Новости за 25.08.2017

Statoil and Argentina’s leading energy company YPF have entered into an agreement to jointly explore hydrocarbons in the Bajo del Toro block in the Neuquén Basin onshore Argentina, the Norwegian energy major said on August 25. The preliminary agreement between the companies was signed on August 24 in Geneva by Statoil’s executive vice president for

On August 25, oil prices rose as the US petroleum industry braced for Hurricane Harvey, which forecasters say is on track to become a Category 3 hurricane with winds of at least 111 miles per hour by the time it hits the middle Texas coast later Friday or early Saturday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI)

The European Commission confirmed on Friday during its midday rendezvous that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Thursday 31 August, the last day of the third round of Brexit talks. “There is no conspiracy theory there,” said the European Commission deputy chief spokesperson Alexander

Three years ahead of schedule, Germany has brought back all of its gold kept in reserves in Paris and some from the United States. Germany’s central bank board (Bundesbank) member Carl-Ludwig Thiele told journalists that some 374 tonnes of the metal, 11% of German stock, left the vaults at the Banque de France, or Bank

The UK’s Department for Exiting the European Union has confirmed that the third round of Brexit talks are to start on Monday 28 August 2017. Despite Monday being a bank holiday for Britain, the next round of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU are to start on 28 August and will run through to Thursday

Qatar restored full diplomatic relations with Iran early on August 24 and promised to send its ambassador back to Tehran — a move counter to the demands of Arab nations trying to isolate Doha as part of a regional dispute. As reported by the Associated Pres (AP), Qatar’s announcement made no mention of the diplomatic

Thailand’s Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant for the former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Friday. Yingluck Shinawatra is the last democratically elected Prime Minister of Thailand since she was ousted from power by the military in 2014. The 50-year-old Shinawatra failed to appear for the verdict in a trial in which she was being

European Commission’s state aid investigation has concluded that AWSA, the operator of the Polish A2 motorway, was overcompensated for a change in Polish law on toll motorways, in breach of EU State aid rules. Five years ago, the Polish government had notified the European Commission that they had overcompensated Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (AWSA) for loss

The very day the Office of National Statistics in the UK released figures of a sharp drop in EU migration in the UK, a study released by the UK’s Food and Drink Federation expresses concerns for the future of the sector without EU labour supply. Of the 2,000,000 EU workers in the UK, 20% are

Poland’s foreign ministry confirmed the government has sent a motion to the European Commission requesting that it drop the infringement proceedings over the country’s refusal to accept migrants from other European Union member states. “Should it be continued, Poland is prepared to argue its case before the Court of Justice of the European Union,” said

Human rights groups in the Netherlands have harshly criticised three Dutch companies for importing granite – used to make luxury kitchen countertops – from Indian quarries that use child labour. As reported by Dutch News online, the claims are based on investigation into working conditions and export data. India is the largest exporter of granite

Israel will revoke the citizenship of 19 Israelis who have fought for the Islamic State in Syria, Jerusalem Post reports. According to a Channel 2 report, the decision was made by the Minister of Interior, Arye Deri, on the basis of evidence provided by the Israeli Security Service (Shin Bet). The Shin Bet file documents

Amid intensifying concern about the safety of thousands of civilians trapped inside the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the United Nations has called on international powers to ease military operation around Islamic State’s de facto capital. As Islamic State militants use snipers and threats of arrest to prevent residents from fleeing, monitoring groups have blamed

EU migration to the UK has dropped to its lowest level since December 2013. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the data suggest that after the Brexit referendum there is a spike in EU migrants leaving. EU exodus Net migration from the EU to the UK – the difference between those coming from

German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democrats are leading in the polls ahead of next month’s national election. The left-leaning Social Democrats are struggling to narrow the gap. Polls show that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has won only 24% support, trailing behind Merkel’s conservative bloc, which enjoys 38%. As reported by the Reuters news agency,

The European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group in the European Parliament issued a statement noting with “satisfaction” that the representatives of only eight European Union member states signed the concluding declaration of a “meeting on the crimes against humanity, committed by totalitarian regimes”. The conference was organised by the Estonian Presidency of the EU

The leader of the Swedish opposition Anna Kinberg Batra resigned on Friday morning, Sverige Radio reports. The President of the conservative Moderate party announced she is stepping down after half of the party’s regional branches said the no longer trust her to be the party’s leader. This followed an expression of distrust from councilors, members

Estonia’s Justice Minister Urmas Reinsalu has announced that he will reply in writing to his Greek counterpart, Stavros Kontonis, who refused to participate in a conference on crimes committed by Communist regimes held in Tallinn on August 23. “I shall reply to my colleague in writing,” Reinsalu told a press conference, adding that “we are

The heir to the world’s largest mobile phone company, Samsung, was sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and corruption on Friday, August 25. Lee Jae-yong, 49, has been sentenced for bribing Korea’s former president Park Geun-hye. He was facing a maximum sentence of 12 years. Samsung’s boss donated €31 million to a non-profit

Offshore drilling contractor Ensco has announced that ultra-deep-water drillship ENSCO DS-7 has been awarded a contract by US company Noble Energy to drill two wells and complete four production wells at Israel’s Leviathan field development in the Mediterranean Sea. This contract is expected to commence in March 2018 and be completed in December 2018, London-based