International
South Sudan: South Sudan Rebels Say Capture Oil Refinery, Tell Firms to Leave
May 19, 2015
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Denis Dumo, Reuters
South Sudanese rebels said on Tuesday they had captured a refinery near a major oilfield in Upper Nile State, where fighting has flared up in…
Liberia: GVL Oil Mill - Welcoming News after Ebola in Liberia
May 19, 2015
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FrontPageAfrica
When news broke last Thursday that the Asian Oil Palm giant Golden Veroleum Liberia had signed a US$20.984M contract for the construction of its Oil…
China/Vietnam: Vietnam Opposes Chinese Fishing Ban in Disputed Sea
May 18, 2015
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Reuters
Vietnam said it resolutely opposes a temporary Chinese ban on fishing in the Gulf of Tonkin, the latest in a series of sovereignty disputes in…
Iraq/Kurdistan: If Baghdad Won't Be Responsive, KRG Will Sell Oil Independently
May 18, 2015
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The Kurdish Globe
The KRG delegation held a meeting with the parliamentary groups and relevant committees to discuss the latest developments in the implementation of the agreement reached…
Conflict Minerals: Call to Toughen European Rules on 'Conflict Minerals'
May 18, 2015
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BBC News
A letter has been signed by more than 150 groups before a European Parliament vote on ways to limit their sale. Many tech gadgets such…
Iraq: BP Agrees to Cut Spending on Iraq's Rumaila Field after Oil Price Drop
May 18, 2015
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Rania El Gamal, Reuters
BP has cut its development budget for Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield by $1 billion this year after the government warned a slump in crude prices…
China/South China Sea: Kerry Meets with China's Foreign Minister over Disputed Islands
May 16, 2015
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Scott Neuman, NPR
China's foreign minister today reasserted Beijing's claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea, dismissing a push by his counterpart, Secretary of State John…
DRC: 'Conflict Minerals' Funding Deadly Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as EU Plans Laws to Clean Up Trade
May 16, 2015
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Sarah Morrison, The Independent
The European Parliament is set to vote on its first conflict minerals regulation aimed at cleaning up the trade this coming week. The European Union…
Syria: US Says Army Commandos on Overnight Raid into Syria Kill Islamic State's Oil Operations Head
May 16, 2015
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Robert Burns and Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press
In a rare ground attack deep into Syria, U.S. Army commandos killed a man described as the Islamic State's head of oil operations, captured his…
Cyprus/Turkey: Cyprus Peace Talks 'Positive and Productive'
May 16, 2015
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Deutsche Welle
Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, Mustafa Akinci, met in Nicosia in search of a breakthrough to the…
Liberia: Moratorium on Logging Activities is Undermining Liberia’s Economy says Senate Pro-Tempore
May 15, 2015
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Cholo Brooks, Global News Network
The President Pro-Tempore of the Liberian Senate Armah Zolu Jallah says Liberia needs to identify its priorities in terms of adopting policies that will benefit…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq’s Oil Minister Leaves Erbil with No Progress in Oil & Budget Talks
May 15, 2015
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Rudaw
Iraq’s Oil Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi returned to Baghdad Friday evening after two days of talks with Kurdish officials over oil and budget disputes with…
Iraq: The Islamic State Threatens to Capture Massive Iraqi Oil Refinery
May 15, 2015
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Hugh Naylor, Washington Post
Six months after the government triumphantly announced that Islamic State militants had retreated from Iraq’s largest refinery, the extremist group is again threatening to overrun…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: Images Reveal Vietnam's Expansion in the South China Sea
May 15, 2015
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Gabriel Domínguez, Deutsche Welle
Surveillance imagery recently obtained by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) shows that in recent years Vietnam has undertaken significant construction in the…
Iraq: 9th Circuit Court Overturns $85M Award for Oregon Soldiers
May 14, 2015
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Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out a landmark verdict that a dozen Oregon Army National Guardsmen won against a defense contractor…
DRC: India Eyes Mineral Exploration, Procurement Deals from Congo
May 14, 2015
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Business Standard
India has expressed keen interest in having a "mutually beneficial" relationship with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in exploration as well as procurement of various…
Iraq: 12 Years Later, a Mystery of Chemical Exposure in Iraq Clears Slightly
May 14, 2015
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C.J. Chivers, New York Times
The toxic vapors acted quickly against the Second Platoon of the 811th Ordnance Company, whose soldiers were moving abandoned barrels out of an Iraqi Republican…
DRC: Conflict Minerals Rule: A View of Ongoing Compliance
May 14, 2015
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Deloitte, Wall Street Journal
As the SEC’s Conflict Minerals Rule approaches its second filing deadline in June, many registrants continue to face the challenge of gaining adequate visibility into…
South Sudan: UN Ramps Up Airlifts to Reach Conflict-Hit Farmers Ahead of Planting Season
May 14, 2015
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United Nations
As the main planting season begins in South Sudan, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced today that it is accelerating its efforts…
Iraq: Iraqi Refinery May Be Destroyed in Battle to Save it
May 13, 2015
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Reuters
Islamic State militants have dug trenches around natural gas and hydrogen tanks at Iraq's largest refinery, raising the stakes in a battle where the price…
Iraq: Baghdad-Erbil Relations Grow Sour
May 13, 2015
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Anadolu Agency
Relations between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government in Erbil are growing sour as Erbil awaits full payment for oil, according to…
Iraq: How Important is the Battle for Iraq's Baiji Oil Refinery?
May 12, 2015
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Jill S Russell, BBC
The struggle between Iraqi government forces and Shia militia against Islamic State (IS) for control of the country's largest oil refinery, Baiji, is at yet…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: 1 Year Later: Reflections on China's Oil Rig 'Sovereignty-Making' in the South China Sea
May 12, 2015
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Ankit Panda, The Diplomat
One year ago, China’s state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) moved an exploratory oil rig, Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981), worth an estimated $1 billion,…
DRC: Child Labour Won't Stop with Conflict-Free Labels and Voluntary Codes
May 12, 2015
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Josephine Moulds, The Guardian
A fight is brewing in Europe over new rules for companies to report on so-called “conflict minerals”, which are commonly found in mobile phones, laptops,…
Liberia: Liberia's Remaining Forest Threatened, If...
May 12, 2015
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Wellington G. Patrick, Liberia News Agency
The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ms Anyaa Vohiri, predicts that though Liberia holds a large chunk of sub-Saharan forest, it remains…
Timor-Leste: Drop in Oil Production Reduces Timor-Leste’s Revenue
May 11, 2015
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Macauhub
A drop in oil and natural gas production has been the main factor behind a reduction of oil revenues to Timor-Leste (East Timor), which account…
Islamic State: How IS Uses Water as a Weapon of War
May 11, 2015
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Walaa Hussein, Al-Monitor
The Middle East is facing a water crisis. As the region experiences conflicts over water and faces the continuous risk of war breaking out, experts on water predict that the Islamic…
Sudan: Contract for Khartoum Oil Pipeline Signed
May 11, 2015
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Radio Dabanga
The first Sudanese contract to build pipelines for petroleum between Khartoum and Wad Madani, the capital of El Gezira state, was signed on Sunday. The…
Bangladesh/India: Enclaves in Bangladesh: Reports of Scuffles over Land Grabbing
May 10, 2015
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The Indian Express
Days after Parliament ratified the land swap agreement with Bangladesh, there are reports of “law and order” problem over the alleged land grabbing in the…
DRC: Dodd-Frank’s Misadventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo
May 10, 2015
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Tom Burgis, Politico
Looking out on the banana plants and cassava shrubs of Central Africa, it was odd to imagine the tentacles of a bank reform bill in…