Middle East

Oil capped near $97 on oversupply possibility

Oil capped near $97 on oversupply possibility

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Oil remained above $97 a barrel Thursday on lower U.S. stockpiles but concerns of oversupply in the Middle East capped gains.

Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was up 4 cents at $97.24 a barrel at midafternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.16 to close at $97.20 on Wednesday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed Wednesday to maintain its daily production target of 30 million barrels a day.

However, it faces the prospect of overproduction after Iran announced plans to pump up to 4 million barrels a day once sanctions on its crude exports are lifted. Libya also hopes to increase output to 2 million barrels a day once unrest ebbs.

In all, OPEC members would have to reduce their production to keep prices from dropping sharply and hurting oil revenues that underpin their economies. This sparked concerns of a production war inside the cartel.

Jitters over the OPEC meeting offset positive news from the U.S. after the Energy Department said crude oil supplies fell by 5.6 million barrels, or 1.4 percent, last week, ending 10 straight weekly increases. The decline was more than four times bigger than analysts had predicted.

At 385.8 million barrels, the nation’s supply of oil is still 3.8 percent above year-ago levels.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was down 13 cents at $111.75 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 0.9 cent to $2.71 a gallon.

— Heating oil shed 0.2 cent to $3.057 a gallon.

— Natural gas fell 0.4 cent to $3.956 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Nuclear Deal With Iran Prelude to War, Not “Breakthrough”

Nuclear Deal With Iran Prelude to War, Not “Breakthrough”

November 26, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) – “…any military operation against Iran will likely be very unpopular around the world and require the proper international context—both to ensure the logistical support the operation would require and to minimize the blowback from it. The best way to minimize international opprobrium and maximize support (however, grudging or covert) is to strike only when there is a widespread conviction that the Iranians were given but then rejected a superb offer—one so good that only a regime determined to acquire nuclear weapons and acquire them for the wrong reasons would turn it down. Under those circumstances, the United States (or Israel) could portray its operations as taken in sorrow, not anger, and at least some in the international community would conclude that the Iranians “brought it on themselves” by refusing a very good deal.”

-Brookings Institution’s 2009 “Which Path to Persia?” report, page 52.

Written years ago, as the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel were already plotting to overrun Iran’s neighbor and ally Syria with Al Qaeda to weaken the Islamic Republic before inevitable war, this quote exposes fully the current charade that is the “Iran nuclear deal.”

The West has no intention of striking any lasting deal with Iran, as nuclear capabilities, even the acquirement of nuclear weapons by Iran was never truly an existential threat to Western nations or their regional partners. The West’s issue with Iran is its sovereignty and its ability to project its interests into spheres traditionally monopolized by the US and UK across the Middle East. Unless Iran plans on turning over its sovereignty and regional influence along with its right to develop and use nuclear technology, betrayal of any “nuclear deal” is all but inevitable, as is the war that is to shortly follow.

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Displaced Palestinians in Syria brace for winter

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has begun to distribute blankets and mattresses to help displaced families cope with winter.

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Russian Mediterranean fleet to be expanded to 11 warships ships

Russian Mediterranean fleet to be expanded to 11 warships ships

The Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea will be boosted by another military vessel till the end of September, according to the country’s Black Sea Fleet command.

               

The large landing ship, Yamal, is set to depart from the port of   Sevastopol, Ukraine by the end of the month to join the 10   vessels Russia already has in Mediterranean waters.  
“The Yamal’s crew has completed preparations for relocation to   the Mediterranean Sea,” Captain Vyacheslav Trukhachev, the   Black Sea Fleet information chief told ITAR-TASS news agency.   “As part of the preparatory period, the ship has performed   several drive outs, which included target practice on sea and   land.”  
  The Yamal will represent the country at the annual ‘Russian   Weeks’ forum in Greece, which this year will be hosted by the   Ionian Islands.    
  The large landing ship – commanded by Captain Sergey Gritsay – is   also expected to be called to the Greek port of Pylos and to   visit Montenegro, Trukhachev added.  
  The Yamal vessel, which has been in service since 1988, is   designed for landing operations and the transportation of   military personnel and cargo. It’s able to carry up to 250 troops   and 10 tanks.  
  Russia began military build-up in the Mediterranean in 2012,   establishing a constant presence in the eastern part of the   Mediterranean Sea since December last year.  
  On May 1, all of the country’s battleships operating in the area   were assigned to a single task force under special offshore   maritime zone operation command.  
  Currently there are ten Russian warships deployed in the Mediterranean: large landing   ships ‘Aleksandr Shabalin’, ‘Admiral Nevelskoy’, ‘Peresvet’,   ‘Novocherkassk’, ‘Minsk’ and ‘Nikolay Fylchenkov’; large   anti-submarine ship ‘Admiral Panteleyev’; escort vessel   ‘Neustrashimy’; guard patrol ship ‘Smetlivy’ and guided-missile   cruiser ‘Moskva’. MAKE SURE  
  The mounting pressure around Syria has seen naval forces both   friendly and hostile to Damascus building up off the country’s coastline.  
  Besides the Russian warships, there are US aircraft carriers   ‘Nimitz’ and ‘Harry S. Truman’; guided-missile cruiser   ‘Gettysburg’ and ‘San Jacinto’ and a number of other American   military vessels deployed in the area.  
  The French navy frigate ‘Chevalier Paul’, which specializes in   anti-missile capabilities, is also in the Mediterranean Sea.