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg predict they’ll ratify an 840,000-barrel-a-day increase scheduled for July, completing a three-part process to revive just over 2 million barrels this summer.

Opec+ set to proceed with plans to boost July oil production — The OPEC+ group is expected to confirm next week its May-July plan to ease the oil production cuts by the planned 840,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, OPEC+ delegates and two dozen analysts told Bloomberg News on Thursday. The ministers of the OPEC+ group are meeting on Tuesday, June 1, and at present, no surprises are expected, despite this year’s track record of decisions surprising the market to both the bullish and bearish sides. The collective OPEC+ oil production is set to rise by 350,000 bpd in both May and June and by more than 400,000 bpd in July. Additionally, Saudi Arabia is also gradually easing its extra unilateral cut of 1 million bpd over the course of the next few months, beginning with monthly production increases of 250,000 bpd in both May and June. Overall, OPEC+ is expected to return to the market as much as 2.1 million bpd by July. The decision from early April signaled the confidence of the leaders of the OPEC+ alliance that the market would be able to absorb that much supply as vaccination programs are accelerating and people start traveling more. OPEC+ and all analysts expect global oil demand to rebound strongly in the second half of 2021 and nearly reach pre-crisis levels by the end of the fourth quarter this year. Despite the resurgence of COVID in major oil-importing markets in Asia such as India and Japan, OPEC and its allies, as well as forecasters and analysts, expect the market to absorb the additional barrels, even in case Iran returns legitimately among the oil exporters at some point in the second half of this year. Russia estimates that the global oil market is currently in a deficit of around 1 million bpd, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday. Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs kept its outlook for oil prices to rise to $80 per barrel by the end of the year despite the possibility of Iran’s oil returning to the market.

US Imported Oil Twice From Iran In Last Two Quarters Despite Sanctions – EIA Data – The United States imported crude oil and petroleum products from Iran twice between the last two quarters despite Washington’s sanctions against Tehran, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data revealed on Friday. The estimated import of 36,000 barrels per day in October 2020 and 33,000 barrels daily in March this year appear to be the first such purchases made by the United States from Iran since 1993 at least, the EIA data showed. The EIA did not explain how the Iranian imports showed up on its log, despite current US sanctions prohibiting any country from importing Iranian oil. The United States has a long history of sanctions against Iran, dating back to 1984, when it prohibited weapon sales and all US assistance to Iran. President Barack Obama in 2012 issued sanctions targeting Iranian financial institutions designed to effectively choke off the sale of Iranian oil. Obama also lifted those sanctions in 2016 after Iran signed a nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, pledging not to make atomic weapons. Obama’s successor Donald Trump, however, canceled that nuclear deal in 2018 and put new, intensified sanctions on Iran. President Joe Biden, after entering office in January this year, had allowed negotiations to begin on a fresh nuclear deal with Iran. The Biden administration is also not enforcing sanctions against Iran as strenuously as the Trump administration. It is between the handover from Trump to Biden and the first couple of months of the current administration that the US imports from Iran occurred, EIA data shows.

Israel-Gaza Clash: Conflict of Narratives, Victory of Remote Warfare – As the 11 days of clashes between Gaza and Israel ends in a ceasefire, the military analysis truly begins. The Israeli army will painstakingly review all of its operations, especially the new weapons and tactics, to judge how successful they were and what improvements are needed.Hezbollah in Lebanon has far more rockets than Hamas in Gaza, so one of the Israeli army worries will be how Hamas and other factions were able to carry on firing from such a small area right to the end, night after night.The fact that Israel’s Iron Dome defences intercepted most of the rockets from Gaza and even shot down a Hamas drone will be counted as a success – especially for the arms companies seeking to promote Israeli expertise to new markets.Hamas, meanwhile, will conduct its own analysis and will try to increase its stockpile and hide its missiles more effectively. It will want to improve its ability to fire multiple barrages – all the better to overwhelm Israel’s missile defences – and will seek to develop guidance systems. For now, there are celebrations in Gaza that the bombardment is over. For Hamas, its narrative is simple: “We stood firm, the Israelis didn’t dare invade us and we kept firing to the end.”During the last 11 days, a total of 232 people were killed in Gaza, including 65 children, against 12 killed in Israel. These tragic statistics are still far lower than the 2014 conflict, when 2,250 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, while five Israeli civilians and 67 soldiers were killed.The difference between the two conflicts is that in 2014, Israel sent troops into Gaza and by doing so, lost soldiers, including many from its elite Golani brigade. As the post-conflict ‘war of narratives‘ runs its course, Israel’s premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, will certainly claim victory. With Israel’s surveillance and intelligence capabilities, including drones, satellites, communications interception and many other complex systems, the Israeli army claims to have been very effective. However, the ability of Hamas to deploy ten-round multiple rocket launchers, and hide them underground prior to launch, will be a major focus point for the Israeli army’s improvement, not least with an eye to Hezbollah. According to an article in the 19 May print edition of Jane’s Defence Weekly, one of the barrages aimed at the coastal Israeli cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon involved firing 137 rockets in five minutes. The Israeli army will also want to work on its abilities to prevent Hamas smuggling more rockets into Gaza, especially its system of speedboats operating out of Lebanon and Egypt.

Israeli provocations continue as scale of Gaza damage emerges – A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad held for a third day on Sunday despite inflammatory threats by the Israeli government and police-backed fascistic attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians on the occupied West Bank. The Israeli provocations intensified as more residents in Gaza emerged from their homes on the weekend to survey the massive damage caused by the 11-day Israeli bombardment. The full extent of the destruction became clearer, even as Israeli drones buzzed incessantly overhead. The United Nations said nearly 450 buildings had been damaged, including six hospitals, 53 schools and 11 primary healthcare centres. More than 1,000 housing units in 258 buildings had been destroyed, and another 14,500 homes suffered damage. More than 100,000 people had been internally displaced, and about 10 times that number – half the population of the tiny Gaza Strip – had little access to piped water because of the destruction of three major desalination plants, as well as power lines and sewage works. At least 248 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, and 1,948 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Health authorities in the West Bank separately confirmed 31 killed in that region, totalling 279 across all Palestinian territories, compared to 12 deaths in Israel. Under these conditions, dozens of Jewish settlers, flanked by heavily-armed Israeli special forces, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem yesterday, further raising tensions hours after Palestinian worshippers were beaten and assaulted by the Israeli police. Citing witnesses, Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli police had earlier on Sunday assaulted Palestinians who were performing dawn prayers at the mosque and “excessively beat” them in order to make way for Israeli Jewish settlers to storm the compound – Islam’s third-holiest site. It was the violent police storming of the mosque two weeks ago, combined with moves to evict more Palestinians from their homes in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, that triggered the 11-day conflict.

‘This Is the Price of War’: Israeli Newspaper Publishes Photos of All 67 Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza Onslaught – Human rights advocates and journalists applauded the Israeli newspaper Haaretzfor its “unprecedented” cover story Thursday – one featuring the photos and stories of 67 Palestinian children killed in the latest bombardment campaign by the Israel Defense Forces.”This is the price of war,” the headline read.The article came a day after the New York Times published its own extensive account of the youngest victims of Israel’s most recent 11-day offensive, in which the IDF frequently targeted residential areas of Gaza, known as the world’s largest open-air prison.Haaretz‘s focus on the children killed in Gaza was especially noteworthy, said author and Brooklyn College professor Louis Fishman, considering the newspaper’s “readers also send their children to fight in Israel’s wars.””This is unprecedented,” Fishman tweeted. While Haaretz leans to the center-left editorially, Israeli’s mainstream media has traditionally not covered the Palestinian casualties of the IDF’s military campaigns and the Israeli government’s violent policies, said journalist Khaled Diab.As Diab tweeted, previous attempts by organizations in Israel to publicize the human cost of the IDF’s assaults have been repressed.Haaretz‘s front page represented “a bold move,” tweeted journalist Saima Mohsin, adding, “Will it make a difference?”Others on social media took note of the unprecedented cover story. “Conversations around Israel/Palestine are changing in Jewish communities across the globe,”tweeted rabbi and author Abby Stein. “It’s about time.” As Jewish Currents editor-in-chief Arielle Angell wrote last week in The Guardian, since Israel’s 2014 50-day assault on Gaza, which killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, rights advocates have “seen the growth of a small but committed Jewish anti-occupation movement [and] the last week and a half have brought an even larger circle of the community to a place of reckoning.”In Israel the Haaretz front page appeared to touch a nerve, garnering at least one outraged response from Oded Revivi, head of the Efrat Regional Council in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, who said Haaretz‘s article was evidence that “people pity the wrong mothers.”On social media, Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group said rather than the “price of war,” the Haaretz front page specifically shows the price of “Israel’s “continued military rule, dispossession, discrimination, and violence.”

Massive War Study Shows 91% Of All Global Casualties From Explosives Were Civilians — On the heels of Israel’s recent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, a London-based charity revealed Tuesday that civilians accounted for 91% of people killed or injured when explosive weapons were used in populated areas worldwide from 2011 to 2020. The new Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) report (pdf) is based on data collected as part of the group’s Explosive Violence Monitoring Project. It emphasizes that the data, taken from English-language media reporting, “is not an attempt to capture every single casualty of every incident around the world.” However, the report provides insight on the devastating impact of using explosive weapons – including air-dropped bombs, artillery shells, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and mortars – in densely populated areas and demands global commitments to end such violence.”Since the monitor began, AOAV has recorded the appalling suffering caused across the globe by both manufactured and improvised weapons,” the report says. “We call on states and other users to commit politically to stop using explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas. The harm recorded over the last 10 years and reflected in this report illustrates the stark urgency needed for a political declaration detailing such a commitment.”AOAV tallied 357,370 deaths or injuries in 28,879 incidents across 123 countries and territories – and at least 262,413 of those casualties or 73% were civilians. Overall, explosive weapons killed 155,118 people – of which 92,588 or 60% were civilians – and injured 202,252 people, of which 169,825 or 84% were civilians.

.

include(“/home/aleta/public_html/files/ad_openx.htm”); ?>