International
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Oil and US Leverage in Iraq
Sep 9, 2014
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Jim Krane and Ted Loch-Temzelides, Forbes
HOUSTON _ As the Obama Administration ratchets up its confrontation with radical Islamists in Iraq, an idled tanker loaded with Kurdish oil off the Texas…
West Africa: Ebola May Disrupt Oil and Gas Operations in West Africa, Threatening Region's Economy, says GlobalData Analyst
Sep 9, 2014
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AllAfrica
London — Oil and gas exploration and production programs in West African states are under increasing risk due to the failure to contain the Ebola…
Myanmar: Japanese-Led Projects Risk Fueling Conflict in Burma: Activists
Sep 9, 2014
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Yen Snaing and Saw Yan Naing, The Irrawaddy
RANGOON — Dozens of Karen civil society groups are calling on Japan’s international development agency to halt plans for development projects in southeastern Burma.
The Karen…
China/Japan: China Sends Warships to Escort Oil Rig to Waters Claimed by Japan Near Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands
Sep 9, 2014
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China Daily Mail
China’s qianzhan.com says in its report today that China’s Kaixuan-1 oil rig is on its way to the area near the disputed Diaoyu Islands (known…
Israel/Palestine: New Emblem of an Elemental Conflict: Seized West Bank Land
Sep 9, 2014
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Isabel Kershner, The New York Times
WADI FUKIN, West Bank — At the edge of this small Palestinian village, an asphalt road turns into a dirt path that winds through a…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Files Claim Against Greek Oil Shipper
Sep 8, 2014
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Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International
BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government revealed Monday it started legal proceedings against a Greek company responsible for exports of oil from the Kurdish north of…
Myanmar: Coal: The New Power Battleground
Sep 8, 2014
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Wa Lone, Myanmar Times
The strong monsoon wind blows thick, rain-filled clouds in from the Andaman Sea to the fringes of the Ayeyarwady delta. Thoung Khon is just 60…
Myanmar: Burmese Workers Get Lengthy Jail Terms for Pipeline Clash
Sep 8, 2014
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Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy
RANGOON — A court in Arakan State sentenced 17 Burmese workers to between six and 10 years each in prison on Sunday for destroying property…
Pakistan: Internal Affairs: BDU Chief ‘Dragged’ Into Land-Grabbing Allegations
Sep 8, 2014
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The Express Tribune
PESHAWAR: The bomb disposal unit’s AIG Shafqat Malik dismissed rumours that his driver was injured in a land-grabbing attempt on Warsak Road on Saturday.
“Farman, a resident…
Food Security: Middle East Wars Could Put World’s Food Security at Risk
Sep 8, 2014
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Steve Connor, The Independent
Millions of people could in future face starvation as an indirect result of the violent turmoil in the Middle East which has the highest concentration…
Afghanistan: Snow Sales Replace Illegal Logging in Afghan Province
Sep 8, 2014
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Qaisar Khosti, Environmental News Service
For hundreds of years, people in Afghanistan have stockpiled winter snows in specially-dug pits so they can use it during the scorching summer months. Now,…
West Africa: Ebola Outbreak Dulls Diamond Industry
Sep 7, 2014
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Melvyn Reggie Thomas, Tmes of India
SURAT: The Ebola outbreak has started casting a shadow over the diamond industry as diamantaires have stopped sourcing rough diamonds from West African countries. Africa…
Vietnam: Vietnam Building Deterrent Against China in Disputed Seas With Submarines
Sep 7, 2014
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Greg Torode, Reuters
Vietnam will soon have a credible naval deterrent to China in the South China Sea in the form of Kilo-class submarines from Russia, which experts…
Conflict Minerals: Good News and Bad News: Commerce Department Publishes List of Conflict Minerals Processing Facilities
Sep 7, 2014
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Steve Quinlivan, Dodd-Frank
The good news is the Commerce Department published a list of ”all known conflict mineral processing facilities worldwide” as required by section 1502(d)(3)(C) of the…
Iraq/Syria: Scotland Leads Calls for Crackdown on Trade in Smuggled Oil by Islamic State
Sep 7, 2014
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Herald Scotland
Scotland is leading calls for an EU-led crackdown on the illicit trade in black market oil fuelling the march of the terror group Islamic State…
Iraq: New Rumaila Contract Includes Substantive Changes
Sep 6, 2014
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Ali Abu Iraq, Ben Lando, and Staff, Iraq Oil Report
Iraq has renegotiated a lower production target for Rumaila, its most prolific oil field – part of a broader effort to moderate the country's oil…
Australia/Timor-Leste: UN Court Postpones East Timor Spy Case
Sep 6, 2014
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Harriet Alexander, Sydney Morning Herald
The architect of East Timor's independence movement has welcomed the decision by Australia and his country to postpone court action over their spy row and pursue…
South Sudan: From Money Box to Tinder Box
Sep 5, 2014
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Daily Maverick
The box was half the height of the minister’s desk. At the start of the day it was full to the brim with South Sudanese…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Say They’ll Give a Unified Iraqi Government One Last chance
Sep 5, 2014
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Roy Gutman, Miami Herald
IRBIL, Iraq -- Kurdish leaders, acceding to U.S. demands, are postponing plans for an early referendum on independence and say they instead will devote their…
Myanmar: In Myanmar, China's Scramble for Energy Threatens Livelihoods of Villagers
Sep 5, 2014
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Hereward Holland, National Geographic
OIL MOUNTAIN, Myanmar—The mood at a ramshackle bar in this village on Ramree Island, in western Myanmar's Rakhine State, is one of fatalism punctuated by…
Myanmar: Thousands Protest Against Mines in Namhkam
Sep 5, 2014
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Nang Mya Nadi, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thousands gathered in Namhkam, Shan State, on Friday morning to protest against commercial mining operations.
The locals said that large-scale silica mining projects have resulted in…
Myanmar: First Solar Energy Plants Planned
Sep 5, 2014
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Eleven Myanmar
Myanmar will soon welcome the first-ever solar energy project, through the investment of about US$480 million – the biggest investments by a US company in…
Myanmar: India to Import 1 Lakh Tonne Rice from Myanmar
Sep 5, 2014
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The Hindu
India is going to import one lakh tonnes of rice from Myannmar to avoid supply crisis in Manipur and Mizoram as the construction work is…
China/Vietnam: Vietnam's Maritime Spats with China Stir Domestic Dissent
Sep 5, 2014
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The Straits Times
Historically, ambiguity has characterised relations between China and Vietnam. Despite China's strong cultural influence, Vietnam has repeatedly resisted the larger power's efforts to dominate it.…
Conflict Minerals: Dispatches From the Diamond Wars
Sep 5, 2014
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Howard W. French, The Wall Street Journal
Some of my earliest memories as a reporter have to do with diamonds in Africa. Several times, as a young freelancer visiting Sierra Leone in…
Iraq: Exports Lag Due to Violence
Sep 5, 2014
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Ben Lando, Ali Abu Iraq,and Kamaran al-Najar, Iraq Oil Report
Iraq's battle with anti-government militants has begun to hamper the country's exports, which fell in August to their second-lowest monthly average of the year.The State…
Climate Security: NATO Stresses Climate Change Impacts on Security
Sep 5, 2014
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International Institute for Sustainable Development
Heads of State and Government participating in the Wales Summit of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic…
Conflict Minerals: Intel's CEO Reveals The Company's Plans To Build A Conflict-Free Supply Chain By 2016
Sep 4, 2014
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Fast Company
If you use electronics or wear gold jewelry, you're participating in an economy that finances armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which gather…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Sues Greek Shipping Firm for Transporting Kurdish Oil
Sep 4, 2014
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Ahmed Rasheed and Jonathan Saul, Reuters
Iraq said it filed a lawsuit against Greek shipping company Marine Management Services (MMS) for its role in the export of crude from the Kurdistan…
Iraq: Oil Output in Iraq's Kirkuk Slumps 90 percent
Sep 4, 2014
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Humeyra Pamuk, Reuters
Oil output in Iraq's Kirkuk has slumped to 30,000 barrels a day since June, 90 percent down on earlier this year, and a federal pipeline…