International


Iraq: Baghdad-Erbil Accord Over Oil Sales Breaking Down

Feb 17, 2015 | World Bulletin

The Dec. 5 oil-revenue sharing agreement between the Kurdish Regional Government, or KRG, and the Iraqi central government is unwinding, observers and experts said on…


Sierra Leone: Land Owning Families in Eastern Sierra Leone Sue Chinese Company and Paramount Chief to Recover Land

Feb 17, 2015 | Sonkita Conteh, The Sierra Express

Land owning families in Nimiyama Chiefdom, Kono District, Eastern Sierra Leone have commenced legal action in the country’s High Court against Orient Agricultural Ltd –…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq's KRG PM Threatens to Withhold Oil Exports Without Budget Share

Feb 16, 2015 | Reuters

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government may withhold crude oil exports if Baghdad does not send its share of the budget, Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani…


Timor-Leste: Call for New Approach to Timor Sea Negotiations

Feb 16, 2015 | Darren Mara, SBS

A new government has been sworn in in East Timor after the resignation of Xanana Gusmao from the post of Prime Minister.

Rui Araujo will now…


Myanmar: Jade Trade Bedevils Burma’s Transparency Aspirations

Feb 16, 2015 | Seamus Martov, The Irrawaddy

While Burma pushes ahead with plans to become a full-fledged member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global standard promoting openness in the…


Conflict Diamonds: HSBC and Shimon Yelinek: Arms, Drugs, Diamonds and Terrorism

Feb 16, 2015 | Aliaume Leroy, McGill International Review

Shimon Yelinek is an Israeli businessman based in Panama. Behind this facade however, he is one of the most notorious criminals you may find among…


Iraq: Iraq Has Lost Billions from Gas Flaring

Feb 15, 2015 | Saadallah Al Fathi, gulfnews.com

In June 2012, the IEA estimated that the implied value of the gas flared in southern Iraq to 2020 would be $70 to $100 billion…


Liberia: Taylor-Era Wartime Timber Company Penalized, Accused of PUP Breach

Feb 15, 2015 | Front Page Africa

The Danish timber giant Dalhoff Larsen and Horneman (DLH), a company accused of buying conflict timber during Liberia’s civil war, has been stripped of its…


Myanmar: EITI Board Members Rap Govt over Mine Death

Feb 13, 2015 | Thomas Kean, Myanmar Times

Civil society members of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s International Board have slammed the government over the death of a protester at the Letpadaung copper…


Timor-Leste: As Xanana Gusmao Departs, Timor Must Prepare for When the Oil Runs Dry

Feb 13, 2015 | Tom Allard, Sydney Morning Herald

In the annals of East Timor's extraordinary emergence as a nation state after 500 years of foreign domination, no figure has loomed as large as…


Liberia: NOCAL ‘Lawyer’ Whistleblower in 25K Oil Saga Dead

Feb 13, 2015 | Mae Azango and Al Varney Rogers, Front Page Africa

Monrovia - Cllr. Michael Allison, the former consultant to the National Oil Company of Liberia who reportedly blew the whistle that had led to an…


Iraq: Iraq's Oil Exports Dip by 14 Percent in January

Feb 12, 2015 | Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press

Iraq's Oil Ministry said on Thursday that crude exports averaged 2.535 million barrels a day in January, a decrease of nearly 14 percent from the…


South Sudan: Conflict a Cause of Hunger in South Sudan

Feb 12, 2015 | Norwegian Refugee Council

“The critical food situation is worsening for the 2.5 million people at risk in South Sudan. There is an urgent need for a solution on…


Liberia: Danish Timber Giant Kicked Out of Forest Stewardship Council Certification Scheme for Trading Illegal Timber

Feb 12, 2015 | Global Witness

Danish timber giant Dalhoff Larsen and Horneman (DLH) has been expelled from the world’s leading timber certifier, the Forest Stewardship Council, following evidence presented by…


Afghanistan: Watchdog: DOD Ignored Troop Health Risks, Continued to Burn Trash in Afghanistan

Feb 12, 2015 | Heath Druzin, Stars and Stripes

The U.S. military knowingly put troops’ health at risk and wasted tens of millions of dollars on shoddy contracts while operating dangerous open-air burn pits…


Conflict Minerals: Apple Takes Initiative in Verifying Smelters for Approaching Conflict Minerals Reporting Deadline

Feb 11, 2015 | 3BL Media

The world's second largest technology company, Apple, has acknowledged that the best way to ensure a conflict free supply chain is by having a process…


South Sudan: S. Sudan’s Oil Production Showing Signs of Recovery: Minister

Feb 11, 2015 | Hellenic Shipping News

South Sudan’s oil ministry said production is starting to recover for the first time since conflict erupted more than a year ago, severely disrupting exploration.

Petroleum…


South Sudan: South Sudan Eyeing Mining to Reduce Dependency on Oil

Feb 11, 2015 | Sudan Tribune

Concerned about the current decline in prices of crude oil in the global market, South Sudan is turning to mining sector to reduce dependency on…


China/Philippines/South China Sea: China Must Abide by Sea Ruling, Philippine Justice Says

Feb 11, 2015 | Andrea Tan, Bloomberg

China must comply with any ruling on competing territorial claims with the Philippines in the South China Sea even if it refuses to participate in…


DRC: DRC Mining Industry Worried by Country’s Stop to Mining Code Talks

Feb 10, 2015 | Henry Lazenby, Mining Weekly

The mining industry operating within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is concerned about last week's decision taken by the Mines Ministry to shun further…


China/South China Sea: China Finds Sizable Natural Gas Field in South China Sea

Feb 10, 2015 | Associated Press

China said its recent gas discovery in the politically volatile South China Sea could yield 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas, underlining Beijing's determination…


Broken Land, Broken Promises - Myanmar's Controversial Copper Mines

Feb 10, 2015 | Deutsche Welle

"Sometimes there is a very strong smell from the sulphuric acid factory; people cannot stay in the village at those times. Our eyes tear up…


Iraq/Kurdistan: In Payment Drought, Oil Companies Pare KRG Investment

Feb 10, 2015 | Patrick Osgood, Iraq Oil Report

Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not paid its oil contractors since November, highlighting political and financial problems that could hamper plans to increase…


Iraq: EIA: Iraq Oil Production Growth was World’s Second Largest in 2014

Feb 9, 2015 | Oil & Gas 360

According to information released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) today, Iraq’s production growth in 2014 was the second largest in the world, trailing only…


Myanmar: Investors Eye Myanmar's Rich Potential for Rice Growing

Feb 9, 2015 | Petchanet Pratruangkrai, The Nation

Myanmar may go back to being one of the world's major rice exporters in five to 10 years, as many Thai and foreign investors are…


Myanmar: Shell to Explore in Deepwater Offshore Myanmar

Feb 9, 2015 | World Oil

The Hague, Netherlands -- Shell and its partner Mitsui Oil Exploration group (MOECO) have signed exploration and production sharing contracts with Myanma Oil and Gas…


Sierra Leone: Blood Diamonds Prominent as Multi-Billion-Dollar Swiss Leaks Scandal Hits HSBC

Feb 9, 2015 | Greg Klein, Resource Clips

HSBC’s secret Swiss bank accounts facilitated billions of dollars in money laundering, tax evasion, fraud, arms trafficking and possibly terrorism, a team of investigative journalists…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Conflicts and Oil Agreements: Baghdad and Erbil's Truly Ambivalent Relationship

Feb 8, 2015 | Al Bawaba

The Kurdish region’s oil supply is a major point of contention in Iraq as it brings up questions of wealth distribution and foreign exports. The…


Iraq: Iraqi Kurdistan Oil Firms Go Domestic Amid Dearth of Export Pay

Feb 6, 2015 | Reuters

Oil producers in Iraqi Kurdistan, including Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Genel, have started ramping up deliveries to the local market at the expense of foreign…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad Oil Deal With Kurds 'In Danger' of Falling Apart, Lawmaker Warns

Feb 6, 2015 | Assyrian International News Agency

An important agreement between Baghdad and Erbil that resolved long-standing disputes over the budget and oil exports is in danger of falling apart, the deputy…