Iraq’s Finance Ministry has said ISIS militants are selling oil for as little as $20 per barrel. Though the global market price is steadily declining, at that price (which is not confirmed) ISIS would be selling its oil extremely cheaply, at a discount of around 75 percent. The global oil market price was around $78 per barrel this Monday, down about 30 percent since June this year.
Read more at: Newsweek
Politico gathered some of the nation’s most influential players in the energy and national-security realms to discuss what we should do next about the sudden drop in global oil prices the past four months.
Among the heavy hitters are Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of energy and sustainability at UC Davis (and a star of PUMP, the movie); environmentalist Bill McKibben; and geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer. But possibly the starkest commentary comes from magnate T. Boone Pickens, founder and chair of BP Capital. His entry in the roundtable is called “A False Sense of Energy Security,” and here’s an excerpt:
The key for America is that we shouldn’t let ourselves get distracted by falling oil prices when there is much more at stake. For decades, our dependence on OPEC oil has dictated our national security decisions and tied us up in the Middle East at an incredible price. We’ve spent more than $5 trillion and thousands of American soldiers have died securing Middle East oil. … it is critical that we not let ourselves lose sight of the problem and continue expanding American energy production. We have OPEC on the run, but we are still dangerously dependent. We have the domestic resources, but we need to demand that Washington get serious about a national energy plan that takes the real costs of energy into account. We cannot get sidetracked by a false sense of enhanced energy security and lower gasoline prices.
(Photo credit: Albert H. Teich/Shutterstock)
In the throes of a severe prolonged drought, California energy leaders, environmental scientists, and activists convened recently in advance of the 25th annual Bioneers Conference at the Marin County Civic Center for an energy and climate strategy session that could have national and global implications.
Read more at: Communities Digital News
Methanol is a bit of a mystery. It is the simplest form of hydrocarbon, one oxygen atom attached to a simple methane molecule. Therefore it burns. It is manufactured in small quantities, but production could be ramped up at any time.
Read more at: Real Clear Politics
The United States has been in protracted negotiations with Iran over a settlement that would reduce or eliminate economic sanctions against Iran, in exchange for that country delaying its nuclear program.
With oil prices falling — one expert notes that Iran needs a price of $140 per barrel to balance its national budget — the U.S. position could be strengthened. But as this excellent story by Thomas Erdbrink of The New York Times shows, Iran isn’t likely to give away everything, even if it halts the nationwide economic pain.
“They will remain focused on getting a deal, but not any deal,” said Ali Khorram, a former Iranian ambassador to China who is close to the negotiating team.
U.S.-based Genie Energy could turn to the courts or even Mongolia in its effort to challenge a local government decision that has blocked its hunt for oil just over 40 kilometers from Jerusalem, a senior official at the group said.
Read more at: Reuters UK
Islamic State, or ISIS, continues to earn millions from ill-gotten crude oil sold on the black market, according to a story by the Reuters news service.
ISIS is “still extracting and selling oil in Syria and has adapted its trading techniques despite a month of strikes by U.S.-led forces aimed at cutting off this major source of income for the group, residents, oil executives and traders say.”
This report largely contradicts a story last week by Bloomberg, which has done extensive reporting on ISIS’ finances.
(Photo credit: Shutterstock)
The U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) might not have eradicated the extremist group, as President Obama vowed to do. But at least the operation has interrupted the flow of oil money to the militants, according to an analysis in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Based on details from an IEA report, the magazine says:
Though the airstrikes have failed to keep Islamic State from advancing in the field, they have apparently succeeded in dismantling its sophisticated oil network, reducing the movement’s ability to make gasoline and diesel for its tanks and trucks and cutting off a vital source of funding. A report from the International Energy Agency in Paris has just estimated that Islamic State controls only about 20,000 barrels of daily oil production, down from about 70,000 as of August. Most of it remains in Iraq.
As BusinessWeek reported in September, at the time, when ISIS had seized oil fields and refineries in swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, the group was bringing in up to $2 million a day from stolen oil.
Bloomberg has an interesting story about one way Israel intends to improve relations with its critics in the Middle East: Enter into deals to sell some of its vast stores of natural gas to neighboring countries.
The U.S. Defense Department has come out with a comprehensive report on the impact of climate change on America’s military. According to The Washington Post’s story on the report, “Drastic weather, rising seas and changing storm patterns could become ‘threat multipliers’ for the United States, vastly complicating security challenges faced by American forces …” Read the full report here.
