Environment news

• Dinosaurs 'declining' before asteroid hit

  18-04-2016 23:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The dinosaurs were already in decline 50 million years before the asteroid strike that finally wiped them out, a study suggests.
  
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• Economic losses from disasters counted

  18-04-2016 23:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Natural disasters around the globe have resulted in economic losses of roughly $7 trillion since 1900, according to a new calculation from scientists.
  
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• Modelling shows move to 100% renewable energy would save Australia money

  18-04-2016 23:09
  
  Exclusive: Estimated cost of moving all electricity, industry and transport onto renewables by 2050 would be $800bn, a saving of $90bn Transitioning Australia to 100% renewable energy by 2050 would cost less than continuing on the current path, according to a new modelling report.Building the infrastructure to supply renewable energy for all electricity, transport and industry would cost about $800bn between now and 2050, the report from the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of
  
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• Ikea's New Chainless Bike Never Rusts

  18-04-2016 22:32
  
  Dealing with a rusty bicycle chain can be a messy affair, but an innovative new bike from Ikea solves that pesky problem. The furniture retail giant recently introduced its new "Sladda" bike, which uses an oil-free and corrosion-resistant drive belt rather than a metal chain. The drive belt is designed to last about 9,320 miles (15,000 kilometers), which is about two to three times longer than a typical steel chain, according to Ikea.
  
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• Florida wakes up to climate change

  18-04-2016 22:30
  
  The city of Miami Beach is slowly disappearing under water. At the big high tides of the year the sea washes over the famous wide beach and floods many of the city streets and magnificent Art Deco buildings. And over the past decade the floods have been striking more frequently.Most of the city sits just a few feet above sea level, built on a foundation of porous limestone, allowing the rising seas to seep into the city’s foundations, surge up through pipes and drains, encroaching on fresh
  
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• U.S. oil investors rush for protection at $35 as Doha talks collapse

  18-04-2016 21:32
  U.S. crude oil investors piled on bearish option bets on Monday, fearing prices may retest 12-year lows as futures prices sank almost 7 percent after talks by major exporters collapsed without agreement, erasing hopes the worldwide glut in oil would be eased. "Whether it's a speculator or a hedger looking to put a floor in place, the $35 strike price makes sense," said John Saucer, vice president of research and analysis at Houston-based Mobius Risk Group. "Given the fact that prices fell as low
  
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• Use tax disobedience to create a fairer society | Letters

  18-04-2016 20:13
  
  The latest tax scandal is bringing the erosion of our democracy into ever sharper focus. Britain suffers under an enormous democratic deficit due to state capture by “free”-market neoliberal fundamentalism and its associated corporate and financial interests, in aggressive ascendancy since the 1970s. Notwithstanding the 2008 financial crisis, this capture of the state has remained unaddressed, with successive governments shamefully complicit in it. Despite copious corroborative
  
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• Venezuela oil minister says U.S. helped ruin deal in Doha

  18-04-2016 19:51
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Intense pressure from the United States was one of the reason why OPEC and non-OPEC producers failed to reached a deal on freezing oil output in Doha on Sunday, Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino told reporters. "The United States was behind the pressure. They have a problem with Venezuela, Russia... They are doing this for political reasons and are ignoring their own people suffering. Ask any oil company in the U.S. -- they are all very sad because of what happened yest
  
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• Oil steadies as Kuwait strike offsets scuttled output-freeze plan

  18-04-2016 19:45
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Monday after a Kuwaiti workers' strike slashed the country's oil output by more than half, offsetting worries about a scuttled plan by major oil producers to freeze production. The strike cut more than 60 percent Kuwait's crude output, lending support to price benchmarks such as Brent and Dubai. The producers had gathered in Qatar, Doha at the weekend for what was expected to be the rubber-stamping of a deal to stabilise output at Ja
  
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• The global oil deal that never came to be

  18-04-2016 19:44
  By Vladimir Soldatkin, Sam Wilkin and Tom Finn DOHA (Reuters) - It was supposed to be the easiest deal ever reached among key oil market players, a mere formality. Eighteen countries were gathering in the Qatari capital of Doha to rubber-stamp the first joint agreement between major OPEC and non-OPEC nations in 15 years, tackling a huge global glut after flooding the market for two years. Oil prices were rising.
  
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• Within the EU, Britain can take the lead on tackling climate change | Letter from John Gummer, Chris Huhne, Adair Turner and others

  18-04-2016 19:27
  
  Letter from John Gummer, Chris Huhne, Adair Turner, Craig Bennett, Tom Burke, Amy Cameron, Michael Jacobs, John Sauven, Matthew Spencer, James Thornton and Crispin TickellBritain has shown great diplomatic leadership on climate change and successive governments have had a major influence on action to decarbonise the world’s economy. We believe that the UK’s standing as an international climate leader could recede within months if we were to leave the EU.Membership of the EU has enabl
  
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• Would it kill you to say hello on a country walk? | Patrick Barkham

  18-04-2016 18:32
  
  I greet deer and blackbirds – so there is no way I would ignore other walkers. It’s sad if we need a social media campaign to encourage friendlinessWhat do you say when you pass someone sauntering along a country path? A hearty hello? Acknowledgement, muttered and grudging? If you reside in Sussex, you’ll be cheerily hailing fellow walkers, runners and cyclists – the fruit of a £35,000 campaign by the South Downs national park authority. Related: The British country
  
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• Biomass sector urges Decc to 'quickly re-examine' RHI reforms

  18-04-2016 17:38
  
  The biomass industry has called on the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to re-examine its proposed reforms to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) set out last month.
  
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• British Gas lost 220,000 customers in first three months of 2016

  18-04-2016 17:13
  
  Parent company Centrica reveals fall in number of domestic accounts, nearly twice total for whole of 2015, at AGM in LondonBritish Gas lost more than 220,000 customer accounts in the first three months of this year, almost double the number for the whole of 2015, as consumers turned away from the big energy providers.Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, said the number of domestic accounts fell by 224,000 to 14.44m between the end of December and the end of March. British Gas lost 119,00
  
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• RBS hits £1bn milestone for green loans

  18-04-2016 17:05
  
  The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has doubled its financial lending to sustainable energy projects, with more than 400 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) acting as benefactors of a £1bn lending spree from the bank in 2015.
  
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• Vattenfall exits German coal unit as it seeks sustainable energy

  18-04-2016 16:35
  
  Swedish state-owned energy giant reaches deal with Czech company to sell German coal operations as it ‘accelerates’ shift to greener energySwedish state-owned energy giant Vattenfall said on Monday it had reached a deal to sell its German coal operations, employing 8,000 people, as it moves away from activities blamed for climate change.Vattenfall said it would sell its German lignite, or brown coal, business – opencast coalmines and two power plants close to the German-Polish
  
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• Sir David MacKay obituary

  18-04-2016 15:55
  
  Cambridge physicist and government scientific adviser with a rational approach to the climate and energy debateSir David MacKay, who has died of cancer aged 48, was a true polymath, a rare breed in today’s world, where the frontiers of scientific knowledge are increasingly remote and complex. It is a testament to David’s intellectual brilliance that he was able to contribute to advancing more than one of these frontiers during his short career.David latterly achieved cult status amon
  
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• Greenpeace activists put gas mask on Nelson's column in pollution protest

  18-04-2016 15:52
  
  Nelson effigy and 17 other statues around London given bespoke gas masks to highlight need for improved air qualityTwo Greenpeace activists have climbed Nelson’s column in central London to fit a gas mask to the statue as part of a city-wide protest over air pollution.Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones evaded security and scaled the 52-metre monument to Admiral Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square soon after dawn on Monday.Continue reading...
  
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• EU figures on transport emissions 'hot air', says T&E

  18-04-2016 14:39
  
  A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report on vehicle carbon emissions figures for 2016 has been labelled "hot air" by green transport group Transport & Environment (T&E), as the research reportedly does not reflect "the reality on our roads".
  
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• Educating Consumers About Buying Sustainably

  18-04-2016 14:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sustainability is a word tossed around much these days. But do consumers really care about buying sustainably? The answer is yes. More and more consumers are interested in sustainability, as surveys show.  A 2011 consumer survey by Nielsen found that 66 percent of socially-conscious consumers cited environmental sustainability as the most important issue from a list of 18 issues.So, how do you increase awareness of buying sustainably among consumers? The key is getting information to them.
  
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• UN and Google forge 'eye-in-the-sky' forest mapping partnership

  18-04-2016 13:57
  
  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has turned to tech giant Google to implement a high-resolution satellite-based data mapping system which could usher in an "unprecedented level of environmental literacy" for the forestry sector.
  
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• Microbots Could Play Key Role in Cleaning Up Our Water Systems

  18-04-2016 13:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  What if we could not only clean up the heavy metals in our water systems, but also recycle those metals and reuse them?A new study from the Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Spain suggests that, soon, we might be doing just that.
  
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• Global prize honours Cambodian activist

  18-04-2016 13:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An activist's undercover work to shed light on illegal logging in Cambodia's forests has been recognised by the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
  
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• Boaty McBoatface may not be name of new polar research vessel

  18-04-2016 13:11
  
  Name overwhelmingly backed in poll but government would prefer something that ‘captures the spirit of scientific endeavour’It might be the democratic will of the people, but RRS Boaty McBoatface will probably never weigh anchor, the government has signalled.The Natural Environment Research Council, which asked the public to vote on a name for its new £200m polar research vessel, confirmed on Sunday votes were overwhelmingly in favour of naming the state-of-the art ship Boaty Mc
  
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• Gravity mission passes 'sanity check'

  18-04-2016 12:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A European Space Agency effort to try to detect gravitational waves in space is not only technically feasible but compelling, a new report finds.
  
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• Greenpeace protesters put mask over Nelson's column in air pollution protest – video

  18-04-2016 11:29
  
  A Greenpeace protester climbs Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square in protest over air pollution on Monday. Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones evaded security and scaled the 52-metre monument to Admiral Lord Nelson in central London soon after dawn, fitting a giant gas mask to Nelson’s stone face to highlight dangerous levels of toxic air in the capital Continue reading...
  
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• Greenpeace protesters put a mask over Nelson's column in air pollution protest – video

  18-04-2016 11:29
  
  Greenpeace protesters climb London’s landmarks – including Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square – on Monday in protest over air pollution standards. Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones evaded security and scaled the 52-metre monument to Admiral Lord Nelson in central London after dawn, fitting a giant gas mask to Nelson’s stone face to highlight dangerous levels of toxic air in the capital. The Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statues of Oliver Cromwell and Sir Winston C
  
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• The fight to save Cambodia's forests - video

  18-04-2016 10:38
  
  Forest activist, Ouch Leng, has just been awarded the Goldman prize for his work protecting the Cambodian rainforest. Over 20 years his dangerous, undercover investigations have exposed some of Cambodia’s biggest timber magnates, identified land grabbing by Chinese and western corporations and taken on corrupt elements within governmentRead more: Mekong: A river risingContinue reading...
  
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• Greenpeace activists climb Nelson's column in air pollution protest

  18-04-2016 10:24
  
  Activists fit gas mask to Nelson effigy and 17 other statues around London to highlight need for improved air qualityTwo Greenpeace activists have climbed Nelson’s column in central London to fit a gas mask to the statue at the top as part of a city-wide protest over air pollution.Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones evaded security and scaled the 52-metre monument to Admiral Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square soon after dawn on Monday.Continue reading...
  
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• South Korean President Park to make state visit to Iran in May

  18-04-2016 10:21
  South Korean President Park Geun-hye will make a state visit to Iran from May 1 to 3 to meet President Hassan Rouhani and initiate discussions with Iran on a wide range of areas including energy and engineering, her office said on Monday. Park's visit will be the first by a South Korean leader since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1962 and her office said it hoped the visit would help deepen ties after sanctions on Iran were lifted. South Korea, the world's fifth-largest cr
  
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• New Russian budget rule to be based on $40-50/barrel oil price - Interfax

  18-04-2016 10:20
  Russia's finance ministry is proposing a new fiscal rule where the base oil price for budget calculations would be set between $40 (28 pounds) and $50 a barrel, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday citing Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin. "These are the levels which we now think of as certain structural levels over a long-term period." Above this price oil revenues would be accumulated in Russia's two sovereign wealth funds, with foreign currency to be purchased on the market to rep
  
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• Rosneft - Supply-demand to rebalance oil markets, not 'shaky deals': RIA

  18-04-2016 10:07
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Rosneft , the world's No. 1 listed oil producer, believes that the global oil market will rebalance on the supply-demand basis and not through "shaky agreements", RIA news agency quoted its spokesman as saying on Monday. Mikhail Leontyev was referring to the failure by oil-producing nations to reach an oil output freeze deal in Doha on Sunday. There had been no illusions about the ability of oil producers to reach that agreement, he said. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Wr
  
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• Shell says theft from its Nigerian oil pipeline network fell in 2015

  18-04-2016 10:02
  Theft of crude oil from the pipeline network of Shell's Nigerian subsidiary fell to 25,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, the company said on Monday, roughly 32 percent less than the previous year. The number of sabotage-related spills on the SPDC network also declined to 93 in 2015, compared with 139 the previous year, Shell said in its annual sustainability report. It attributed the decrease to divestments in the Niger Delta and increased surveillance and security by the Nigerian government, b
  
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• The solution to (nearly) everything: working less | Rutger Bregman

  18-04-2016 10:00
  
  Excessive work and pressure are status symbols. But overtime is deadly. If we worked less we’d make fewer errors, address inequality and have a better lifeHad you asked John Maynard Keynes what the biggest challenge of the 21st century would be, he wouldn’t have had to think twice. Leisure. In fact, Keynes anticipated that, barring “disastrous mistakes” by policymakers (austerity during an economic crisis, for instance), the western standard of living would multiply to at
  
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• Failure to agree oil freeze deal may have 'most unpredictable' outcome - Gazprom

  18-04-2016 09:43
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The failure by oil-producing nations to reach an oil freeze deal in Doha may lead to "the most unpredictable" scenarios, Valery Golubev, a board member of Russian natural gas export monopoly Gazprom , said on Monday. "Yesterday's talks on freezing oil production volumes led to the most unexpected results," Golubev told an energy conference in Moscow. "Hydrocarbon producers are not ready today to reach agreements proceeding from universal human values. Everyone is pursuing thei
  
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• British Gas owner cuts jobs as it braces for pay row at AGM

  18-04-2016 09:22
  
  Centrica faces questions about boardroom pay and its environmental record at its annual general meetingCentrica will cut 3,000 jobs this year as the group, which owns British Gas, reduces costs to shore up its financial position.
  The job losses mean Centrica will achieve half the 6,000 reductions it had planned by 2020 during 2016, with 800 having already been axed in the first three months of the year. About 5,000 of the cuts will be in the UK with the rest in North America. Continue reading...
  
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• Botched Doha deal undermines OPEC credibility, oil prices tumble

  18-04-2016 09:15
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran were blamed for the failure, which revived industry fears that major government-controlled producers will increase their battle for market share by offering ever-steeper discounts. "OPEC's cred
  
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• Queensland bans underground coal gasification over environmental risk

  18-04-2016 08:25
  
  Ban comes after UCG pilot company Linc Energy, which last week went into administration, was committed for trial for causing serious environmental harmThe Queensland government has immediately banned underground coal gasification in the state, arguing the environmental risks outweigh economic benefits.Natural resources minister Dr Anthony Lynham says the ban, which would apply immediately as government policy, would be made official by the end of the year through legislation introduced into parl
  
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• Exclusive - Chevron puts Myanmar gas block stakes worth $1.3 billion up for sale: sources

  18-04-2016 08:10
  HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas major Chevron Corp has put all of its Myanmar gas block stakes up for sale, which at a combined likely valuation of $1.3 billion (917.88 million pounds), would be the biggest deal involving Myanmar assets to date, financial sources familiar with the matter said. The sale, part of Chevron's efforts to preserve cash and retreat from non-core assets in the wake of sliding oil prices, is seen as setting the tone for future deals in a country that is o
  
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• US and China lead push to bring Paris climate deal into force early

  18-04-2016 08:01
  
  Early start date would add momentum for deeper emissions cuts and lock a future US president into the deal for four yearsThe US and China are leading a push to bring the Paris climate accord into force much faster than even the most optimistic projections – aided by a typographical glitch in the text of the agreement.
  More than 150 governments, including 40 heads of state, are expected at a symbolic signing ceremony for the agreement at the United Nations on 22 April, which is Earth Day.Co
  
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• Oil prices tumble after Saudi-Iran tensions sink output deal

  18-04-2016 07:31
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled on Monday after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters and the world awash with unwanted fuel. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran were blamed for the failure, which revived industry fears that major government-controlled producers will increase their battle for market share by offering ever-steeper discounts. "OPEC's cred
  
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• Woodman, spare that tree

  18-04-2016 06:30
  
  Kendal, Cumbria It’s illegal to fell a tree containing active nests, but the responsibility for surveying lies with the owner or the tree surgeonA notice appeared on a lamp post in our lane, an application to remove a conifer. While that tree was not a thing of great beauty, I knew it was important to our birds. Blackbirds and thrushes used it as a song-post, proclaiming their territories, and it provided cover for small birds travelling down from Kendal Fell into the gardens to feed. Ther
  
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• Japan declares nuclear reactors safe after quake

  18-04-2016 05:56
  Japan's atomic regulator on Monday said there is no need to shut down the country's only operating nuclear station on southwestern Kyushu island, where a series of quakes killed more than 40 people and damaged infrastructure. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said it was monitoring the situation closely at four nuclear power stations, after calling a special meeting of its commissioners. Sensitivity over atomic power is high in Japan after the Fukushima disaster of 2011 was sparked by an earthqua
  
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• Tanzanian land rights victory earns Masaai leader Goldman prize

  18-04-2016 05:01
  
  Edward Loure wins leading environmental award after helping communities in Tanzanian Rift Valley secure legal title to ancestral land The Tarangire national park in Tanzania is known for its vast concentrations of wildlife in the dry season, the spectacular annual migrations of its elephants, wildebeest and zebra, and its majestic old baobab trees.But few people who visit it realise that the 1,100 sq mile park was, until colonial times, widely used by pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, or that m
  
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• 'Even though I know my life is at risk, I still try to save the forest’

  18-04-2016 05:01
  
  After 20 years defending Cambodia’s rainforest, human rights lawyer Ouch Leng has won the world’s leading environmental award for his work You could not see the logging camp from the narrow track on the edge of the once vast Prey Lang forest in central Cambodia. But human rights lawyer and forest defender Ouch Leng had recced the location on motorbike, identified its owners, studied aerial pictures from a drone and within minutes of arriving was crawling through the dense undergrowth
  
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• Oil prices tumble 5 percent after producers fail to coordinate output

  18-04-2016 02:41
  By Henning Gloystein and Dmitry Zhdannikov SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled 5 percent early on Monday after a meeting by major producers in Qatar fell apart the day before, leaving the world awash with unwanted fuel. U.S. crude futures were down 5.7 percent at $38.06 a barrel.
  
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• Crude oil futures down 5 percent after producer deal falls apart

  18-04-2016 01:49
  U.S. crude futures were down 5.5 percent at $38.16 a barrel. Some 18 oil exporting nations, including non-OPEC Russia, had gathered in the Qatari capital of Doha for what was expected to be the rubber-stamping of a deal to stabilise output at January levels until October 2016.
  
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• Oil futures dive 6 percent after Doha talks fail

  18-04-2016 00:20
  SYDNEY (Reuters) - Oil futures traded sharply lower in Asia on Monday after a deal to freeze oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell apart when Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran join in despite calls on Riyadh to save the agreement and help prop up crude prices. Nymex crude for May was trading 6.7 percent lower at $37.68 a barrel. The Brent contract for June also dropped 6.7 percent to $40.18 a barrel . (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
  
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