Iraq shut down a crucial southern oil pipeline for security reasons, a spokesman said yesterday, piling pressure on world oil prices that have repeatedly smashed all-time highs in four days.
Loyalists of rebel leader Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Shiite Muslim militia have fought US-led troops in Najaf for more than a week, have threatened southern oil infrastructure if the offensive continued against the central city.
Despite a tentative ceasefire in Najaf, clashes with militia flared further north in Hilla overnight and yesterday the Southern Oil Company announced the pipeline had been closed for security reasons.
"The production has been stopped since the start of the crisis and now we have stopped pumping too through the pipeline," a spokesman said.
Oil ministry officials were not immediately available for comment, while the British military, which offers back-up support to security guards for the southern pipelines, expressed ignorance.
"Till late Friday night the oil was flowing in the pipeline. I do not have any latest report of the pipeline status," spokesman Major Ian Clooney said.
The company halted production last Monday following the threats from Sadr supporters.
Since then, crude exports from Basra's two main offshore terminals, the only outlet for Iraqi oil, have been slashed in half, costing the government at least US$30 million a day in lost revenue.
Shutting the pipeline will only deepen the financial crisis faced by the debt-ridden Iraqi government.
"If the entire pipeline is blocked, Iraq will suffer from a daily US$60 million financial loss," the national security council has said.
Also See Story:
Oil gushes to new highs as demand strains producers
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS