Environment news

• 'Three centuries' to catalogue all Amazon tree species

  13-07-2016 23:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  So many tree species are present in the Amazon basin that it would take 300 years to catalogue them all, scientists say.
  
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• A Growing Crisis: Insects are Disappearing — And Fast

  13-07-2016 23:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  We all know about the huge declines in bee and monarch butterfly populations. Now, it turns out that in some areas nearly all insects are at risk of extinction. And if we don’t solve this problem soon, the repercussions could be huge.Insects are an important part of the global ecosystem. They not only provide important pollination services, but they also occupy an important place on the bottom of the food chain for many animals. Fewer insects means less food, leading to
  
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• Genetically improving sorghum for production of biofuel

  13-07-2016 22:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  The bioenergy crop sorghum holds great promise as a raw material for making environmentally friendly fuels and chemicals that offer alternatives to petroleum-based products. Sorghum can potentially yield more energy per area of land than other crops while requiring much less input in terms of fertilizer or chemicals. New research examines how genetic improvement of specific sorghum traits, with an eye toward sustainability, could help maximize the usefulness of sorghum as a bioenergy crop.The wo
  
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• Oil down 4 percent; U.S. stockpile data feeds glut warning

  13-07-2016 21:30
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil markets tumbled more than 4 percent on Wednesday, erasing most of the previous session's gain, as a raft of bearish U.S. inventory data heightened concerns about a global glut. U.S. crude stockpiles fell less than expected last week, distillate inventories rose the most since January and gasoline stocks unexpectedly increased, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, painting an unusually weak demand picture during the traditionally busy summe
  
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• Airbus sees Super Puma future but no quick helicopter market rebound

  13-07-2016 21:25
  By Cyril Altmeyer and Tim Hepher FARNBOROUGH, England (Reuters) - Airbus has no plans to scrap its Super Puma helicopter in the wake of a crash that killed 13 people in Norway, the head of its helicopter division said on Wednesday, but he warned the market would remain weak at least until the end of 2017. The Super Puma, a staple of the offshore oil industry, was grounded for commercial use following the accident in which everyone on board died after the main rotor blades separated from the airc
  
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• Venezuela's PDVSA finds procurement fraud in U.S. case

  13-07-2016 21:23
  Venezuela's PDVSA is investigating U.S. allegations of a $1 billion (1 billion pounds) bribery conspiracy involving the state oil company and has found there was fraud in procurement processes, according to a report of its 2015 results. PDVSA, the financial motor of President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government, had previously blasted the Houston court case against two Venezuelan businessmen as part of a smear campaign by opponents trying to link it to corruption.
  
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• Electricity generated with water, salt and a 3-atoms-thick membrane

  13-07-2016 21:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  EPFL researchers have developed a system that generates electricity from osmosis with unparalleled efficiency. Their work, featured in Nature, uses seawater, fresh water, and a new type of membrane just 3 atoms thickProponents of clean energy will soon have a new source to add to their existing array of solar, wind, and hydropower: osmotic power. Or more specifically, energy generated by a natural phenomenon occurring when fresh water comes into contact with seawater through a membrane.Researche
  
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• Solar panels study reveals impact on Earth

  13-07-2016 20:55 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers have produced the first detailed study of the impact of solar parks on the environment, opening the door to smarter forms of farming and better land management.Environmental Scientists at Lancaster University and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology monitored a large solar park, near Swindon, for a year.They found that solar parks altered the local climate, measuring cooling of as much as 5 degrees Centigrade under the panels during the summer but the effects varied depending on the
  
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• Surveys off Alaska lead to new types of soft-bodied fish

  13-07-2016 20:21
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal biologist Jay Orr never knows what's going to come up in nets lowered to the ocean floor off Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands, which separate the Bering Sea from the rest of the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes it's stuff he has to name.
  
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• Something to really miss about David Cameron | Brief letters

  13-07-2016 20:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Oil beneath South China Sea | A Bristolian and EU passport | Urinals on planes | Names for recessions | Mrs Cameron’s diaryThe background issue that makes the dispute over the South China Sea so hot (Report, 13 July) is that the various countries are squabbling over the oil underneath it. Since we need to keep 80% of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, how about proposing an agreement to leave all that oil unextracted no matter which country gets it? The various countries might agree
  
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• Russian judge to hear suspects in Total CEO death case

  13-07-2016 20:01
  PARIS/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court will hold a preliminary hearing on the death of the ex-boss of French oil major Total on Thursday, a judge said, paving the way for a possible trial of airport employees almost two years after the magnate's jet crashed at a Moscow airport. Christophe de Margerie, the chief executive of France's largest listed company, was killed in October 2014 along with three air crew when his jet hit a snow plough just as it was taking off from Moscow's Vnukovo airport
  
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• Iran yet to decide on nuclear fusion project, ITER chief says

  13-07-2016 19:10
  By John Irish PARIS (Reuters) - Iran is assessing whether to apply for associate membership of the ITER multi-national nuclear fusion project, its director said on Wednesday, just a year after Tehran struck a deal with six world powers to curb its own atomic programme. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which was launched 10 years ago by Europe, United States, China, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea, aims to build the world's largest experimental reactor, or
  
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• Theresa May urged to place food and fishing policies at the centre of post-Brexit strategy

  13-07-2016 18:51
  
  In her first full day in office, new Prime Minister Theresa May has been urged by more than 80 organisations to adopt "common-sense" food, farming and fishing policies, in the wake of the UK's decision to leave the European Union (EU).
  
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• Oil slides 4 percent; U.S. stockpile data feed glut caution

  13-07-2016 18:44
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Wednesday after the U.S. government stunned the market with a raft of bearish inventory data that added to concerns over a global glut of oil. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell less than expected last week, the Energy Information Administration said. The U.S. inventory report pressured prices in a market already bearish after the Paris-based International Energy Agency warned about a global oil supply glut.
  
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• Airbus sees future for Super Puma but no quick rebound in helicopter market

  13-07-2016 18:18
  By Cyril Altmeyer and Tim Hepher FARNBOROUGH, England (Reuters) - Airbus has no plans to scrap its Super Puma helicopter in the wake of a crash that killed 13 people in Norway, the head of its helicopter division said on Wednesday, but he warned the market would be weak at least until the end of 2017. The Super Puma, a staple of the offshore oil industry, was banned from commercial use in Norway and Britain following the accident in which everyone on board died after the main rotor blades separa
  
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• FTSE eases from 11-month high as oil and housebuilders retreat

  13-07-2016 18:16
  By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged lower on Wednesday after climbing to an 11-month high in the previous session, with housebuilders giving up some of their recent gains and energy shares dragged lower by weaker oil prices. The FTSE real estate index edged 0.6 percent lower after rising for four straight sessions. Shares in Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group fell 0.7 and 2.7 percent respectively.
  
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• Colour and Vision review – a mind-expanding peepshow of nature

  13-07-2016 18:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Natural History Museum, LondonFrom Madagascan moths to clever clams, this show brings the complex story of how – and why – animals see the world through different eyes vividly to lifeDarwin’s octopus gazes back at me from its jar, eyes deep and intelligent and sentient – at least they would be if this mollusc were not a long-dead specimen preserved in chemicals. This is no distinct species, but the actual pet octopus Charles Darwin kept on board HMS Beagle. The eyes into
  
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• Wood maintenance workers back strike on Shell UK platforms

  13-07-2016 17:55
  As many as seven of Royal Dutch Shell's North Sea platforms could be hit by the first strike action in the basin in 10 years after Wood Group employees working on the facilities voted on Wednesday in favour of industrial action. Wood Group workers are employed on Shell platforms to carry out maintenance work. Nearly all Wood Group workers who participated in the ballot carried out by labour unions Unite and RMT supported strike action over disputes surrounding pay and working conditions, the uni
  
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• Oil down 4 percent after bearish U.S. stock data adds to glut warning

  13-07-2016 17:50
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Wednesday after the U.S. government stunned the market with a raft of bearish inventory oil data that added to renewed concerns over a global glut of oil. U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell less than expected last week, while distillate inventories rose the most since January and gasoline posted a surprise build, the Energy Information Administration said. "A surprising build in gasoline in the peak of U.S. driving season
  
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• Jaguar Land Rover announces UK trials for fleet of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

  13-07-2016 17:30
  
  Leading car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will introduce real-world tests of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) in the UK over the next four years in a bid to reduce congestion, ease driver stress and help prevent road accidents.
  
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• Alaska's shorebirds exposed to mercury

  13-07-2016 17:07 via feedproxy.google.com
  Shorebirds breeding in Alaska are being exposed to mercury at levels that could put their populations at risk, according to new research from The Condor: Ornithological Applications.Thanks to atmospheric circulation and other factors, the mercury that we deposit into the environment tends to accumulate in the Arctic. Mercury exposure can reduce birds' reproductive success and sometimes even be lethal. Shorebirds may be particularly vulnerable because they forage in aquatic environments wher
  
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• Microsoft Mines 'Minecraft' to Study Artificial Intelligence

  13-07-2016 16:57
  In the pixelated cube world of "Minecraft," players can create almost anything their hearts desire. Now, Microsoft is using the popular world-building game to build and test artificial intelligence in the fictional environment. Microsoft has made a platform for artificial intelligence (AI) research using a modified version of "Minecraft" that will become available to the public following a limited release to select researchers.
  
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• Corals 'Kiss' and Wage War, New Underwater Microscope Reveals

  13-07-2016 16:50
  
  The new imaging system — an underwater microscope and computer interface that can be operated by a diver — was developed by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Jaffe Laboratory for Underwater Imaging at the University of California, San Diego. Dubbed the Benthic Underwater Microscope (BUM), it is the first microscope to image the seafloor and its inhabitants at such a small scale. Researchers used the microscope to observe tiny coral polyps in the Red Sea and in Maui.
  
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• Theresa May must step up efforts to green the UK's energy supply, says UN

  13-07-2016 16:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Generating more electricity from renewable sources will benefit the poor and boost jobs and the economy at a time of uncertainty, says UN’s top energy officialTheresa May’s government must increase its commitment to greening the country’s energy supply, despite the “distraction and disruption” caused by the referendum, the top energy official of the United Nations has urged.Rachel Kyte, chief executive of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative, and spe
  
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• Wood Group oil workers back strike action on Shell platforms

  13-07-2016 16:14
  Wood Group oil workers employed at Shell's North Sea oil and gas platforms who are members of the Unite labour union have voted nearly unanimously to strike over pay and working conditions, the union said on Wednesday. As many as 99.1 percent of those eligible to vote supported strike action, the union said, after talks on pay and working hours broke down. Wood Group said it was disappointed with the outcome of the ballot and was committed to continuing to engage with employees and the labour un
  
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• Oil down 2 pct on IEA warning, fear of U.S. stockpile rise

  13-07-2016 16:01
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2 percent on Wednesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said a global supply glut was threatening market recovery and investors braced for a possible rise in U.S. inventories. The IEA, which advises industrialized nations on energy policies, said crude stockpiles kept rising last month, pushing floating storage to the highest level in seven years. "(Stocks) are at such elevated levels, especially for products for which demand gro
  
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• Humpback whales feast on fish in San Francisco Bay – video

  13-07-2016 15:48 via theguardian.com
  
  A kayaker spotted humpback whales feeding in San Francisco’s waters on Sunday. Lyrinda Snyderman was out in the bay with three other kayakers when they saw the whales. The humpbacks breached the surface over the course of half an hour to dine on fish. They are likely migrating north Continue reading...
  
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• Microscope observes life of the ocean floor

  13-07-2016 15:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Marine scientists from Israel and California have developed a microscope that for the first time provides a window into the small scale behaviour of marine life.
  
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• Natural Capital Protocol launch 'heralds a new era' for green business

  13-07-2016 14:58
  
  The Natural Capital Protocol has been launched today (13 July) to offer businesses a standardised framework to identify, measure, and value impacts and dependencies on natural assets, raw materials and natural infrastructure.
  
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• South China Sea ruling won't stop plundering of ecosystem, experts say

  13-07-2016 14:55
  By Farah Master HONG KONG (Reuters) - An international tribunal's ruling that China has caused severe harm to coral reefs and endangered species in the South China Sea will not stop further damage to an already plundered ecosystem, scientists and academics said. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and that it had breached Philippine sovereignty by endangering its ships and fishing and oil projects in the
  
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• Rescued koala's rare condition

  13-07-2016 14:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  This koala has heterochromia, so its rescuers called it Bowie; David Bowie actually had anisocoria, unequal pupil sizes.
  
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• Indonesia hopes fishermen can net its South China Sea claims

  13-07-2016 14:55
  By Fergus Jensen JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia wants to send hundreds of fishermen to the Natuna Islands to assert its sovereignty over nearby areas of the South China Sea to which China says it also has claims. President Joko Widodo has launched an unprecedented campaign to bolster fishing, oil exploration and defence facilities around the island chain after a series of face-offs between the Indonesian navy and Chinese fishing boats. ...
  
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• EFRA launches food waste inquiry as Europe gears up to tackle supermarket waste

  13-07-2016 14:51
  
  The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has launched a new inquiry to establish the impacts of the seven million tonnes of food waste produced in the UK, as a European-wide campaign to ban supermarkets from throwing away food closes in on a major milestone.
  
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• Brexit could provide boost for Britain's shale gas

  13-07-2016 14:46
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's shale gas industry could get a helping hand from a falling pound and a supportive new prime minister just as it is gearing up for its first production this year, after facing economic and political challenges that slowed its start. The British pound's weakness since the Brexit vote has made it more expensive to import gas, helping the case for shale gas which had been hurt in the past by weak oil prices and by opposition to planning approval from lo
  
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• OPEC delegates say Saudi comments show higher oil price desire

  13-07-2016 14:13
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC delegates say comments from top exporter Saudi Arabia, which two years ago led the group to drop its historic role of supporting oil prices, are a change in tone and a sign the kingdom is looking - verbally for now - to prop up the market. Khalid al-Falih, who took over this year from longserving Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi, told German newspaper Handelsblatt that an oil price higher than $50 (£37.6) is needed to achieve a balance in oil markets i
  
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• Nigerian oil trade union suspends strike

  13-07-2016 14:11
  By Alexis Akwagyiram and Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian union representing oil workers has suspended a strike that some feared would lead to fuel shortages and disrupt crude production, one of its leaders said on Wednesday. The strike by about 10,000 members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which includes refinery workers and office staff, began on Thursday over issues that include oil sector reforms and pay. The strike "has been suspend
  
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• 23 More Wrecks Found at Greek Hotspot for Sunken Ships

  13-07-2016 13:21
  
  A cluster of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea is giving up some of its deep secrets, as archaeologists have now found 45 shipwrecks there in less than a year's time. Back in September 2015, a team of Greek and American divers located an astonishing 22 shipwrecks over the course of a 13-day survey around Fourni, which is composed of 13 small islands, some too tiny to show up on maps. The team went back to the eastern Aegean islands in June to expand the search.
  
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• As climate change worsens wildfires, smokejumpers fight blazes from the sky

  13-07-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Drier winters, warmer springs and hotter summers make wildfires even wilder. These elite firefighters extinguish small fires before they grow into monstersThe alarm sounded and in a blink the base thrummed with activity. Smokejumpers grabbed helmets, donned kevlar suits, tested radios and strapped on parachutes. A speaker blasted Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.“Final checks, OK, let’s go,” boomed a command. Within minutes eight smokejumpers were airborne in a Twin Otter,
  
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• David Cameron's legacy: 'greenest government ever' or 'lukewarm at best'?

  13-07-2016 12:51
  
  One of the most seismic political upheavals in modern British political history takes yet another twist today (13 July) as Prime Minister David Cameron steps down after six years in power. As he prepares to take part in his final Prime Minister's Questions this lunchtime, edie takes a look at his environmental legacy and the green outlook for his successor Theresa May.
  
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• How has David Cameron's 'greenest government ever' sculpted environmental policies?

  13-07-2016 12:41
  
  One of the most seismic political upheavals in modern British political history takes yet another twist today (13 July) as Prime Minister David Cameron steps down after six years in power. As he prepares to take part in his final Prime Minister's Question's this lunchtime, edie takes a look at his environmental legacy and the green outlook for his successor Theresa May.
  
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• What did moths eat before wool?

  13-07-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific conceptsHumans have spun and woven wool for a very short time in evolutionary terms. What did moths eat before?Guillermo Gil Continue reading...
  
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• Coal India accused of bulldozing human rights amid production boom

  13-07-2016 12:29 via theguardian.com
  
  People evicted without compensation as India expands mining operations, says Amnesty International reportThe bulldozer came to Barkuta village at 10am one February morning. Nirupabai was working in the fields when her neighbours called, telling her to rush home. By the time she reached her house it had been reduced to rubble. “I cried, I screamed, trying to save it,” she says, recalling the eviction now in an Amnesty International report, two years on. “All my things, my son&rs
  
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• TTIP proposal casts doubt on G20 climate pledge, leaked EU draft shows

  13-07-2016 12:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Draft proposal reveals new loopholes on a pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies within a decadeTrade negotiators in Brussels are proposing new loopholes on a G20 pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies within a decade, in the latest leaked TTIP proposals seen by the Guardian.
  The EU’s draft text for a trade and sustainable development chapter also appears to draw an equivalence between the need to prevent trade distortions and the fight against climate change. Continue reading...
  
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• Global warming implicated in dinosaur extinction | Howard Lee

  13-07-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New technique for measuring ancient temperatures finds two pulses of climate warming at the end of the CretaceousIn a paper published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, scientists from the University of Michigan and the University of Florida show that there were big jumps in climate warming when the dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. This brings the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in line with the other mass extinction events, which occurred at times of abrupt and
  
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• Oil drops on IEA glut warning, rise in U.S. stocks

  13-07-2016 11:37
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell on Wednesday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that a global supply glut continued to weigh on prices and data showed an unexpected weekly gain in U.S. crude stocks. The IEA, which advises industrialised nations on energy policies, said crude inventories kept rising last month and pushed floating storage, one of the most expensive methods of stockpiling, to the highest level in seven years. ...
  
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• Aviation industry preparing for 'eleventh hour' deal on emission trading

  13-07-2016 11:18
  
  An agreement on curbing emissions from international flights will be reached at the ICAO general assembly this autumn, according to industry sources, while biofuels continue to struggle to emerge as a long-term solution for greening the sector.
  
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• Nigerian oil union agrees to suspend strike - government sources

  13-07-2016 11:14
  ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian trade union representing oil workers has agreed to suspend a strike that some feared would lead to fuel shortages and disrupt crude production, a petroleum ministry official and another at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said on Wednesday. The strike by about 10,000 members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), including refinery workers and office staff, began on Thursday over issues including oil sector reform
  
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• Solar Impulse 2 lands in Egypt in penultimate stop of its world tour

  13-07-2016 11:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Solar-powered plane will next make a final flight to Abu Dhabi where its round-the-world journey will endThe Solar Impulse 2 landed in Cairo on Wednesday for its penultimate stop as the solar-powered plane nears the end of its marathon tour around the world.After the two-day flight from Spain, just one final leg lies between it and its final destination, Abu Dhabi, where it started its odyssey in March last year. Continue reading...
  
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• IEA sees Venezuelan oil output slumping on power cuts, cash crunch

  13-07-2016 11:05
  Venezuelan oil output is set to fall by around a tenth this year due to power shortages, a cash crunch and a drop in activity at foreign oil service companies, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. "Lower oil prices and sliding production are a double whammy for Venezuela, which is caught in the grip of an economic and political crisis," the IEA, which advises industrialised nations on energy policies, said in a monthly report. "As the cash crunch deepens, there is growing concern t
  
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• KazMunayGaz raises offer price for shares in London-listed Kazmunaigas

  13-07-2016 11:00
  Kazakh national oil company KazMunayGaz has increased the offer price for shares in London-listed Kazmunaigas Exploration and Production by 14 percent as part of a move to tighten control over its upstream subsidiary. Kazakhstan's national oil company is now offering $9.00 per global depository receipt, up from $7.88 per GDR in the original offer. KMG EP GDRs were trading at $7.80 by 0821 GMT on Wednesday.
  
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