Author: Steven Sahiounie

The US Department of Energy said it will buy three million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for delivery in August, and has requested bids by May 31. “This announcement advances President (Joe Biden’s) strategy to replenish resources following its historic release from the Strategic Reserve to address significant global supply disruption caused by the war on Ukraine and provide a wartime bridge to increase domestic production,” the ministry said in a statement . And she affirmed that the Ministry of Energy “is committed to implementing the strategic petroleum reserve renewal strategy that provides the best deal for taxpayers,…

The International Energy Agency said that Russian exports of oil and petroleum products in April 2023 were the highest since February 2022, when Moscow launched the military operation in Ukraine. In its monthly report, the agency indicated that Russian exports of oil and petroleum products increased last month by 50,000 barrels per day, compared to the previous month, to 8.3 million barrels per day. The agency indicated that oil supplies increased by 250,000 barrels per day last month, while exports of petroleum products decreased by about 200,000 barrels per day. She pointed out that oil exports last April amounted to…

After 8 lean years, Egypt succeeded in implementing strategies to reduce the gap between wheat production and consumption, as the government was able to gain the confidence of the Egyptian farmer in planting and supplying the wheat he harvested to the state. Egypt is making great efforts to achieve integrated agricultural development within the framework of its efforts to maintain food security, especially from strategic crops, particularly wheat, as it continues efforts to reduce the gap between production and consumption, through a number of measures aimed at supporting the farmer and providing many incentives to supply wheat. In addition to…

Industrial production weakened more than predicted in March, according to Eurostat Industrial output in the Eurozone suffered a significant decline of 4.1% month-over-month in March, below market expectations, data from the statistics office Eurostat showed on Monday. In annual terms, the figure was down by 1.4%. Industrial production throughout the EU saw a 1.3% year-on-year fall and 3.6% monthly drop. The decline was the most substantial since the pandemic-induced plunge. The downturn was driven by a sharp decrease in the production of capital goods, such as buildings and equipment used to make products and provide services, which nosedived 15.4%. Output…

Italy’s sovereign debt has continued to soar, jumping by €17.8 billion ($19.3 billion) in March in monthly terms to hit a record high of €2.79 trillion ($3 trillion), according to the country’s central bank. The previous all-time high was reached in February, when debt amounted to €2.78 trillion. The Bank of Italy said on Monday that the surge was driven by an increase in the public sector’s borrowing requirement of €31.3 billion ($34 billion), which was partially offset by a reduction in the Treasury’s liquid assets to €29.4 billion. “New historic record! A worrying and alarming exponential rise given the…

Japan will soon benefit from its decision to retain stakes in Russian oil and gas projects despite joining Western sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian consul general in the city of Sapporo told RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday. Sergey Marin said Tokyo may gain an additional 2 million tons of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year once the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia’s Far East is launched. While Japanese firms froze new investment in March 2022 as part of sanctions, they have not withdrawn from the venture. “A consortium made up of Mitsui…

The Global Network Against Food Crises and the Food Security Information Network reported that the food insecurity crisis in Lebanon has reached a critical level. In their seventh global report for the year 2023, I mentioned that Lebanon has been facing an acute crisis in food security since November 2019, as a result of the unprecedented economic and financial crisis. These matters were exacerbated by the political stalemate and lack of governance, in addition to the effects of the Corona pandemic The report revealed that about 1.98 million Lebanese residents and Syrian refugees (1.29 million Lebanese compared to 0.70 million Syrians)…

The much-anticipated Durham report has strongly slammed the FBI for its groundless investigation into alleged ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. The FBI lacked “analytical rigor” to investigate Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was reliant on tips provided by Trump’s political rivals to fuel the probe, US Special Counsel John Durham concluded in his much-awaited report. In a 306-page report, special counsel John Durham determined that the FBI had not held “actual evidence” of collaboration between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia before launching the investigation. Durham – who was designated by then-Attorney General William Barr in 2019 -…

The DPRK slammed Tokyo’s plans to open the first Asia-based liaison office for the US-led military bloc North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has claimed NATO is seeking to increase its influence in Asia, citing growing “military collusion” with Japan, which hosted a delegation from the military alliance last month to discuss ways to step up cooperation. In comments carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, an official with the Foreign Ministry’s Japan Research Center, Kim Seol-hwa, said Washington is gradually pushing NATO into Asia through partnerships with regional powers. “It is an open secret that the United States… has…

An armed teenager has been shot dead after being confronted by officers responding to an active shooter incident in New Mexico An 18-year-old gunman has killed at least three people and wounded six others, including two police officers, in America’s latest mass shooting. The incident in northwestern New Mexico ended when the lone suspect was shot dead by responding officers, police said. The killings occurred on Monday in the city of Farmington, home to about 46,000, in the Four Corners region where the state borders of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado meet. Police gave no details on the shooter…