Topic: Libya

Violent confrontations between Somali pirates and merchant ships’ armed guards could become more common as some shipping companies have reduced ship speeds through the highest-risk area to save on fuel, maritime experts have warned.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed a report that deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sought to fund his 2007 campaign as a ploy by opponents to distract from the weakness of their candidate in next weekend's presidential election.

To understand the effect that events have  on global oil markets a key figure to watch is the amount of crude produced daily in each country. With data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a division of the Department of Energy, CNBC.com took a look at the countries that produce the most crude oil on that basis. (Production is defined as extraction from the Earth’s crust, prior to the refining process.)

New information suggests that Iran’s oil production may not have fallen as much as other industry reports have speculated. The latest publication of data by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) published on Sunday showed Iran produced 3.72 million barrels per day in January, marking the highest output since December 2008.

The 13th International Energy Forum (IEF) kicks off on Tuesday in Kuwait City, bringing to the table energy ministers from 88 countries around the world representing some 90 percent of global supply and demand

There was a wide-ranging change of the guard  in Europe and the Middle East in 2011. Click ahead for 10 other elections that could change the game of global politics in 2012.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it had failed to secure an agreement with Iran during two days of talks over disputed atomic activities and that the Islamic Republic had rejected a request to visit a key military site.

Senior U.N. inspectors arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks on Iran's disputed nuclear program, a day after the Islamic state responded defiantly to tightened EU sanctions by halting oil sales to British and French companies.

Eni, the biggest foreign oil and gas operator in Libya, said on Wednesday 80 percent of its production in the country was back on stream. Before the conflict in Libya Eni produced 270,000 barrels of oil per day.

Syrian forces resumed their bombardment of the city of Homs on Monday after Arab countries called for U.N. peacekeepers and pledged their firm support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad.

President Nicolas Sarkozy risks not making it to the second round run-off of the presidential election on May 6, which would be an unprecedented event in the history of the 50-plus years of the Fifth Republic.

The Pentagon doesn’t know what happened to more than $100 million in cash held at Saddam Hussein’s palace in Baghdad during the Iraq war, according to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

Iranian authorities have reacted to the decision by the European Union on an embargo by calling for an immediate halt to oil sales to the continent. In a statement on its website, the Iranian Oil Ministry described the European Union’s decision as “hasty” and “a political game”.

The European Union has included Iran's state-owned Bank Tejarat among entities it is blacklisting to raise pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme, according to an EU document published on Tuesday.

The deputy governor of Iran's central bank says trading in foreign currency outside of banks or licensed money changing operations is forbidden.