Archive for the ‘oil’ Category
Hot Docs: Iraq Can’t Spend Its Oil Money, Raising the Retirement Age, and More
Posted on: August 6, 2008
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq. A new Government Accountability Office report looks at Iraq’s spending patterns and its windfall oil revenues. The agency notes that Iraq’s government has run massive budget surpluses over the past two years and outlines some difficulties local officials have faced in trying to spend these funds on capital improvements.
Actuaries Advocate Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age. The American Academy of Actuaries recommends an immediate increase in the retirement age to help alleviate strain on the Social Security system. The professional organization attributes the crunch to an increase in longevity over the past several decades.
Screening for Prostate Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts convened under government auspices, issued new recommendations about who should be screened for prostate cancer. The new advice discourages screening for men over 75.
Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu. The Center for Science in the Public Interest evaluates the nutritional content of children’s menus at 25 popular fast food and restaurant chains, finding, unsurprisingly, that many choices are high in calories, fat, and sodium.
One Year Progress Report: the Department’s Comprehensive National Security Oversight Initiative.
Hot Docs: Iraq Can’t Spend Its Oil Money, Raising the Retirement Age, and More
Posted on: August 6, 2008
Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq. A new Government Accountability Office report looks at Iraq’s spending patterns and its windfall oil revenues. The agency notes that Iraq’s government has run massive budget surpluses over the past two years and outlines some difficulties local officials have faced in trying to spend these funds on capital improvements.
Actuaries Advocate Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age. The American Academy of Actuaries recommends an immediate increase in the retirement age to help alleviate strain on the Social Security system. The professional organization attributes the crunch to an increase in longevity over the past several decades.
Screening for Prostate Cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts convened under government auspices, issued new recommendations about who should be screened for prostate cancer. The new advice discourages screening for men over 75.
Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu. The Center for Science in the Public Interest evaluates the nutritional content of children’s menus at 25 popular fast food and restaurant chains, finding, unsurprisingly, that many choices are high in calories, fat, and sodium.
One Year Progress Report: the Department’s Comprehensive National Security Oversight Initiative.
- In: $100 | above | barrel | Delta Air Lines | losses | Northwest Airlines | oil | Post | Revaluations
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Like other airlines, Northwest has been hurt by soaring fuel prices. The company it is merging with, Delta Air Lines, raised ticket prices 6 percent and flew its planes with fewer empty seats.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, preparing to merge amid a steep industry downturn, reported a combined first-quarter loss of $10.5 billion on Wednesday, most of it an accounting recognition that the two carriers are worth far less than when they emerged from bankruptcy a year ago.
Airline stocks were relatively stable Wednesday afternoon after plunging Tuesday, led by a decline of more than 35 percent at UAL, the parent of United Airlines. Northwest closed down 5 percent on Wednesday, to $7.10 a share, and Delta fell 3.5 percent, to $6.56 a share.
Across the industry, carriers are reeling from a huge increase in fuel costs — roughly 50 percent above first-quarter prices in 2007 — and preparing for a decline in demand with the economy faltering.
Delta and Northwest plan to merge, in hopes the combination would produce savings and other efficiencies of more than $1 billion by 2012. Others are in merger discussions, too. But for the industry to return to consistent profitability, airlines will need to push through big fare increases, which to date have been resisted by some discount carriers and by price-focused customers.
In the meantime, in a replay of the period after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, carriers will be reducing their domestic schedules, laying off workers, deferring investments in planes and other equipment, and generally hunkering down.
A handful of bankruptcies among smaller carriers already this year could grow to include bigger ones if oil remains above $100 a barrel.
As a buffer against the downturn, Delta had $2.6 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments and Northwest had $3.2 billion, both as of March 31.
The Bush administration hailed an Iraqi offensive against Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra as a “bold decision” that shows the country’s security forces are capable of combating terrorists.
At least 18 people were killed in clashes yesterday between fighters loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iraqi troops, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to restore security in the southern oil hub.
“This is what we have been wanting to see the Iraqis do,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington yesterday. “This is one of the first times that they’ve had such an entrenched battle and we’ll be there to support them if they need it.”
The fighting is a test for Iraqi forces, who took over responsibility for security in Basra from the U.K. military in December. Iraq’s ability to tackle extremists will influence the pace at which the U.S. withdraws its forces from the country, as the conflict enters its sixth year.
Al-Sadr had repeatedly called on fighters from the militia, the Mahdi Army, to obey a cease-fire declared in August. Some elements of the group continue to target other militias and U.S.-led coalition forces.
Shiite Groups
Shiite groups including al-Sadr’s followers, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and the Fadhila party have clashed in a struggle for dominance in Basra, the site of Iraq’s second- biggest oil refinery.
Al-Sadr threatened to instigate protests nationwide if the raids by Iraqi forces weren’t stopped. “If the government does not respect these demands, the next step will be civil protests in Baghdad and the provinces,” his spokesman Hazam al-Aaraji said yesterday, reading a statement from the cleric at a news conference in Najaf aired on state television.
Fighting spread late yesterday to Sadr City in eastern Baghdad and Kut and Hilla, south of the capital, Agence France- Presse reported, citing unidentified security officials.
Footage on state television showed plumes of smoke rising above Basra city as police and ambulances raced down otherwise empty streets.
Basra has been plagued by the smuggling of “oil and its derivatives, weapons, drugs and other prohibited materials,” al-Maliki said yesterday in a statement carried by state television. The government “is firmly resolved to restore security and stability and to impose law.”
The U.S. military has said it is open to negotiations with al-Sadr’s followers. Before the cease-fire, the U.S. viewed the Mahdi Army as “the most dangerous accelerant of potentially self-sustaining sectarian violence in Iraq,” the Defense Department said in a 2006 report.
The U.S. has about 158,000 soldiers in Iraq. That force is scheduled to drop to about 140,000 by July.
Bush will announce his decision on future troop levels after General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, testify before Congress April 8-9, according to the White House.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net; Robin Stringer in London at rstringer@bloomberg.net.
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