Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Reads: 06June 2021 – Part 2

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

Here are some more selected news articles for the week ending 06 June 2021. Go here for Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Read 06June 2021 – Part 1.

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

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Sexual violence along pipeline route follows Indigenous women’s warnings On 15 May, a woman met a pipeline worker at a bar in Minnesota and agreed to go to his house, but when they arrived, there were four other people there and she felt uncomfortable. “She wanted to leave, she tried to leave,” said Amy Johnson, executive director of the Violence Intervention Project (VIP) in Thief River Falls, who spoke to the woman on the phone. “It was very scary with those other men there. She said he had her in the bedroom and she couldn’t leave.” The Canadian company Enbridge is building the Line 3 oil pipeline through Minnesota, a $2.9bn project that replaces a corroded, leaking pipeline and increases its capacity from 390,000 to 760,000 barrels a day. The project has brought an influx of thousands of workers who are staying in hotels, campgrounds and rental housing along the pipeline route, often in small towns like Thief River Falls, and on or near Native reservations. Before Minnesota approved the pipeline, violence prevention advocates warned state officials of the proven link between employees working in extractive industries and increased sexual violence. Now their warnings have come true: two Line 3 contract workers were charged in a sex-trafficking sting, and crisis centers told the Guardian they are responding to reports of harassment and assault by Line 3 workers. Johnson said VIP, a crisis center for survivors of violence, has received more than 40 reports about Line 3 workers harassing and assaulting women and girls who live in north-western Minnesota. An Enbridge spokesperson, Michael Barnes, said it has “zero tolerance for illegal behavior by anyone associated with our company or its projects”, and said anyone caught or arrested would be fired. Barnes said the two workers facing trafficking charges were fired by the contractor. He also said before construction began, the company worked to raise awareness of human trafficking by partnering with contractors, tribes, local officials and Truckers Against Trafficking, which combats human trafficking. After a lull in construction due to muddy spring conditions, workers are now returning to Minnesota. Enbridge’s CEO, Al Monaco, said Line 3 was on schedule to be completed by the end of the year, but Indigenous groups and environmentalists are attempting to stop the project through peaceful protest, divestment campaigns and court action.

Enbridge entering a new phase of construction on Line 3 – and a new phase of protests – The first months of construction on Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline were relatively uneventful. Cold weather and the COVID-19 pandemic limited protests across the 337-mile route in northern Minnesota, and the Canadian company quickly finished about 60 percent of its work on the project after starting in December. After a short spring break on mainline construction required by Minnesota regulators, however, Enbridge is now entering a new phase of construction – and a new phase of protests. As the company restarted construction this week, opponents of the project geared up for a wave of larger demonstrations aimed at slowing or stopping the pipeline. A court decision on a key legal challenge to Line 3 is also expected in June, making the final stretch of construction a pivotal one for the future of Enbridge’s new pipeline. Enbridge broke ground on Line 3 in 2020 after six years of environmental and regulatory reviews on the project. It’s intended to replace an older pipeline that cuts a similar route through the northern part of the state before ending at a terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The existing 34-inch pipeline was built in the 1960s and is a corroding spill risk that operates at roughly half capacity. The new Line 3 will be a larger 36-inch pipeline capable of carrying 760,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The U.S. portion of the Line 3 project – which includes small new sections in North Dakota and Wisconsin – will cost about $4 billion in total. Supporters say the new Line 3 will be safer than the old pipeline and safer than transporting oil by truck or train. Enbridge also promised thousands of construction jobs and other economic benefits to northern Minnesota. Opponents, including some tribes and environmental groups, say Enbridge shouldn’t build new fossil fuel infrastructure amid climate change. They also argue a new pipeline carries its own spill risks in areas where tribes retain rights to hunt and gather wild rice. The Line 3 route includes 22 river crossings in water-rich central Minnesota, including the headwaters area of the Mississippi River. Minnesota regulators sided with Enbridge, and the company began construction in December. There have been protests and arrests of activists along the pipeline route, but so far, no large-scale demonstrations have taken place. That’s in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some prominent organizers said they didn’t want mass gatherings in rural areas where the health care system was already strained. The frigid winter weather also likely kept some people away from the remote construction project.Various groups opposed to the construction of Line 3 have come together to organize a weeklong event in Mahnomen starting June 5 called the Treaty People Gathering to demonstrate resistance to the pipeline and educate attendees about treaty rights. Organizers expect this will be the largest protest so far, with some 1,200 people confirmed to attend from around the country. A march is planned early Monday morning and various forms of resistance are planned through the week.

Oil demand will reach pre-pandemic levels in mid-2022, analyst says – Travel is picking up in the United States and Europe, but the rebound in global oil demand hinges on Covid-19 response in Asian markets, according to Energy Aspects analyst Amrita Sen. New Covid restrictions are going in place in Southeast Asia, and it could delay a full return in demand for crude until the middle of 2022, she said in an appearance on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “Chinese demand is booming, but as we know India is struggling. A lot of other Asian countries are going back into lockdowns of some form,” Sen said Tuesday. While India continues to grapple with a crippling second wave of Covid-19, new daily case counts have surged elsewhere in the region. In the past month, total cases in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries have more than doubled, according to data from Worldometer. In response to rising infections, new restrictions, including business closures, have gone into effect in some countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The latter country was an outlier in mitigating the disease’s spread in the early days of the health crisis. “The reality is that Asia is also quite obsessed with zero case count, rather than learning how to live with Covid, which the West is doing, like another flu effectively,” Sen said. When it comes to the U.S., work commutes have yet to return to normal, but pent-up demand and discretionary travel, such as over the Memorial Day weekend, are driving gasoline demand, Sen said. But all eyes remain on the Asian markets where some countries face vaccination challenges. Malaysia, for example, has administered at least one dose of a vaccine to about 6% of its residents, according to an Our World in Data tracker. Meanwhile, about 40% of Americans have been fully vaccinated. “Vaccination rates are low there, so we need Asia to get vaccinated,” Sen said. “That’s when globally demand can get back to 2019 levels.”

U.S. oil and gas leasing review to be released in ‘early summer’ -official –President Joe Biden’s administration expects to release results of its review of the federal oil and gas leasing program by early summer, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said on Friday. Biden announced the review shortly after taking office in what was widely viewed as a first step to fulfilling his campaign promise of banning new federal drilling leases to fight climate change. Lease auctions have been paused in the meantime, upsetting the oil and gas industry and the state governments that host it, who argue the move risks killing jobs and hurting the economy. “The oil and gas review is in process right now,” Haaland said on a call with reporters to discuss the department’s budget request. “Everyone’s been working really hard on it. We expect to have it released in early summer.” Haaland did not say how long the pause on lease auctions could last. Some 25% of U.S. oil and gas production comes from federal lands and waters. The Biden review is intended to weigh the economic benefits of federal drilling against its environmental and climate costs. Haaland’s remarks came as the department detailed large increases in spending proposed by the White House here on measures to address climate change, including wildfire mitigation and preparedness, permitting renewable energy projects on public lands and cleaning up abandoned fossil fuel infrastructure. The proposal for fiscal 2022 represents an increase of $2.5 billion, or 17%, over the enacted Interior budget for this year. It includes nearly $2 billion in new climate-related investments, the department said. The budget must be approved by Congress before taking effect.

Impacted Residents Petition – Continuous Air Quality Monitoring | Open Letter to the Erie Board of Trustees – Board of Trustees, Attached you will find a petition signed by over 200 of your constituents. It includes testimony from more than 80 impacted residents who desperately need your help. We Implore (sic) you to do the right thing and vote to purchase/implement continuous Air Quality Monitoring for our struggling community. Let this be the first step towards accountability and meaningful legislative change. As residents of Erie, Colorado, we are deeply concerned over the toxic stew of air pollutantsreleased from oil & gas operations into our communities every day. Exposure to volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) such as benzene and ethylbenzene are linked to increased risk for asthma, low birth weight, cancer, cardiac problems, and other respiratory issues1. Residents near oil & gas operations suffer headaches, dizziness, and nose bleeds in addition to the nuisances of noise, odor, and traffic. Current air quality standards set forth by the CDPHE are insufficient to protect our health, safety, and welfare. We need industry-standard, robust, and permanent air quality monitoring in Erie to properly correlate these air quality issues with the symptoms experienced by Erie residents near fracking operations. Given the proliferation of oil & gas operations within and along its borders, the Town of Eriemust be protective of its residents to understand and act on the negative impacts of oil & gas on our air quality. We demand the Town engage with Boulder A.I.R to install long-term permanent air quality monitoring stations in Erie, as well as Ajax Analytics to provide short-term/immediate response air quality monitoring. This blended approach will be a crucial first step along the way to protecting Erie residents from the negative impacts of unconventional oil & gas exploration.

OIL AND GAS: House lawmakers team up for bipartisan orphaned wells bill — Wednesday, June 2, 2021 — Two oil-state lawmakers are calling for a national orphaned well program to clean up the bevy of abandoned oil and gas relics on federal lands.

Hydrogen ‘hub’ planned for North Dakota; project could include synfuels plant sale – Several companies are partnering to try to make North Dakota a hydrogen “hub” that would harness the state’s abundant natural gas resources, and their first project could involve the sale of Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah. The facility began operating in 1984 and produces a number of products, including synthetic natural gas derived from lignite coal. It’s faced financial difficulties in recent years amid low gas prices. Subsidiary Dakota Gasification Co. operates the plant and employs 525 people. Sukut and leaders of Bakken Energy and Mitsubishi Power Americas, along with state officials, spoke about the effort Wednesday at the state Capitol. The deal involving the synfuels plant isn’t done, but company leaders are hopeful it will come to fruition.Bakken Energy, a North Dakota company formerly known as Bakken Midstream, is working with Basin to acquire the plant. It also has plans in the works to build a power plant near Williston that runs on ethane, a component of natural gas.The hub the company envisions would involve hydrogen production, storage, transportation and consumption, with facilities spread out across the state. Mitsubishi also is developing a hub in Utah, along with hydrogen storage facilities in the eastern United States and other hydrogen-related sites elsewhere in the country. The hydrogen market is expected to grow significantly in the decades ahead, and it’s viewed by supporters as a way to curb climate change.Japan, where Mitsubishi is based, and South Korea are considered leaders in hydrogen-powered vehicles. There’s great potential for hydrogen to fuel large trucks and trains, said Steve Lebow, founder and chairman of Bakken Energy. Hydrogen produced in North Dakota could be used in many ways down the road, such as for transportation, he said. Browning added that hydrogen could be important to the future of steelmaking, as well as power generation and electricity storage.Company leaders are not revealing many details about the potential project at the synfuels plant, but their larger vision for a statewide hub would involve redeveloping the facility. Even if a deal doesn’t materialize, Bakken Energy still plans to work toward creating a hub, CEO Mike Hopkins said.The companies are planning to produce hydrogen from synthetic gas made at the synfuels plant, as well as from gas produced in the Bakken oil fields.

Feds approve expansion of North Dakota natural gas pipeline(AP) – Federal regulators have approved a natural gas pipeline in western North Dakota, a move state officials believe will help curb the wasteful flaring of excess gas and increase state tax revenues by millions of dollars annually by allowing more oil drilling in the area. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission officials this week approved a certificate of public convenience and necessity for WBI Energy Inc.’s North Bakken Expansion project. The company, a subsidiary of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group Inc. said the expansion would add 250 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to a pipeline network. The company said the project includes construction of about 62 miles beginning in Tioga of 24-inch natural gas pipeline and 20 miles of 12-inch pipe, a new compressor station and additional infrastructure. The company said the project would cost $260 million and employ up to 450 people during construction. The project, which would traverse four western North Dakota counties, would be completed late this year or early next, North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad said. The line would connect to the Northern Border Pipeline south of Watford City, where the gas would be sent to Iowa, Chicago and other markets, Kringstad said. Natural gas, a byproduct of oil production, is far less valuable than crude. Natural gas production grew by 6% in March to 2.879 billion cubic feet per day. The industry captured 94% of the gas it produced and is meeting the 91% target set by state regulators to help alleviate the wasteful flaring of excess gas. The state’s daily oil output in March, the latest figures available, increased 2% to 1.108 million barrels per day. Kringstad said oil drilling in the area north of Lake Sakakawea is hamstrung by the lack of natural gas infrastructure. “If a new gas transmission project was not developed, the region north of the lake would continue to see depressed activity levels since the gas capture infrastructure is not available to meet the flaring guidelines,” Kringstad said. “By bringing this system online, it frees up the ability for more drilling and associated oil and gas production north of Lake Sakakawea,” Kringstad said. “For every day this system is operating at its starting capacity, North Dakota’s oil tax revenue increases by over a $1 million per day.”

PIPELINES: Judge overrides Biden admin on Keystone XL permit — Wednesday, June 2, 2021 — A federal judge last week overrode the objections of the Biden administration and kept alive a lawsuit challenging presidential authority to issue cross-border permits for pipelines.

Why Biden Approved ConocoPhillips’ Willow Field In Alaska: It’s All About Securing The TAPS — Fitzsimmons — SeekingAlpha — – May 30, 2021 Link here.

• Some investors were highly surprised when President Biden’s Justice Department supported the continued development of Conoco’s massive Willow field in Alaska.
• I was not. As I wrote earlier on Seeking Alpha, ironically Biden could be great for Conoco Phillips’ stock.
• One thing is clear: Biden is an energy pragmatist. He wants to see the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline flowing because it is an issue of national security.
• And the Alaskan Pipeline needs new oil to keep it operating.
• One could also argue that 100,000 bpd from a conventional reservoir like Willow is much more environmentally friendly than the equivalent number of shale wells.

Shell Oil Company, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has reached an agreement for the sale of its interest in Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership, a 50-50 joint venture between Shell Oil Company and P.M.I. Norteamerica, S.A. De C.V. (a subsidiary of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex). The transaction will transfer Shell’s interest in the partnership, and therefore full ownership of the refinery, to Pemex, subject to regulatory approvals.”Shell did not plan to market its interest in the Deer Park refinery; however, following an unsolicited offer from Pemex, we have reached an agreement to transfer our interest in the partnership to them,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s Downstream Director. “Pemex has been our strong and active partner at the Deer Park Refinery for nearly 30 years, and we will continue to work with them in an integrated way, including through our on-site chemicals facility, which Shell will retain. Above all, we remain committed to the wellbeing of our employees and will work closely with Pemex to ensure the continued prioritization of safe operations. We’re proud of our 90-plus year history as an operator and neighbor at Deer Park and we will continue to play an active role in the community”. The consideration for this transaction is $596 million which is a combination of cash and debt, plus the value of hydrocarbon inventory. This transaction allows Shell to further focus its refining footprint while also maintaining integration optionality and retaining value through its Chemicals and Trading activities. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2021.

Biden freezes oil leases in Alaska refuge pending new environmental review – The Biden administration is suspending all oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a deeper look at the environmental impacts of drilling in the sensitive region, the Interior Department said Tuesday.The suspension of the leases, which POLITICO first reported earlier in the day, follows President Joe Biden’s January 20 executive order that identified “alleged legal deficiencies” in the original leasing program and put in place a temporary moratorium on any oil- and gas-related activities in the refuge. The executive order also left open the possibility that the department would undertake a new environmental review to address potential legal flaws in the program.Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wrote in a secretarial order calling for the suspension that those legal deficiencies, “including the inadequacy of the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act,” prompted the temporary moratorium activities around the leases ANWR. The agency will publish its intent to start the review in the Federal Register in the next 60 days.A new environmental analysis could impose additional restrictions on development in the refuge or potentially nullify the leases altogether, undoing one of the signature policy achievements of the Trump administration. But Tuesday’s secretarial order does not go as far as green groups have requested in an ongoing lawsuit, which aims to void the leases that were awarded earlier this year.The move comes after the Biden administration disappointed environmental groups last week by lending its support to developing ConocoPhillips’ Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the area that lies to the west of ANWR. The Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain, a 1.6 million-acre stretch of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, was opened to oil and gas development as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The language included in the bill was drafted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and gave power and authority over the leasing program to the secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land Management. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, played only a marginal role in the environmental review process.The opening of the coastal plain to drilling marked the culmination of a nearly four-decade-long battle by the oil industry to gain access to the refuge, which is home to federally listed polar bears whose population numbers have declined dramatically in recent decades largely due to diminishing sea ice. The area opened to development also provides critical calving habitat for the Porcupine caribou herd.

Alaska Delegation, Governor Rebuke Biden Administration For Cancelling Lawful ANWR Leases -U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Congressman Don Young, and Governor Mike Dunleavy (all R-Alaska) today criticized the U.S. Department of the Interior for announcing it will suspend all oil and gas leases for portions of the non-wilderness Coastal Plain (1002 Area) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), pending the outcome of another environmental review. The leases were issued in January pursuant to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which authorized responsible energy development in ANWR.ANWR spans 19.3 million acres, an area of land roughly equal in size to South Carolina, in northeast Alaska. In 1980, Congress designated more than eight million acres within ANWR as federal wilderness as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). That same legislation set aside the 1.57-million acre Coastal Plain for petroleum exploration and potential future development, which is supported by a majority of Alaskans.”The Biden administration’s actions are not unexpected but are outrageous nonetheless,” said Senator Murkowski. “Suspending leases in Alaska’s 1002 Area is in direct conflict with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, through which Congress mandates an oil and gas leasing program be established on the non-wilderness Coastal Plain, and ordered at least two lease sales by 2024. In addition, The Act specifically states that the purpose of the 1002 area of ANWR is oil and gas development. The oil and gas leasing program established by the Trump Administration meets the legal mandates required by Congress including imposing a framework with a range of environmental safeguards that are successfully guiding production elsewhere in northern Alaska. This action serves no purpose other than to obstruct Alaska’s economy and put our energy security at great risk. Alaskans are committed to developing our resources responsibly and have demonstrated our ability to do so safely to the world.”

Biden Urged to Go Further After ‘Strong Step’ Toward Protecting Arctic Refuge From Drilling – Environmental campaigners in Alaska and across the country are cautiously celebrating the Biden administration’s Tuesday decision to suspend some fossil fuel drilling leases that were sold in the Arctic shortly before former President Donald Trump left office while also calling on Congress to provide permanent protections to one of the planet’smost biodiverse places.”We strongly support the Biden administration’s commitment to preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last great expanses of untouched wilderness areas in America,” said Kristen Miller, acting executive director of Alaska Wilderness League. “The leasing program and resulting lease sale were the result [of] a substantial flawed and legally deficient process that must be reversed.””Suspending these leases is a step in the right direction and we commend the Biden administration for committing to a new program analysis that prioritizes sound science and adequate tribal consultation,” Miller continued. “The Arctic refuge Coastal Plain is sacred to the Gwich’in people who were roundly ignored by the Trump administration, as well as the Inupiat that have lived on the Coastal Plain for generations.””There is still more to be done,” she added. “Until the leases are canceled, they will remain a threat to one of the wildest places left in America. Now we look to the administration and Congress to prioritize legislatively repealing the oil leasing mandate and restore protections to the Arctic refuge Coastal Plain.”Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, echoed that call for additional action.”After fighting so hard to protect these lands and the Porcupine caribou herd, trusting the guidance of our ancestors and elders, and the allyship of people around the world, we can now look for further action by the administration and to Congress to repeal the leasing program,” she said. “There is so much more to do to protect these lands for future generations.”

Biden Suspends Oil Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge While Supporting Drilling Elsewhere in Alaska – The Department of the Interior on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska‘s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge until a comprehensive analysis can determine the environmental impact of drilling in the area.A review “identified defects in the underlying record of decision supporting the leases, including the lack of analysis of a reasonable range of alternatives” required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), ABC News reported. The suspension includes 10-year leases that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued on Jan. 6, 2021, which span more than 430,000 acres of the refuge, a press release stated. The lease suspension follows President Joe Biden’s executive order, instated on his first day in office, which placed a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities, NBC News reported. Spanning nearly 20-million-acres, Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge houses polar bears, caribou, snowy owls and migrating birds from six continents, and is sacred land for the Indigenous Gwich’in people, NBC News wrote. However, some argue that suspending the leases doesn’t go far enough to protect the wilderness.”There is still more to be done. Until the leases are canceled, they will remain a threat to one of the wildest places left in America,” Kristen Miller, conservation director of the Alaska Wilderness League said in a statement. The decision to suspend leases in the refuge also came just one week after the Biden administration defended another Trump-era oil and gas project. The Willow Project in the North Slope of Alaska is slated to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day for the next 30 years, The New York Times reported. The ConocoPhillips drilling endeavor would be located in the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, an area earmarked by the federal government for oil extraction, according to a press release by the Office of Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. Gov. Dunleavy argues that communities in the area rely on oil and gas projects, while environmental groups sued the federal government, arguing that the environmental impacts of the project had not been taken into account, The New York Times wrote.

How Third-Party Auditors Make Oil Industry Fraud Possible — Major accounting firm KPMG is under fire from investors who filed a class action lawsuit against the firm for overstating the asset values of now-defunct oil exploration company Miller Energy Resources. And last month, a judge dismissed KPMG’s attempt to have the case thrown out.At issue in the lawsuit, filed in 2016, is a $4.55 million purchase by Miller Energy in 2009 for land and offshore oil assets in Alaska which included existing oil production infrastructure. Miller Energy then claimed those same assets were worth approximately half a billion dollars, a claim which would require approval by third-party auditors.But according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the property and old oil infrastructure in Alaska was worth only a fraction of those claims; inflating its value beyond its worth amounted to fraud, according to the SEC. The SEC stated that “Miller Energy overvalued the Alaska assets by more than $400 million.” But the oil company wasn’t the only one at fault, said the SEC. In January 2016, the SEC sent a cease and desist order for Miller Energy detailing the major fraud case and focusing in part on the role that third-party auditors such as KPMG played in making it possible.The onshore and offshore Alaskan oil assets purchased by Miller Energy had been abandoned by the previous owner because the asset retirement obligations (AROs) – the amount of money required to properly decommission the existing assets – were likely greater than the value of the remaining oil in the ground. The property was essentially worthless once the cost of the AROs was considered. But Miller Energy then told the SEC in 2010 that property was worth half a billion dollars and KPMG signed off on that estimate for several years, starting in 2011.In an August 2017 cease and desist order for KPMG, the SEC summarized the extent of KPMG’s failure to perform a valid audit of Miller Energy:”[T]he KPMG engagement team performed an inadequate assessment of the risks associated with the Miller Energy engagement. Among other things, KPMG’s initial evaluation, which was completed by Riordan and approved by KPMG management, failed to adequately consider Miller Energy’s bargain purchase, its recent history as a penny-stock company, its lack of experienced executives and qualified accounting staff, its existing material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, its long history of reported financial losses, and its pressing need to obtain financing to operate the newly acquired Alaska Assets.”The Miller Energy executive who signed off on the overvaluation ultimately paid an SEC fine of $125,000, while KPMG was fined $1 million. Oil reserves fraud – in which companies overestimate the amount of oil that can be produced from their assets – has been recognized as a growing problem in the oil and gas industry, as DeSmog has previously reported. But in order for companies to succeed in convincing investors of their incredible claims, it is critical to have independent third-party auditors – like KPMG – to support these claims.

Installed Keystone XL pipe will remain underground, for now -Hundreds of workers are back in southeast Alberta to work on the Keystone XL pipeline project, although instead of construction activity, crews will spend the summer fixing up the land. TC Energy suspended the project in January after U.S. President Joe Biden pulled the presidential permit for the proposed pipeline, which would have transported oil from Alberta to the American Midwest. About 150 km of pipe was installed in Alberta and – for now – TC Energy plans to leave it underground. In a regulatory filing last week, the company said it will work to preserve the pipe and two constructed pumping stations to maintain their integrity. “Our first priority is to make sure we wind down construction activities safely and with care for the environment and that is what we continue to focus on,” TC Energy said in an email to CBC News. “A longer-term plan is being developed to deal with the assets that have already been constructed and we continue to evaluate our options.”

Oil Group to Press Canada to Postpone Emissions Rules Oil-sands producers will ask the Canadian government to delay new greenhouse-gas rules to give scientists time to figure out how to halt their emissions. “We’ll be talking to the government about their timeline for this,” Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “This is going to take a bunch of work.” Oil-mining operations in western Canada’s tar-soaked swamps and valleys that begin operations after 2012 will have to store carbon emissions rather than releasing them into the atmosphere, Canadian Environment Minister John Baird said yesterday. Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and ConocoPhillips are among the members of Alvarez’s trade group. Canada’s oil sands hold about 177 billion barrels of oil that can be recovered using current technology, equivalent to all the reserves of Iran and Libya combined. Oil prices more than tripled in the past five years as worldwide demand, led by China and India, expanded faster than supplies. Before the new carbon rules were announced, oil and gas companies had already decided to cut spending in Canada by 3.1 percent this year to $27.7 billion, according to a team of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. analysts led by Geoff Kieburtz. That compares with estimated increases of 6.5 percent for the U.S. and 12 percent outside North America. Alvarez declined to say whether the carbon rules will discourage investment in new oil-sands projects. Baird, the environment minister, said the regulations will be completed next year. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a so-called greenhouse gas linked to climate change. U.S. oil futures rose above $100 a barrel for the first time in January, making high-cost developments like oil sands more attractive, and touched an all-time high today at $109.72. “If oil stays anywhere near its present levels, the CO2 costs probably would not make it uneconomic,” said Gene Pisasale, who helps oversee about $25 billion in investments, including about 1.8 million ConocoPhillips shares, at PNC Wealth Management in Baltimore. Companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Saudi Aramco and Marathon Oil Corp. have $15 billion in refinery expansions planned from Michigan to Texas to process more crude from Canada’s oil sands. Canadian supplies are needed to replace dwindling output from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mexico, John Hofmeister, Shell’s U.S. chairman, said in September.

Abandoned oil and gas wells will be cleaned up despite backlog: Alberta regulator – – There’s lots of life in Alberta’s conventional oil industry and plenty of resources and political will to clean up the mess it leaves behind, says the head of the province’s energy regulator. “Will there be halcyon-days growth in the sector? Probably not,” said Alberta Energy Regulator president Laurie Pushor. “We still see an industry that is healthy and anticipating relatively stable production.” Pushor spoke to The Canadian Press after his first year on the job, a year that saw 20 per cent layoffs at his agency at a time when the government is asking it to do more. There are also growing worries over the industry’s environmental liabilities and concern about the growth of coal mining in the Rocky Mountains. “This organization has had a profound amount of change,” he said Thursday. Pushor acknowledged problems with how Alberta ensured industry has cleaned up after itself. A recent report from the University of Calgary found more than half the province’s wells no longer produce, but remain unreclaimed. The regulator’s own predictions suggest such wells will double between 2019 and 2030. The regulator wasn’t making sure companies that bought old wells had the wherewithal to operate and close them safely, Pushor said. Companies would pass the regulator’s tests, then collapse anyway. “We were seeing failures of companies that had positive ratings.”

Rusty container causes oil spill in Austrian Lake — Oil Has Spilled Into A Lake In Austria During Cleaning Works, Police In Salzburg Said On Sunday. According to the statement, a steel container began leaking as it was being removed from the Lake Wolfgang near Salzburg and caused the spill. Divers had been removing old containers and tyres from the lake. They already recovered about 20 rusty barrels filled with water, when one of them unexpectedly leaked oil, DPA reported. The fire brigade immediately placed containment barriers around the patch of oil and sprayed it with a binding agent to keep it from spreading. A specialist company was hired to siphon off the oil in an area of about 30 square kilometres, according to the statement. There was no immediate indication of environmental damage.

Govt worried of oil spill in Lake Victoria – There is a looming danger of an explosion and eventual spill of more than 30,000 litres of diesel in Lake Victoria by fuel tankers that sank alongside MV Kaawa Ferry more than 16 years ago. The warning was sounded by Dr Tom Okurut, the executive director of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), during the inauguration of the new Nema board in Kampala yesterday. “MV Kabalega sank in Lake Victoria when it was coming from Mwanza and the oil is still in the tankers. There have been attempts to lift up the boat but they have failed and the tanks are expanding and can explode any time, causing an oil spill,” Dr Okurut said . “We are trying to use some technology to suck out the oil without spilling it into the lake and see if this can be successful,” he added. When asked what the impact of the oil spill could be on aquatic life, he said oil is lighter than water and when it spills, it will float, cutting off oxygen supply, thereby killing marine life. MV Kabalega, a train wagon ferry operated by the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), sank in May 2005, about 150 feet between Kuye Islands and Mazinga Sub-county and Bukasa in Kyamuswa Sub-county in what is known to be the Ssese chain of islands, following a collision with another URC owned ferry, popularly known as MV Kaawa. At the time of the collision, MV Kabalega, which was loaded with about 6,800 tonnes of wheat and oil, was headed to Port Bell in Uganda while MV Kaawa was headed out to Tanzania’s Lake Victoria port of Mwanza. MV Kaawa struck Kabalega’s bow sending the railway wagons on its deck into the water. The ferry’s tank was also ruptured, allowing water to make a rapid entry that eventually sank it.

Pakistan, Russia sign agreement to develop Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline – Pakistan and Russia have signed an inter-government agreement to develop Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline for gas transportation from Karachi to Kasur. According to the Pakistan Embassy in Russia, a protocol on amendments to the Agreement on North-South Gas Pipeline Project was signed by Pakistan’s Ambassador in Moscow Shafqat Ali Khan and Russian Minister for Energy Nikolay Shulginov in Moscow. The agreement signed after successful negotiations between Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy and Russian Ministry of Energy. As per the protocol, the project has been renamed as “Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline”. Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (SPV) would be set up within 60 days of the agreement signing. The pipeline project is a flagship strategic venture between Pakistan and Russia that would strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Cyclone Tauktae: Oil leak spotted around aground barge off Palghar coast in Maharashtra -In the aftereffects of cyclone Tauktae, oil leak was spotted on Saturday around the barge “Gal Constructor” which had run aground during cyclone Tauktae off the Palghar coast in Maharashtra.The Indian Coast Guard said a “silvery oil sheen” of 50 metres in width was spotted and all precautions are being taken.The spill had not reached the shore, the officials said.As many as 137 people had been rescued from the barge after the cyclone hit it on May 17.Palghar district disaster control chief Vivekanand Kadam told PTI that the leak was spotted close to Vadrai coast in Palghar, near Mumbai.”Officials from the Maharashtra Maritime Board as well as Coast Guard personnel are on the spot, trying to plug the leak as and when the tide allows,” Kadam said.The Coast Guard said in a statement that Gal Constructor was carrying approximately 78 kilo litres of High Flash High Speed Diesel (HFHSD) but had no crude oil on board, and no breach of the oil tank was reported.The barge had been deployed by contractor firm Afcons on behalf of state-run ONGC to service its oil and gas fields near the Mumbai coast. The company arranged Seacare which has laid a boom of 400 metres around the barge while two fuel barges have been hired for the removal of oil, the Coast Guard said.”No oil spill has been reported on shore as of now,” the release added.The situation was being closely monitored and the district administration is on alert in case oil reaches the shore and clean-up is required, it said.

Mumbai: 85 floating tanks to remove 79,000 litres of barges oil – A salvage team has started work on sponging out 79,000 litres of lube oil from the barge Gal Constructor which broke anchor, drifted and ran aground off Palghar during cyclone Tauktae about a fortnight ago. Oil removal started after 1,000 litres leaked into the sea, which was contained using booms within a radius of 400 metres around the barge. The oil was stored in the barge as lubricant for machinery. Diesel too was stored on the vessel for operations like generating electricity.The barge is about 2 km from Palghar’s Wadrai Coast, where the depth of sea is up to three metres at places. Fifteen tanks of capacity 1,000 litres each have been sent to the location for oil removal, and 70 more will reach within three days, said a shipping industry source. The tanks are being hauled by small mechanised boats. No oil spill has been reported onshore yet. “Neither has a breach of the oil tanks aboard the barge been reported. Work is on to recover the spilt oil, which has been contained around the grounded barge with the help of booms,” a source from the Directorate General of Shipping told TOI.The oil captured within the boom radius is being removed by absorbent pads. The barge’s operator had hired it from Tirupati Vessels and has engaged Smit Salvage and the firm Seacare for removal of oil from the barge. “POL (petrol, oil, and lubricant) onboard is 79 KL, which will be pumped into plastic tanks of 1,000 litres. A total of 85 tanks will be used to transport the barge’s POL,” said an official.

ICG ships continue its efforts to control the fire onboard MV X-Press Pearl off Colombo (UNI) Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Sunday said that its ships have been is working tirelessly to extinguish the massive fire onboard container vessel MV X-Press Pearl off Colombo in Sri Lankan water. The ICG and Sri Lankan Navy jointly have taken up this challenging round-the-clock fire-fighting operation named as Operation Sagar Aaraksha 2 since May 25. “At present, three ICG ships and four tugs deployed by Sri Lanka are involved in the operation and continuously fighting the fire by spraying foams and sea water using external fire-fighting systems. The non-stop joint firefighting efforts have yielded positive results with increasing signs of fire being under control. Smoke density has also reduced. The fire has been localised to a small area near the aft section of the vessel”, the officials in the ICG said. They also said that two ships ‘Vaibhav’ and ‘Vajra’, in addition to their fire-fighting capabilities, are also equipped with adequate Pollution Response (PR) capabilities for oil spill. The presence of a specialised PR vessel ICGS Samudra Prahari since May 29, has provided added strength to overall fire fighting capabilities while ICG Dornier aircraft sorties are being undertaken daily from Madurai for aerial assessment of the situation. Reports from the ships and aircraft indicate that there has been no oil spill.Further, with the careful and measured execution of firefighting operation, no change has been observed in trim and draught of the vessel indicating that the stability and watertight integrity of the vessel is intact, the ICG officials added.

Officials fear disaster as ship full of chemicals, oil sinks off Sri. Lanka.. — A fire-stricken container ship off the coast of Sri Lanka that started to sink Wednesday is becoming a source of concern for a potential environmental disaster, according to local officials.The ship, called the MV X-Press Pearl, could create an oil spill emergency as it was filled with chemicals including nitric acid and carrying nearly 350 metric tons of oil, CNN reported.Operators of the ship, X-Press Feeders, told NBC News that efforts to remove the ship from shallow waters failed Tuesday, raising fears of an ecological disaster.”The ship’s aft portion is now touching bottom at a depth of 21 meters (70 feet),” the company wrote in a statement, adding that the forward area is still afloat but spewing smoke.Sri Lankan government officials shared later on Tuesday that the ship was successfully moved to deeper waters, but expressed concern that oil could begin to leak from the ship.”Emergency measures are [being] taken to protect the lagoon and surrounding areas to contain the damage form any debris or in case of an oil leak,” Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Fisheries, Kanchana Wijesekera, wrote in a tweet detailing the situation.X-Press Feeders on Tuesday said that an inspection team boarded the ship after mitigating the fire and discovered that the ship’s engine room was flooded.”There are now concerns over the amount of water in the hull and its effect on the ship’s stability,” X-Press Feeders said. The X-Press Pearl was en route from India to Malaysia when, on May 20, a fire broke out on board. It was carrying 1,486 containers, with 81 containers holding “dangerous goods,” including 25 metric tons of nitric acid at the time, according to CNN. A criminal investigation headed by Sri Lankan authorities was launched into how the fire began on the ship. The mysterious explosion and sinking of the support ship comes after Iran, in April, accused Israeli forces of attacking an Iranian military ship that had been linked to alleged spying activities by the Iranian government. A U.S. official at the time said that Israel had notified the U.S. that they had attacked the vessel as a retaliatory measure following earlier strikes on Israeli vessels by Iranian forces. Israel and Iran since 2019 have engaged in back-and-forth attacks on ships traveling through the eastern Mediterranean and Red seas.

Plastic Pellet Spill From Burning Ship Causes ‘Worst Beach Pollution’ in Sri Lanka’s History –A chemical-laden ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka Wednesday, after burning for nearly two weeks.The accident has already led to one of the worst marine disasters in the country’s history, as tons of plasticpellets from the burning ship have already contaminated its fishing waters and washed up on its shores,Reuters reported.”This is probably the worst beach pollution in our history,” Sri Lanka’s Marine Protection Authority (MEPA) chairman Dharshani Lahandapura told AFP. The ship, a Singapore-registered container vessel named MV X-Press Pearl, caught fire May 20 after an explosion while it was anchored off of Sri Lanka’s western coast, according to Reuters. It was carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 metric tons (approximately 28 U.S. tons) of nitric acid and other chemicals. Some of these chemical-filled containers fell overboard in the fire. However, it is believed that most of the cargo was destroyed in the flames, according to AFP. Up until now, the biggest devastation from the incident has been the plastic pellet pollution. The government moved Wednesday to suspend fishing along 50 miles of Sri Lanka’s coastline, grounding 5,600 boats, according to Reuters. “I have never seen anything like this before,” Dinesh Wijayasinghe, a 47-year-old who works in a hotel in the coastal town of Negombo, told The New York Times. “When I first saw this, about three to four days ago, the beach was covered with these pellets. They looked like fish eyes.” This pollution is devastating both for the region’s marine life and for the people who depend on it for their livelihoods. Microplastics and other charred remains from the ship have been found as far down as two feet deep in the sand, according to AFP. There are fears the pollution will harm mangroves and coral reefs and make it harder for fish to breed in shallow waters.”No one is able to say how long we will have the adverse effects of this pollution,” 30-year-old fisherman Fisherman Lakshan Fernando told AFP. “It could take a few years or a few decades, but in the meantime what about our livelihoods?”At the same time, the plastic pollution could have a lasting impact on human health. “The pellets can soak and absorb the chemicals from the environment,” marine biologist Dr. Asha de Vos told The New York Times. “This is an issue because when we eat whole fish, we will also be eating these chemicals.” There are now concerns an oil spill could make the environmental disaster even worse, CNN reported. The vessel has 350 metric tons (approximately 386 U.S. tons) of oil in its tank. This could reach a 30-kilometer (approximately 19 mile) stretch of coastline, including pristine beaches.

Oil spill fear deepens as ship on fire starts to sink off Sri Lanka – (EFE).- A cargo ship with chemicals on board that has been on fire for the last nearly two weeks off the Sri Lankan coast began to sink Wednesday, officials said, sparking fears over a catastrophic oil spill and extensive marine pollution. The Sri Lankan Navy told the media that the X-Press Pearl vessel, carrying 1,500 containers of nitric acid and other chemicals, was sinking near the western coast. Minister of State for Fisheries Kanchana Wijesekera wrote on Twitter that the “sinking vessel is been towed away to deep waters by the salvage company with the support of the navy and other stakeholders involved.” The minister said the fisheries department had suspended vessels entering from the Negombo Lagoon and fishing from Panadura to Negombo with an immediate effect after the ship started sinking. “Emergency preventing measures are taken to protect the lagoon and surrounding areas to contain the damage form any debris or in case of an oil leak. Vessels fishing in around the area and high seas are also informed of possible debris and to be vigilant.” The Singapore-registered container was heading from India to the Colombo harbor when it caught fire off Sri Lankan waters last nearly two weeks ago. The authorities have since tried to extinguish the flames. But strong winds associated with the monsoon have complicated the operation. The burning ship has caused the plastic waste spillage off the west coast. Sri Lanka Navy launched a mass-scale beach cleanup after plastic pallets from the ship washed ashore. It is the second ship that caught fire off Sri Lankan water in a span of few months. In September, a large crude oil carrier MT New Diamond caught fire and suffered an engine room explosion that left one of its crew dead. The Sri Lankan and Indian firefighting missions battled for over a week to control the fire.

International experts deployed for Sri Lanka oil spill – Foreign experts have been deployed to help Sri Lanka contain a potential oil leak from a burnt-out container ship partially sunk off Colombo, the ship’s operator said Friday. Representatives from the International Tankers Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) and Oil Spill Response (OSR) were onshore monitoring the MV X-Press Pearl, X-Press Feeders said. “They continue to coordinate with MEPA (Marine Environment Protection Authority) and the Sri Lankan navy on an established plan to deal with any possible spill of oil and other pollutants,” the company said. Its chief executive, Shmuel Yoskovitz, apologized to Sri Lanka for the disaster, which saw the ship burn for 13 days and inundated the island’s beaches with huge amounts of plastic pellets. With the ship’s stern now on the sea bed and the bow slowly sinking, environmentalists fear an oil leak could cause even greater degradation to marine life. Choppy seas and poor visibility prevented navy divers from checking the hull for a second day Friday, Sri Lanka navy spokesperson Indika de Silva told AFP. He said a team reached the sinking vessel and made a cursory inspection on Thursday, but could not carry out their mission because of poor visibility. Meanwhile, the MEPA has placed oil dispersants and skimmers should the vessel leak its 350 tons of fuel oil on board. An Indian coastguard vessel in the area has equipment to deal with any oil slick, according to the Sri Lankan navy, which has requested assistance with the operation. Sri Lanka’s Harbour Master Nirmal Silva said Thursday that no oil had leaked so far. “Looking at the way the ship burnt, expert opinion is that bunker oil may have burnt out, but we are preparing for the worst-case scenario,” Silva said.

OMV confirms hydraulic oil spill off Taranaki coast – An oil spill off the Taranaki coast has been reported to authorities, Austrian-owned oil and gas company OMV says.On Monday, an OMV New Zealand spokeswoman confirmed hydraulic fluid, also known as hydraulic oil, had been spilled during a site survey last week.”Approximately 90 kilometres off the coast of Taranaki, hydraulic fluid was lost to the ocean during operations conducted from the vessel MMA Vision,” she said. “OMV takes its commitments to the environment seriously and, as abundance of caution, OMV asked the vessel operator to return to port for investigation and repair.” A helicopter which flew out to examine the scene on Friday morning found no signs of the spill, she said.OMV’s Maui B platform. The Austrian-owned oil and gas company has confirmed hydraulic oil was spilled during a site survey off the Taranaki coast last week. (File photo)OMV has operated in New Zealand since 1999 when it acquired shares in the Maari oil field, 80km off the South Taranaki coast.It now also owns the Maui gas field and has a 74 per cent share in the Pohokura gas field.

OPEC oil output rise in May limited by Nigeria, Iran losses –OPEC oil output has risen in May as the group agreed to ease supply curbs under a pact with allies, a Reuters survey showed, although a drop in Iranian exports and involuntary reductions in African members limited the increase. The 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has pumped 25.52 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, the survey found, up 280,000 bpd from April. Output has risen every month since June 2020 with the exception of February. Hoping for a global demand recovery, OPEC and allies, known as OPEC+, decided from May 1 to ease more of the record supply cuts made in 2020. OPEC+ meets on Tuesday and delegates expect producers to stick to the existing plan. The OPEC+ agreement allows for a 277,000 bpd increase in OPEC output in May versus April, plus Saudi Arabia had pledged to add 250,000 bpd as part of a plan to gradually unwind a 1 million bpd voluntary cut had made in February, March and April. But with reductions in other countries offsetting the Saudi move, the increase in May OPEC output found by the survey is less than expected, and the group is still pumping much less than called for under the deal. OPEC compliance with pledged cuts was 122% in May, the survey found, versus 123% in April. The biggest increase in May of 340,000 bpd came from Saudi Arabia as it began to unwind the voluntary cut and raised output as part of the May 1 OPEC+ boost. OPEC’s No. 2 producer Iraq also pumped more in May, the survey found, adding an extra 70,000 bpd and pushing output beyond its quota. Libya, one of the OPEC members exempt from making voluntary cuts, boosted output in May after a force majeure on oil loadings from the port of Hariga was lifted. These increases were limited by involuntary reductions elsewhere in the group. The biggest drop was in Nigeria, where exports slowed from a number of terminals. Angolan supply, in long-term decline, also declined. Iran, which has managed to raise exports since the fourth quarter despite U.S. sanctions, exported less in May due to lower demand in China.

US sells off Iranian crude oil seized off coast of UAE – The U.S. has sold some 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil after seizing an oil tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, court documents and government statistics show. The Iranian crude oil showed up in new figures released over the weekend by the U.S. Energy Information Agency, raising the eyebrows of commodities traders as Tehran remains targeted by a series of American sanctions. The EIA figures included just over 1 million barrels of Iranian “crude oil imports“ in March ..The oil came from the MT Achilleas, a ship seized in February by the U.S. off the coast of the Emirati port city of Fujairah. U.S court documents allege the Achilleas was subject to forfeiture under American anti-terrorism statues as Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard tried to use it to sell crude oil to China. The U.S. has identified the Guard as a terrorist organization since the administration of former President Donald Trump.Prosecutors say shippers tried to disguise the shipment by labeling it as “Basra light crude” from neighboring Iraq. The U.S. government brought the Achilleas to Houston, Texas, where it sold the just over 2 million barrels of crude oil within it for $110 million, or at around $55 a barrel, court documents show. The money will be held in escrow amid a court case over it. When asked Monday about the case, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said he had “no details” about it. “Since the time of the former U.S. president, Mr. Bill Clinton, no oil has been purchased from Iran because of their laws,” Khatibzadeh said.

Russia to consider ditching dollar-denominated oil contracts if faced with more U.S. sanctions Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Thursday said the oil and gas-rich country may soon be tempted to move away from U.S. dollar-denominated crude contracts if President Joe Biden’s administration continues to impose targeted economic sanctions. “Well, ideally we would prefer not to move away from the dollar as it is an international currency used for settlements,” Novak told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to a translation. “But if our American partners create this type of situation we shall have no other choice but gradually do that,” he added. His comments come shortly after Russia announced it would completely remove U.S. dollar assets from its National Wealth Fund. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at the same event Thursday that the changes could be expected within a month, according to Reuters. Russia’s NWF accumulates oil revenue and was initially dedicated to supporting the country’s pensions system. The move comes ahead of a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden later this month. “We shall continue to be the world leader in the fossil fuels market and we shall diversify by going into the LNG and petrochemicals (markets),” Novak said, referring to the acronym for liquefied natural gas. “Plus develop new energy production, clean energy,” he continued, citing hydrogen, carbon storage technologies and the development of new fuels, among other projects. Russia’s economy has been operating under international sanctions since 2014 after its annexation of Crimea. Its role in a pro-Russian uprising in east Ukraine, 2016 U.S. election interference, a nerve agent poisoning in the U.K. and its role in the SolarWinds cyberattack, among other incidents, have also all prompted further sanctions. For its part, Russia denies any involvement or wrongdoing. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded at $71.56 a barrel on Thursday afternoon in London, up around 0.3%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures stood at $68.99, roughly 0.2% higher. Oil prices have climbed more than 30% since the start of the year. In Oct. 2019, Russia’s largest oil company Rosneft set the euro as the default currency for all new exports of crude oil in an attempt to shield it from the impact of U.S. sanctions.

It could be a hot summer ahead for oil prices –Oil prices could temporarily spike to $80 per barrel or more this summer as demand comes roaring back. The reopening economy has already sent crude up about 40% since the start of the year, but a surge in driving by Americans, as well as an increase in goods transportation and air travel, could pressure prices further. For consumers, that means the typical early summer peak in gasoline prices could come later in the season. Unleaded gasoline was $3.04 per gallon on average Wednesday, about a penny higher than last week but more than 50% higher than a year ago, according to AAA. Brent futures, the international crude benchmark, settled up 1.6% at $71.48 per barrel Wednesday, the highest since Jan. 8, 2020. West Texas Intermediate futures for July were 1.6% higher at $68.83 per barrel, after hitting a high of $69.65, the highest since Oct. 23, 2018. “Demand is ramping up very quickly because everybody’s driving, and we have the reopening of Europe, which is really starting to happen,” said Francisco Blanch, global commodities and derivatives strategist at Bank of America. “India seems to have hit an inflection point, in terms of cases, which in my mind could mean you also get a return of mobility.” Energy analysts agree the world is in for a period of higher prices, but they do not agree how high or for how long. Blanch said Brent has already hit his $70 target for the quarter, but he has a much more bullish longer-term view than others. “We think in the next three years we could see $100 barrels again, and we stand by that. That would be a 2022, 2023 story,” Blanch said. “Part of it is the fact we have OPEC kind of holding all the cards, and the market is not particularly price responsive on the supply side and there is a lot of pent-up demand … We also have a lot of inflation everywhere. Oil has been lagging the rise in prices across the economy.” Members of OPEC and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, are gradually returning oil to the market. They agreed to implement their previously planned production increase of 350,000 barrels a day in June and another 450,000 barrels a day starting in July. Saudi Arabia also agreed to step back from its own cuts of about a million barrels a day, which was put in place earlier in the year. OPEC+ had agreed in April to increase output by more than 2 million barrels a day by the end of July. The U.S. industry is producing about 11 million barrels a day, down from about 13 million before the pandemic. But analysts say it’s not clear how fast or whether U.S. companies will restore that production. “The sensitivity of producers to price changes has declined because of capital discipline,” said Blanch. He said there is pressure on companies to be cautious in how they use capital after the collapse in prices last year. “Right now we’re in a position where prices are rising, companies are reluctant to invest,” Blanch said. “They are paying down debt and increasing dividends.”

Oil up, near $70 a barrel as demand outlook improves (Reuters) -Oil prices firmed on Monday, with Brent trading near $70 a barrel on growing optimism that fuel demand will grow in the next quarter, while investors looked ahead to see how producers will respond at this week’s OPEC+ meeting.Trading was thin as U.S. and UK markets were closed on Monday due to public holidays. Brent crude futures settled up 60 cents, or 0.9%, at $69.32 a barrel, off the a session high of $69.82. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% and last traded at $66.91 a barrel. Both contracts were set for a second monthly gain.Analysts expect oil demand growth to outstrip supply despite the possible return of Iranian crude and condensate exports. “Despite the mobility restrictions that are still in place, oil demand is recovering dynamically around the world,” Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) said.Iran has been in talks with world powers since April, working on steps that Tehran and Washington must take on sanctions and nuclear activities to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia will meet on Tuesday.The group known as OPEC+ is expected to stay the course on plans to gradually ease supply cuts until July.”Trading excitement often drives the market just before OPEC+ meetings, and there is confidence that the oil producer group will demonstrate supply restraint at its meeting on Tuesday,” Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy said in a note to clients. A Joint Technical Committee (JTC) for the alliance kept its global oil demand growth forecast for 2021 unchanged at about 6 million barrels per day, two sources from the group told Reuters on Monday.

Oil jumps to two-year high as OPEC and allies reconfirm gradual production increase – A group of some of the world’s most powerful oil producers agreed on Tuesday to continue gradually easing production cuts amid a rebound in oil prices. OPEC and its oil-producing allies, known as OPEC+, will boost output in July, in accordance with the group’s April decision to return 2.1 million barrels per day to the market between May and July. Production policy beyond July was not decided on, and the group will meet again on July 1. International benchmark Brent crude futures traded at $71.17 a barrel on Tuesday, up around 2.7%, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures stood at $68.65, for a gain of more than 3% and the contract’s highest level in more than two years. Oil prices have climbed more than 30% this year. The Middle East-dominated group, which is responsible for over one-third of global oil production, is seeking to balance an expected upswing in demand with the potential for an increase in Iranian output. The alliance announced massive crude production cuts in 2020 in an effort to support prices when the coronavirus pandemic coincided with a historic demand shock. Ahead of the meeting, analysts expected the group to keep output steady. “I think the event itself is going to be a nonevent. We expect them to basically reconfirm the plan that they laid out on April 1,” Jeffrey Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Tuesday. “I think the bigger issue underlying this is: How are they going to deal with Iran?” Iran is in discussions with six world powers to revive its 2015 nuclear deal. The restoration of a deal could lead to more oil on the global market in coming months. “It’s too early to give specific numbers around Iran,” Currie said. “So I think the best you can hope for in terms of how they are going to deal with Iran is the indication that they are willing to offset any increases in Iran. That could be the positive upside surprise coming out of this meeting.” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said Monday that he did not believe higher Iranian supply would be a cause for concern. “We anticipate that the expected return of Iranian production and exports to the global market will occur in an orderly and transparent fashion,” Barkindo said in a statement. “I think everybody is expecting Iran to add a lot of volume. So beyond the July increase, they aren’t likely to come out with any commitment,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday. “We know that as demand rises, we will need more OPEC barrels, but I think Iran is going to be the big question mark for them,” Sen said. OPEC+ initially agreed to cut oil production by a record of 9.7 million barrels per day last year as global fuel demand collapsed, before easing cuts to 7.7 million and eventually 7.2 million from January. By July, the group’s production cuts will be on track to stand at 5.8 million. “The most consequential issue for OPEC+ over the short term relates to the potential rise of Iranian production as a result of the US and Iran returning to JCPOA compliance,”

Oil Hits Highest Since October 2018 With Saudis Upbeat on Demand – – Oil resumed its advance, reaching the highest settlement in over two years with the OPEC+ alliance forecasting a tightening global crude market and a nuclear deal with Iran still up in the air. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1 percent, while global benchmark Brent settled above $70 a barrel for the first time since 2019. Prices rallied as members of the OPEC+ alliance sounded upbeat notes about the global consumption rebound. Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said “the demand picture has shown clear signs of improvement,” while his Russian counterpart also spoke of the “gradual economic recovery.” Adding further support, the prospect of an immediate resolution in talks to revive the 2015 nuclear accord has been delayed for now. Iranian officials said the Persian Gulf country and world powers are unlikely to reach a final agreement in the current round of talks, cooling speculation that sanctions on Tehran’s key oil exports might soon be lifted. WTI for July delivery climbed $1.40 to settle at $67.72 a barrel. Brent for August settlement rose 93 cents to $70.25 a barrel, the highest since May 2019. , “it looks like we could be in for a tight summer.” A robust economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe has given the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies the confidence that markets can absorb additional barrels, with the producer group agreeing Tuesday to press ahead with an increase of 841,000 barrels a day in July, following hikes in May and June. That comes as the International Energy Agency signaled a speedier demand recovery than its previous estimates, seeing global oil demand in one year possibly rebounding to levels seen before the pandemic. The oil market’s structure was also showing signs of strength on Tuesday. The spread between WTI’s nearest two December contracts — a favored trade for hedge funds to express views on the oil market — rallied to its widest backwardation since the two contracts began trading, indicating tight supply. Down the curve, the spread between the December 2022 and December 2023 contracts has surged further above $3 a barrel in backwardation. The oil glut built up during the coronavirus pandemic has almost gone and stockpiles will slide rapidly in the second half of the year, according to an assessment of the market earlier this week from an OPEC+ committee. At the forefront of the global demand recovery, the U.S. has been showing signs of solid travel patterns even before this past weekend marked the start of the traditional peak fuel consumption period. U.S. gasoline demand in week ended May 28 reached the highest level since start of pandemic to 9.534 million barrels a day, Descartes Labs said in survey based on movements of cellular devices.

Oil Algos Confused After Big Crude Draw, Product Build – Oil prices rallied on the day as signs of a demand recovery from the US to Europe stoke optimism among producers and analysts in the crude market, combined with waning hopes for an Iran nuke deal.Oil is in “strong demand right now,” with economies around the world opening up, Daniel Yergin, the oil historian and vice chairman at consultant IHS Markit Ltd., said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Oil is bid on the Iran timeline to adding barrels getting kicked further into the future–sometime between August and the fall,” After last week’s across-the-board draws, analysts expected another week of demand dominance. API

• Crude -5.36mm (-3.3mm exp)
• Cushing +741k
• Gasoline +2.51mm (-1.1mm exp)
• Distillates +1.585mm (-1.6mm exp)

While crude stocks tumbled more than expected, gasoline and distillate stocks unexpectedly rose last week… WTI hovered just below $68.80 ahead of the API print and barely budged on the mixed data… “Summer and the reopening of the economy is bullish for demand,” while “it looks much less likely we’ll have Iranian barrels any time soon than it did last week.” But, the question now is whether oil prices can hold their gains “amid strong demand, despite plenty of downside risk on the supply side,”

WTI Extends Gains After Sizable Crude Inventory Draw, Shrugs Off Unexpoected Product Builds – Oil prices are holding gains, with WTI around $69, after last night’s bigger than expected crude draw reported by API, helped by signs of demand rebounding in the US (PMI/ISM) offsetting China concerns.Crude prices have extended gains this week on OPEC’s new outlook and because nuclear talks between Iran and world powers stalled.“There will always be a good amount of supply to meet demand,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at a forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday.”We’ll have to see demand” before producers increase supply, he said.Additionally, Saudi Arabia increased oil prices for customers in its main market of Asia by more than expected after Brent crude surged above $70 a barrel and OPEC forecast that global demand would heavily outstrip supply over the rest of the year. DOE

• Crude -5.079mm (-3.3mm exp)
• Cushing +784k – biggest build since Feb
• Gasoline +1.499mm (-1.1mm exp) – biggest build since April
• Distillates +3.72mm (-1.6mm exp) – biggest build since March

Crude stocks fell notably last week but product inventories unexpectedly rose… US Crude production continues to remain ‘disciplined’ (in fact, falling 200kb/d last week) despite the soaring prices and surging rig counts….

“We’ll See $200 Oil”: Russia & OPEC Ministers Blast IEA’s ‘Net Zero By 2050’ Plan As “La-La-Land” – After in recent months crude oil prices have clearly recovered from their COVID-19 slump on steadily increasing demand, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak addressed the much anticipated decision-making at the upcoming OPEC+ conference set for August and the expectation that it will decide to raise output significantly beyond the current pandemic-induced strategy of gradually releasing more barrels into a strengthening oil market.Novak said in his Thursday remarks at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that while it remains “premature” to talk about output decisions for August, he affirmed “The current oil price is good enough for Russia,” adding: “Oil prices reflect the balance of supply and demand,” and noted it’s expected the seasonal oil demand will increase in the third quarter of the year. On Wednesday Brent crude futures touched their highest price since September 2019 at $71.99, with the international benchmark gaining 1.6%, following the day prior the benchmark seeing a rise of almost 3%.Novak confirmed the upcoming OPEC+ conference will address and finalize oil output for August and other months, while stressing that oil prices shooting too high “may force users to switch to other energy sources.”On that front in particular, he blasted current IEA proposals and a “road map” being pushed which in the end could lead to $200 a barrel oil(!):If the world were to follow the International Energy Agency’s controversial road map, which said investment in new fields would have to stop immediately to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, “the price for oil will go to, what, $200? Gas prices will skyrocket,” Novak said.And naturally Qatar and Saudi Arabia seconded that dire assessment, vowing to continue expanding their oil and gas facilities while pointing the finger at the climate activists for seeking to starve industry cash. Bloomberg presents the Gulf statements Thursday as follows: The “euphoria” around the transition to clean energy is “dangerous,” Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia on Thursday.“When you deprive the business from additional investments, you have big spikes” in prices, he stressed further.

Oil hits over 1-year high on OPEC+ supply discipline, demand prospects (Reuters) – Oil prices surged on Wednesday, hitting their highest in more than a year from a decision by OPEC and allies to stick to the plan to gradually restore supply, along with the slow pace of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. Brent rose $1.1, or 1.6%, to settle at $71.35 a barrel. It reached $71.48 a barrel, its highest since January 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.11, or 1.6%, to settle at $68.83 a barrel. It hit $69.00 during the session, its highest since October 2018. “The oil market welcomed the OPEC+ decision to stick with its existing production plan, and in conjunction with positive global demand indications, prices are gaining further today,” said Louise Dickson, Rystad Energy oil markets analyst. Expecting a recovery in demand, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as OPEC+, agreed on Tuesday to maintain their plan to gradually ease supply curbs through July. The OPEC+ meeting took 20 minutes, shortest in the group’s history, indicating unity among members and their confidence in the market’s recovery, analysts said. OPEC+ data shows the group is now more upbeat about the pace of rebalancing in the oil market than it was a month ago. Graphic: Oil Market Balances – https://graphics.reuters.com/GLOBAL-OIL/rlgvddlxyvo/chart.png Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said solid demand recovery in the United States and China and the pace of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts can only lead to further rebalancing of the global oil market. “We expect oil prices to move well beyond $70 per barrel towards mid-year,” said Norbert Rucker, analyst at Swiss bank Julius Baer. Analysts also said the slow progress of the Iran nuclear talks provides breathing room for demand to catch up before Iranian oil returns to the market if a deal is reached. Talks aimed at reviving Iran’s nuclear pact with global powers were expected to adjourn for a week, diplomats said, with remaining parties to the deal due to meet on Wednesday evening to sign off on the move. In the United States, crude stocks fell by 5.36 million barrels in the week ended May 28, according to two market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures released after the markets settled. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.5 million barrels and distillate stocks climbed by 1.56 million barrels.

U.S. oil futures post another finish at the highest since 2018 Oil futures climbed sharply on Wednesday (link), with U.S. prices at their highest in over two and a half years. Most of oil’s rise is “driven by expectations that gasoline inventories will take a hit” in supply data due out Thursday, and “anticipation that Americans, who stayed home last year, will be taking to the road again,” said James Williams, energy economist at WTRG Economics. The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly supply report on Thursday, a day later than usual because of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday. Oil prices, however, appeared to gain more ground during the session following reports of a fire at a state-owned refinery in Iran (link). That followed news that the largest warship in Iran’s navy caught fire (link) and sank on Wednesday. The events are “raising the overall risk premium in the Middle East,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group. “The biggest downside risk is the return of Iranian supply and that looks more unlikely.” West Texas Intermediate oil for July delivery climbed $1.11, or 1.6%, to settle at $68.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month contract prices ended at their highest since October 2018, FactSet data show.

Oil steady after mixed U.S. crude inventory report – (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied on Thursday following two straight days of gains that took oil futures to highs not seen in a year, after weekly U.S. crude stocks fell sharply while fuel inventories rose more than expected. Brent futures settled at $71.31 a barrel, down 4 cents after touching its highest since May 2019 earlier in the session. U.S. crude settled at $68.81 a barrel, losing 2 cents. WTI prices rose as high as $69.40, the strongest since October 2018, after gaining 1.5% in the previous session. U.S. crude inventories dropped by 5.1 million barrels last week, compared with expectations for a decrease of 2.4 million barrels, while gasoline stocks grew by 1.5 million barrels and distillate stockpiles jumped by 3.7 million barrels. [EIA/S] “They burned through a lot of crude oil though, and we had builds in gasoline and distillate,” “You don’t want to be burning that much crude and then the customers don’t want it.” Gasoline demand jumped last month on panic buying following the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, the largest U.S. refined products line, which meant drivers were less likely to need to fill up their tanks over Memorial Day weekend, the start of peak summer driving season. “Gasoline demand was off week-over-week which may disappoint some people, but it’s still solid,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. Oil prices have risen in recent days on expectations from forecasters, including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, that oil demand will exceed supply in the second half of 2021. OPEC+ agreed on Tuesday to continue with plans to ease supply curbs through July, giving oil prices a boost, in anticipation of improved consumption. The OPEC+ meeting lasted 20 minutes, the quickest in the group’s history, suggesting strong compliance among members and the conviction that demand will recover once the COVID-19 pandemic shows sign of abating. Also supporting prices was a slowdown in talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, which reduced expectations for a return of Iranian oil supplies to the market this year.

Oil Continues Winning Streak On Demand Recovery And Production Restraint – Brent on Friday topped $72 per barrel for the first time since 2019, and analysts think $70- plus oil could be here to stay as demand recovery continues and supply discipline on the part of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is exerted. Trader optimism on Friday was due to factors that had been building earlier in the week, including OPEC agreeing on Tuesday to stick to agreed supply restraints, and news that nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. increased by 559,000 jobs last month. Also boosting oil was a slowdown in talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program. Brent on Friday rose 58 cents to settle at $71.89 per barrel, after touching $72.17, its highest since May 2019; West Texas Intermediate rose 81 cents to settle at $69.62. “After much dilly-dallying, Brent appears to have found a new home above $70; summer and the reopening of the global economy is bullish for oil demand in the second half of the year.” John Kemp, commodities analyst for Reuters, pointed out that U.S. shale restraint should also be credited for pushing up oil prices: on Friday he noted that while the number of rigs has already more than doubled from its cyclical low in August 2020, He added, that “The number of active rigs has grown by an average of just 3.5 per week over the last 15 weeks, down from an average of 6.2 per week over the previous 20 weeks”; also, the number of rigs active last week (359) was far below the number in January 2020 (670) and April 2019 (825), when prices were at a similar level – meaning production is “likely to grow more slowly than previously expected in late 2021 and the first half of 2022.” More heartening news came on Friday in the form of data from Vortexa showing that Asia exported about 417,000 barrels per day (bpd) of jet fuel to Europe and North America combined in April-May, nearly 32 percent higher than the 316,000 bpd for February-March; also, jet fuel volumes in floating storage facilities have consistently stayed at zero for the past four weeks for the first time since March last year, according to Kpler., “A pick-up in air travel in the U.S. and Europe amid falling [Covid] infection rates and possible relaxing of travel restrictions this summer, that contrasts against the weak fundamentals in Asia, is expected to support a widening of East-West jet fuel arbitrage in the near term.”

Oil Prices Up for Second Straight Week | Rigzone – Oil and gasoline futures both posted their second weekly gain in a row as expectations for a demand pick-up from the northern hemisphere’s summer begin to come to fruition. Futures in New York rose nearly 5% this week, the largest such increase since mid-April. A string of data this week so far affirmed the market’s bet that higher vaccination rates and continuing reopening efforts are unleashing pent-up demand this summer. On the supply side, oil is garnering support from deferred expectations on a renewed nuclear deal with Iran and OPEC+’s cautious approach to bringing back output. Meanwhile, global benchmark Brent ended the week above the psychological $70-a-barrel mark for the first time in over two years, nearing a technical level that may spur renewed flows into the market. “The domestic story remains good and OPEC+ seems to be not aggressively increasing supply,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The market has been hoping for a return to “a more normal travel season, and that’s the data we’re seeing in the U.S. and Europe.” Without an immediate revival of the Iran nuclear accord looming over the market, traders see prices grinding higher as the summer demand story unfolds. U.S. government data this week served as confirmation that the world’s largest oil-consuming country is in the midst of a demand revival with the onset of the summer travel season, while other countries are also showing strength. A gauge of gasoline consumption inched up for a third straight week at the highest since March 2020, according to the latest Energy Information Administration weekly storage report. In the U.K., government data showed road fuel sales jumped last week to near pre-pandemic levels. “It looks like the economy is back, certainly in the U.S., and vaccines are starting to spread, which is making people want to be long oil heading into the weekend,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. Once more countries start getting a hold on the Covid-19 spread, “economies are going to start booming with pent-up consumer demand.” Prices WTI for July delivery rose 81 cents to settle at $69.62 a barrel. Brent for August settlement gained 58 cents to end the session at $71.89 a barrel. Contract climbed 3.3% for the week. While the rebound remains patchy in parts of Asia, the sharp recovery taking shape in the west is spurring calls for OPEC+ to ensure the market doesn’t overheat.

Goldman says a nuclear deal with Iran could send oil prices higher. Not everyone agrees – A nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran could send energy prices higher – even if it means more supply in the oil markets, according to Goldman Sachs’ head of energy research. While it appears to be contradictory, a deal that brings Iranian barrels back to the market could actually see oil prices rise, said Damien Courvalin, who is also a senior commodity strategist at the bank. Talks in Vienna are ongoing as Iran and six world powers – the U.S., China, Russia, France, U.K. and Germany – try to salvage the 2015 landmark deal. Officials say there’s been progress, but it remains unclear when negotiations could conclude and oil prices have been seesawing as a result. A deal would lift sanctions on Iran and bring Tehran and Washington back to complying with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran which dealt a blow to the Islamic Republic’s oil exports. If that announcement comes in the next few weeks, in our view, it actually starts that bullish repricing. Courvalin explained his rationale. He pointed to how oil prices rose in April after OPEC+ said they would gradually raise output from May by adding back 350,000 barrels a day. “An increase in production … is announced that is above anyone’s expectations – ours included. And yet prices rally, volatility comes down,” he said. “Why? Because we lifted an uncertainty that was weighing on the market since last year,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” last week. Investors wondered if OPEC would end up in a price war when it tried to increase production, but the oil cartel presented a “convincing path going forward,” Courvalin said. “You could argue the same for Iran,” he added. Simply knowing will likely “lift some of that uncertainty.” “If that announcement comes in the next few weeks, in our view, it actually starts that bullish repricing,” he said at that time. Opposing views Other analysts say an agreement could mean lower prices for oil, at least in the short term. Morgan Stanley said in a research note that an increase in Iranian exports will probably cap Brent crude at $70 per barrel, and expects the international benchmark to trade between $65 and $70 per barrel for the second half of 2021.

Iranian warships possibly headed to Venezuela reportedly spark US concern -Two Iranian naval vessels possibly destined for Venezuela are reportedly prompting surveillance from U.S. national security officials.Sources close to the matter told Politico that an Iranian frigate and a former oil tanker called the Makran were traveling south along the eastern coast of Africa.The ultimate destination of the ships is unknown, as is the purpose of their voyage, but U.S. officials told the news outlet that they may be going to Venezuela.Politico noted that Iran and Venezuela have formed closer ties over the years, cooperating on gasoline shipments and projects focusing on cars and cement factories. Both countries are also currently under harsh sanctions by the U.S.A source familiar with Venezuelan President Nicolfls Maduro’s administration told Politico that senior officials have advised against welcoming the Iranian vessels. Iran is one of the few allies Venezuela has, having been isolated by most other countries.Iran has sent multiple fuel tankers to Venezuela as its oil refining sector has diminished, with Venezuela sending cash back to Tehran.If Iranian vessels do indeed travel into the Western Hemisphere, the action could endanger the ongoing Iran nuclear negotiations in Vienna, which the U.S. is engaging in indirectly. Iran has regularly protested against the presence of U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, Politico noted, and has often threatened to make a similar move but has so far not followed through with those threats. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) released a statement on Sunday in response to Politico’s report, stating Iranian warships are not welcome in the Western Hemisphere. He called on President Biden to speak out against the presence of Iranian warships.”For years, I have been warning that Nicolas Maduro’s brutal regime has worked to turn Venezuela into prime real estate for Communist China, Iran and our adversaries to gain a critical foothold in the Western Hemisphere,” Scott said.”Now, the U.S. national security community believes that the Iranians, undoubtedly emboldened by the Biden Administration’s weakness and desperate desire to reenter the failed Iran nuclear deal, are making a direct and serious threat to America’s national security,” he added.

Iran’s largest warship catches fire, sinks – The Iranian navy’s largest warship erupted in flames on Wednesday before sinking in the Gulf of Oman, according to state media reports. The Associated Press reported that the semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies in Iran reported that the ship sank near the port of Jask, located about 790 miles southeast of Tehran, despite attempts by firefighters to save the vessel. While the warship Kharg, named after the island that serves as Iran’s main oil terminal, did not escape the flames, Reuters reported that emergency responders were able to safely rescue the ship’s crew. The cause of the fire is unknown, though state media reported that it began around 2:25 a.m. in the Persian Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz, where it was conducting a training mission. Fars published video of thick, black smoke rising from the ship Wednesday morning, and satellite photos from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detected a fire at the Jask port starting shortly before the blaze was reported by state media. Fars reported that “all efforts to save the vessel were unsuccessful and it sank,” according to Reuters. The Kharg, which was built in Britain and entered the Iranian navy in 1984 following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, served as one of few ships held by Iran capable of providing replenishment and support for other vessels while at sea, according to the AP. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the United States was “aware of the loss of one of their ships by fire,” but was not able to offer further details.

Why Did 72% of Israelis Want Attack on Gaza to Continue? (video and transcript) –Hi, I’m Paul Jay. Welcome to theAnalysis.news. A survey conducted by direct polls in Israel, that question, 684 Israelis has a margin of error of 4.3 percent, finds that a majority of Israelis didn’t want Israel to negotiate a cease fire that was announced yesterday and they wanted the attacks to continue. In fact, there is a cease fire now in place as we speak, at any rate, but what does this poll tell us about Israeli society? The poll found that 72 percent of the people that responded thought the operation should continue, with the number rising slightly in the south of Israel to 73 percent. Only 24 percent said we should agree to a cease fire, with the figure dropping to 22 percent in the south. When asked whether Israel had made greater achievements in this round of fighting over the previous round, 66 percent said yes, with the figure dropping to 30 percent for those that lived in the south.Now, the question of whether there should have been such an “operation” – another word to use for bombing – whether the question was asked, should there have been such an operation at all? Well, it doesn’t seem like it was asked, at least not in that poll. Now joining us to discuss the state of Israeli society and politics and what the significance of this poll me is, is Shir Hever. He’s a political economist living in Heidelberg, Germany. He was born and raised in Jerusalem. He lived in Tel Aviv before moving to Germany in 2010. His recent book is The Privatization of Israeli Security. Thanks for joining me again Shir.

Poems From Palestine – In the coming weeks we will feature a series of poems from Palestine, curated by the poet and translator Fady Joudah. As the series continues, you’ll be able to scroll down to read all of the poems here, or click the links below to view them separately.

Israeli opposition parties reach agreement to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – – A diverse coalition of Israeli opposition parties said Sunday that they have the votes to form a unity government to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader and its dominant political figure for more than a decade.Under their agreement, reached after weeks of negotiations spearheaded by centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, former Netanyahu defense minister and ally Naftali Bennett will lead a power-sharing government. Bennett, 49, would serve as Israel’s next prime minister, according to terms of the deal reported by Israeli media, to be succeeded in that role by Lapid, 57, at a later date.”We could go to fifth elections, sixth elections, until our home falls upon us, or we could stop the madness and take responsibility,” Bennett said in a televised statement Sunday evening. “Today, I would like to announce that I intend to join my friend Yair Lapid in forming a unity government.”Netanyahu called the plan “the fraud of the century.””There is not a single person in Israel who would have voted for Naftali Bennett if they had known what he would do,” he tweeted.Lapid is expected on Monday to inform President Reuven Rivlin of his ability to form a government with the support of Bennett and will have a week to finalize coalition deals. At the end of the week, the government will be put to a vote of confidence in the Knesset.Netanyahu, 71, has struggled to hold on to power after four inconclusive elections in the past two years while facing an ongoing corruption trial. Bennett is one of several former loyalists who have flirted with joining the so-called change coalition, a collection of parties that span the political spectrum but share a desire to end Netanyahu’s 12-year tenure.

Netanyahu Faces Shocking Ouster After Israeli Opposition Reaches Deal To Form Government -It’s the end of an era for Israeli politics as embattled prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest serving leader, is facing a shocking ouster after the head of a small hard-line party on Sunday said he would try to form a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents, effectively ending Bibi’s 12-year rule. In a nationwide address, Yamina party leader and Netanyahu’s former defense minister, Naftali Bennett said he had decided to join forces with the country’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid in a “unity government” whose “unified” goal has long been removing Netanyahu from office. The pair have until Wednesday to complete a deal in which they are expected to each serve two years as prime minister in a rotation deal.”It’s my intention to do my utmost in order to form a national unity government along with my friend Yair Lapid, so that, God willing, together we can save the country from a tailspin and return Israel to its course,” Bennett said adding that “we could go to fifth elections, sixth elections, until our home falls upon us, or we could stop the madness and take responsibility.” This coalition will have one week to finalize deals and then will face a vote in the Knesset. Lapid will inform President Reuven Rivlin of his ability to form a new government with his partners on Monday, according to reports.A unity government would end the cycle of deadlock that has plunged the country into four inconclusive elections over the past two years. It also would end, at least for the time being, the record-setting tenure of Netanyahu, the most dominant figure in Israeli politics over the past three decades.

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