Category: Highlights

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel refused on Monday to approve two bills proposing blanket powers for government functionaries to impose surcharges on electricity consumption and powers for police to arrest consumers for theft. A ruling party parliamentarian from Karachi walked out of the meeting in protest over rules that stop parliament from holding K-Electric accountable for the city’s misery. The meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Power, presided over by MNA Chaudhry Salik Hussain, saw an exchange of political point-scoring between Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan and PPP’s Shazia…

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New Mexico’s high dependence on oil and gas leases, taxes, and royalty payments are threatening the fiscal stability of the state as the oil price collapse has shown the vulnerability of the current state budget revenues, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said in a new report on Tuesday. New Mexico’s original budget for fiscal year 2020 was set at US$7.1 billion, with 25.9 percent of the revenue in support of that budget expected to come from oil and gas leases, royalties, and taxes. In FY 2019,…

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has repaid most of the arrears it owes to international oil companies for joint venture operating expenses, recently repaying US$3 billion to Exxon and Shell, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the Nigerian state oil firm. NNPC works in joint ventures with the major international oil producers in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and Eni. However, the stretched finances of the Nigerian company has led to arrears in its payments for contributions to the operating expenses of those joint ventures. Nigeria…

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Russia’s second-largest producer, Lukoil, is eager to increase its oil production in Iraq once the production cuts of the OPEC+ group end, Egor Zubarev, Managing Director of Lukoil Mid-East, told Bloomberg. Iraq’s current crude oil production is capped at around 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) under the OPEC+ pact, but the country needs to make additional deeper cuts by the end of the year to compensate for the lack of compliance with the agreement in previous months. Due to the OPEC+ deal, Iraq told the international oil majors working…

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Oil prices are set to recover beginning in the second quarter next year, helping Iraq’s oil industry and its plans to increase production capacity, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said at a virtual conference on Tuesday. Currently, the OPEC+ production cuts are delaying oil projects in Iraq, Jabbar said at the online CWC Iraq Petroleum conference. Next year could be more constructive for oil prices, according to the minister. “I think quarter two, 2021 will be more attractive to every aspect of our business,” Jabbar said, as carried by…

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