International

Liberia: Quardougbondi Citizens Reject LCC Agreement

Dec 17, 2014 | The Inquirer

Lofa County Senator, George T. Tengbeh, has disclosed that citizens of QuardouGboni District have written the central government that they will not allow the management…

Liberia: Hasty Oil Sale - Liberia's Legislature Set to Ratify Block 16

Dec 17, 2014 | Henry Karmo, Front Page Africa

Monrovia: Like the scenario of oil Block 13, the National Legislature is set to ratify oil Block 16 despite the absence of the country's oil…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Regional Government Expects More Oil Investment, as Baghdad Relations Improve

Dec 17, 2014 | Hellenic Shipping News

Foreign oil companies are likely to show increased interest in investing in Iraqi Kurdistan given improving relations between the regional and federal governments, including an…

Iraq: Iraq Seeks One-Year Deferral on Gulf War Reparations

Dec 17, 2014 | Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters

Iraq has requested a one-year deferral of a $4.6 billion reparations payment for destroying Kuwait's oil facilities during its 1990-91 occupation, a U.N. official said…

Côte d’Ivoire: Belgium Lifts Ban On Ivory Coast Diamonds Trade

Dec 16, 2014 | Kathleen Caulderwood, International Business Times

Belgium has lifted a ban on diamonds from the Ivory Coast that’s been in place for more than a decade, after training local officials to…

Sudan: Sudan to Drill Hundreds of Wells to Boost Oil, Gas Reserves -State Media

Dec 16, 2014 | Reuters

Sudan's oil minister says the country will drill more than 250 wells in the coming year, aiming to boost its energy reserves by 65.4 million…

Iraq/Kurdistan: More Kurdish Oil Expected After Field Upgrades

Dec 16, 2014 | Daniel J. Graeber, United Press International

Oil companies working in the Kurdish north of Iraq said Tuesday they completed infrastructure that should increase total production by more than 60 percent.

Hungarian energy…

Conflict Causes: Plunging Oil to Spark More Global Tensions in 2015

Dec 16, 2014 | New Straits Times

LONDON: The oil market faces an uncertain outlook in 2015 as tumbling prices resulting from global oversupply stoke geopolitical tensions in key producers of crude,…

Nepal: From The Mountains to The Sea – Water in South Asia: In Pictures

Dec 16, 2014 | Paula Hanasz, Asia & the Pacific Policy Society

Paula Hanasz goes with the flow of Himalayan rivers as they pass through Nepal, India and on to Bangladesh before releasing into the Bay of…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Boom Turns Bleak on Refugee Flood, Oil Decline

Dec 15, 2014 | Hermione Gee, Channel NewsAsia

ERBIL, Iraq: The promise of the oil-rich autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq on the back of rapid economic growth has waned this year as civil…

Sudan: Russia to Get Access to Sudanese Oil Amid Debt Write-Off

Dec 14, 2014 | The Moscow Times

Russia has written off $17 million in debt owed by Sudan and won the promise of access to Sudanese oil and gas resources for Russian companies after an intergovernmental commission meeting in Moscow, news agency…

South Sudan: Conflict in South Sudan a Major Concern for China

Dec 14, 2014 | Itziar Aguirre, Global Risk Insights

On December 15, 2013, fierce fighting broke out in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. Rebel forces loyal to Machar targeted South Sudan’s oil fields, and what…

Iraq/Kuwait: Iraq Seeks Delay in $4.6 Bln Reparation to Kuwait Amid Oil Price Crash

Dec 13, 2014 | Sputnik

Ekaterina Blinova — Seriously affected by sliding oil prices and the war with the Islamic State, Iraq is asking Kuwait for a postponement in its $4.6 billion payment of reparations for the…

South China Sea Dispute: Philippines and Vietnam Allies in Position Papers against China

Dec 13, 2014 | Michelle Flor Cruz, International Business Times

Vietnam and the Philippines expressed support for each other this week against claims made by China in the hotly disputed South China Sea area. The…

Sierra Leone: Ebola’s Spread in Sierra Leone Puts Diamond Mines at Risk

Dec 12, 2014 | Thomas Biesheuvel and Makiko Kitamura, Bloomberg

As Ebola rages in Sierra Leone, the outbreak has claimed almost 2,000 lives and contributed to the collapse of the iron ore industry. Now the…

South Sudan: Protecting Wildlife in South Sudan’s Civil War – Reddit AMA Highlights

Dec 12, 2014 | Maeve Shearlaw, The Guardian

As well as having a devastating effect on the human population, South Sudan’s prolonged civil war is endangering the future of its wildlife. Elephants, giraffes,…

Conflict Minerals: SEC Argues Its Conflict Minerals Rule Survives First Amendment Scrutiny

Dec 12, 2014 | Yin Wilczek, Bloomberg BNA

The Securities and Exchange Commission Dec. 8 told a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that it should uphold…

China/Philippines/Vietnam/South China Sea: South China Sea Tensions Flare as Vietnam Files Stance to Court

Dec 12, 2014 | Diep Ngoc Pham and John Boudreau, Bloomberg

Tensions over the South China Sea were reignited after Vietnam said it had submitted its stance on the dispute to the international arbitration tribunal reviewing…

Liberia: Four Oil Blocks 'Lease' Postpones Capitol Recess

Dec 12, 2014 | Leroy M. Sonpon, III, Liberian Observer

The Liberian Legislature has extended its Special Session by one week, upon a request from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on the pending submission of four…

Myanmar: Mining Workshop for Civil Society Leaders in Myanmar

Dec 12, 2014 | Cecile Medail, Earth Rights International

Rapid development in mining in Myanmar is putting communities at risk. Pollution, inhumane business and labor practices, and violence are some of the many issues…

DRC: Miner vs. Miner: A Different Kind of Mineral Conflict

Dec 11, 2014 | Sabri Ben-Achour, Marketplace

Biyamungu Ngalikyana, in his mid-20s, sports shiny white rubber boots and a mining helmet as he walks down a dirt road in the mining town…

China/South China Sea: Why Specks of Land in the South China Sea Are Fueling Tensions Between Beijing and Its Neighbors

Dec 11, 2014 | Simon Worrall, National Geographic

They have names like Pigeon Reef, West Sand, Taisho-To, and Scarborough Shoal. Most are no more than outcrops of rock poking out of the sea.…

Liberia: Nocal Renews Support for Oil Sector Reform in Liberia

Dec 11, 2014 | Front Page Africa

Monrovia — An official of the National Oil Company of Liberia has reiterated NOCAL support towards efforts to reform the oil sector of the country.

Speaking…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Kirkuk Oil Exports in Focus: How And Why?

Dec 11, 2014 | Muhammed Hadi, Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Why did Baghdad agree to exporting Kirkuk oil via the Kurdistan Region? And what will happen if the oil fields produce…

Iraq: Iraq’s Bright Oil Future Blocked By ISIS

Dec 11, 2014 | Colin Chilcoat, Oilprice.com

Last week’s oil agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was a milestone event and the market reaction was largely fitting – Brent…

Food Security: UN Agency Reports Record Cereal Crop as Ebola, Conflict Threaten Food Security

Dec 11, 2014 | United Nations

Despite world cereal production likely to reach an all-time record of more than 2.5 billion tonnes in 2014, a total of 38 countries are at…

Cyprus/Turkey: Oil Deal In Iraq Should Be Example for Cyprus: Turkish President Erdoğan

Dec 11, 2014 | Turkish Weekly

The recent internal agreement between Baghdad and Arbil should set an example for sharing potential energy resources off Cyprus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has…

China/South China Sea: Lowy Report: Chinese Rivalries Risk Spiralling Conflict in South China Sea

Dec 10, 2014 | John Garnaut, Sydney Morning Herald

Fierce rivalry between Chinese civilian, paramilitary and military agencies has created a "genuine risk" of conflict in the South China Sea, says a new report.

Reopening…

Angola: National Director of State Assets in Major Land-Grabbing Fraud

Dec 10, 2014 | Rafael Marques de Morais, Maka Angola

On June 5, 2014, the national director of State Assets at the Ministry of Finance, Sílvio Franco Burity, successfully petitioned the governor of Kwanza-Sul, General…

South Sudan: South Sudan Peace Talks Stutter as Economy Becomes Casualty of War

Dec 9, 2014 | James Copnall, The Guardian

South Sudan was born from decades of conflict, after two long civil wars in which well over two million people died. Well before the joyous…