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.
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.
ALERT!! ISIS Fighters Attack LARGEST Oil Refinery In Iraq
Insurgency in Iraq
Nation wide gass prices
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).
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).
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….”
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.”
No comments:
Post a Comment