Can Oil Prices Drop to $40 a Barrel? Some Say It’s Possible
NBC News
1.12.2014
Remember way back in June, when oil was $115 a barrel? Now it’s trading at around $67.90 a barrel for Brent crude and some analysts are predicting, given the right conditions, it could tumble to as low as $40 a barrel.
Weak demand, a strong U.S. dollar and booming U.S. oil production are the three main reasons behind the fall, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which warned of a “new chapter” for oil markets, which could even affect the social stability of some countries. Russia is already feeling some pain: the ruble tumbled about 4 percent on Monday, on course for its biggest daily drop since the 1998 financial crisis.
Saudi Arabia sparked talk of an oil price war as it has cut its official selling prices for some customers for four consecutive months through November. Part of oil’s drop has to do with supply conditions. Increased U.S. oil production has added to a glut in the world oil market. The U.S. now produces about 8.9 million barrels a day, while Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest producer, pumps about 9.6 million barrels a day. Read the rest of this entry »
What you need to know about falling oil prices
by Tom Huddleston, Jr.
Fortune
December 2, 2014
Prices have been cut by one-third since mid-summer due to oversupply.
It’s looking like Monday’s spike in oil prices was little more than a blip.
The price of oil fell again on Tuesday after experiencing a brief rebound to start the post-holiday week. Crude oil prices gained as much as roughly 4% yesterday, rebounding from five-year lows, before falling again today. Prices for Brent crude oil are recently down about 2.3%, to $70.83, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is down 1.8%, to $67.26.
Oil prices are down sharply this year, losing over 30% of their value since hitting a summer peak. Read the rest of this entry »
As oil tumbles, drillers seek to idle more rigs, Petronas cuts capex
Reuters
2 December 2014
SINGAPORE: Offshore drillers globally are increasingly considering “warm stacking” their rigs to take them temporarily off the market, as they gear up for a slowdown in the hunt for oil with crude prices sliding to five-year lows.
Rigs in warm stack maintain basic operations and most of the crew, and can be put to use once the owner gets a contract. Drillers put rigs in warm stacks to lower operational costs and also to keep them sufficiently ready for quick deployment, meaning they are hopeful a downturn won’t be a prolonged one.
Rigs can also be “cold stacked”, or shut down, which typically happens when an owner does not expect to find work for an extended period of time.
Oil prices have fallen about 40 percent in the past six months, with international benchmark Brent dropping below $68 to a five-year trough and nearing the marginal production cost of the most expensive offshore projects.
“Six months ago, no one talked about stacking rigs,” said Thomas Tan, chief executive officer at Kim Heng Offshore & Marine Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-based oilfield service firm, “In the last few weeks, things have become scarier and the talk of stacking started.” Read the rest of this entry »
After oil price slump, worries as Petronas slashes dividends, capital expenditure
Malay Mail Online
DECEMBER 2, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The recent global oil price slump has affected both Putrajaya and domestic oil and gas (O&G) industry which depend heavily on Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), after the local giant decided to slash its dividends and capital expenditure.
In the aftermath of the slump, media reports revealed declines in the ringgit, local stock market, and net worth of industry players including billionaires Tan Sri Robert Kuok and T. Ananda Krishnan, and even Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir.
With the US crude oil prices at a five-year low, Petronas Chief Executive Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas told reporters on Friday after the that payments to the government in the form of dividends, tax and royalties could be 37 per cent lower from the previous year to about RM43 billion in 2015 if oil stays around US$75 (RM275) a barrel.
As a result, Malaysia’s ringgit headed for its biggest two-day decline since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
World’s most corrupt industries
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Wednesday, 3 December 2014, 6:49 am
By Ivana Kottasova
CNNMoney
December 2, 2014
LONDON – Drilling for oil and digging for minerals can be dirty, in more ways than one.
Known as the extractive sector, oil and mining tops a new list of the world’s most corrupt industries. Construction and transportation make up the top three, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD analyzed 427 cases of bribery in international business.Two-thirds of the cases occurred in just four industries: extractive (19%); construction (15%); transportation and storage (15%); and information and communication (10%).Senior executives were involved in more than half the cases, with chief executives playing an active role in 12%. They either paid the bribes themselves, or authorized them, the OECD found.
Public sector employees and those working for state-owned companies were most likely to be the target of corruption. They were promised, offered or given bribes in 80% of the cases. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Najib to give assurance that there will be no further “merry-go-round” procrastination manoeuvre to the 40-year problem and that the implementation of the Report of the RCIIIS will begin on 1.1.2015
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Wednesday, 3 December 2014, 12:21 am
The long-delayed Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) to deal with the 40-year problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah which has changed the political demography and caused unprecedented socio-economic crisis to the state is to be made public in Kota Kinabalu later today.
The RCIIIS has been the longest in gestation, as there had been calls for the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry as far back as the past few decades but the problem was allowed to mushroom from some 100,000 some 40 years ago into a humongous and runaway figure ranging from 1.5 million to 1.9 million out of 3.3 million state population today.
As a result of persistent and growing pressures, the Cabinet took a policy decision to set up the RCIIIS on February 8, 2012, but it took another six months to finalise its terms of reference and its membership, another month before the RCIIIS started work, a year for public hearings and preparation of its Report and recommendations, and although the Report of the RCIIIS was officially handed over to the Federal Government on May 14, 2014, it was cold-storaged for six months until its publication later today.
The question uppermost in everyone’s mind apart from the contents and recommendations of the RCIIIS Report is whether we have come to the end-game of the 40-year problem of illegal immigrant problems in Sabah, or whether we are only seeing the latest “merry-go-round” procrastination manoeuvre which will kick the problem for the next few years with no real solution in sight until 2020, when the problem would have snowballed to some three million illegal immigrants in Sabah, reducing native Sabahans into a minority in their own land! Read the rest of this entry »
Four things to look out for in Sabah RCI report
By Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
5:38PM Dec 2, 2014
More than half a year after the government received the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report on immigrants in Sabah, Putrajaya is finally set to release the document tomorrow.
The delay comes as no surprise after the nine month-long RCI hearing last year gave a controversial glimpse of the political machinations in Sabah which permanently altered the state’s demography.
Throughout the hearing, public attention centred on the uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants and the alleged covert operations by the government to grant “instant citizenship” in exchange for votes.
Political opponents are likely to declare the report a vindication of their long-time claim about BN’s sin against the people of Sabah.
As controversial as the content may be, the toughest part for Putrajaya is not what happened in the past – which many Sabahans have long suspected – but what comes next.
Here is a highlight on what to look out for in the RCI report and why it is a headache for Putrajaya. Read the rest of this entry »
Eight things to know about the Sabah RCI
Malaysiakini
Jan 28, 2013
Some call it Project IC, some call it Project M, whatever the name, here is what we have learnt from the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Immigrants in Sabah, in particular, the covert operations that allowed foreigners to vote in the bid to topple the PBS-led Sabah government.
1. There were at least two such black operations
G17 (or Group of 17)
Ring leader: Former Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) chief Abdul Rauf Sani (1990-1992)
Known figures involved: NRD officers Kee Dzulkifly Kee Abdul Jalil, Yakup Damsah, Asli Sidup
Political figures implicated: Then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s political secretary Aziz Shamsuddin
Time period: 1990 onwards
Modus operandi
Sabah NRD officers were flown to Sabah to process some 40,000 to 100,000 blue identity cards for immigrants. This was necessary as at that time, the identity cards’ details and signature were done by hand.
After the details had been written on the cards as per the application forms furnished to the officers, they were dispatched to the then NRD headquarters in Petaling Jaya to be laminated before being returned to Kota Kinabalu. Read the rest of this entry »
Islamic State crisis: UK gives £20m to keep Lebanon safe
Posted by Kit in Islamic state on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 8:38 pm
By Paul Wood
BBC
1 December 2014
The Lebanese army’s Brig Gen Ali Mourad got a WhatsApp message from the Islamic State (IS). It was short and to the point. “We are the heroes of Qalamoun,” it said, referring to the mountains on Syria’s border with Lebanon, “and we’re going to kill you.”
Gen Mourad has a robust attitude to this threat.
“We want them to come, these terrorists,” he told me, at one of the heavily fortified positions paid for by the British government.
“We are waiting for them [here].
“When we see them, we shoot them, all the time.”
We were at Tango Ten, the 10th of 12 new posts built so far with UK money and expertise along Lebanon’s border with Syria. It looked down over a dusty plain to the snow-covered mountain that is controlled by various jihadist groups and used by them as a base to launch attacks.
The Lebanese soldiers at Tango Ten say they come under fire almost every night. They used to crouch behind a few tyres filled with concrete, “eyes like saucers, gripping the 50-cal [heavy machine gun,” said one of the former British army officers advising the Lebanese. Now they have proper defences, and morale is good.
Tango Ten had shades of Northern Ireland in the guard tower and Afghanistan in the Hesco barriers – which are earth-filled defensive walls. There was even a fleet of Land Rovers parked inside.
The UK has spent some £20m to stop the jihadists from invading Lebanon. Read the rest of this entry »
Iran Bombing Islamic State In Iraq, U.S. Official Confirms
Posted by Kit in Islamic state on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 4:39 pm
Akbar Shahid Ahmed
Huffington Post
12/01/2014
WASHINGTON — The list of countries bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq has thus far featured a host of classic United States partners — Canada, the U.K., France. Now, it looks like the U.S. has a new quasi-partner in the air: Iran.
The U.S. is aware of Iranian bombing activity in the same national airspace where planes aligned with the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State are operating, a defense official told The Huffington Post Monday evening.
The official said he believes the Iranian bombing is unlikely to end as long as the Shiite-dominated nation feels threatened by the Sunni extremist group, also called ISIS. The bombing will not require a U.S. response unless Iran presents an immediate threat to U.S. forces in the air, he said.
“We are aware of that. I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily concerned with it — we kind of have our eyes on it,” the official said. He noted that the Iranian bombing has been taking place near the Iranian border, in a different part of Iraq than most U.S. and coalition activity. The official said he could only confirm reports of the bombing on the condition of anonymity. Read the rest of this entry »
Hong Kong Gold Sales Fall as China Tackles Corruption
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 4:18 pm
By BIMAN MUKHERJI and JOYU WANG
The Wall Street Journal
Dec. 1, 2014
HONG KONG—For years, Wo Shing Goldsmith has warmly ushered in eager buyers from mainland China, with customer traffic peaking at year-end. But shoppers are few and far between this year as Beijing’s anti-corruption drive damps spending.
“There was a sudden drop in gold price last year, which fuelled high demand from China. So we sold a good amount last year,” says Cheung Wai Nam, the 68-year-old co-owner of Wo Shing. “But this year…there is not too much demand.”
The store, opened in 1892 in Yau Ma Tei , part of the shopping district of Kowloon, displays chunky gold jewelry, with an old work bench scattered with tools and an ancient-looking metal vault in the back. The shop, next to a dried-seafood store on a busy street, deals mainly in accessories such as rings, bracelets and golden-pig necklaces.
On a recent afternoon, fewer shoppers than normal could be seen entering neighboring stores. Read the rest of this entry »
BN Ministers and MPs should not fail Sabahans and Malaysians a third time and should demand that the Joseph Pairin Review Committee on the Report of the RCIIIS should complete its review and make public its report before end of year
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 3:41 pm
Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs should not fail Sabahans and Malaysians a third time and should demand that the Joseph Pairin Review Committee on the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCIIIS) should complete its review and make public its report before the end of the year, so that the new year of 2015 can begin with the serious resolution of the 40-year problem which had changed the political demography in Sabah as well as created unprecedented socio-economic problems for Sabahans as to make native Sabahans foreigners in their own land.
The BN Ministers and MPs had earlier failed miserably in being unable to rise to the occasion in the middle of last month to demand that the Report of the RCIIIS should be tabled in Parliament before the end of the 28-day budget meeting of Dewan Rakyat on Nov. 27 so that there could be a full-scale parliamentary debate.
The first failure of the BN Ministers and MPs was to allow the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to sit on the Report of the RCIIIS for more than six months doing nothing, as a parliamentary answer to my question revealed that the RCIIIS Report was submitted to the Federal Government on May 14.
Can the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, or any Barisan Nasional Minister or MP from Sabah enlighten the public as to what was done by the authorities with regard to the RCIIIS Report in the past six-and-a-half months since it was submitted to Putrajaya. Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet wages war on the rakyat
Posted by Kit in Mariam Mokhtar, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 11:59 am
By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 1, 2014
Watching the succession of cabinet members spewing inflammatory rhetoric at the Umno Baru general assembly (GA) was like observing notorious class bullies playing to a crowd of their most loyal sycophants. The men and women who took to the podium are an embarrassment to their party, the nation and their community. The Father of Independence,Tunku Abdul Rahman, laid the foundations for a united Malaysia. Najib Abdul Razak consigned Tunku’s ideals to the bin.
At the finale of this year’s Umno Baru conference, Home Minister Zahid Hamidi told the delegates to adopt a “war mindset”, to “attack our enemies on the outside” and that “the best form of defence was to attack”. He claimed that Umno Baru’s training and research bureau had the blessing of the PM to use cyber and psychological war tactics to win the 14th general election (GE14).
Since when do leaders of a nation lead a clarion call to wage a war against it own people? Shame on you, Zahid and Najib!
Why are Umno Baru’s party conferences filled with hostility? Where are the words of reconciliation, national unity, 1Malaysia, harmony and cooperation, to address corruption, injustice and to uplift people’s lives? These supposedly illustrious men of the cabinet, including the disgraced former women, community and family development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, behaved like thugs.
The public are disgusted with blatant corruption, injustice and abuse of power. They only desire a harmonious, multiracial, secular Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Four things to look out for in Sabah RCI report
By Nigel Aw
Malaysiakini
5:38PM Dec 2, 2014
More than half a year after the government received the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) report on immigrants in Sabah, Putrajaya is finally set to release the document tomorrow.
The delay comes as no surprise after the nine month-long RCI hearing last year gave a controversial glimpse of the political machinations in Sabah which permanently altered the state’s demography.
Throughout the hearing, public attention centred on the uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants and the alleged covert operations by the government to grant “instant citizenship” in exchange for votes.
Political opponents are likely to declare the report a vindication of their long-time claim about BN’s sin against the people of Sabah.
As controversial as the content may be, the toughest part for Putrajaya is not what happened in the past – which many Sabahans have long suspected – but what comes next.
Here is a highlight on what to look out for in the RCI report and why it is a headache for Putrajaya. Read the rest of this entry »
Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah’s racist, extremist and incendiary hate speeches at UMNO GA are “must watch” videos on YouTube for all Malaysians to realize that the time has come for moderates regardless of race or religion to unite to Save Malaysia by marginalizing extremism and promoting wasatiyyah
Posted by Kit in Law & Order, Najib Razak, Police, UMNO, Zahid on Tuesday, 2 December 2014, 11:08 am
The extremist and incendiary hate speeches by two UMNO General Assembly delegates Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said (Penang) and Mashitah Ibrahim (Kedah) should be “must watch” videos on You Tube for all Malaysians to realize that the time has come for moderates regardless of race or religions to unite to save Malaysia by isolating and marginalising extremism and promoting wasatiyyah or moderation.
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been preaching to the world in the past four years – three times at the United Nations General Assembly since Sept. 2010 – that “the fight against extremism is not about Christians versus Muslims, or Muslims versus Jews, but moderates versus extremists of all religions”, and calling for a “coalition of moderates – those willing to reclaim their religion and pursue the path to peace”.
Unfortunately, Najib has allowed extremists in UMNO free rein, to the extent that UMNO delegates could even make extremist and incendiary hate speeches in the face of Najib, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and the whole phalanx of UMNO Ministers and leaders at last week’s UMNO General Assembly, enjoying immunity and impunity from sanctions of the law.
More than two months ago, at an UMNO Lumut function, Zahid swore: “As the minister responsible for the Royal Malaysian Police, wallahi billahi tallahi (I swear to Allah) that if police reports are lodged against any individual who impinged on a sensitive issue, the police will start investigations immediately, if possible within 24 hours.”
Why then the silence and inaction by the police to the numerous police reports which had been lodged against Mohd Zaidi and Mashitah for sedition and other crimes of hate speech in the past few days – well exceeding the 24-hour deadline in Zahid’s public oath? Read the rest of this entry »
The real difference between RON95 and RON97 — besides the price
Malay Mail Online
December 2, 2014
PETALING JAYA, Dec 2 — With RON97 now only 20 sen more expensive than RON95, more Malaysians are now able to purchase it.
In 2012, both fuels used to have a price difference of RM1 per litre.
But what exactly is the difference between RON 95 and RON97 besides the price?
RON stands for Research Octane Number, a form of fuel quality and performance rating.
The rating system was developed by Russell Marker at American firm Ethyl Corporation in 1926, following Marker’s discovery that branching in hydrocarbons reduced “knocking”, or pre-ignition. Read the rest of this entry »
What Happens When Islamic State’s Foreign Fighters Return?
Posted by Kit in Islamic state on Monday, 1 December 2014, 11:04 pm
By Cam Simpson
Bloomberg Businessweek
December 01, 2014
In 1982 an Egyptian engineer and Islamist named Muhammad abd-al-Salam Faraj wrote a religious pamphlet for his brothers. It was widely distributed that year after Faraj was convicted and executed for leading the plotters who assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Faraj titled his pamphlet The Neglected Duty. That duty was to wage jihad.
Faraj debated whether the violent struggle should primarily be local or international. He believed jihadis have a duty to overthrow secular regimes in Arab and Muslim lands before striking against “non-believers” in other countries. In his pamphlet, Faraj framed his answer to the local vs. global debate this way: “To fight an enemy who is near is more important than to fight an enemy who is far.” The phrases “near enemy” and “far enemy” are still used by jihadi groups today as they debate what paths to take.
That issue amounts to far more than an ideological debate in the corridors of U.S. intelligence agencies and their counterparts in Europe. Record numbers of jihadis have been crossing international borders to volunteer with Islamic State and other groups in the fight against “near enemies” in Syria and Iraq. Security chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in Europe, say they are consumed daily with trying to track and stop them. Already, some have allegedly been involved in plotting or carrying out attacks against the “far enemy” in the West after returning home. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M is biggest winner at Umno general assembly
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 1 December 2014, 10:22 pm
By Koon Yew Yin
Malaysiakini
Dec 1, 2014
COMMENT Syabas Dr Mahathir Mohamad – you were undoubtedly the biggest winner at the Umno assembly meeting. Although some observers have dismissed your influence over Umno and party thinking, you knew that your finest hour was at hand. This is why, despite being sick and possibly against doctor’s orders, you made your way to the meeting.
There, surrounded by thousands of your admirers and supporters, your cup can be said to have runneth over.
You witnessed the humiliating surrender of the prime minister in his attempt to repeal the Sedition Act. How dare Najib Abdul Razak dismantle the Act which has been one of your main weapons to ensure Umno’s supremacy in the country? Is the man so ignorant of the country’s political history that he is not aware that the selective application of the Act has enabled the party to muzzle its opponents and extend the party’s shelf life?
You had repeatedly urged its retention. To see the prime minister not only put up the white flag but also announce that the Act would be further strengthened was indeed sweet satisfaction. Read the rest of this entry »
The Geopolitical Impact of Cheap Oil
Martin Feldstein
Project Syndicate
NOV 26, 2014
CAMBRIDGE – The price of oil has fallen more than 25% in the past five months, to less than $80 a barrel. If the price remains at this level, it will have important implications – some good, some bad – for many countries around the world. If it falls further, as seems likely, the geopolitical consequences on some oil-producing countries could be dramatic.
The price of oil at any time depends on market participants’ expectations about future supply and demand. The role of expectations makes the oil market very different from most others. In the market for fresh vegetables, for example, prices must balance the supply and demand for the current harvest. By contrast, oil producers and others in the industry can keep supply off the market if they think that its price will rise later, or they can put extra supply on the market if they think the price will fall.
Oil companies around the world keep supply off the market by reducing the amount of oil that they take out of the ground. Oil producers can also restrict supply by holding oil inventory in tankers at sea or in other storage facilities. Conversely, producers can put more oil on the market by increasing production or by running down their inventories. Read the rest of this entry »
Who is really guilty of insulting the Malays?
Posted by Kit in Mariam Mokhtar, UMNO on Monday, 1 December 2014, 9:09 pm
Mariam Mokhtar
Free Malaysia Today
December 1, 2014
Umno Baru sees the Malay mind as fertile ground for sowing the seeds of self-doubt.
COMMENT
Year in and year out, we have the predictably tense run-up to the Umno Baru General Assembly. And then, when they are gathered at PWTC, the various warlords wave their fists, insult the non-Malays, shout themselves hoarse and behave very much like little boys showing off their assets, telling one another, “Mine is bigger than yours.” After that, it is back to the status quo.
This year shows one small variation. Najib Abdul Razak is aware that his political career is nearing the end. He is attempting to prolong it by appeasing the extremists. His method is to use the Sedition Act.
The sedition clampdown has been sweeping the nation like the haze. It blankets the country and is toxic. It chokes us, reduces visibility and makes the vulnerable seriously ill. People are unable to go to work or enjoy themselves. It incapacitates us.
Since the 70s, the Malay mind has been a fertile ground for Umno Baru to sow the seeds of self-doubt. The ideas have been put into his head that he is weak, that his religion is ineffective, and that the Umno Baru brand of Islam is better. Umno Baru takes a departure from the message that the Father of Independence, Tunku Abdul Rahman, left us. The Tunku wanted Malaysia to be multiracial and secular, free from feudal bondage. Umno Baru is undoing all of his legacy.
The Malay mind is inundated, daily, with the emotional baggage of race, religion and royalty. With this continual pummelling, his confidence will eventually be eroded.
At the just-concluded assembly, Najib insulted the Malays and told them that without Umno Baru, they would be doomed. Where are the voices of the ordinary Malays to challenge him? Read the rest of this entry »
