OPEC, Asia, call for curbs on oil speculation By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer – Sun Apr 26, 3:40 pm ET
CAIRO – OPEC and Asian energy officials called Sunday for new oil investments and tougher measures to combat speculation in crude markets that some have argued helped fuel last year's oil price spike.The call came during a one-day energy meeting in Tokyo to discuss volatility in the world oil market. Officials are concerned about another price spike once the world emerges from the global recession. The slowdown has sharply eroded oil demand and driven crude prices down about 65 percent from mid-July levels of $147 per barrel.The drop in prices, while helping offset some of the pain from the financial meltdown, has undercut investments in the sector. That has led to the delay or cancellation of dozens of projects worldwide and sparked concerns of another oil price spike once demand rebounds.Adequate and continuous investment throughout the energy value chain is essential as a means to balancing supply and demand in the future, a statement issued at the end of the meeting said, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.The meeting brought together ministers from the 12 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and many of Asia's biggest oil consumers such as China, India and Japan.Even as officials warned about the dangers of falling investments, they also voiced worry about speculation in the market. Many in OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, had blamed last year's run-up in prices to almost $150 per barrel on speculators and hedge funds.In order to achieve a stable oil market, the influence of excessive speculative activities in the oil exchanges, which lead to price volatility, should be limited through more regulation and control, Hossein Noqrekar-Shirazi, Iran's deputy oil minister for international affairs was quoted as saying by Iran's Press TV.Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi urged his colleagues to confront what he said was unfounded fears about supplies, adding that such perceptions had largely contributed to skyrocketing prices, in the past, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The statement issued by the officials said that volatility in the market is harmful to both producers and consumers and that financial markets have an impact on oil price formation, according to Kyodo. It said officials, tackling the issue of supervision of over-the-counter markets and transparency, called for further harmonized actions such as introduction of position limits.OPEC, along with the International Energy Agency, has repeatedly warned about the dangers of falling investment in the oil sector. While many projects have been scaled back or delayed, many of its most influential members have said they are pressing ahead with oil investments despite the downturn.Saudi's al-Naimi said his country is going ahead with its commitment to raise its production capacity to 12.5 million barrels per day by the middle of this year, SPA reported. He added that this would help provide excess supply capacity that would cushion the market.In March, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant run by OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia, said it was planning to spend about $60 billion through 2014 on energy projects.The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said Saturday it had earmarked about $80 billion on expanding production and refinery capacity by 2020.On Sunday, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheik Ahmed Al Abdullah Al Sabah told the meeting the OPEC member will press ahead with planned oil investment projects with an eye to achieve its production target of 4 million barrels a day by 2020. He said Kuwait was teaming up with Asia's top refiner Sinopec Corp. to build a 300,000 barrels a day refinery in China. It was also carrying out a joint venture with Japanese firms and Petrovietnam to build a 200,000 barrel a day facility in Vietnam.The minister said the "current economic and price environment, coupled with the uncertainty about climate change policies and the future demand outlook, pose serious challenges to our plans and investments,the official Kuwait News Agency reported.
Kuwait, however, has been among those that has scaled back on projects — first by scrapping a joint deal with Dow Chemicals and then by postponing the country's already much-delayed fourth refinery.OPEC, which produces about 35 percent of the world's oil, has been struggling to engineer a rebound in prices.The producer bloc held off from enacting new production cuts during their meeting last month, opting instead to focus on compliance with an earlier round of cuts totaling 4.2 million barrels per day from September levels. But the best it has been able to achieve is preventing an even deeper slide in crude prices, that have hovered between $40 to $50 per barrel most of this year.Associated Press Writer Diana Elias contributed from Kuwait.
Ahmadinejad: Iran ready to back Mideast peace deal by Jitendra Joshi – Sun Apr 26, 4:12 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said it would be fine with us if the Palestinians reach a two state peace deal with Israel, despite his full-throated opposition to the Jewish nation.The firebrand leader, in an interview broadcast Sunday on US network ABC, appeared unhappy with President Barack Obama's failure to return a message of greetings and said nuclear talks could only proceed with a clear agenda.After triggering a storm with anti-Israel remarks at a UN racism conference in Geneva, Ahmadinejad attacked Obama's support of the massacre of Gazans, in support for the criminals who were responsible for that atrocity.But having previously called for Israel to be erased from the map, he appeared to hold out a potential olive branch in backing the Palestinians' right to pursue a deal for statehood alongside Iran's arch-enemy.Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that,Ahmadinejad said via an interpreter in the interview, which was taped Wednesday in Tehran.We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people. However we fully expect other states to do so as well, Ahmadinejad said, without saying whether Iran might recognize the Jewish nation as part of a two state agreement.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has set the bar high for statehood by arguing that only a referendum open to all Palestinians, including post-1948 refugees but excluding immigrant Jews, can decide the land's future.Ahmadinejad stood by his vitriolic speech last Monday in Geneva, which prompted a walkout by European diplomats. The United States and Israel boycotted the conference.
Attacking Obama's decision to stay away and his subsequent condemnation of the speech, Ahmadinejad said the Geneva conference was all about combating racism.My point of view is that the Zionist regime is the manifestation of racism,he told ABC.
The Iranian president said meanwhile it was up to the United States to take the lead in negotiations on his regime's nuclear program, which the West says is designed to make atomic weapons rather than civilian energy.Iran and US relations are dependent on the decision taken by the US administration.Mr Obama sends us messages of friendship, but in the communique issued by the 5+1, enmity can be seen, he said, referring to nuclear talks involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.So this is a dual route, if you will.Ahmadinejad said he had received criticism at home for sending his message of congratulations on Obama's election.Nevertheless, I did that. I am yet to receive a response.Obama did, however, broadcast an Iranian New Year message last month, in which he called for a "new beginning between the United States and the Islamic republic after a three-decade diplomatic estrangement.But asked if Tehran was ready to talk to Washington without preconditions, Ahmadinejad said: No, no.We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks,he said.The agenda should be clear.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told US lawmakers last week that the United States was preparing for very tough sanctions against Iran if the new US overtures fail.
Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad said his government would offer a new nuclear package to the world powers. And we are going to make that public as soon as possible. We are always ready to talk,he told ABC. In his own US television interview Sunday, Jordan's King Abdullah II said the Obama administration must explore connecting the dots between the Iranian nuclear standoff and Middle East peace. If you have an issue of the threat that Iran poses to Israel, which is what (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is saying, the best way of solving that problem is solving the core issue, which is the Palestinian problem and that of Jerusalem,he told NBC.
Jordan's king urges Obama to get tough for peace Sun Apr 26, 1:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – There will be no Middle East peace without determined intervention from US President Barack Obama, as the Israelis and Palestinians will not get anywhere by themselves, Jordan's king said.King Abdullah II, following White House talks last week, told NBC television in an interview aired Sunday that he would wait for a signal on US intentions after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits here next month.But if, right after that visit, there's not a clear understanding of how America is going to weigh in on these problems, then I think the goodwill (towards) the United States will disappear, he said on Meet the Press.And I think that people will start cutting their own deals,Abdullah warned.Noting Israel's recent conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the king said that in the next 18 months, if we don't move the process forward ... there will be another conflict between Israel and another protagonist.And how many people will have to continue to lose their lives? he said.If it's left to the players, the Israelis and Palestinians by themselves, we're not going to get anywhere.It can only happen if there is an American umbrella with a determined American president that is going to get the Israelis and Palestinians to sit (at) the table.
China backs Syria's quest to recover Golan Sun Apr 26, 1:47 pm ET
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi wrapped up a regional Middle East visit in Damascus on Sunday saying Israel should return the Golan Heights to Syria.China supports Syria's efforts to recover the Golan, which Israel seized during the 1967 war and annexed in 1981, Yang told reporters during a joint news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.While Yang was visiting Syria, a split appeared on Sunday within the Israeli government of hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu on possible peace negotiations with Syria.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel had an interest in holding talks with Damascus, in an apparent rebuke to comments made by firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.Israel has an interest in normalising its relations with Syria while protecting its vital interests, Barak told reporters in Jerusalem ahead of Israel's weekly cabinet meeting.Negotiations with Syria should always be part of the Israeli government's agenda, he said.
Lieberman said in an interview published on Saturday that Syria's support of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups made it no partner for peace.We need to look at the reality. Until today, Syria is hosting the headquarters of terror organisations such as Hamas and the (Islamic) Jihad, he told the Berliner Zeitung daily, referring to radical Palestinian groups.Earlier this month Muallem said that Syria is ready to resume indirect peace talks with Netanyahu's right-wing government.
Syria and Israel held four rounds of Turkish-mediated talks last year but discussions were suspended when Israel waged a deadly offensive against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip in December and January.Yang has visited Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories during his regional tour and has urged the Jewish state to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.He reiterated his call in Syria, where he also met President Bashar al-Assad.China will pursue its efforts for a just and comprehensive peace based on United Nations resolutions, the principle of land-for-peace and the roadmap sponsored by the Middle East peace Quartet, Yang said.
Syria no peace partner: Israel FM Sat Apr 25, 8:20 am ET
BERLIN (AFP) – Syria's support of Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups make it no partner for peace, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an interview published on Saturday.We need to look at the reality. Until today, Syria is hosting the headquarters of terror organisations such as Hamas and the (Islamic) Jihad, he told the Berliner Zeitung daily, referring to two radical Palestinian organisations.
Syria supports Hezbollah and its arms trafficking into southern Lebanon. Syria supports Iran's nuclear programme. That is why I cannot see in Syria a real partner for any type of agreement,Lieberman said.Syria and Israel engaged in indirect peace talks in May last year following an eight-year hiatus, but the talks were suspended after Israel launched a deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip in December.Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said earlier this month that Syria was ready to resume the indirect talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-leaning government on the basis of a total pullout from the Golan Heights which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.Lieberman raised a wave of international criticism when he last month announced that Israel would not continue the latest round of US-sponsored peace talks launched in 2007.
Jordan's king urges U.S. to pressure Israel By Sue Pleming – Fri Apr 24, 4:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Jordan's King Abdullah urged the United States on Friday to put more pressure on Israel's new right-leaning government to resume Palestinian statehood negotiations.U.S. commitment to Palestinian statehood must be unambiguous in deeds as well as words. This is central to America's standing, Abdullah said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank.Events are already testing U.S. credibility. These include the Israeli voice for turning back the clock on negotiations, he added.Since coming to power last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition have avoided recognizing the Palestinians' right to an independent state, as his predecessor Ehud Olmert did.
Abdullah, who met U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this week, said high-level U.S. involvement was needed in the talks, stalled since Israel's incursion into Gaza last December in retaliation for rocket attacks deep into the Jewish state.Israel must know that attempting to delay this solution will be disastrous for its own future as well as for the future of the Palestinians,the king said.When there is a deadlock, let the U.S. break the impasse by proposing its own creative solutions.On Monday, after meeting Abdullah, Obama urged the Israeli government to accept the goal of a Palestinian state and invited Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for separate talks by early June. Netanyahu is expected in Washington next month.The king urged the United States to pressure Israel to stop illegal settlement building and moves to force out Jerusalem's Arab, Muslim and Christian population.He said the 2002 Arab peace initiative was the best option for Israel and he urged it to take up the offer.The Arab initiative offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a just solution for Palestinian refugees.Israel now has to make its choice -- to integrate into the region ... with normal relations with its neighbors or to remain fortress Israel,the king said.Netanyahu's government has yet to take a public position on the Arab peace initiative, which the United States has also said will be part of any planned U.S. drive to create a Palestinian state.I cannot emphasize enough how important U.S. partnership is to help Israel accept the opening the Arab world has offered,the king said.Now is the time for the United States to lead, to ensure that no more time is wasted.
