Free Republic

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Oil companies in Europe are betting on the survival of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, in sharp contrast to their support for Libya's opposition six months ago, even while the European Union is expected to soon slap oil sanctions on Damascus. ... Royal Dutch/Shell (RDSa.L) is expected to load its Neverland Star tanker with crude oil cargo in the port of Banias over the weekend. The tanker was in Alexandria in Egypt on Thursday, just a day away from the Syrian port. The company operates a joint venture with Syria's state oil company and a...

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading By David Cho Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 21, 2008; A01 Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol's books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel. Even more surprising to the commodities markets was the massive...

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Iran's largest supplier of gasoline, independent oil trader Vitol, has decided to end its long-running contract to provide the country with the fuel from next year, an industry source said on Thursday. The source said Swiss-based Vitol has made the decision because it had made a loss of an estimated $70 million for the calendar year 2007 from its existing contract. The source did not mention any political considerations. Vitol's spokeswoman and Iranian oil officials were not immediately available to comment. Iran is the world's fourth-largest crude oil exporter but its refineries are struggling to...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran on Sunday repeated threats that it was ready to use its massive oil exports as a weapon to defend itself if it felt in danger in an international dispute over its atomic program. But Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said international sanctions on 2.5 million barrels per day of Iranian crude exports would be impractical and would send oil prices over $100 a barrel, up from around $70 now. Iran has been hauled before the U.N. Security Council over suspicions it is seeking nuclear missiles, a charge it denies. It could face economic sanctions and the United...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Oil companies, including one that employed an Iraq weapons supplier, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to Saddam Hussein during the U.N. oil-for-food program, a U.N. report said on Thursday. Saddam Hussein's government took in $228.8 million (128.3 million pounds) from surcharges in connection with oil contracts, the report said. That was nearly 13 percent of the $1.8 billion in surcharges Iraq received from more than 2,200 foreign companies during the oil-for-food humanitarian program of 1996 to 2003, the report charged. Intricate webs of companies, individuals, and governments stretching from Europe to Asia...