Environment news

• Water management flawed owing to vastly underestimated drought risk, study finds

  10-05-2016 22:34
  
  Thousand-year rainfall record shows weather in New South Wales over the past 100 years has been unusually stable and absent of mega droughts Drought and flood risk in New South Wales is vastly underestimated, with weather in the past 100 years being unusually stable, according to a detailed reconstruction of rainfall over a NSW catchment for the past 1,000 years.In a world first, scientists have used data drawn from an ice core to reconstruct the rainfall records for a particular catchment &ndas
  
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• Fossil fuel register shows more than a third of Australia earmarked for coal or gas

  10-05-2016 22:27
  
  Interactive map commissioned by Lock the Gate shows fossil fuel claims cover 37% of Australia’s landmassMore than a third of Australia’s landmass is earmarked for coal or gas, according to a new analysis and interactive map commissioned by the community group Lock the Gate.No single register of fossil fuel exploration and extraction licences and applications exists so, commissioned by Lock the Gate, Energy Resources Insights gathered spatial information on land earmarked for fossil f
  
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• Canadian oil production trickles back as wildfire threat eases

  10-05-2016 21:24
  
  By Rod Nickel and Nia Williams FORT MCMURRAY/EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Oil sands companies around the Canadian energy center of Fort McMurray began to resume production on Tuesday after an out-of-control wildfire forced a shutdown a week ago, and energy executives met with province leaders who reported the town was less damaged than first feared. The fire continued to grow on Tuesday, but it has moved far enough away from the oil sands' sites to allow companies to begin resuming production.
  
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• Brazil's Rousseff undone by hubris, economic missteps

  10-05-2016 20:37
  By Brad Brooks and Paulo Prada BRASILIA (Reuters) - Minutes after taking her oath of office in 2011, President Dilma Rousseff stood before Congress and pledged to end the dirty back-room deals and kickback schemes at the heart of Brazilian politics. In her first year, she forced out seven cabinet ministers tainted by accusations of wrongdoing and had the highest approval rating of any president since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985. Although she faces no allegations of personal enrichment,
  
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• Conoco CEO looks at hedging options but says market limited

  10-05-2016 20:21
  ConocoPhillips has looked at using derivatives to lock in oil prices in a volatile market, including so-called floors to guard against any new price drops, but Chief Executive Ryan Lance said on Tuesday the company is too big to hedge all of its output. Lance made the comments at the top independent U.S. oil and gas exploration and production company's annual shareholder meeting, after a shareholder asked why the company was not hedging its production, on track this year to be about 1.5 million
  
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• Gunmen kill five security personnel in Nigerian Delta, oil companies evacuate staff

  10-05-2016 20:01
  By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen killed two policemen in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta as they slept in a security post on Monday evening and three soldiers were killed in a second attack, police and the army said. The army said it would use "all available means and measures" to crush militants attacking oil facilities, saying: "They will stand to regret the consequences of their actions." The two policemen, who were asleep on guard duty, were killed in Delta's Rivers st
  
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• VIDEO: The deadly 'red tide' killing sea life

  10-05-2016 19:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Chile's southern coast has been hit by the biggest ever "red tide" in history. It's caused by toxic algae which is killing sea life and damaging the local fishing economy.
  
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• Do these malcontent MPs sniping at Jeremy Corbyn fit in Labour’s big tent? | Letters

  10-05-2016 19:35
  
  Jo Cox and Neil Coyle “have come to regret” their decision to nominate Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership and realise they must not “sit back and hope for the best” (Opinion, theguardian.com, 6 May). No doubt many Labour party members in Batley and Spen and Bermondsey and Old Southwark have come regret their decision to select them as candidates. Given the barrage of invective from the parliamentary Labour party (PLP), the daily vituperation from the media and the biased BB
  
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• More than 100 Earth-sized planets found

  10-05-2016 19:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nasa announces the discovery of more than 100 Earth-sized planets orbiting alien stars.
  
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• edie Live 2016: One week until show doors open

  10-05-2016 18:58
  
  The final countdown to the edie Live 2016 exhibition has begun, with more than 120 industry experts set to feature in 33 sessions across two days at the NEC Birmingham on 17-18 May.
  
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• edie Live 2016: Less than a week until show doors open

  10-05-2016 18:58
  
  The final countdown to the edie Live 2016 exhibition has begun, with more than 120 industry experts set to feature in 33 sessions across two days at the NEC Birmingham on 17-18 May.
  
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• edie Live 2016: five days until doors open!

  10-05-2016 18:58
  
  The final countdown to the edie Live 2016 exhibition has begun, with more than 120 industry experts set to feature in 33 sessions across two days at the NEC Birmingham on 17-18 May.
  
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• Michael Liebreich downplays impact of Brexit on clean energy investment

  10-05-2016 18:07
  
  EXCLUSIVE: The upcoming EU referendum will have less of an impact on UK clean energy investment than feared, and domestic environmental policy will not suffer at the hands of a 'Brexit', the chairman of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has claimed.
  
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• Two policemen killed in Nigeria's Delta region - police

  10-05-2016 17:11
  Unknown gunmen killed two Nigerian policemen in the oil-producing Niger Delta, a police spokesman said on Tuesday, a day after five officers were shot dead in the restive region. "The policemen were asleep and killed by some callous assailants," said a spokesman for police in Rivers state in the Delta. A villager who gave her name as Sarah Ebikabowei said gunmen had killed three soldiers in Bayelsa state, which is also located in the Delta.
  
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• Rising seas swallow Pacific islands

  10-05-2016 17:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Five Pacific islands have disappeared as a result of rising sea levels in a first confirmation of the impact of climate change on coastlines, scientists say.
  
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• See Earth’s temperature spiral toward 2C rise - graphic

  10-05-2016 15:56
  
  Climate Central: A new graphic shows Earth’s temperatures spiralling toward the 2C global warming limitThe steady rise of Earth’s temperature as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere and trap more and more heat is sending the planet spiraling closer to the point where warming’s catastrophic consequences may be all but assured.Continue reading...
  
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• Mining bosses shift focus from debt and start to see new investment potential

  10-05-2016 15:50
  The bosses of big mining firms are starting to see potential for new investment as record low margins set the scene for higher commodity prices, they said on Tuesday, marking a change in tone from the focus on cost-cutting and asset sales. Andrew Mackenzie, BHP's chief executive, said the firm was particularly positive on copper and oil but was not just waiting for prices to recover. Speaking at the same conference, Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, said "record low sector margins ar
  
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• Headlines 'exaggerated' climate link to sinking of Pacific islands

  10-05-2016 14:50
  
  Report’s author says many media outlets have misinterpreted the science by conflating sea-level rise with climate change Links between climate change and the sinking of five islands in the Pacific Ocean have been exaggerated, the author of a widely reported new study has said.The report, published on Friday, tracked the shapeshifting of 33 reef islands in the Solomon Islands between 1947 and 2014. It found that five had been washed away completely and six more had been severely eroded. The
  
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• Oil up as Canada, Nigeria problems counter stockpile concern

  10-05-2016 14:33
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose on Tuesday, boosted by supply disruptions in Canada and elsewhere that have knocked out 2.5 million barrels of daily production and temporarily eclipsed concern over high global inventories and a looming surplus of refined products. Brent crude futures were up 39 cents on the day at $44.02 per barrel by 1200 GMT, while U.S. crude futures were virtually flat at $43.38 per barrel. In spite of output outages from Canada to Nigeria, oil prices are down by
  
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• Saudi Aramco finalises IPO options and plans global expansion

  10-05-2016 14:32
  By Rania El Gamal DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant is finalising options for its partial privatisation and will present them to its Supreme Council soon, its chief executive said about the centrepiece of the kingdom's efforts to overhaul its economy. The company has a huge team working on the proposals for the initial public offering (IPO) of less than 5 percent of the company's value, which include a single domestic listing and a dual listing with a foreign
  
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• China scrambles fighters as U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef

  10-05-2016 14:31
  By Michael Martina, Greg Torode and Ben Blanchard BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday as a U.S. navy ship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea, a patrol China denounced as an illegal threat to peace which only went to show its defence installations in the area were necessary. Guided missile destroyer the USS William P. Lawrence travelled within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef, U.S. Defense Department spokesman, Bill Urban
  
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• Early Earth's air weighed less than half of today's atmosphere

  10-05-2016 14:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  The idea that the young Earth had a thicker atmosphere turns out to be wrong. New research from the University of Washington uses bubbles trapped in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks to show that air at that time exerted at most half the pressure of today’s atmosphere.
  
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• Another Bundy standoff possible as groups call for US to seize livestock

  10-05-2016 14:00
  
  Coalition of wildlife groups write to US Bureau of Land Management asking them to remove Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal land in NevadaEnvironmental groups have called on the government to round up Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle with a mass seizure of livestock that some fear could lead to a tense standoff between armed militia groups and federal authorities. A coalition of wildlife organizations wrote to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday urging the agency to
  
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• U of I study finds declining sulfur levels in soils and rivers in Midwest

  10-05-2016 13:49 via feedproxy.google.com
   Air pollution legislation to control fossil fuel emissions and the associated acid rain has worked – perhaps leading to the need for sulfur fertilizers for crop production. A University of Illinois study drawing from over 20 years of data shows that sulfur levels in Midwest watersheds and rivers have steadily declined, so much so that farmers may need to consider applying sulfur in the not too distant future.“We don’t think there are actual sulfur deficiencies yet, but cl
  
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• LPC-Charterhouse revises financial restructuring plan for Bartec

  10-05-2016 13:31
  British private equity firm Charterhouse has proposed a revised debt restructuring plan for its struggling German oil and gas safety tools producer Bartec after the initial plan was rejected by lenders, two sources familiar with the matter said. Charterhouse-owned Bartec, which has been hit by the slump in oil prices and is seeking to diversify, has around €384m (302 million pounds) of outstanding debt, including a €260m term loan. Charterhouse has increased its capital commitment to &
  
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• Exclusive - Say goodbye to OPEC, Russia’s Sechin says

  10-05-2016 13:17
  By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Internal differences are killing OPEC and its ability to influence the markets has all but evaporated, top Russian oil executive Igor Sechin told Reuters in some of his harshest remarks ever about the oil cartel. Russia, which has been hit hard by the oil price collapse, was flirting with the idea of cooperating with OPEC in recent months until tensions between OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Iran ruined a global deal to freeze output. Sechin - one of the c
  
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• Saudi Aramco says to sign chemicals project MOU with SABIC

  10-05-2016 12:46
  National oil giant Saudi Aramco expects soon to sign a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Basic Industries Corp for a joint oil-to-chemicals project, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. SABIC has previously said the proposed project could cost as much as $30 billion, processing petrochemicals directly from crude oil instead of first refining the oil into products such as naphtha. "It makes absolute sense as Aramco is specialised in oil and refining, and SABIC in petrochemicals,&rdqu
  
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• Sentinel's first sea-surface height map

  10-05-2016 12:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The EU's Sentinel-3a satellite offers a peek at what will be one of its most fundamental products - a map of sea surface height anomalies.
  
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• Sustainability professionals pile pressure on Government to accept Fifth Carbon Budget

  10-05-2016 12:35
  
  A new survey has revealed that environmental and sustainability professionals are overwhelmingly in favour of recent recommendations for the UK's Fifth Carbon Budget, while separate academic report has concluded that the adoption of those proposals could help deliver long-term economic growth.
  
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• Trade routes written in camel DNA

  10-05-2016 12:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cross-continental study reveals how camels' genetic diversity is shaped by ancient trade routes.
  
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• Saudi Aramco says in final stages of preparing IPO options

  10-05-2016 12:15
  Saudi Aramco is in the final statges of preparing options for its initial public offer of shares before presenting the options soon to its Supreme Council for consideration, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. Aramco has a huge team working on the options, which include a share listing in Saudi Arabia, a dual listing with a foreign market, and listings in more than two places, Nasser told reporters. The Supreme Council overseeing the national oil giant is headed by Deputy Crown Prince M
  
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• Repair crews assess Canada wildfire damage, oil firms plan restart

  10-05-2016 11:01
  By Rod Nickel FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (Reuters) - Repair crews were expected to assess wildfire damage to the Canadian energy boomtown of Fort McMurray on Tuesday as the oil sands companies surrounding the ravaged city looked at bringing production back on line. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said they were encouraged by how much of it escaped destruction, estimating almost 90 percent of its buildings were saved.
  
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• U.S. sails warship near Chinese-claimed reef in South China Sea

  10-05-2016 10:08
  By Michael Martina and Greg Torode BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - A U.S. navy warship sailed close to a disputed reef in the South China Sea on Tuesday, a U.S. Department of Defense official said, prompting anger in Beijing which denounced the patrol as illegal and a threat to peace and stability. Guided missile destroyer the USS William P. Lawrence travelled within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-occupied Fiery Cross Reef, Defense Department spokesman Bill Urban said. The so-called freedom of navig
  
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• Saudi Aramco CEO says demand is increasing

  10-05-2016 09:53
  Demand for Saudi Aramco's oil is increasing and the company is meeting that demand, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. Domestic demand during the Saudi Arabian summer will cause a slight increase in burning of liquids for power generation, he said, adding that Aramco's average crude output in 2015 was 10.2 million barrels per day.
  
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• Saudi Aramco says looking at new ventures around globe

  10-05-2016 09:33
  State oil company Saudi Aramco wants to expand globally and is looking at potential joint ventures in several countries, including Indonesia, India, the United States, Vietnam and China, chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday. "We are looking at the current market status that, even though challenging, is an excellent opportunity for growth," he told reporters during a rare media visit to company facilities in Dhahran. The company is continuing to build its oil production and refining capaci
  
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• Oil giants pressured to adapt business models to low-carbon pathway

  10-05-2016 09:30
  
  ExxonMobil and Chevron have been urged to adapt there business models to account for the 2C climate target established in Paris, after the world's largest shareholder action platform called on millions of civilians to support a change in operations.
  
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• Alberta fire loss 'manageable' for insurer Hiscox - CEO

  10-05-2016 09:29
  By Carolyn Cohn LONDON (Reuters) - Wildfires in Canada will be a manageable loss for Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox , it said on Tuesday, as it reported a 10 percent rise in gross written premiums in the first quarter. The government in Canada's Alberta province said 2,400 structures burned in the blaze in the oil sands boomtown of Fort McMurray, with analysts describing it as the biggest insured disaster in Canada's history. "We have some exposure to homes in western Canada, we think it w
  
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• Britain's renewable energy attractiveness 'on a landslide'

  10-05-2016 09:15
  
  The UK's attractiveness as a destination for investment in renewable energy has reached an all-time low, due to a series of unexpected green policy U-turns and the on-going uncertainty surrounding the role of renewables in our energy mix.
  
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• Oil prices gain as supply disruptions outweigh brimming storage

  10-05-2016 09:11
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as supply disruptions in Canada and elsewhere that have taken some 2.5 million barrels of daily production off the market outweighed worries over brimming inventories and a looming refined products glut. U.S. crude futures were trading at $43.65 per barrel, up 21 cents, held back more than Brent by record U.S. oil stocks. Outages in Canada, which consultancy Energy Aspects said now totalled 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd), h
  
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• Japan now has more electric car charge points than petrol stations

  10-05-2016 09:07
  
  Survey finds 35,000 filling stations overtaken by more than 40,000 recharge points – although many belong to private ownersWhen it comes to electric vehicles, Japan is speeding ahead of the rest of the world, blissfully free of the range anxiety that afflicts plug-in drivers elsewhere.
  The country now has more electric car charging stops than petrol stations, according to a recent survey by Nissan. Continue reading...
  
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• Smart infrastructure is the key to sustainable development

  10-05-2016 08:08
  
  Moving towards low-carbon, climate-resilient transport and infrastructure is the best route to reducing poverty worldwideWill 2015 be a watershed in the human effort to solve global problems, or just another chapter in the history of collective inaction? The answer will soon become apparent on construction sites around the world.Continue reading...
  
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• South Downs recognised for quality of starry nights

  10-05-2016 08:01
  
  England’s newest national park named as ‘international dark sky reserve’ for providing natural darkness within reach of nearly 17 million people The South Downs national park has been named as the world’s newest “international dark sky reserve” for the quality of its starry nights.Continue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: Scientists: 21% of plants risk extinction

  10-05-2016 07:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have published their first global assessment of the state of the world's plants.
  
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• UK's attractiveness for renewables investment plummets to all-time low

  10-05-2016 07:01
  
  UK routinely topped annual league table run by Ernst & Young but has slid to 13th place due to government’s ‘non-committal approach’The attractions of Britain for investors in renewable energy projects are at an all-time low, an authoritative new report has found.The UK routinely topped the annual league table for attractiveness to clean energy companies, run by consultancy Ernst & Young (EY), in the mid-2000s. For the first time, however, it has slid to 13th in the glo
  
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• Black-winged stilts return in force to Sussex

  10-05-2016 06:30
  
  Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex Ten slender black and white birds are wading through the water, their red, stick-like legs folding and unfoldingA line of birdwatchers with telescopes are looking out from the Hanger viewpoint towards the grey pools below. Ducks and wading birds swim about or sleep on the banks of mud in the fine morning rain. Pete Hughes, a former warden here at RSPB Pulborough Brooks, and now warden at the nearby reserve at Medmerry, greets me: “The stilts are in the left-h
  
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• Wildlife officers search for rare whale stranded on Victorian beach

  10-05-2016 04:30
  
  Severe weather and dangerous swells hamper search for 2.5m pygmy or dwarf sperm whale found at Logans BeachWildlife officers are trying to find a small and rare whale that was found stranded at a Victorian beach on Monday evening, however their search efforts are being hampered by severe weather and dangerous swells.The adult whale, about 2.5m long, was found at Logans Beach in Victoria’s south-west and rescuers believe it to be either a pygmy sperm whale or a dwarf sperm whale.Continue re
  
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• Five Pacific islands lost to rising seas as climate change hits

  10-05-2016 03:47
  
  Six more islands have large swaths of land, and villages, washed into sea as coastline of Solomon Islands eroded and overwhelmedFive tiny Pacific islands have disappeared due to rising seas and erosion, a discovery thought to be the first scientific confirmation of the impact of climate change on coastlines in the Pacific, according to Australian researchers.Related: Sea levels set to 'rise far more rapidly than expected'Continue reading...
  
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• Saudi Arabia to keep June crude supply to Asia steady

  10-05-2016 03:20
  Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will supply full contracted volumes of crude oil to at least two Asian term buyers in June, unchanged from May, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The move was expected as the OPEC kingpin has supplied full contractual volumes to most Asian buyers since late 2009. State-run Saudi Aramco last month cut Arab Heavy crude supply to at least a few term buyers for May, while keeping the overall contractual volumes unchanged likely d
  
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• Oil prices dip on brimming crude stocks, Canada fires move away from oil sands

  10-05-2016 02:51
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell early on Tuesday as Canadian wildfires that have knocked out over 1 million barrels worth of daily crude capacity moved away from production facilities, while brimming inventories and a strong U.S. dollar weighed on markets. U.S. crude futures were trading at $43.09 (30 pounds) per barrel at 0040 GMT, down 35 cents from their last settlement. Brent crude was down 26 cents at $43.37 a barrel.
  
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• Officials encouraged by how much of Canada city spared by wildfire

  10-05-2016 02:14
  By Rod Nickel FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian officials who got their first glimpse on Monday of the oil sands boomtown of Fort McMurray since a wildfire erupted said they were encouraged by how much of it escaped destruction, estimating almost 90 percent of its buildings were saved. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said 2,400 structures had burned within the city while almost 25,000 were saved.
  
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