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China Aug imports rise for first time in
nearly two years as demand picks up
A man rides a vehicle past container boxes at a port in Shanghai, China, February 17, 2016. China’s imports unexpectedly rose in August for the first time in nearly two years, boosted by coal and other commodities, suggesting domestic demand may be picking up and putting the world’s second-largest economy on a more balanced footing. Exports also showed signs of improvement, falling by a less-than-expected 2.8 percent from a year earlier, as demand in the United States, Europe and even Japan showed some signs of improvement, data showed on Thursday. If it proves sustainable, a trade recovery or even signs of trade stabilization would help ease fears that China’s economy is becoming increasingly lopsided, and give feeble global growth a much-needed shot in the arm. In recent months, China’s economy has shown signs of stabilizing, but growth has become more dependant on a government infrastructure spending spree and a […]
US-led Coalition Strikes Destroy More ISIS Oil Assets in Syria
ISIS oil tank trucks U.S. and coalition military forces have conducted air strikes and destroyed ISIS oil pump jacks and oil tanker trucks in Syria, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday. The coalition strikes destroyed two oil pump jacks, an oil tank and a headquarters building near Raqqa, the Islamic State militants’ de facto capital in Syria. Three other strikes near Deir Ezzor, close to the border with Iraq, destroyed 13 ISIS oil tanker trucks and a tractor trailer, and strikes near Manbij destroyed an ISIS fighting position. The coalition forces, supported by Iraq’s government, also destroyed ISIS military equipment in Iraq, the Department of Defense said. “Other airstrikes targeted ISIS oil facilities, causing huge explosions and a state of alert among ISIS ranks,” the ARA News agency quoted media activist Omar Rihawi as saying about the Raqqa strikes. Last month, a coalition forces air strike in […]
Iraq militia fighters join battle for Syria’s Aleppo
An Iraqi Shi’ite militia said on Wednesday it had dispatched more than 1,000 fighters to the frontline in neighboring Syria, escalating foreign involvement in the battle for Aleppo, the biggest prize in five years of relentless civil war. New footage emerged of civilians choking in the aftermath of an apparent attack with poison chlorine gas on an opposition-held district as the battle for Syria’s biggest city approaches what could be a decisive phase. Aleppo has been divided for years into government and rebel sectors, but President Bashar al-Assad’s army has put the opposition areas under siege and now hopes to capture the whole city in what would be a devastating blow to his enemies. Government forces are backed by Russian air power and battle-hardened Lebanese and Iraqi Shi’ite militia fighters under the apparent oversight of an Iranian general. The arrival of reinforcements from Iraq, where Shi’ite militia are […]
Iraq Tells OPEC at What Oil Output Level It’s Ready to Freeze
Iraq can support freeze ‘for a certain period’: SOMO official Country sees its oilproduction growing; won’t flood market Iraq has given fellow OPEC members the level of crude production at which it would be prepared to freeze output, according to the top official at the state oil marketing company. The second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could support a freeze “for a certain period,” Falah Al-Amri, the director general of Iraq’s Oil Marketing Co., known as SOMO, said in interview in Singapore on Thursday. He didn’t give any further details about the level at which the country is prepared to hold its production. Speculation that the world’s biggest oil suppliers will agree to coordinated action aimed at controlling output when they meet in Algiers this month has whipsawed global prices. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s biggest producers, this week pledged to cooperate to stabilize […]
Suncor Energy Seeks Permission to Abandon Some Oil-Sands Assets
Suncor Energy Inc., SU -0.58 % Canada’s largest oil producer, is in talks with government officials for permission to “strand,” or abandon, some high cost and greenhouse gas-intensive crude-oil deposits, the company’s chief executive said Wednesday. The Calgary-based company is seeking an easing of rules designed to maximize oil-sands production from leases on government land, CEO Steve Williams said at a Barclays BCS -0.66 % energy conference in New York, reiterating a strategy he first announced in July. “We’ve begun to have conversations with the government of Alberta and the current regulators about the design of their policy, which actually requires the maximum amount of resource to be extracted regardless of the economic or environmental value,” he said. The request comes as Suncor and other oil producers struggle to cut costs amid […]
