International


Iraq: Jihadists Burn Three Iraq Oil Wells as Kurds Attack

Aug 28, 2014 | AFP

Retreating jihadists set three wells ablaze at a northern Iraq oil field Thursday as they battled Kurdish forces who launched a major attack nearby, officials…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds Recapture Iraq Oil Fields, Advance on Rebel-Held Towns

Aug 28, 2014 | Bloomberg

Kurdish and Iraqi forces recaptured two oil fields and mounted an offensive to retake the town of Zummar, part of a broader bid to recover…


Sierra Leone: Golden Saint Reach Agreement Over Diamond Recovery in Sierra Leone

Aug 28, 2014 | London South East

Golden Saint Resources Ltd Thursday said four yellow stones have been discovered by its Sierra Leone subsidiary, Golden Saint Diamonds.

The company said four yellow stones…


Iraq: Iraq to Appeal US Court Decision on Kurdish Oil

Aug 28, 2014 | Reuters

The Iraqi oil ministry said on Aug. 28 it would challenge a U.S. court decision that stopped U.S. Marshals from seizing some one million barrels…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Solar Ambitions Kickstarted With $480 Million ACO Pact

Aug 28, 2014 | Cathy Chan, Bloomberg

Myanmar will expand its sources of clean energy through an agreement with ACO Investment Group, a U.S.-based private-equity fund focusing on Asian emerging markets, to…


Indonesia/ Timor Leste: State Firms to Set Up Joint Venture on Oil, Gas Development

Aug 27, 2014 | Global Post

Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina planned to establish a join venture company with Timor Leste's state company to develop oil and gas…


Iraq: Access to Oil Makes ‘Islamic State’ a Greater Threat than Al-Qaeda

Aug 27, 2014 | Investor Intel

Iran, the Arab States of the Persian Gulf region and North Africa discovered oil in the first half of the 20th century. They used the…


India/Pakistan: Skirmishes Put Feeling of Wartime on India-Pakistan Border

Aug 27, 2014 | Ellen Barry and Salman Masood, New York Times

JORA FARM, India —  The habits of wartime have crept back into life here along the border between India and Pakistan.In the mornings, villagers stitch…


India/ Pakistan: Fishermen Cross an Imperceptible Line into Enemy Waters

Aug 26, 2014 | The New York Times

Fishermen bustled through a ramshackle harbor, a knot of narrow streets and one-room houses on the edge of Karachi, as they prepared to set out…


Extractive Industries: UK Unveils Draft Rule on Extractive Industry Disclosure

Aug 26, 2014 | The Wall Street Journal

The U.K. unveiled draft rules on Thursday governing how oil, gas, mining and logging companies would disclose the payments they make to foreign governments for…


Iraq: Security Forces Repulse Militants' Attack on Baiji Oil Refinery

Aug 26, 2014 | ITAR-TASS News Agency

Iraq's security forces have managed to repulse an attack launched by militants of the Islamic State grouping on the country's largest oil refinery at Baiji,…


Iraq/ Syria: Islamic State Now Resembles the Taliban With Oil Fields

Aug 26, 2014 | Bloomberg

With its reign of terror over a large population and ability to self-finance on a staggering scale, the extremist group that beheaded American journalist James…


Palestine: Water Delivery Drivers Dice with Death in War-Torn Gaza

Aug 26, 2014 | Yahoo News

Mohammed al-Khatib fears for his life every time he gets behind the wheel. In wartime, providing drinking water to homes and schools in Gaza means…


South Sudan: Addressing Community Concerns Around Oil, Gas and Mining in South Sudan

Aug 26, 2014 | Cordaid

Cordaid and the Ministry are concerned with the plights of the communities impacted by oil extraction in South Sudan. Albeit endowed with significant reserves of…


Iraq/ Kurdistan: Kurds Get Seizure Order Thrown Out for Texas Oil Tanker

Aug 26, 2014 | Bloomberg News

The Kurdistan Regional Government can bring $100 million of crude ashore in Texas after a U.S. judge threw out a court order that would have required federal…


South China Sea: Remote, Gas-rich Islands on Indonesia’s South China Sea Frontline

Aug 26, 2014 | The Malay Mail

The word “sleepy” could have been invented for Ranai, the largest town in Indonesia’s remote and sparsely populated Natuna archipelago.

It has few cars and only…


Myanmar: Ye Farmers Forced to Accept Unfair Land Compensation

Aug 26, 2014 | Burma News International

In a recent meeting with the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society’s Farmers’ Affairs Committee, many farmers from Mon State’s Ye Township expressed their dismay…


Myanmar: Is Mergui Archipelago Tourism a Force for Good?

Aug 26, 2014 | The Telegraph

Beyond the guard rail of the yacht I was sailing on lay the same islands – still lonely, still largely untouched by civilisation though from…


Iraq: Government Eyes Bulgarian Invention to Protect Oil Pipelines from Attack

Aug 25, 2014 | Novinite

Iraq is working on a project for protecting its oil pipelines against terrorist attacks that uses Bulgarian know-how, Iraq’s Ambassador in Sofia has said.

In an interview with…


Vietnam: Chinese Firms’ Contract for Hydropower Project Terminated

Aug 25, 2014 | Global Construction Review

The operator of a multimillion-dollar hydropower project in Vietnam has terminated the contract with two Chinese firms for their failure to build the scheme as…


Myanmar: Arakan Has Solved Only 17 Land Confiscated Cases

Aug 25, 2014 | Narinjara

Only few land confiscated cases have been resolved by the authority in Arakan. Statistics reveal that 17 out of 212 land confiscated cases were solved…


Iraq: Approving a Hydrocarbon Law is Key to Iraq's Future

Aug 25, 2014 | Al-Monitor

Nouri al-Maliki and the Islamic Dawa Party took office in Iraq eight years ago. Oil revenues topped $41 billion in 2007 and rose to nearly $86…


Iraq/ Syria: USD 2m a Day in Oil Smuggled Out of Iraq, Syria by ISIL

Aug 25, 2014 | Zawya

An estimated 30,000 barrels of crude oil is being smuggled daily out of Iraq and Syria by members of the ISIL and sold on the…


Iraq/ Syria: Islamic State's Bootleg Petro-State May Prove Unsustainable

Aug 25, 2014 | Al-Jazeera

With up to $2 million in daily revenue from black market oil, the Islamic State insurgency not only holds sway over swathes of Syria and…


South Sudan: Industrialization and Global Value Chains in South Sudan

Aug 25, 2014 | Afribiz

Developing domestic production and exports in the non-oil sectors is important for South Sudan’s drive for industrialization, yet its participation in global value chains (GVCs)…


South China Sea: PLA Reports Maritime Drill Near Vietnam Simulating Threat to Oil Rig

Aug 25, 2014 | South China Morning Post

The People's Liberation Army recently staged a drill in waters close to Vietnam in the South China Sea, simulating a scenario in which an oil…


South China Sea: India Examining Vietnam’s South China Sea Oil Blocks Offer

Aug 25, 2014 | The Times of India

Vietnam on Monday made a strong pitch for greater Indian involvement in maintaining maritime safety, security and settlement of territorial disputes in the disputed South…


Conflict Minerals: Jewelry Leaders and CEOs Join Enough Project in Conflict Gold Solutions Forum

Aug 22, 2014 | Enough Project

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the Great Lakes Region of Africa has been entrenched in conflict for nearly 20 years. Militias control artisanal…


Turkey: Turkey Suspends Oil Drilling in Iraq Amid Tension

Aug 22, 2014 | Today's Zaman

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız told reporters in Ankara on Thursday that the state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) decided to suspend drilling in six oil…


Uganda: Residents Commit to Fighting Land Grabbers

Aug 22, 2014 | New Vision

The district chairperson Anthony Atubo, who led the residents, said land is life and nobody can live comfortably without it.

“Land is a major factor…