Oil Prices Could Be Just Dollars Away From The “Danger Point”! ISIS Fighters Attack LARGEST Oil Refinery In Iraq, Exxon Evacuates….

ExxonMobil has carried out a “major evacuation,” and BP had evacuated 20 percent of its staff, the head of Iraq’s state-run South Oil Company said Wednesday.

Dhiya Jaffar also said ENI, Schlumberger, Weatherford and Baker Hughes had no plans to evacuate staff from Iraq following the lightning advance of Sunni militants through the country. The companies, which are based in southern Iraq where the government is still in firm control, were not immediately available for comment.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101762384

From Bloomberg:

The global economy faces a new threat from an old enemy: oil.

A spike in the price of crude foreshadowed economic slumps in each of the last four decades and economists are worrying anew after Brent touched its highest price in nine months above $113 a barrel amid fresh violence in Iraq, OPEC’s second biggest producer. Brent started the year about $6 cheaper.

The rule of thumb favored by many economists is that every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil ends up cutting global growth by about 0.2 percentage point. That’s not an inconsequential amount for an already lackluster expansion. The World Bank last week cut its outlook for 2014 global growth to 2.8 percent.

“There is no doubt that, beyond a certain point, higher prices become a major constraint on global economic activity, particularly if the price reflects supply problems rather than buoyant demand,” said Julian Jessop, chief global economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.

Net energy importers such as China and Japan would suffer the most from any jump, though exporters in the Middle East would benefit to mitigate growth concerns, according to Neil MacKinnon, a global macro strategist at VTB Capital Plc in London.

http://thecrux.com/danger-point-oil-prices-could-be-just-dollars-away-from-crippling-the-economy/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/-120-seen-danger-point-for-oil-return-as-economic-threat.html

ALERT!! ISIS Fighters Attack LARGEST Oil Refinery In Iraq

Insurgency in Iraq

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27902157

Nation wide gass prices

http://www.houstongasprices.com/

Gas prices in 14 states now at 15-month highs
Alaska ($4.04).

Oregon ($3.92).

Washington ($3.93).

Missouri, Wyoming ($3.50).

Nevada ($3.84).

New Mexico ($3.48).

North Dakota ($3.60).

Oklahoma ($3.46).

Arizona ($3.53).

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/06/17/energy-prices-take-a-breather-after-recent-runup/10655467/

China has far more at stake in Iraq than America

“….The Chinese, on the other hand, would have a much harder time if Iraq’s 3.7% of global production suddenly went offline.  China, which is increasingly dependent on energy imports, is now that country’s largest foreign customer, taking an average 1.5 million barrels a day, almost half of Iraq’s production. China National Petroleum Corp., a state enterprise, swooped up Iraqi oil after last decade’s war—Beijing, by the way, sold arms that ended up in the hands of insurgents fighting Americans—by accepting Baghdad’s razor-thin margins and onerous conditions….”

http://www.phantomreport.com/china-has-far-more-at-stake-in-iraq-than-america

BAGHDAD — Since the American-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has become one of the world’s top oil producers, and China is now its biggest customer.

China already buys nearly half the oil that Iraq produces, nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, and is angling for an even bigger share, bidding for a stake now owned by Exxon Mobil in one of Iraq’s largest oil fields.

“The Chinese are the biggest beneficiary of this post-Saddam oil boom in Iraq,” said Denise Natali, a Middle East expert at the National Defense University in Washington. “They need energy, and they want to get into the market.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/03/world/middleeast/china-reaps-biggest-benefits-of-iraq-oil-boom.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&