No companies submit bids to work on Baghdad East oil field or Eastern Fields as part of auction.
By Prashant Rao - BAGHDAD
Iraq struck deals with consortiums led by energy giants Shell and CNPC over massive southern oil fields Friday, part of a two-day auction that seeks to dramatically boost the country's crude output.
The successful bids from the Anglo-Dutch and Chinese giants kicked off the sale, which aims to catapult Iraq towards the top of the list of the world's oil producers and bring in much-needed revenue to rebuild the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki highlighted the transparency with which the auction was being conducted, contrasting it with the "darkened rooms" in which now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein made deals over oil.
The contract for the enormous Majnoon field was jointly won Shell and its Malaysian partner Petronas, while CNPC led a group comprised of Petronas and France's Total to capture Halfaya.
read more @ middle east online
2. UAE 'containing' global meltdown
KUWAIT: The United Arab Emirates has successfully "contained" the negative impacts of the global financial meltdown on the back of its solid economy, the UAE president said yesterday. "We have been able to contain the negative impacts of the (global economic) crisis and overcome many of its results and consequences," Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan told Kuwait's KUNA news agency in an interview. "We have the ability and determination to continue to work in this direction... to remove all obstacles that prevent strong development," the president said.
Sheikh Khalifa, whose country is the third largest OPEC producer and which has huge foreign investments, said the UAE economy was based on strong foundations. His comments came with the UAE's stock markets still tumbling two weeks after real estate giant Nakheel, a part of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, sought a freeze in payments on a $4.0-billion Islamic bond debt. The announcement raised fears of a Dubai debt default and shocked global financial markets. The main Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock market indexes have since plummeted by around 26 and 15 percent, respectively.
read more @ kuwait times
3. four digit gold 'magical' for investment psychology - Hathaway
RENO, NV -
Tocqueville Gold Fund manager John Hathaway suggests the effect of four-digit gold "has been magical for investment psychology. Day after day, the financial media publishes glowing reports on the metal's prospects while never failing to trash the beleaguered greenback."
In his recent commentary, "A Contrarian's Dilemma," Hathaway suggested "the world's perception of gold has changed and the pace of the bull market has quickened."
Hathaway said the decision of the central bank of India to buy 200 metric tonnes of IMF gold "shattered the long held investment assumption that official sector selling would supply the market forever."
4. Kazakh uranium boss trial to proceed
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A criminal case against Mukhtar Dzhakishev, the former head of Kazakhstan's state uranium firm Kazatomprom, will proceed to court.
...Prosecutor's office spokesman Nurdaulet Suindikov commented, "The investigation charges former Kazatomprom president Mukhtar Dzhakishev with theft by way of embezzling a state company's property." Suindikov added that Dzhakishev would be charged with embezzling 100 million tenge ($600,000) from Kazatomprom.
...Kazakhstan contains the world's second-largest uranium reserves, estimated at 1.5 million tons. The country in 2006 produced 5,279 tons of uranium, but as part of its plans to increase output boosted uranium output in January-September to 9,535 tons.
5. US mine firm pays historic $1.79B for cleanup
WASHINGTON – A bankrupt Arizona copper mining firm has paid $1.79 billion for environmental cleanup and restoration in the largest such payout in US history, US federal agencies said Thursday.
The funds, obtained through Asarco's bankruptcy reorganization, will be used to pay for past and future costs to clean up hazardous mining waste at more than 80 sites in 19 states.
The American Smelting and Refining Company (Asarco), a leading copper producer based in Tucson, will remain liable for any environmental damage at properties it continues to own and operate, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the departments of justice, interior and agriculture announced....
The affected sites were in Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington. Federal officials noted that without the settlement, US taxpayers would have been forced to pay for the cleanup. The process is expected to take years.
6. UK issues new guidelines on labelling food from illegal West Bank settlements
Britain has acted to increase pressure on Israel over its West Bank settlements by advising UK supermarkets on how to distinguish between foods from the settlements and Palestinian-manufactured goods.
The government's move falls short of a legal requirement but is bound to increase the prospects of a consumer boycott of products from those territories. Israeli officials and settler leaders were tonight highly critical of the decision.
Until now, food has been simply labelled "Produce of the West Bank", but the new, voluntary guidance issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), says labels could give more precise information, like "Israeli settlement produce" or "Palestinian produce".
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