Oil, Gas, And Fracking News Reads: 01August 2021 – Part 2

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

Here are some more selected news articles for the week ending 31 July 2021. Go here for Part 1.

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

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

US oil, gas rig count falls 5 to 599 as Permian drilling slows – The slowdown in drilling activity was primarily seen in oil-focused plays, where rig counts fell 10 to 457. In contrast, the number of rigs primarily chasing gas climbed five to 142, the highest since the week ended March 18, 2020.The decline was concentrated in the Permian Basin, where the number of active rigs fell six to 253. It was the largest one-week drop in the Permian rig count since the week ended Aug. 5, 2020, when the basin shed seven rigs.Drillers idled three rigs in the Eagle Ford play of south Texas, leaving the total active there at 42, a four-week low.The SCOOP-STACK rig count climbed one to 29, the highest since the week ended April 1, 2020. In the Denver-Julesburg Basin, the rig count moved one higher to a five-week high 15.The Bakken rig count was steady at 23 for a third straight week.Despite the broader uptrend in gas-focused drilling activity, most of these gains were seen outside of the major named basins. Operators added a single rig each in the Haynesville and Marcellus plays, putting total rigs up to 56 and 33, respectively. But in the Utica shale, the rig count fell one to 12.Haynesville drilling activity was last higher in 2019, and the growth in rig count has been accompanied by an increase in well completions and wells drilled.In both May and June, well completions in the Haynesville totaled 50, the highest monthly completion rate in nearly seven years. Over the same two-month period, producers bored almost as many new wells, with 49 drilled in May and 50 in June, data from the US Energy Information Administration’s most recent Drilling Productivity Report shows. As of June, the internal rate of return for an average Haynesville producer has climbed to an estimated 21%, based on a half-cycle, post-tax analysis; a gain that comes largely on the back of higher spot and forward gas prices in 2021. Compared with year-ago levels, IRRs are up sharply from estimates below 10% in June 2020, S&P Global Platts Analytics data shows.On July 29, Henry Hub forward contracts settled above $4/MMBtu until March 2022, which finished at $3.919/$MMBtu. Spot prices broke above $4/MMBtu during July 23 trading for the first time since February’s winter storm as warmer temperatures hit most parts of the Southeast US and Texas. The strength in the forwards markets remains a function of rising demand amid flat production. These strong prices are likely to test North American producers’ commitment to stick to their capital expenditure guidance and tempt them to grow production beyond current plans. While capital discipline from public companies is reducing oil and gas growth, smaller, private companies are capitalizing on higher prices and ramping up drilling activity.

Lime Rock Resources to buy $508M of oil wells in West Texas – Lime Rock Resources plans to buy oil and gas wells in West Texas for $508.3 million. The Houston oil company on Wednesday said it signed a deal with a private seller to buy oil and natural gas properties in Loving County, west of Odessa. The wells, which tap into the prolific Delaware Basin, produce about 15,000 barrels of oil per day. “The high volatility in the energy business over the last 18 months has created some unique opportunities in the oil and gas property market,” Lime Rock CEO Eric Mullins said in a statement. “This acquisition is one of those opportunities, which fits quite well with the Lime Rock Resources acquisition strategy.” OIL BUST: COVID-19 oil bust turns once-pricey West Texas land into a bargain Land prices in the oil patch plummeted during the historic oil bust caused by the global pandemic. The average price of U.S. shale acreage fell by more than 70 percent to $5,000 per acre in 2020 from $17,000 per acre in 2018, according to Rystad, a Norwegian energy research firm. Lime Rock Resources acquires, operates and improves oil and natural gas properties nationally to provide investors with long-term returns. The company’s management arm, established in 1998, has raised $8.9 billion in private equity for investments in oil and gas through Lime Rock Resources and Lime Rock Partners, which invests in other exploration and production and oil-field services companies. The company’s Delaware Basin purchase is expected to close on Sept. 30. M

Forgotten oil and gas wells linger, leaking toxic chemicals – – Rusted pipes litter the sandy fields of Ashley Williams Watt’s cattle ranch in windswept West Texas. The corroded skeletons are all that remain of hundreds of abandoned oil wells that were drilled long before her family owned the land. The wells, unable to produce any useful amounts of oil or gas, were plugged with cement decades ago and forgotten. But something eerie is going on beneath the land, where Watt once played among the mesquite trees, jackrabbits and javelina and first drove the dirt roads at 10 years old. One by one, the wells seem to be unplugging themselves. They’re leaking dangerous chemicals that are seeping into groundwater beneath her ranch. Now 35, Watt believes the problems on her ranch, which sprawls across the oil-rich fields of the Permian Basin, are getting worse. In April, she found crude oil bubbling from an abandoned well. In June, an oil company worker called to alert her that another well was seeping pools of salty produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas extraction containing toxic chemicals.”I’m watching this well literally just spew brine water into my water table, and then I have to go home at night, and I’m sweaty and tired and smelly, and I get in the shower, and I turn on the shower and I look at it, and I think, is this shower going to kill me?” Watt said.The crisis unfolding on Watt’s 75,000-acre ranch offers a window on a growing problem for the oil industry and the communities and governments that are often left to clean up the mess. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 3.2 million abandoned oil and gas wells exist in the United States. About a third of them were plugged with cement, which is considered the proper way to prevent harmful chemical leaks. But most haven’t been plugged at all.Many of the wells are releasing methane, a greenhouse gas containing about 86 times the climate-warming power of carbon dioxide over two decades. Some are leaking chemicals such as benzene, a known carcinogen, into fields and groundwater.Regulators don’t know where hundreds of thousands of abandoned wells are because many of them were drilled before modern record-keeping and plugging rules were established. They are a silent menace, threatening to explode or contaminate drinking water and leaking atmosphere-warming fumes each day that they’re unplugged. Without records of their whereabouts, it’s impossible to grasp the magnitude of the pollution orhealth problems they may be causing.

EPA Approval of PFAS for Fracking May Spell a New Health Crisis for Communities – For over a month, noxious wastewater has been leaching across the ground on Ashley Watt’s family ranch in the Permian Basin in West Texas where she lives and raises cattle. It started in mid-June, when a well Chevron Corps drilled in the 1960s (and plugged with cement in the 1990s before abandoning it) burst open. The well spewed what Wattdescribed on Twitter as “super concentrated brine and benzene” into her water supply, the Pecos River Basin alluvial aquifer.After a month on site, according to Watt, Chevron plugged the well on July 16, but it failed a pressure test and continued bubbling brine at the surface again just over an hour later. Two calves and four cows have died, as Bloomberg News reported, and the well continues to spray onto the sandy land, where the water table is just over 50 feet below ground. “Anything poured on the surface will be in the water table shortly,” Watt wrote. “This is a desert, and without clean water there is no ranch nor home.”This isn’t Watt’s first tussle with Chevron, nor the first time she’s had to contend with what the industry leaves in its wake. In 2002, after she flushed a toilet at her house, crude oil bubbled up. In 2018, her mother fell ill with adrenocortical carcinoma and passed away mere months later, which Watt noted may have been linked with Chevron’s lack of compliance with well water testing from 2007 to 2013, after a crude oil plume appeared in the groundwater. The company has said it is committed to re-plugging the leak, according to the Associated Press, but evades responsibility for what Watt fears could be a larger problem: if the same thing happens with dozens of other wells on her land. A representative of Chevron told CBS, “any claims that link subsurface activity to the surface leak at [the well] are premature and unsubstantiated.” Now, in addition to trying to get Chevron to clean up and remediate her water supply, Watt and others living in oil- and gas-producing regions may have an additional future-facing health threat to consider. In July, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) launched the results of an investigation providing evidence that at least 130 oil and gas companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil have used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or chemicals that can break down into PFAS in fracking in at least 1,200 wells in the U.S. since 2012. PFAS is the class of synthetic chemicals known colloquially as “forever chemicals” on account of their carbon and fluorine bonds, which take thousands of years to break down and have the tendency to build up in the human body and natural environment. Scientists have linked PFAS tocongenital disabilities, preeclampsia, thyroid disease, and kidney and testicular cancer.

Enbridge ordered to remove 7.5-ton anchor left near Line 5 – The state of Michigan has ordered Enbridge Inc. to remove a 7.5-ton anchor from the bottom of Lake Michigan after it became detached from a maintenance vessel near the company’s controversial Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) said it ordered the removal after learning late on Wednesday, July 21, that a company contractor left the 15,000-pound piece of equipment on the bottom. Enbridge says the anchor is located between the dual pipelines, which are 1,200 feet apart. Line 5, which crosses under Lake Michigan just west of the Mackinac Bridge, splits into two smaller lines for the segment that traverses the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The Coast Guard established a no-anchor zone around the pipeline after a 2018 anchor strike that damaged the lines, but Enbridge says its contractor was anchoring between the lines using GPS under a work plan “pre-approved” by the state. “There was no risk to the pipelines,” said Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy. “The anchor was placed in between the dual pipelines in an area more than 500 feet from either pipeline per a pre-approved anchoring plan.” “The anchor was placed and then became detached,” Duffy said. Michigan EGLE spokesperson Scott Dean said the state is still collecting more information about the incident, but that it appears an anchor shackle broke on a work barge that was using two anchors while contractors were doing seasonal maintenance on the pipelines. “We are trying to verify their claim,” Dean said. The state says Enbridge is working on a retrieval plan and “expects to have the anchor removed within days.” The anchor loss comes amid high scrutiny on Line 5, which the state says is operating illegally following Enbridge’s refusal to comply with a shutdown order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who ordered the state to revoke the company’s easement to use the lakebed in November.

Enbridge retrieves 15,000-pound anchor from Straits of Mackinac – Enbridge Energy has said it recovered a 15,000-pound anchor from between two spans of the Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. The anchor, which was left in the water Wednesday, was recovered Sunday using a crane on a barge, the company said. The anchor was left on the lake bed, about 500 feet from either span, after a cable detached that had connected the anchor to an Enbridge contractor’s barge that was doing seasonal maintenance. The state directed Enbridge to retrieve the anchor last week after receiving notification from the company regarding the mishap. Enbridge has said the location of the anchor was approved by the EPA and the state but became disconnected when a shackle connecting the anchor to the cable failed after the anchor was placed on the lake bed. “Enbridge’s ongoing work to inspect, maintain and modernize our pipeline systems further ensures that Line 5 remains operating safely and reliably – helping to protect the environment while continuing to safely deliver energy to Michigan and the Great Lakes region,” said Michael Barnes, a spokesman for the company. The state and Enbridge have been locked in litigation for more than a year over the future of the 68-year-old Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac after years of concern over the possibility of an oil spill in the straits.

Indigenous activists protest Line 5 in Michigan on 20,000-mile journey to DC ⋆ Tribal citizens on a 20,000-mile, cross-country journey to highlight sacred Indigenous sites and call on President Joe Biden’s administration to protect them made their ninth and final stop in Mackinaw City this week.The activists were met and welcomed Tuesday morning by Native people from numerous tribes across Michigan, including the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe and the Bay Mills Indian Community, who together called on Biden to shut down the Enbridge-owned Line 5 oil pipeline running under the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac.The effort, dubbed the “Red Road to DC,” will culminate Thursday at the National Mall in D.C., where a 25-foot, 5,000-pound totem pole carved by members of the Lummi Nation will be delivered to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for the Biden administration.Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and the country’s first Native American cabinet secretary.The group is led by the Lummi Nation’s House of Tears Carvers, Se’Si’Le, Native Organizers Alliance, IllumiNative and the Natural History Museum.”Today we had the opportunity to welcome the Lummi Nation’s House of Tears Carvers to the Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi lands here in the Great Lakes, and here in our sacred territory at the Straits of Mackinac,” Bay Mills Tribal Chairperson Whitney Gravelle said during Tuesday’s event.” … Time and time again, we must fight for what was promised to our ancestors in the treaties.””We aren’t the only ones at risk from the devastating effects of a pipeline spill. Fishermen, the tourism industry, our Michigan economy are all endangered if Line 5 continues to operate in our waters. President Biden must address this crisis immediately,” Gravelle continued. A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Do your job’: Was Line 3 message from powerful Minnesota legislator a form of intimidation – or ‘respectful’ advocacy? -In the fall of 2020, Laura Bishop, then commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, got an unusual voicemail.Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, a Republican from East Gull Lake, had called her to urge the approval of a key water-quality permit for Enbridge Energy’s planned Line 3 oil pipeline. For years, the 337-mile pipeline across northern Minnesota has been one of the state’s most controversial environmental issues, and Enbridge needed what’s known as a 401 certification before construction could begin.”I just can’t stress enough how important it is that you do your job with these and that the permits get issued,” Gazelka told Bishop. To the majority leader, the call was an example of respectful advocacy on behalf of those who support Line 3. To Bishop, however, the voicemail was an unwelcome political intrusion: a threat from one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers to remove her from office if an environmental review based on science and law halted the pipeline project. The MPCA ultimately granted Enbridge’s permit in November of 2020, a decision Bishop stands by and said wasn’t influenced by Gazelka. But earlier this month,Bishop resigned rather than face a Senate confirmation vote, a move that sparked debate over whether Republicans were conducting proper oversight or politicizing a scientific agency in their scrutiny of the MPCA.Either way, the voicemail, released by the MPCA, is an unusual window into the acrimonious relationship between Senate Republicans and the agency, as well as behind-the-scenes machinations at the Minnesota Capitol.

Judge issues restraining order against Minnesota sheriff in ongoing dispute with Line 3 protesters -A judge has granted Line 3 protesters’ request for a temporary restraining order against officials in northern Minnesota’s Hubbard County, amid an ongoing dispute over access to property used as a protest camp. District Court Judge Jana Austad issued the order on Friday against Hubbard County and specifically Sheriff Cory Aukes and Land Commissioner Mark Lohmeier, barring authorities from “barricading, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with access to the property” near Menahga, Minn., that’s being used by Line 3 opponents. “Plaintiffs allege that the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Department has been blockading and restricting access to the property in such a way as to make it practically impossible for the property owner, assignees and guests to enjoy the property. This is substantial violation of plaintiffs’ right to the use and enjoyment of the property,” Austad wrote in granting the order, continuing: “The alleged conduct of the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Department could also, if established, be a deprivation of constitutional rights.” Aukes told the Star Tribune that he’ll appeal the temporary restraining order. The request for a temporary restraining order accompanied a civil complaint filed July 16 by, among other plaintiffs, Indigenous leader Winona LaDuke who is executive director of the group Honor the Earth. According to the complaint, LaDuke acquired the property near Menahga in 2018 and was granted continued use of a long-standing driveway easement across a strip of county-owned land; the parcel has no other access. The property’s title was transferred to a different organization last November, and the county contends the easement is no longer valid. LaDuke and the other plaintiffs say the easement “as approved by the County Board is unrestricted or perpetual in duration, with no provisions for its extinguishment or reversion except for ‘non-use.’ “

Court Stops Police From Blockading Line 3 Protester Camp in ‘Huge Legal Win’ for Anti-Pipeline Activists – In a development progressives called a “huge legal win in the fight against Line 3,” a Minnesota court on Friday ordered police in Hubbard County to stop impeding access to the Giniw Collective’s camp, where anti-pipeline activists have been organizing opposition to Enbridge’s multibillion-dollar tar sands project.The ruling comes less than a week after Tara Houska, an Indigenous rights attorney and founder of the Giniw Collective, and Winona LaDuke, an environmental justice advocate and co-founder of Honor the Earth, filedfor a temporary restraining order against Hubbard County, Sheriff Cory Aukes, and the local land commissioner in northern Minnesota.”We want to thank the court for informing Hubbard County about the rights of property owners, and hope that the sheriff’s continued preoccupation with the repression of water protectors can be focused on real criminals,” LaDuke said Friday in a statement. Last month, Aukes unlawfully blockaded a 90-year-old driveway that serves as the only means of entry and exit to the Giniw Collective’s camp, which is a convergence point for Indigenous-led protests against the expansion of the Line 3 pipeline. Police officers also cited and arrested individuals who attempted to use the driveway to travel to and from the camp. According to the Center for Protest Law and Litigation, which represented the plaintiffs alongside EarthRights International and local counsel Jason Steck:Under the pretext that the small portion of the driveway extending from the camp’s private property onto Hubbard County property is now suddenly a “trail” and not designated for vehicular traffic local sheriffs have either physically blocked access, at times by forming a line of over 20 officers, several armed with clubs, or issued citations to water protectors who have driven vehicles on the driveway, even when delivering food, water, or other necessary supplies. The sheriffs’ departments in the region are being paid by funds from the Enbridge pipeline corporation for their time spent acting against the pipeline’s opponents through a “Public Safety Escrow Fund.” Enbridge has paid more than $1 million to “reimburse” local sheriffs’ departments, effectively privatizing Minnesota’s public police forces in service to efforts to repress opposition to the pipeline. In response to the court’s ruling, Houska said “Just because the Hubbard County sheriff and Hubbard County attorney are opposed to Native people protecting our homelands should not mean they can engage in violent, unlawful repression without consequence,” . “Giniw Collective is glad to have rightful access to our home back.” By granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order (pdf), the court prohibited the county’s law enforcement officials from “barricading, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with access to” the camp, and from arresting, threatening to arrest, or issuing citations to passersby, unless requested by the property owner or authorized users.

Sheriff will appeal order to stop blocking property used by Line 3 opponents – – A Minnesota district judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the Hubbard County sheriff, ruling that the county must stop obstructing access to a property used by opponents of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline project. Winona LaDuke and Tara Houska, two leaders of protests against the oil pipeline, recently sued Hubbard County and Sheriff Cory Aukes for repeatedly blocking a driveway to a home near Menahga in north-central Minnesota. The property is one of several camps near the pipeline route used by Line 3 protesters. Houska, the house’s tenant and caretaker, and LaDuke say that on June 28, Sheriff’s Office squad cars arrived at the home, and its occupants were told their driveway would soon be “barricaded.” Sheriffs’ deputies have continued to obstruct access to the property, the lawsuit said. Austad ordered the authorities to stop “barricading, obstructing or otherwise interfering with access to the property.” Deputies also must stop issuing citations or arresting people for their presence on the driveway unless they have a valid warrant. Aukes said he will appeal the judge’s order and that deputies “are not blocking” the driveway.

Authorities arrest Line 3 pipeline protesters near Thief River Falls – Authorities have arrested 29 protesters at the Red Lake Treaty Camp south of Thief River Falls. The protesters, who have had an encampment there for months, claim Enbridge Energy continues to violate reserved rights under an 1863 treaty by drilling its controversial Line 3 pipeline along the Red Lake River.The highway patrol closed Highway 32 between Thief River Falls and St. Hilaire Friday for 8 hours over safety concerns because the roadway was congested with construction, protestors, campsites, and vehicles near the campsites. The protesters were ordered to disperse peacefully or face arrest.Pennington County Sheriff Ray Kuznia said most of the individuals arrested on Friday had bonded out, however, the 22 arrested on Saturday remained for court appearances Monday on various charges, including trespassing and interfering with a peace officer.Kuznia said his office has received assistance from Roseau, Marshall, Clay, Dakota, Washington, and Anoka counties and 50 to 60 officers from the State Patrol and the DNR. Over the weekend, Pennington County opened an Emergency Operations Center on the floor of Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls. It’s handling communications used by law enforcement at the site of the protest.

An Indigenous leader explains the Line 3 protests, and pipelines under Biden. After five years of constant protests, the movement to Stop Line 3, a proposed pipeline in Canada and the Midwest, has been rapidly escalating in the last couple of months. Made up primarily of Indigenous organizers, tribal governments, and climate justice organizers, the group is dedicated to fighting against the Canadian multinational fossil fuel company Enbridge, which is building the pipeline. A supposed replacement of the existing Line 3-a crude oil pipeline which stretches from Alberta, Canada to northwest Wisconsin-the new, bigger Line 3 is Enbridge’s largest ever project. If constructed, it would cut through three different Indigenous reservations in Minnesota, including land that the Treaty of 1855 gave the Ojibwe people the right to use for hunting, fishing, and gathering wild rice.The climate and Indigenous justice groups cite Indigenous sovereignty, land and water rights, treaty rights, climate change, the financial risk of investing in a dying industry, and the harmful impacts of construction and spills on both Indigenous communities and the environment all as reasons to put a halt to the pipeline’s construction. But the state police force and Enbridge itself have been responding aggressively to their actions. Just this past week, Minnesota law enforcement (to which Enbridge has paid a hefty sum of about $750,000 as of April in order to police Line 3 protesters) arrested seven elder women protesting the pipeline in Wadena County.Among those seven women was Winona LaDuke, an Ojibwe leader and Indigenous rights organizer who was jailed for three nights. A former Green Party vice presidential candidate and activist who has been fighting the construction of the new Line 3 pipeline replacement for nearly a decade, LaDuke has been appointed guardian ad litem for Shell River-which the completed pipeline would cross in five places-by both the 1855 Treaty Commission and her tribe.Slate spoke with LaDuke about organizing on the frontlines of Stop Line 3 and about protesters’ demands for the Biden administration when it comes to climate justice and Indigenous rights. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Minnesota state lawmakers urge Pollution Control Agency to halt Line 3 permits after spills, drought – Thirty-two state legislators have signed a letter requesting the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) temporarily suspend permits for Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline replacement project in light of widespread drought throughout the state, as well as recent drilling fluid spills at construction sites. In the letter dated Tuesday, July 27, the state representatives and senators implored MPCA to release further information on nine reported spill incidents along the Line 3 construction path, saying the agency’s “transparency throughout this process is instrumental in addressing these incidents and enforcement violations.” They requested details in writing on the timing of each incident and when the state was made aware, and whether drilling has resumed at those sites. And because of Minnesota’s statewide drought, the lawmakers wrote that they’re concerned over whether any spills can be adequately diluted by water in impacted waterways and wetlands. Juli Kellner, a spokesperson for Enbridge, said in an emailed response Wednesday, July 28, that the drilling fluid used at the sites is a nontoxic bentonite clay solution approved by MPCA and the state Department of Natural Resources. When spills are detected, she said drilling is ” immediately shut down” and crews clean up and contain the spills as required in their permits. In all nine of the recent incidents, she said MPCA and DNR were notified and cleanups were monitored by inspectors and third-party agency monitors.As for drought concerns, she said this summer’s hot, dry conditions “are concerning to everyone,” and that Enbridge is working with state agencies to protect and conserve water. DNR has already suspended the use of some water sources in particularly dry watersheds.

Secretary Haaland, Colorado’s epic drought highlights the need to end fossil fuel extraction -Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is visiting Colorado this week so she can see up close how heat, drought and rampant fossil-fuel extraction have ravaged once-beautiful parts of our state. When she returns to Washington, D.C., Haaland will have all the more evidence to support a ban on new oil and gas leases on public lands and a managed transition away from fossil fuels. The Biden administration’s review of what drilling and fracking on public lands is doing to the climate, if done correctly, will show that any new extraction would run counter to climate science and catastrophic to the planet.On her first day in Colorado, Haaland spoke powerfully about the worsening drought conditions ravaging Colorado and the West.”Drought doesn’t just impact one community,” she said. “It affects all of us, from farmers and ranchers to city dwellers and Indian tribes. We all have a role to use water wisely and manage our resources with every community in mind.”Without a doubt, water is the lifeblood of the North Fork Valley, where I live. The North Fork, on Colorado’s Western Slope, is home to the state’s largest concentration of organic farms. Our produce, wines and cheeses fill dinner plates and glasses in homes and restaurants across the West. But erratic frosts, prolonged droughts and extreme weather are making that harder to do. This year some farmers have already run out of water and drinking water concerns are mounting. No water, no food. No water, no wildlife. No water, no life. When we run out of water, others do, too. The Gunnison River Basin, which feeds the Colorado River, is in our backyard. The Colorado River supplies 40 million downstream users and it’s drying out as temperatures warm. Colorado River flows, already at record shortages, are expected to drop precipitously in coming decades. And we’re feeling the heat on the Western Slope, having already seen warming of more than 2 degrees Celsius, double the global average and making our region one of the country’s largest climate hot spots. But even as warming tightens its grip on our region and North Fork farms fields go fallow for lack of water, federal agencies are approving more fossil fuel extraction.That’s a grave mistake. We must urgently confront the climate emergency and we should start now by banning new leasing on public lands. In the North Fork Valley, there are more than 100,000 acres of oil and gas leases in the middle of the watershed and the county’s climate hotspot. The climate can’t afford any new fracking and drilling and Colorado certainly won’t have the water to support it.

Review of U.S. federal oil, gas leasing program being finalized internally -Haaland – A much-anticipated US Department of Interior review of the federal oil and gas leasing program is under final internal review and is expected to be released “very soon ” , a decHome Secretary Deb Haaland said during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. President Joe Biden announced the review shortly time after taking office in what was widely seen as a first step in delivering on his campaign pledge to ban new federal drilling leases and rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade to tackle climate change. Haaland had previously said the review would be completed by “early summer. ” The Biden administration earlier this year stopped holding government drilling auctions, pending review, but a federal judge ruled last month that its rental freeze was illegal. Wyoming Senato r John Barrasso, a Republican, asked Haaland during the hearing of the Senate committeeorial energy if the Home Office reschedules two lease sales that would have taken place in the first two quarters of the year. She has not commented on what the ministry plans to do with these lease sales due to an ongoing litigation.

Pipeline to store synfuels plant’s carbon emissions locally approved by North Dakota regulators – North Dakota regulators have approved a permit for a pipeline that will transport carbon dioxide captured from Basin Electric’s Great Plains Synfuels Plant to a nearby site for underground storage.The pipeline will extend 7 miles from the Mercer County plant to a series of proposed wells where CO2 would be injected deep into rock formations below the earth’s surface.”By mile, this is a short pipeline but I would argue it is one of the most important pipeline projects North Dakota has seen because it does signal the next chapter in energy development,” said Brian Kroshus, a member of the Public Service Commission, which voted unanimously Wednesday to permit the project.The synfuels plant produces synthetic natural gas derived from lignite coal, along with a host of other products. Basin subsidiary Dakota Gasification Co. already pipes carbon dioxide generated by the plant north to old oil fields in Canada, where it’s used to boost oil output. Basin says the synfuels plant’s carbon capture equipment is working at about two-thirds of its capacity to meet the demand of Canadian customers, and more of the gas could be stored locally.State leaders have embraced the idea of capturing carbon dioxide from industrial sources and injecting it underground for permanent storage, rather than allow it to be released into the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change.

Regulators plan to fine pipeline operators for safety issues(AP) – Federal regulators say they plan to fine the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline $93,200 over pipeline safety violations. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration say the violations pertain to physical aspects of the pipeline and monitoring systems. There is no indication any of the violations have resulted in oil leakage. Some of the violations cited by the agency include improper placement of valves for storm water drainage on tanks at six facilities in western North Dakota, as well as a failure to correct a condition related to the line’s ability to relieve pressure, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The pressure issue is partly to blame for triggering more than 9,000 alarms within Energy Transfer’s systems since oil began flowing through Dakota Access in 2017. Regulators also say Energy Transfer failed to adequately prepare and follow its operations and maintenance manual. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is among opponents of the pipeline who fear an oil spill could contaminate their reservation. “It’s not surprising to learn that the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline has failed to adhere to a long list of safety regulations,” Standing Rock Vice Chairman Ira Taken Alive said in a statement. “An oil spill from this pipeline would be devastating to our drinking water supply and that of millions of people downstream, placing us all in harm’s way.” The company has 30 days to reply to the agency or request a hearing on the matter.

Dakota Access faces fines, compliance orders for safety violations..More than 9,500 alarms were set off in a two-year period due to a wildly fluctuating nitrogen-reliant pressure relief valve system on the Dakota Access pipeline, according to a notice of probable violation and proposed civil penalty issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Local climate conditions were causing rapid pressure fluctuations on a nitrogen supply that is used to regulate the valves. That caused thousands of alarms from 2017 to 2019 at Johnson’s Corner, Watford City, Trenton, Ramburg, Stanley, and Epping. Allowing the valve set points to fluctuate for such a long period of time was one of seven probable violations listed by PHMSA in the notice, which proposes a fine of $93,200 for two of the violations. First, for failing to properly update its operations and maintenance manual, which referenced procedures no longer in the manual that were still being used. Second, for not enhancing the company’s public awareness program beyond the baseline, 660-foot buffer area, which is required for high consequence areas. There’s no indication any of the violations caused any oil to leak. Dakota Access has 30 days to respond to the notice of probable violations, or request a hearing on it. Two of violations won’t require further enforcement action, PHMSA decided. Those were at the Johnson Corner Pump Station, which had been set at 1355 instead of 1335, a limit that ensures Maximum Operating Pressure does not exceed 110 percent downstream, corrected in June of 2019. And a missed inspection at Redfield Station of the overpressure safety valve, which should have been done in 2018. The inspection was completed Jan. 28, 2019. PHMSA issued compliance orders for the public awareness violation as well as the remaining violations, which included not placing stormwater drainage valves correctly, allowing nitrogen-regulated overpressure protection valves to fluctuate too widely too often for too long a time, and failing to continually re-evaluate its spill modeling and update its Integrity Management program to reflect operating experience. Energy Transfer spokeswoman Lisa Coleman said the violations were identified in a standard audit completed in early 2019. “All but one of the items identified have already been addressed (or are in the process of being addressed),” she told the Williston Herald. “DAPL will address shortly the one remaining issue that PHMSA responded to for the first time this week. This all reflects the continued commitment to safely operating the Dakota Access Pipeline, including the crossing at Lake Oahe. As always, we appreciate PHMSA’s focus on the safety of pipelines across the country.”

Keene oil well blowout: still on fire nearly five days later – A fire on an oil well site on the Little Missouri National Grassland has been on fire for nearly five days.Keene Fire Department, McKenzie County Rural Fire, U.S. Forest Service USDA Forest Service, McKenzie County Emergency Management are all on scene.The McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office says it’s also working closely with the permit holder, Petro-Hunt Corporation, and a local private contractor, Wild Well Control, to keep the fire contained to the well-pad.Little Missouri National Grassland is the largest grassland in the country, and the well-pad fire has not spread to the national grassland.”The fact that it has stayed contained to the well is super big,” said McKenzie County Deputy Sheriff and Public Information Officer Kari Stuart.Stuart says law enforcement remains posted at road barriers on 103 V Avenue and 47th M Street NW. Local residents and visitors are asked to avoid the area.There have been no injuries and there is no danger to the surrounding area at this time.The cause of the fire is under investigation

U.S. natural gas exports to Mexico established a new monthly record in June 2021 – Natural gas pipeline exports from the United States to Mexico surpassed 7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) on multiple days during June, according to data from Wood Mackenzie. The highest amount of pipeline exports, 7.4 Bcf/d, was sent out on June 17. Over the past few years, Mexico has expanded its natural gas pipeline infrastructure and has relied increasingly on imported natural gas from U.S. pipelines. Pipeline imports accounted for 76% of Mexico’s total natural gas supply in June 2021, compared with 40% in June 2015. Mexico has reduced both its natural gas production and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a share of its total natural gas supply. U.S. natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico averaged 6.8 Bcf/d in June 2021, up 25% from June 2020 and 44% more than the previous five-year (2016-2020) monthly average. We expect these record-high flows, which were driven by increased power demand, high temperatures, and greater industrial demand in June, to continue through the summer. New pipeline additions that went into service during 2020 and in the first half of 2021 increased the volume of natural gas flowing to natural gas-fired power plants, industrial plants, and pipeline interconnections throughout Mexico. Two cross-border pipelines drove the growth: the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Pipeline, which has a capacity of 2.6 Bcf/d and delivers natural gas from the U.S. border at Brownsville, Texas, to Tuxpan in Veracruz, Mexico, and the Trans-Pecos Pipeline (part of the Wahalajara system), which has a capacity of 1.4 Bcf/d and delivers natural gas to the U.S. border at Presidio, Texas. The Sur de Texas-Tuxpan Pipeline increased flows to an estimated 1.7 Bcf/d in June 2021, compared with year-ago levels of 0.8 Bcf/d. The pipeline’s volume increased because of expanded infrastructure in Mexico, which has allowed more natural gas to flow to power plants in the Mexico City region and to Merida markets in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Trans-Pecos Pipeline increased flows to the Wahalajara pipeline system to 0.8 Bcf/d, compared with year-ago levels of 0.2 Bcf/d. This pipeline connects the Waha Hub in West Texas to Guadalajara and other population centers in West-Central Mexico. Some of this increase is the result of the increased flow capacity on the Villa de Reyes-Aguascalientes-Guadalajara Pipeline (VAG) in Central Mexico and subsequent delivery points that entered service when the pipeline was completed in October 2020.

Private companies in Mexico hit production record as Pemex struggles to meet goals – Crude production by private operators in Mexico reached a new record in June as state oil company Pemex struggles to stop the decline of its own output, official data shows. Independent exploration and production companies increased their crude oil output to little under 70,000 b/d in June, the largest reading to date, data from the National Hydrocarbons Commission showed July 22. The increase came as Eni, Petrofac and Hokchi Energy, the three largest producers, raised their output, the data showed. The companies together account for almost 50,000 b/d, the data shows. According to data from the commission, or CNH, based on companies’ existing plans, production by independent producers is expected to increase to 280,000 b/d by 2024, when this administration ends, and to over 400,000 at its peak in 2028. The increase in the private companies’ output comes as Pemex struggles to stop the decline of its production, which in the past years has been anchored by five fields, the data shows. Maloob, Zaap, Ayatsil, Xanab and Ku, the largest producing fields in Pemex’s portfolio, were responsible for 808,000 b/d or 48% of the total production at the state company, the data shows. The company has a total of 209 fields, the data shows. Pemex struggling to meet own production goals Pemex has been unable even to meet its own production goals, which have been revised down two times during the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador. Upon taking office in late 2018, Lopez Obrador claimed under his administration Pemex would be able to bring production back to 2.4 million b/d to fuel the development of the country, a figure not seen since 2014. The president lowered it in March to 2 million b/d, arguing it was better not to over exploit the reservoirs for the benefit of future generations. This week, Mexico told OPEC members it would not be able to reach 2 million b/d and would try to average 1.753 b/d until the end of 2022..

Natural Gas Deficit Causes Prices To Soar – Natural gas prices are rising across Europe and Asia due to tighter supply of the commodity, lower production in Europe, and lower exports from Russia, the Financial Times reports, noting the supply crunch may intensify in the coming weeks.In Europe, the report notes, prices for natural gas have hit 40 euros per mWh for the first time ever, with UK gas prices at the highest in 16 years. This is equal to approximately $14 per million British thermal units. In Asia, gas prices have hit $15 per mmBtu.The price situation may worsen still, according to analysts.”If anything it’s surprising there hasn’t been more concern,” Tom Marzec-Manser at ICIS told the FT. “In terms of additional supply there aren’t many options on the table globally. Russia is really the only discretionary source of supplies out there but we don’t know when additional deliveries might start. So traders around the world, from Japan to Brazil, are starting to watch European prices too.”Demand for natural gas has been on a strong rebound globally. And the economic recovery has not been the only factor. In Brazil, for instance, LNG imports hit the highest ever because droughts have reduced the country’s hydropower capacity, according to the FT. in Europe, the long winter emptied gas storage facilities, and they have yet to be replenished. In Asia, the strong economic recovery has coupled with a seasonal peak in demand during the summer to push prices higher still. For some, this has been good news: U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas reached a record high during the first half of the year, at an average of 9.6 billion cu ft daily. Asia remained the top destination for U.S. LNG exports from January through May in 2021, accounting for 46 percent, the EIA has estimated. Asia was followed by Europe with a 37-percent share of American LNG exports.

UK gas exports to EU to stay low – UK gas flows to the EU could stay minimal in August-September, as almost all surplus gas could be added to mid-range storage. Prices favour strong Norwegian exports to Europe in August-September, which could boost the UK’s supply. But this could be more than offset by sustained low regasification and domestic output, leaving the UK with less surplus gas than in previous years. And firms may continue to prioritise directing any spare supply into mid-range storage rather than exporting it to mainland Europe, similar to July. Barely any cross-Channel flows could curb supply available to add to EU storage compared with recent summers, when summer exports had been consistently quick. That said, the slump in BBL and Interconnector exports this summer may have been partly the result of a reconfiguration of flows around northwest Europe, with more LNG going directly to mainland Europe, which may otherwise have been sent to the UK and then on through the Interconnector to Belgium or the BBL to the Netherlands. The lack of a UK short-haul mechanism – discounting bookings at entry and exit terminals in close proximity – has made exports to the EU much less economical this summer than in previous years (see UK flows graph). A new short-haul tariff regime will be introduced from 1 October. While Troll and Oseberg output being maximised could boost the UK’s Norwegian receipts compared with previous years, supply from other sources could stay weak. Northwest European prompt prices holding substantial premiums to respective front-summer contracts in recent weeks has incentivised Norwegian state-controlled Equinor to maximise production from the flexible Troll and Oseberg fields (see Norwegian July exports graph). Norwegian output could slip in August-September – albeit still remaining well above previous years – as Troll constraints are expected to reduce available capacity on most days. This could drive Norwegian production down to slightly below 310mn m/d in August and 320mn m/d in September, assuming prices continue to incentivise maximising flexible output (see Troll maintenance graph). Cross-channel differentials favour deliveries to the EU ahead of the UK in August-September. But even assuming EU flows are largely maximised, this could leave just under 60mn m/d for the UK in August and about 70mn m/d in September.

Oil giant Shell raises dividend and launches $2 billion share buyback as commodity prices soar– Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, lending further support to the energy major’s plans to reduce net debt and reward investors.The Anglo-Dutch company reported adjusted earnings of $5.5 billion for the three months through to the end of June. That compared with $638 millionover the same period a year earlier and $3.2 billion for the first quarter of 2021.Analysts had expected second-quarter adjusted earnings to come in at $5.1 billion, according to Refinitiv.Shell boosted its dividend for the second consecutive quarter and announced the launch of a $2 billion share buyback program that it aims to complete by the end of the year.The dividend rose to 24 cents in the second quarter, up 38% from the first three months of the year. It comes a year after the company moved to cut its dividend to shareholders for the first time since World War II.”We have to make sure that our current shareholder base is pleased with what we do in terms of payouts,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday, reflecting on the firm’s plans to step up its shareholder distributions. “We have to have a strong cash generative business that also funds the company for the future, but at the same time we have to build a business that is future-proof.”The results reflect a broader trend across the oil and gas industry, as energy majors seek to reassure investors they have gained a stable footing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. France’s TotalEnergies and Norway’s Equinorhave also announced share buyback programs.Share prices of the world’s largest oil and gas majors have not yet followed an improvement in the earnings outlook, however, and the industry still faces a host of uncertainties and challenges.Shares of Shell were up over 4.5% during early afternoon trade in London. The oil and gas company has seen its stock price rise more than 17% year-to-date, having collapsed almost 45% in 2020.Shell’s financial results come as oil and gas prices took another step up in recent months. International benchmark Brent crude futures rose to an average of $69 a barrel in the second quarter, up from an average of $61 in the first three months of the year. The oil contract was last seen trading at $75.38.Oil prices have rebounded to reach multi-year highs in recent months and all three of the world’s main forecasting agencies – OPEC, the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Energy Information Administration – now expect a demand-led recovery to pick up speed in the second half of 2021.It follows a year in which the head of the IEA had suggested may come to represent the worst in the history of oil markets. The oil and gas industry was sent into a tailspin in 2020 as the spread of Covid-19 coincided with a historic fuel demand shock, plunging commodity prices, unprecedented write-downs and tens of thousands of job cuts.

Gazprom trunk gas pipeline ablaze after leak in Russia (Reuters) – A trunk pipeline belonging to Russian gas giant Gazprom leaked and caught ablaze in the Perm region on Monday but no one has been hurt, the company said.Part of the Urengoy-Center 2 gas pipeline was ruptured and caught fire near the river Sylva, which is about 1,390 km (860 miles) east of Moscow, Gazprom said. The company added that gas was being supplied to customers via parallel pipelines.

Rosneft announces second round of its 6-month tender for Urals, CPC Blend oil – Russia’s state oil giant Rosneft has announced the second round of its tender to sell between 2.52 million tonnes and 11.28 million tonnes of Urals oil loading from the state’s ports between October 2021 and March 2022, traders said on Wednesday. Along with Urals oil the producer is also selling up to 1.35 million tonnes of CPC Blendcrude oil loading from Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka over the same period. The tender participants were advised to improve their bids made in the first round of the tender that closed last week.The volumes offered are the same as in the previous tender for April-September 2021. The tender closes on Aug. 4 at 1400 Moscow time (1100 GMT). The results will be announced to participants no later than Aug. 31, the invitation said.

Risk of major oil spill ashore Karachi beach imminent – – Danger of a major oil spill ashore the Karachi Seaview beach is imminent largely for lack of efforts to salvage merchant ship Heng Tong 77 which had drifted aground in shallow waters last Wednesday.Industry sources told The Nation on Saturday that risk of oil spill from the Panama flagged ship is now on horizon because of lack of efforts to refloat ill-fated vessel.In a related development Karachi Port Trust (KPT) which operates the Karachi Port has taken some preventive measures to contain the oil spill from the ship. Heng Tong 77 drifted aground on a beach in Karachi area in the morning Jul 21, after she dragged anchor in rough weather. Apparently owned by a Hong Kong shipping company, the ship was anchored off Karachi Port for the purpose of crew change before it lost anchors due to rough weather conditions.The 98 metres in length and 20 metres wide ship, with a capacity of 3,600 dead weight tonnage, said to be built in 2010, was waiting for a crew change outside the Karachi Harbour while on its way to Turkey from China when a mild sea storm caused it to lose its anchors and start drifting towards the shore. By the time the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) got to know of the situation it was too late as the ship was already in shallow waters. It is said that the Karachi Harbour’s navigation channel has not been impacted by the ship’s floating off to shore. By Friday evening, the KPT authorities had deployed oil booms around the affected area to contain the damage in case of any spillage. Earlier on Thursday, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi also visited the beach to see the stranded vessel up close. He said that the ship’s getting stuck at the beach had nothing to do with the KPT management but now it was here KPT and the Port Qasim Authority, too, were here to extend their expertise if required and requested by the ship-owner. The minister was very clear that all consequential marine and environmental damages, if any, will be on account of the ship-owner. He said that under no circumstances will he allow the ship to leave Pakistani waters till they have paid their dues.

Rescue operation launched for cargo ship stuck near Sea View – A rescue operation for the cargo ship stuck near Karachi’s Sea View for the last five days will finally be launched today (Monday), Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi announced on Sunday.”The owner [of the vessel] has nominated Bharia Marine Services as their agent in Pakistan,” he tweeted. “Rescue tugs will arrive early Monday and, along with our tugs, will start the operation.”A Chinese expert has been flown in by the owner of the ship to monitor the operation. Tong 77 departed from the Chennai port for Istanbul. On July 18, it stopped in Karachi for staff changes. The high tides pushed it towards the coast, a few kilometres away from Sea View. Experts of the Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Navy have warned of the shipping breaking down which will result in environmental hazards, such as oil spills in the ocean. According to Zaidi, the ship’s engines are running and its captain has not yet given an SOS call. KPT has activated oil spill response teams at Sea View since Saturday. A 200 meters floatation boom has been deployed along the starboard side and the ship is being monitored 24/7 by the KPT Marine Pollution Control and Port Security personnel, the minister said.

Pakistani authorities plan to remove fuel from stranded ship -Pakistani port authorities plan to remove fuel from a merchant ship that ran aground in rough seas last week before making a salvage attempt in the middle of next month, an official said on Monday. Panama registered M.V. Heng Tong 77 was anchored in Pakistan’s territorial waters off Karachi for a crew change on July 21 when it lost anchors due to rough seas and drifted towards the shore, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) said. “By the time the vessel informed KPT of her drifting, it was already in shallow waters,” the port authority said in a tweet. The ship is carrying 118 tons of bunker fuel. The port authorities have given notice to its owners to take out bunkers containing fuel within 48 hours. “If they don’t, the port authority will remove ships bunkers, we cannot take any risk with its oil,” Mahmood Moulvi, special assistant to the Prime Minister on Maritime Affairs, told reporters on Monday. “We are taking all measures to avoid the spill of even one drop of oil at our beach,” he said. An attempt to salvage the ship could not be made before Aug. 15, Moulvi added.

India June crude imports hit 8-month low as virus dampens demand -India’s crude oil imports in June dropped to their lowest level in eight months as refiners cut down processing in the face of a tumultuous second wave of the coronavirus, government data showed on Wednesday. Crude oil imports rose in June by 16.3% to 15.90 million tonnes from a year earlier, but dropped 7.8% from May, data on the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed.”Refiners reduced runs after the COVID-19 cases increased in April-May, which might have contributed to lower imports,” said Refinitiv analyst Ehsan Ul Haq, adding that the nation’s vaccine programme is the key to future demand.”If we don’t see another wave, demand will recover significantly in the fourth quarter of this year.” India’s coronavirus caseload of 31.48 million infections is the world’s second-highest behind the United States.Oil product imports rose 11% to 3.51 million tonnes from the previous month, while refined products exports slipped about 4% to 5.51 million tonnes in June.Diesel shipments were down 3.8% from the preceding month, while petrol exports slipped 14%. India imports and exports refined fuels as it holds surplus refining capacity.India’s crude oil imports extend slide in June https://graphics.reuters.com/INDIA-FUEL/IMPORTS/egpbknjaovq/chart.png The world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, India has decided to commercialise half of its current strategic petroleum reserves as the nation looks to enhance private participation in the building of new storage facilities, two government sources told Reuters.

Abandoned Tanker Sinks Off Yemen, Oil Leak Hits Nature Reserve –– A long-abandoned oil tanker has sunk off the south coast of Yemen near the Port of Aden in the Gulf of Aden leaving an oil slick for 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) along the shore, says Mohammed Amzarba, CEO of the Aden Ports Administration. Amzarba told the Yemen state media agency SABA Thursday that his team is having trouble refloating the sunken oil tanker Dia despite several attempts since last week when it sank off Yemen’s southern coast. The Dia had been moored and abandoned since 2014 at Al-Bariqah, a dumping ground west of the main Port of Aden where a cluster of other dilapidated ships still remain. The tanker began to sink on July 18, officials said. Yemen’s Public Authority for Environmental Protection last week issued a warning through SABA that spoke of a “catastrophe in the marine environment” as a result of the sinking of the Dia. The Yemeni government convened an environmental rescue committee which reported that oil leaking from the Dia had reached a nearby nature reserve, causing dead fish to wash up on the shore. Ahmed Fahim, a member of the panel, blamed authorities for not undertaking precautionary maintenance of these derelict vessels as they are a threat to the marine environment. Today the government’s preliminary assessment shows that the oil spill damage extends to a once vibrant nature reserve – the al-Housoua, or al-Huswah, Nature Reserve, on Yemen’s southern tip. Before the Yemen Civil War, the al-Huswah Nature Reserve was visited by large swarms of migratory birds of some 150 different species, but more recently only about 50 species still visit the reserve, according to local officials. They said the situation of this nature reserve had deteriorated even before the oil slick and it faces the risk of abandonment for lack of government support. Yemen’s Public Authority for Environmental Protection, PAEP, blames the sinking of the oil ship in Aden and “the continuous leakage of oil pipelines in Shabwa into the sea,” on the “aggression” of its opponents. The PAEP statement asserts that “this disaster is a major environmental crime punishable by law and a flagrant violation of Environmental Protection Law No. (26) of 1995 and in violation of the provisions of international agreements on environmental protection signed by Yemen.” Amzarba said the authorities are willing to make another effort to refloat the Dia and potentially avoid further damage. And the sinking of the Dia is not the only menace to Yemen’s marine environment. Moored off Yemen’s west coast, permanently anchored at the same location for more than 30 years without any dry-docking or shipyard repairs, is the SAFER, a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) oil vessel Located about eight kilometers (4.8 nautical miles) southwest of the Ras Isa peninsula, the tanker is holding nearly 1.1 million barrels of oil – about four times as much oil as spilled from the Exxon Valdez into Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. FSO SAFER has not undergone regular maintenance since the 2015 escalation of the conflict that has torn Yemen apart. SAFER’s structure, equipment and operating systems are deteriorating, warns the United Nations, “leaving the tanker at risk of leaking, exploding or catching fire.”

Saudi Arabia’s oil exports climb 147% to $16 billion in May – The value of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in May increased 147% to just over 60 billion riyals ($16 billion) from a year earlier while non-oil exports rose by 70%, official data showed on Wednesday. “Overall merchandise exports increased by 120.1% in May 2021 compared to May 2020, when international trade was impacted by COVID-related lockdowns and travel bans in numerous countries”, the General Authority for Statistics said. Oil exports accounted for 73.2% of total exports, up from 65.3% in May last year. Non-oil exports rose to 22 billion riyals from 12.9 billion riyals in May 2020. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, suffered last year as the COVID-19 pandemic hit energy demand and its state coffers as a result. China remained Saudi Arabia’s main trading partner in May, with Saudi exports there corresponding to 21.4% of total exports.

Oil Futures Dip as Typhoon Snarls Southeast Asia Activity, Travel — Oil futures nearest delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude traded on the Intercontinental Exchange slid in early trade Monday after heavy flooding and typhoons in China prompted concerns over short-term demand weakness in the world’s largest oil importing country, and as a rapidly spreading Delta variant of coronavirus led to renewed travel and mobility restrictions across several Asia-Pacific countries. Growing coronavirus outbreaks across Asia and the Western Pacific prompted renewed restrictions on travel and business from Sydney to Bangkok, stoking concern over deteriorating fundaments for global oil demand. Thailand and Malaysia both reported a record number of new infections Friday, while Indonesia registered its highest single-day increase in COVID-related deaths. New Zealand announced last week that it was suspending a travel bubble with pandemic-hit Australia until the health crisis there is resolved.”Southeast Asia is one of the least vaccinated regions in the world,” said Yasir Arafat, a regional health adviser, adding that “it also has an extremely low testing rate, so it’s likely that things are even worse than the data suggests.”Heavy flooding and gusty winds from Typhoon In-fa prompted Chinese officials to shut down the Shanghai municipality — one of the nation’s largest city. According to China’s National Meteorological Center, provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, as well as all of eastern China, will be continually affected by heavy winds and torrential rains over the next couple of days. Typhoon has also disrupted supply of electricity and network of subway as well as all above ground traffic, with some roads reportedly submerged with water. The two airports in the city cancelled all flights on Sunday, with hundreds of more flights grounded on Monday.In financial markets, U.S. equity futures retreated from record highs on Monday ahead of a busy week for economic data and potentially game-changing policy meeting from the Federal Reserve. Should Fed Chairman Jerome Powell use Wednesday afternoon’s news conference to signal any change to the central bank’s accommodative policy, investors would likely reassess growth prospects, inflation, and earnings expectations for the rest of the year. Rising COVID-19 cases and higher-than-expected inflation data have already tamed some of those expectations.

Oil steadies in undersupplied market but coronavirus cases weigh (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied on Monday after a choppy session as the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant stoked fears about fuel demand, but losses were limited by forecasts that crude supply will be tight the rest of the year. Brent crude futures rose 40 cents, or 0.5%, to end the session at $74.50 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped by 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $71.91. Early in the session, both benchmarks fell by more than $1 a barrel. Coronavirus cases kept rising over the weekend, with some countries reporting record daily increases and extending lockdown measures. China, the world’s largest crude importer, has also registered a rise in COVID-19 cases. Some fear China’s oil imports could grow this year at the slowest rate in two decades despite an expected rise in refining rates in the second half, due to Beijing’s crackdown on misuse of import quotas combined with the impact of high crude prices. “The Delta variant is still spreading and China has started to clamp down on teapots (independent refiners), so their import growth would not be that much,” Reports from India also point to only muted oil demand, Commerzbank analysts said in a note. “Oil imports in June decreased to a nine-month low, while crude oil processing was only marginally above the low May level, which was influenced by the pandemic restrictions,” they said. Still, both crude benchmarks last week recovered from a 7% slump early in the week and marked their first weekly gains in two to three weeks, boosted by strong U.S. demand and expectations of tight supplies. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, declined by about 2.6 million barrels last week, traders said, citing data from Wood Mackenzie. Global oil markets are expected to remain in deficit despite a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, to raise production through the rest of the year. “The slow take-up of vaccinations will continue to limit some upside in oil demand in regions with low vaccination rates, and there will be intermittent spells in the recovery in the coming months.”

Oil inches up as tight supply, vaccinations outweigh virus concerns – – Oil prices were steady on Tuesday with investors betting tight supply and rising vaccination rates will help offset any impact on demand due to surging COVID-19 cases worldwide. Brent crude futures climbed 13 cents, or 0.2per cent, to US$74.63 a barrel at 0128 GMT, extending a 0.5per cent gain on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 4 cents to US$71.95 a barrel, after losing 16 cents on Monday. Benchmark prices rose even after the United States issued travel warnings to Spain and Portugal due to rising COVID-19 cases and a White House official told Reuters that wider travel curbs will not be lifted due to the highly infectious Delta variant and rising domestic infections. In one encouraging sign, Britain reported its lowest daily total of new COVID-19 cases since July 4 on Monday, suggesting the recent surge in infections has passed its peak. Analysts tracking mobility data remain confident about fuel demand, counting on vaccinations to guard against strict new lockdowns. Global oil markets are expected to remain in deficit despite a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, to raise production through the rest of the year. ANZ Research analysts said “robust road traffic data across most major regions suggests rising infections are having minimal impact”. “Investors are also encouraged by the continued restraint by U.S. shale oil producers. So far they have maintained discipline, with a focus on returns rather than growth,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note. Investors are awaiting inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group on Tuesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday for further evidence that demand is holding up. Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that U.S. crude stocks fell by about 3.4 million barrels and gasoline stocks fell by 400,000 barrels in the week to July 23.

NYMEX Oil Futures Soften Ahead of Weekly API Inventory Data— Oil futures nearest delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude traded on the Intercontinental Exchange settled Tuesday’s session mixed, as traders await the weekly rundown of inventory data on U.S. crude and petroleum products supplies and a policy announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee that could signal earlier-than-expected tightening of quantitative easing programs amid rising inflation and persistent disruptions to global supply chains. The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that global inflationary pressures tied to generous stimulus schemes across industrialized nations could prove more than just transitory, forcing central banks to tighten accommodative monetary policy earlier than expected. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged earlier this month that rising inflation was uncomfortably above the levels the central bank was seeking, but resisted calls to change policy course, adding the economy is “still way off” from a full recovery.The consumer price index jumped 0.9% in June and 5.4% from the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, core CPI rose 4.5% from June 2020, the largest advance since November 1991.”This particular inflation is just unique in history. We don’t have another example of the last time we reopened a $20 trillion economy with lots of fiscal and monetary support,” he said. “We are humble about what we understand.”Fed officials are set to accelerate discussions this week over how and when to gradually pare their purchases of $120 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage securities. The central bank will release an updated policy statement at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday followed by a closely watched news conference by Fed Chair Powell. Despite rising inflation, IMF lifted U.S. gross domestic growth this year to 7% and 4.9% in 2022, up 0.6% and 1.4% respectively from forecasts made in April. The agency gave its biggest upgrade to the United Kingdom, boosting its 2021 growth projections by 1.7% to 7%, reflecting accelerated vaccinations. Eurozone received a smaller 0.2% upgrade for 2021, weighed down by tighter quarantine restrictions during the first half of the year. IMF lowered its economic forecast for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and Vietnam, where recent waves of COVID-19 infections are weighing on economic activity.New coronavirus outbreaks across developing and emerging markets have forced factory and port shutdowns, further rattling global supply chains and aggravating shortages of key materials.

WTI Extends Intraday Rebound After Bigger Than Expected Crude, Gasoline Draws – Oil prices ended relatively unchanged today, despite some significant swings intraday as investors worried that global demand could be dented by surging COVID-19 cases, even though supplies are tightening and vaccination rates rising. “The API inventory data may jolt crude prices back into life,” API

• Crude -4.728mm (-2.55mm exp)
• Cushing -126k
• Gasoline -6.226mm
• Distillates -1.882mm

Despite last week’s surprise build, analysts expected crude to resume its series of inventory draws in the last week. Both crude and gasoline stocks saw a bigger than expected inventory drawdown… WTI was hovering around $71.80 ahead of the API data and rallied from there on the big draw…

WTI Extends Gains After Across The Board Inventory Draws –Oil prices rallied overnight as expectations (prompted by API’s report last night) of inventory drawdowns dominated fears of a Delta-driven drop in demand.“This price catalyst may inject some much-needed momentum into proceedings, especially after the API set a bullish tone,” said Stephen Brennock of broker PVM, referring to the EIA report.But, a rising number of coronavirus cases worldwide, despite vaccination programs, has limited the upside for oil and remains a concern. EIA

• Crude -4.09mm (-2.55mm exp)
• Cushing -1.268mm
• Gasoline -2.25mm
• Distillates -3.088mm

Official EIA data confirmed API’s report that inventories drew down across all segments…

Oil rises on U.S. fuel drawdowns despite surging Covid-19 cases — Oil rose toward $75 a barrel on Wednesday after data showed U.S. crude inventories fell more sharply than analysts had forecast, bringing the market’s focus back to tight supplies rather than rising coronavirus infections. Crude inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels in the week to July 23, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Gasoline and distillate fuel stocks also dropped. “A rebound in implied demand for both gasoline and distillates, as well as lower refinery runs, has encouraged decent inventory draws for both,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData. Brent crude advanced 26 cents, or 0.35%, to settle at $74.74 per barrel, after posting on Tuesday its first decline in six days. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled 74 cents, or 1%, higher at $72.39 per barrel. Oil has risen 45% this year, helped by demand recovery and supply curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+. OPEC+ agreed to increase supply by 400,000 barrels per day from August, unwinding more of last year’s record supply cut, but this is seen as too low by some analysts given the rebound in demand expected this year. A rising number of coronavirus cases worldwide, despite vaccination programs, has limited the upside for oil and remains a concern. A statement from a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting due at 1800 GMT is also in focus for investors. The dollar was firmer ahead of the meeting, pressuring oil as it makes crude more expensive for other currency holders. “We will be looking at today’s Fed comments later in the day to provide more significant support as we anticipate additional indications of loose monetary policy,”

Oil Up, U.S. Crude Oil Supplies Drop to Lowest Level Since January 2020- Oil was up Thursday morning in Asia as the latest data showed a draw in U.S. crude oil supplies to their lowest level since January 2020.Brent oil futures were up 0.34% to $74.12 by 11:43 PM ET (3:43 AM GMT) andWTI futures gained 0.37% to $72.66. Brent and WTI futures both remained above the $70 mark.Wednesday’s U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed a draw of 4.089 million barrels in the week to July 23. Forecasts prepared by Investing.com predicted a 2.928-million-barrel draw, while a 2.108-million-barrel build was recorded during the previous week.Crude oil supply data released a day before by the American Petroleum Institute showed a draw of 4.728 million barrels.”The EIA oil inventory falls suggest the rise in cases of COVID-19s Delta variant is having little impact on mobility,” ANZ analysts said in a note.Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve said the U.S. economic recovery is still on track despite a rise in daily COVID-19 cases as it handed down its latest policy decision on Wednesday. The decision left the interest rate unchanged between 0 % and 0.25% but did not provide a timetable for asset tapering.The EIA data showed a bigger-than-expected 2.253-million-barrel draw in gasoline inventories, bringing them largely in line with pre-COVID-19 levels. However, fuel demand continues to be of concern for investors as gasoline demand in the U.S. and Europe beginning to fall.It is widely expected that fuel demand will likely not recover to its pre-COVID-19 levels until 2022 should the number of COVID-19 cases continue to increase, and the vaccination rate continues to slow down. “There appears to be quite a bit of hesitancy to push the market in either direction, leaving it in a holding pattern… there is still uncertainty over the demand picture, with COVID-19 cases continuing to tick higher,”

Oil rises as U.S. supplies tighten and dollar weakens – Oil prices rose on Thursday, with global benchmark Brent topping $75 a barrel, as supplies in the United States further tightened after shrinking to the smallest levels since January 2020. Brent crude oil futures advanced $1.31, or 1.75%, to settle at $76.05 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures settled $1.23, or 1.7%, higher at $73.62 per barrel. Data from information provider Genscape indicated that the inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub have continued to draw, traders said on Thursday. Cushing stockpiles were seen at 36.299 million barrels by Tuesday afternoon, down 360,917 barrels from July 23. The Cushing inventory data came a day after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that domestic crude inventories fell by 4.1 million barrels in the week to July 23. Cushing, delivery point for the benchmark U.S. oil futures contract, has had seven consecutive stockpile draws. In June, Brent topped $75 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, before falling back sharply this month on fears about the rapid spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus and a compromise deal by leading oil producers to increase supply. The U.S. economic recovery is still on track despite the rise in coronavirus infections, the U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in a policy statement that flagged ongoing talks around the eventual withdrawal of monetary policy support. The dollar languished a day after the Federal Reserve’s remarks that it has not yet set a time to start tapering its bond purchases. The dollar index fell 0.41% to 91.882, a level last seen on June 29. A sluggish dollar hoisted the euro up 0.39% to $1.1888, its highest in more than 3 weeks. A weaker dollar can boost investor demand for dollar-denominated commodities, including crude oil. “While the risk to the demand outlook could increase due to governments across Europe reducing permission for public gatherings, we note that markets have already undergone several rounds of mobility restrictions… yet, the global recovery was not significantly derailed,” analysts from Citi said in a note. Further supporting the outlook for tighter supplies was a statement from Iran blaming the United States for a pause in nuclear talks, which could mean a delay in a return of Iranian barrels to the market.

Oil Futures Slip Ahead of Expiries After Thursday’s Rally – – Oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange and Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange softened in early trade on the last business day of July, with all the petroleum contracts on course for 1% weekly gains spurred by supportive U.S. inventory data showing across-the-board draws from commercial crude and refined products stocks, and accommodative monetary policy from the Federal Reserve that pledged this week to keep interest rates near zero until the U.S. economy makes a full recovery from the pandemic-induced recession. West Texas Intermediate futures were supported this week by a weaker U.S. dollar, with the dollar index falling to a one-month low 91.871 settlement Thursday under pressure from a combination of bearish factors. This week’s dovish Federal Open Market Committee meeting left the benchmark interest rate unchanged between a 0% and 0.25% target range, giving no clear indication on when the central bank would start tapering its $120 billion a month in bond purchases. The greenback was further pressured Thursday after a preliminary estimate for second quarter gross domestic product showed the economy expanded by 6.5% during the April-June period, missing expectations for an 8.5% growth rate. First quarter GDP was also revised lower to 6.3% from 6.4%. Rising consumer prices and labor shortages have chipped away a larger chunk of last quarter’s growth rate despite trillions of dollars spent to fuel the economy. Investors will get an update on U.S. inflation with this morning’s release of Personal Income and Consumption Index for June. Consensus calls for the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ PCE index to have increased 4.1% year-on-year after posting a 3.9% gain in May. The expected increase follows comments by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at midweek reiterating inflation is likely to be transitory and to fade over time despite running above the central bank’s 2% target.Additionally, U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended July 23 were bearish against expectations, with the Labor Department reporting 400,000 filings compared with market estimates for a 390,000 reading, with the previous week’s initial filings revised 5,000 higher. U.S. labor market is still short 8.5 million positions compared with the before the pandemic.Overnight data from Eurozone showed the 19-member economy expanded by 2% in the second quarter, beating expectations for 1.5% growth, and following recession. The region contracted 0.3% in the first quarter and 0.6% in the final quarter of 2020, with two consecutive quarters of economic contraction a technical recession. Portugal, Austria and Latvia registered the highest quarterly growth rates. Large economies of France and Germany, however, underwhelmed expectations with a 0.9% and 1.5% growth rate, likely hit by supply constraints related to pandemic-disruptions and rising consumer process. Near 7:30 a.m. EDT, NYMEX September WTI slipped $0.17 to $73.46 barrel (bbl) and ICE September Brent futures hovered near $76 bbl, widening its premium against October contract to $1.05. NYMEX August RBOB contract fell 1.11 cents to $2.3403 gallon and next-month delivery September futures narrowed its discount to the expiring contact to 2.44 cents gallon. NYMEX August ULSD contract softened 0.64 cents to $2.1830 gallon, with September futures at parity with August delivery. ICE September Brent, and NYMEX August ULSD and RBOB futures expire Friday afternoon.

Oil prices finish higher to score a 4th-straight monthly gain – Oil futures settled higher on Friday, shaking off earlier declines as tight U.S. crude supplies helped lift prices up for a fourth month in a row. Prices also ended higher for the week on the back of the “favorable supply and demand dynamics,” . “As concerns over the delta variant’s impact on global fuel demand ease, this could support oil bulls moving forward.”Last week’s decline in U.S. crude inventories, meanwhile, is also supportive for oil prices as it encourages the demand outlook, he said.U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 33 cents, or nearly 0.5%, to settle at $73.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest front-month finish since July 13, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Front-month prices logged a 2.6% weekly rise and a nearly 0.7% monthly climb. July was “certainly a rollercoaster” in the oil markets. The failure by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to reach a policy agreement earlier this month lifted prices to new 2021 highs before an eventual deal to raise output caused a sharp pullback, he said.Longer-term fundamentals for oil have “deteriorated” in large part due to the OPEC+ deal to raise output, but near-term fundamentals “remain bullish as we are in a supply deficit that is expected to last through the end of the year,” Richey told MarketWatch.Global benchmark Brent crude saw its front-month September contract , which expired at the end of the session, move up by 28 cents, or 0.4%, to end at $76.33 a barrel, around 3% higher for the week and up 1.6% for the month.The most-actively traded October Brent crude contract rose 31 cents, or 0.4, Friday to settle at $75.41 a barrel.Crude got a boost earlier this week as U.S. government data showed a weekly drawdown (link) in domestic crude, gasoline and distillate inventories.On Friday, petroleum product futures ended higher, with August gasoline up 0.6% at nearly $2.37 a gallon, the highest since October 2014, with prices settling 5.4% higher for the month. August heating oil added 0.5% at $2.20 a gallon, for a monthly rise of 3.3%. The August contracts expired at the end of the session.Domestic crude inventories are tight at 435.6 million barrels for the week ended July 23 — about 7% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.Expectations that the oil market would see “permanent demand destruction from the COVID-19 shut down was really overplayed,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group. “What we saw is the that the lack of investment in low energy prices spurred demand as the economy reopened.” Also on Nymex, September natural gas settled at $3.91 per million British thermal units, down 3.6%, paring its monthly rise to 7.2%.

Oil Ekes Out 4th Monthly Gain After U.S. Inventory Beat – Oil headed toward its best week in five on Friday after outsized U.S. draws in everything, from crude to gasoline and diesel, helped bulls put the market back on a positive track.New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude and London’s Brent also posted modest gains for July, extending oil’s positive run to a fourth straight month.WTI settled up 33 cents, or 0.5%, at $73.95 per barrel on Friday. The benchmark for U.S. oil was up 2.1% for the Monday-Friday stretch, marking its best week in five. It also showed a gain of 0.7% for July.Brent, the global benchmark for oil, settled up 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $75.41 on the day. For the week, Brent rose 1.8%. For July, Brent showed a 1.1% gain. That was its best in six weeks.After a soft start to the week, oil’s upside was restored by data from the Energy Information Administration showing a crude inventory drop of 4.089 million barrels during the week to July 23, compared with analysts’ expectations for a draw of 2.928 million barrels.The big drawdowns in crude came as refiners focused on pushing out as much gasoline as they could this summer to meet projected demand for the peak U.S. driving season. According to the EIA, refiners operated at 91.1 percent of capacity for the week to July 23, not far from highs seen during the pre-pandemic summer of 2019. Gasolinestockpiles on their own fell by 2.25 million barrels for the week to July 23, against a forecast 1.24 million. The outlier for the week, however, was diesel-heavy distillates, which drew down by 3.1 million barrels, more than quadruple the forecast decline of 700,000. The outsized draw shows that demand for trucking and other commercial vehicle fuel was as strong as the consumption of gasoline.

Biden, Iraqi prime minister to announce end of US combat mission in Iraq –President Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will announce Monday that the U.S. military’s combat mission in Iraq will formally conclude by the end of the year. The announcement will come in a joint communique issued after the two leaders meet in the White House on Monday afternoon, a senior administration official told reporters in a background call about the meeting. “We’re talking about shifting to a new phase in the campaign in which we very much complete the combat mission against ISIS and shift to an advisory and training mission by the end of the year,” the official said. “As this evolution continues, and as we formally end the combat mission and make clear that there are no American forces with a combat role in the country, Iraq has requested, and we very much agree, that they need continued training, support with logistics, intelligence, advisory capacity building – all of which will continue,” the official added. But while the announcement will mark a symbolic end to the combat mission, U.S. military operations in Iraq are expected to remain largely unchanged, as U.S. troops there have been in a mostly training and advisory role for years. Additionally, the distinction between “combat” and “noncombat” troops is not clear.

Taliban Seeks International ‘Legitimacy’ In Meeting With Top China Officials — Amid the Islamist militant group’s unleashing chaos and a mounting civilian death toll on the Afghan landscape, and now in possession of at least half of the country’s districts, Talban leaders have traveled to China where “warming ties” were on display Wednesday in a meeting with top Beijing officials.China’s foreign minister Wang Yi hosted the visit of a Taliban delegation of nine Taliban leaders, including the group’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Yi told reporters that China expects to “play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan.”Clearly the Taliban are now seeking international “legitimacy” as they are poised to eventually retake the entire country via military force, particularly the Afghan capital of Kabul, which US intelligence admitted recently could be just six months away.Al Jazeera aptly commented on the question of legitimacy in the following: Wednesday’s meeting in the Chinese city of Tianjin, which Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem said was at the invitation from Chinese authorities, was widely seen as a gift from Beijing towards that legitimacy. The Taliban were greeted with smiles and nods to the camera in Tianjin, the major port city in northeast China where a US delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Chinese counterparts on Sunday into Monday for what was by all accounts a much icier reception.

.

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