International


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Government and Kurds Reach Deal to Share Oil Revenues

Dec 2, 2014 | Tim Arango, New York Times

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government agreed Tuesday to a long-term accord with the autonomous Kurdish region to share the country’s oil wealth and military resources…


Sierra Leone: Sunergy Clarifies Recent Press Release Issued By Sierra Leone National Minerals Agency

Dec 1, 2014 | Smallcap Network

NEW YORK, NY, United States, via ETELIGIS INC., 12/01/2014 - - Sunergy, Inc. ("Sunergy" or "the Company") (OTC Pink: SNEY) (PINKSHEETS: SNEY), was made aware…


Liberia: LEITI Holds Technical Workshop

Dec 1, 2014 | AllAfrica

The Secretariat of the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) over the weekend held a one-day technical workshop aimed at enhancing effectiveness in the preparation…


Iraq: Up To 400,000 Barrels Of Iraqi Oil ‘Remains Inactive’ As Kurds, Iraqi Central Government Aim To Solve Payment Issue

Dec 1, 2014 | Angelo Young, International Business Times

The key to a permanent resolution of disputes between Iraq's central government and leaders of its semiautonomous region known as Kurdistan over what to pay…


Myanmar: Searching for Burmese Jade, and Finding Misery/Video Feature: Jade’s Journey Marked by Drugs and Death

Dec 1, 2014 | Dan Levin and Jonah M. Kessel, New York Times

MYITKYINA, Myanmar — At 16, the gem trader’s son set out for the jade mines to seek his fortune in the precious stone that China…


Iraq: Video Feature: Targeting ISIS’ Black-Market Oil Trade

Dec 1, 2014 | Emily B. Hager, New York Times

Along the border between Iraq and Turkey, guards are keeping a watchful eye out for oil smugglers. Oil from the Islamic State’s territories feeds an…


Iraq: Iraq's Oil Minister Says Islamic State No Longer a Threat to Baghdad's 'Black Gold'

Nov 30, 2014 | Andrew Critchlow, The Telegraph

Iraq’s oil minister believes that the Islamic State no longer poses a significant threat to the country’s vital oil facilities and that the new government…


Iraq: Iraq Says Failing Oil Prices Force Rethink of 2015 Budget

Nov 30, 2014 | Reuters

Falling oil prices have forced Iraq to scrap the draft 2015 budget it planned to present to parliament on Sunday, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi told…


Conflict Minerals/DRC: How a Well-Intentioned U.S. Law Left Congolese Miners Jobless

Nov 30, 2014 | Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post

LUNTUKULU, Congo — When his father could no longer make enough money from the tin mine, when he could no longer pay for school, Bienfait…


Liberia: Justice Banks Denies Harry Greaves' Petition to Stop Oil Block Sale

Nov 30, 2014 | Abednego Davis, AllAfrica

A request to prevent the Liberian government from receiving about US$120million as "signature bonus" from the sale of the four remaining offshore oil blocks LB-6,…


South Sudan: South Sudan Limits Dollar Sales as Oil Exports Fall

Nov 28, 2014 | Carl Odera, Reuters

South Sudan has issued new rules banning the trade of dollars in the black market and restricting the sale of hard currency at foreign exchange…


Liberia: President Sirleaf Signs 2014/2015 Budget Into Law - but Veto Line Item Under Additional Revenue Section 3 B (f) of the Budget

Nov 28, 2014 | AllAfrica

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has signed the 2014/2015 fiscal budget into law, but has vetoed a line item which calls for signature bonus in the…


Iraq: Oil Price Drop After OPEC Decision Is ‘Terrible’: Iraq Minister

Nov 28, 2014 | Nayla Razzouk and Rupert Rowling, Businessweek

The plunge in crude prices after OPEC’s decision to keep its production ceiling unchanged is “terrible,” according to Iraq’s oil minister.

Brent crude, the global benchmark,…


China/South China Sea: Beijing Pushes Offshore Oilfields in the Bohai and South China Seas

Nov 28, 2014 | Want China Times

The General Office of the State Council of China has announced plans to develop nine large oilfields in the Bohai Sea and the South China…


Myanmar: Latpadaung Mine ‘Must Be Halted’ Pending EIA, Says Amnesty

Nov 28, 2014 | Jacob Robinson, Democratic Voice of Burma

Marking two years since Buddhist monks and activists were brutally attacked by riot police at the Latpadaung copper mine site, Amnesty International (AI) has issued…


Iraq: Kirkuk Oil Facilities Damaged in IS Battle

Nov 27, 2014 | Iraq Oil Report

A pipeline to the Baiji refinery was ablaze amidst a barrage of artillery fired by militants of the so-called Islamic State (IS) as they battled…


Sudan: Sudan to Up Gold Production By 64 Tons

Nov 27, 2014 | AllAfrica

Khartoum — On Sunday, Sudan announced a 64-ton increase in gold production this year, up from 34 tons in 2013. This signifies an important advance…


EU: Climate Change and EU Security - When and How they Intersect

Nov 27, 2014 | International Relations and Security Network

The potential security challenges linked with climate change can make for great headlines. While sensationalist claims about water wars, states collapsing in chaos or the…


Japan/China/Vietnam: Vietnam, the US, and Japan in the South China Sea

Nov 26, 2014 | The Diplomat

Between May and July 2014, China unilaterally deployed a giant drilling rig in waters claimed by Vietnam as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The move led to…


Liberia: Lawmaker Linked to 'Illegal' Land Sale

Nov 26, 2014 | allAfrica

Margibi County Representative Roland O. Cooper has been linked to illegal sale of land in Duazon, Lower Margibi County

But Representative Cooper has rubbished the allegation,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Future Uncertain for Baghdad-Erbil Oil Cooperation

Nov 25, 2014 | Al-Monitor

On Nov. 13, Iraq’s oil minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and Iraqi Kurdish authorities reached a deal whereby the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will export 150,000 barrels of oil…


Iraq/Kurdistan: First Baghdad Crude Oil Payment Reaches Iraqi Kurdistan

Nov 25, 2014 | Platts

Baghdad has paid the $500 million agreed to in a deal with Iraq's Kurds in an effort to rekindle negotiations over revenues, Kurdistan Regional Government…


Sudan: Taking Root- the Cash Crop Trade in Darfur

Nov 25, 2014 | Sudan Vision Daily

The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of a decade of conflict in Darfur on the trade in some of Darfur’s major…


South Sudan: Abyei Community Seeks Global Recognition of Referendum Result

Nov 25, 2014 | allAfrica

Community leaders from the oil-contested region of Abyei say they are determined to push ahead with a campaign seeking regional and international recognition of the…


China/South China Sea: Beijing Defends Land Reclamation in South China Sea

Nov 25, 2014 | China Post

Defying a U.S. call to halt the project, China defended its land reclamation in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea on Monday,…


Myanmar: Myanmar's Jade Curse

Nov 25, 2014 | Al-Jazeera

Gold is valuable but jade is priceless, so goes a Chinese saying. For centuries, the Chinese consider jade an imperial stone with mystical properties. Today…


Myanmar: Land Consultations Too Short, CSOs Warn

Nov 25, 2014 | Myanmar Times

They have urged the government to conduct wider public consultations before finalising the policy, which some have criticised as being too pro-business.

However, they have also…


Iraq: Iraq’s Future- It’s the Oil, Stupid

Nov 24, 2014 | Hellenic Shipping News

This week, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi is scheduled to visit Erbil, his first visit to the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as…


Iraq/Kurdistan: 2014 ‘a Turning Point for Kurdish Oil and Gas’

Nov 24, 2014 | Hurriyet Daily News

Kurds have created a real chance to make income for themselves by selling their own oil in Iraq and they will probably make more money…


Myanmar: Tensions Rise as Myanmar Turns to Dams for Power

Nov 24, 2014 | South China Morning Post

When a village in the conflict-torn hills of eastern Myanmar was asked to pay authorities more than US$10,000 to plug into an electricity grid, families…