International


Iraq: Jihadists Kill 14 Iraq Kurds in Battle Over Dam, Oil Facility

Aug 2, 2014 | Ahram Online

Kurdish troops fought off a jihadist attack on an oil facility and a dam near the Iraqi city of Mosul but lost 14 of their…


South Sudan: South Sudan Conflict Drives Idea of Oil Wealth Monitoring

Aug 1, 2014 | Drazen Jorgic and Edmund Blair, Reuters

NAIROBI, Aug 1 (Reuters) - South Sudan's oil fields have become a battleground in the struggle for power in Africa's newest nation, encouraging Western nations…


Iraq/Kurdistan: For Wandering Tankers with $300mln of Kurdish Crude, End-Game Still in Doubt

Aug 1, 2014 | Jonathan Saul, Reuters

Aug 1 (Reuters) - After a legal show-down in Texas this week, the outlook for a handful of tankers holding some $300 million worth of…


Libya: Risks Remain to Libya's Oil Supply Despite Reopening of Ports, Fields

Aug 1, 2014 | Benoit Falcon, The Wall Street Journal

LONDON—The reopening of Libyan oil fields and ports this month has been a key factor behind a steady fall in international oil prices recently, with…


Vietnam: Vietnam to Arm Fishery Surveillance Ships After Standoff With China

Aug 1, 2014 | Tra Mi, Voice of America

Vietnam says all ships under the management of its Fisheries Surveillance Force will be equipped with weapons following a tense standoff with China over a…


South China Sea: China Expands Offshore Oil Fleet for Contested Waters

Aug 1, 2014 | Eric Yep and Wayne Ma, The Wall Street Journal

China is accelerating the expansion of its offshore oil fleet—and adding coast guard vessels to protect it—as it ventures farther into the sea for energy…


South Sudan: South Sudan Delays Gold Production By a Year Due to Conflict

Jul 31, 2014 | Reuters

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan will delay the start of gold mining by a year from its planned date in 2016, a senior government official…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdish Oil Cargo Unloaded at Sea, Destination a Mystery

Jul 31, 2014 | Keith Wallis, Reuters

(Reuters) - Part of a Kurdish oil cargo has been offloaded from a Greek-managed tanker into another tanker in the South China Sea, but mystery…


Land Grabbing: Land Grabbing A New Political Strategy for Arab Countries

Jul 31, 2014 | Independent European Daily Express

BEIRUT, Jul 30 (IPS) - Food price rises as far back as 2008 are believed to be the partial culprits behind the instability plaguing Arab…


India/Bangladesh: India Drops Sea Claim to Seek Offshore Oil in China Contrast

Jul 31, 2014 | Andrew MacAskill and Arun Devnath, Bloomberg Businessweek

If good fences make good neighbors, that may explain why much of Asia’s recent territorial tension has centered on the ocean.

India took a step toward…


Iraq: Iraq to Survey ISIL Conflict Zones for Harmful Chemicals, Pollutants

Jul 31, 2014 | Khalid al-Taie, Al-Shorfa

The Iraqi Ministry of the Environment is preparing to launch an environmental assessment in areas damaged by terrorism, conflict or natural disaster in an effort…


Cambodia; Rights Group Slams Cambodian Government Over Land Dispute Death

Jul 31, 2014 | Radio Free Asia

A soldier in Cambodia's army shot and killed a teenager this week while attempting to seize farmland for his military superior, rights groups said, warning…


Liberia: RIA Land Deed Backfires - Land Owners Threaten to Sue GOL

Jul 30, 2014 | AllAfrica

Monrovia — Lawyers representing the legal interest of residents of the Roberts International Airport area said they would sue over President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's granting…


Iraq/Kurdistan: U.S. Judge Sides With Iraq, Blocks Kurds' Attempt To Sell Oil

Jul 30, 2014 | John Ydiste, NPR

A U.S. judge has blocked an effort by Iraq's Kurdistan region to sell $100 million worth of crude oil to refiners in the U.S. It's…


Kurdistan: Kurdish Oil Production Seen Doubling Next Year by Goldman Sachs

Jul 30, 2014 | Grant Smith and Claudia Carpenter, Bloomberg Businessweek

Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurds, sparring with the nation’s central government over their right to export crude, may almost double oil production next year and triple it…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Challenges Iraq's Oil Claim

Jul 30, 2014 | The Wall Street Journal

The Kurdistan Regional Government has sent a letter to a Texas court challenging Baghdad’s claim to a 1-million-barrel tanker of oil currently parked off the…


Colombia: Colombia's Paramilitary-Coal Nexus: Drummond, Glencore Face New Accusations

Jul 30, 2014 | James Bargent and Mimi Yagoub, InSightCrime

The report by Christian peace campaigners PAX, "The Dark Side of Coal," (pdf) brings together the testimonies of demobilized paramilitaries, former company employees and conflict…


DRC: Head Of DRC State Miner Fired For 'Gross Negligence'

Jul 29, 2014 | Israel Diamond Institute

The head of the Democratic Republic of Congo's state-owned mining company Gecamines has been fired from his post for "gross negligence", reports Mining Weekly. The…


China/Philippines: Philippines Seeks Pledges to Suspend Unilateral Acts in S. China Sea

Jul 29, 2014 | Global Post

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called Tuesday for all claimants to disputed islands and other land features in the South China Sea to agree…


China/Vietnam: Vietnam’s Communists Urged to Sue China

Jul 29, 2014 | Trung Nguyen, Voice of America

Dozens of prominent members of Vietnam's Communist Party (VCP), voicing concerns over China’s actions in the South China Sea, are calling on their leaders to…


South China Sea: Maritime Disputes Could Lead to War

Jul 28, 2014 | Amando Doronila, Philipine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—China’s maritime disputes with countries like the Philippines and Vietnam in the South China Sea are increasingly raising anxieties among their neighbors that the…


Iraq/Syria: U.N. Warns of Sanctions for Oil Trading with Syria, Iraq Militants

Jul 28, 2014 | Michelle Nichols, Reuters

(Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council expressed grave concern on Monday over reports that radical militants have seized oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq…


Kurdistan/Iraq: Iraq Warns US on Kurd Oil

Jul 28, 2014 | NBC

CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports Iraq's lawyers demand that oil on a Kurdish tanker near the Port of Galveston be delivered to Iraq.


China/Vietnam: Experts Call For Legal Action Against China

Jul 28, 2014 | VietnamNet

Viet Nam should prepare to take its case against China to the international court of justice, even though it has moved its Haiyang Shiyou 981…


Iraq/Syria: UN Adopts Russian Statement Condemning Terrorist Oil Sales

Jul 28, 2014 | The Moscow Times

With a statement drafted by Russia, the UN Security Council strongly condemned any sale of oil from Syria or Iraq by terrorist groups and reminded all countries that buying this illegally obtained…


Iraq/Kurdistan: BRIEF-Iraq Sues Kurdistan Ministry of Natural Resources in U.S. Over Oil Delivery

Jul 28, 2014 | Thomson Reuters Foundation

July 28 (Reuters) - Iraq files lawsuit against ministry of natural resources of the kurdistan regional governate with respect to 1.03 million barrels of crude…


South Sudan: S. Sudan Rejects Calls for Suspension of New Oil Contracts

Jul 28, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

(JUBA) – The South Sudanese government says it would not relent to recent demands for suspension of all new oil contracts, arguing that such a…


China/Vietnam: Did China Blink in the South China Sea?

Jul 27, 2014 | Alexander Vuving, The National Interest

For seventy-five days starting from May 2, China unilaterally deployed its US$1 billion oil rig HYSY-981 to drill in waters lying within Vietnam’s exclusive economic…


Iraq: Fire Breaks Out in 2 Oil Tanks in Beiji Refinery

Jul 27, 2014 | Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- Fire broke out in two oil tanks in Beiji Refinery due to a terrorist attack."The ISIL terrorists attacked Beiji Refinery with some mortar…


Abyei/South Sudan: Abyei Chiefs to Lobby Juba to Recognize Referendum

Jul 27, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

Chiefs and elders of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms in the contested area of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan intend to lobby the South…