International


South Sudan: Ongoing Conflict Stifles South Sudan’s Oil Sector

Jul 7, 2015 | David Bizley, Global Data

According to Jonathan Markham, GlobalData's Analyst covering upstream oil and gas, continued armed fighting, trade disputes and low oil prices are negatively impacting South Sudan’s…


Liberia: Envoy Assesses Australia-Funded Agric Projects in Bong

Jul 7, 2015 | Philip T. Singbah, Liberia News Agency

Australian Ambassador to Liberia Joanna Adamson Tuesday ended a one-day working visit to Bong County to assess an Australian-funded agriculture projects. The visit was also…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan's Export of Oil is 'Unconstitutional', Says Official

Jul 6, 2015 | Middle East Monitor

A senior Iraqi official has accused the autonomous government of Kurdistan of exporting oil from Kirkuk and Erbil oil fields without coordinating it with the…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Arbitration Court Rules in Favor of Producers in Iraqi Kurdistan: Dana Gas

Jul 6, 2015 | Platts

A London court has ruled in favor of a group of international oil and gas companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan on several key issues in…


¿Quién Responde por el Daño Ambiental de Tumaco?

Jul 6, 2015 | Razon Publica

Como si se tratara de un luto, Tumaco está teñido de negro. Los últimos atentados contra el oleoducto Transandino produjeron una mancha enorme que se…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq, Kurdistan Oil Deal Close to Collapse

Jul 3, 2015 | Matt Bradley, Wall Street Journal

An oil-sales deal between Iraq and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government is close to collapse about six months after it was signed, undermining the country's…


Somaliland: Living at the 'Mercy of the Rain' in Somaliland

Jul 2, 2015 | Katie Riordan, Al Jazeera

It has been particularly dry this year in parts of Somaliland, the internationally unrecognised nation-state that broke away from Somalia in 1991. Small, frequent droughts…


Russia/Ukraine: Russia Halts Gas Supply to Ukraine Amid Pricing Dispute

Jul 1, 2015 | NewsOK

The Russian gas company Gazprom halted supplies to neighboring Ukraine on Wednesday after the collapse of pricing talks, a company official said — but an…


Iraq/Islamic State: Water Shortages Unite Iraq, Islamic State against Turkey

Jul 1, 2015 | Zaid Sabah, Selcan Hacaoglu, and Jack Fairweather, Bloomberg

There’s one thing Islamic State militants and the Iraqi government they’re besieging agree on: Turkey is using more than its fair share of water. Iraq…


Iraq: Iraq Oil Exports Hit Record 3.187 Million bpd in June

Jul 1, 2015 | Al Arabiya, Reuters

Iraq’s oil exports rose in June to a record average of 3.187 million barrels per day (bpd) from 3.145 million in May, the oil ministry…


Myanmar: Ministry of Energy Stays Mum on 2016 Bidding

Jun 30, 2015 | Consult Myanmar

Further bidding rounds for offshore oil and gas blocks are likely to come in 2016, though government officials and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise have…


Sudan: IMF Says Sudanese Economy Could Face Fiscal Gap on Oil Price Fallout

Jun 30, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the Sudanese economy could be adversely impacted by the drop in worldwide oil prices and that inflation rate…


Islamic State: India Bans Oil Trade with Islamic State-Linked Organisations

Jun 30, 2015 | Reuters

India on Tuesday banned trade with Islamic State-linked entities in oil and other products, complying with a U.N. resolution to act against militants active in…


China/India: Revisiting the ‘Water Wars’ Narrative

Jun 30, 2015 | Zhang Hongzhou, The Diplomat

With China’s late-2014 completion of the Zangmu dam, the largest hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra River (known in Tibet as the Yarlung Tsangpo River), many…


Liberia: World Bank Upbeat over Liberia Forest Carbon Initiative

Jun 30, 2015 | Front Page Africa

The New Liberia Media Initiatives says after an engagement of stakeholders during a ten day visitation mission geared at starting preparation of Liberia's Forest Sector…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Ramps Up Independent Oil Sales

Jun 29, 2015 | Humeyra Pamuk, Ahmed Rasheed, and Isabel Coles, Reuters

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has ramped up independent oil sales since mid-June while cutting allocations to Iraq's state oil firm SOMO in an escalating dispute…


Myanmar: Severe Floods Force Evacuations in Rakhine

Jun 29, 2015 | Aye Sapay Phyu, Myanmar Times

Rescue workers in Rakhine State fear villagers may have died in severe flooding over the past few days, as five townships reported heavy rains. U…


Yemen: Rising Water Price Hits Yemenis, Shortage May Become Bigger Problem than War, Experts Say

Jun 29, 2015 | Magdalena Mis, Reuters

The price of water is rising steeply in Yemen, which may run out of water for its 25 million people, experts say, adding to the…


Rwanda: Lions to Be Reintroduced to Rwanda after 15-year Absence Following Genocide

Jun 28, 2015 | David Smith, The Guardian

Seven lions in South Africa are to be tranquillised, placed in steel crates and loaded on to a charter flight to Rwanda on Monday, restoring…


South Sudan: Economics of a Failed State

Jun 27, 2015 | Al Jazeera

South Sudan is only four years old, but the world's youngest nation tops the rank of failed states worldwide. After decades of conflict with its…


Myanmar: Civil Society Reps Blast Burma’s Opaque Extractive Industries

Jun 26, 2015 | Yen Snaing, The Irrawaddy

A group of civil society stakeholders called on the government on Friday to halt all extractive projects in ethnic areas until a ceasefire is brokered…


Liberia: Liberia Rresident Vows Shake-Up at State Oil Company - Media

Jun 26, 2015 | Thomson Reuters Foundation, Stella Dawson

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has promised a management shake-up at the national oil company, which is on the verge of bankruptcy after failed attempts…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Exports from Iraqi Kurdistan Slump Again, BP Cancels Cargoes

Jun 26, 2015 | Hellenic Shipping News

BP and Cepsa have had to cancel loadings of Iraqi oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan in yet another sign of problems affecting shipments…


China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Moves Controversial Oil Rig Back towards Vietnam Coast

Jun 26, 2015 | Reuters

China has moved an oil rig at the center of last year's violent dispute with Vietnam closer to Vietnam's coast in the disputed South China…


Iraq: Massive Oil Fields Are Iraq’s Biggest Asset — And a Huge Liability — in the Fight Against the Islamic State

Jun 25, 2015 | Landon Shroder, Vice News

Tucked away in the southeast corner of Iraq, right on the border of Iran, is Basra Province. Under this dusty, humid, and scorched piece of…


Liberia: GVL Donates L$504,000 to LISOP

Jun 25, 2015 | The New Dawn

Golden Veroleum Liberia or GVL has presented a check for L$504,000 or its equivalent of US$6,000 to the Liberia Surgical Outreach Program or LISOP, a…


China/South China Sea: China's Island-Building Has Neighbors on Edge, but Tensions May Be Easing

Jun 23, 2015 | Frank Langfitt, NPR

Chinese and American officials are deep into their annual meeting this week in Washington, hashing out the nations' complex relationship. In addition to many economic…


Timor-Leste: Timor Spy Scandal: Former ASIS Officer Facing Prosecution

Jun 22, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

A former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer and star witness for East Timor in a bitter dispute with the Abbott government over $40 billion in…


Australia: Australia Military ‘Unprepared’ for Climate Impacts – Experts

Jun 22, 2015 | Ed King, Responding to Climate Change

Australia’s defence force has “one eye shut” to the impending threat of global warming, say experts in a report released today by the Melbourne-based Centre for…


Colombia: Ecopetrol Pipeline Bombing Spills More Oil into Colombian River

Jun 22, 2015 | Reuters

Crude oil has spilled into another Colombian river, state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Monday, in the latest of a slew of bomb attacks on…