International


Philippines: Philippines Sentences 12 Chinese Fishermen to Jail

Aug 5, 2014 | Reuters

A Philippine court on Tuesday found 12 Chinese fishermen guilty of illegal fishing in Philippine waters, sending them to jail for six to 12 years,…


South China Sea: China Can Build What It Wants On S.China Sea Isles, Says Official

Aug 4, 2014 | Malaysian Digest

BEIJING: China can build whatever it wants on its islands in the South China Sea, a senior Chinese official said today, rejecting proposals ahead of…


Liberia: Busted

Aug 4, 2014 | AllAfrica

Reviewing the books, financial records and transactions of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL), the country's supreme audit institution, the General Auditing Commission (GAC),…


Conflict Minerals: Gold Chains

Aug 4, 2014 | Mark Hay, The New Yorker

A little-known provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires companies using gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten to file reports that…


Iraq/Kuridstan: Iraq’s Oil: A Factor for Unity or Division?

Aug 4, 2014 | Rudaw

Washington DC - Oil has perhaps never posed a threat as big as it does now to the country’s territorial integrity.

Iraqi Kurds have threatened…


Iraq: Iraq's Islamist Insurgency Puts Its Southern Oil in the Spotlight

Aug 4, 2014 | Rania El Gamal, Reuters

DUBAI, August 4 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni Islamist insurgency, crippling further its dream to match the oil power of Saudi Arabia, makes oilfields in the…


Climate Change: Will Climate Change Lead to Conflict or Cooperation?

Aug 4, 2014 | Independent European Daily Express

UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) - The headline of every article about the relationship between climate change and conflict should be complicated according to Clionadh Raleigh.

Director of…


South Sudan: Unity State Authorities Accuse Sudanese Soldiers of Looting Abandoned Oil Equipment

Aug 4, 2014 | Radio Tamazuj

At least four Sudanese army soldiers were killed and another two captured in an ambush laid by SPLA forces at oil fields in Pariang County…


Kenya: Musalia Mudavadi Calls for Extensive Investigation into Lamu Land Grabbing, Linking It to Insecurity

Aug 3, 2014 | Standard Digital

Amani coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi says land grabbing in Lamu could be behind the recent insecurity cases in Lamu county. Mudavadi is accusing the government…


Iraq/Kurdistan: ISIS Takes Over Iraq’s Biggest Dam

Aug 3, 2014 | Al Arabiya News

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over Iraq's biggest dam unopposed by Kurdish fighters, who also lost three towns and…


Sudan: Sudan Receives $183m From Oil Companies in Transit Fees

Aug 3, 2014 | Sudan Tribune

(KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government announced on Sunday that the central bank had received $183 million from oil companies in transit fees per previous agreements.

On…


Iraq: Lukoil to Earn $2B from Iraq Oil Field

Aug 2, 2014 | Eduard Gismatullin, The Daily Star

LONDON: OAO Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, expects to earn at least $2 billion from exporting Iraqi crude in 2014, 17 years after first winning…


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…