Barack Obama – double oath ceremony for the second term

United States President Barack Obama will keep his date with history on Monday as he will be sworn in for the second day in a row during a traditional public ceremony steeped in symbolism and watched by millions of Americans.

Yesterday, President Obama takes the oath of office for his second term in a private White House ceremony ahead of Monday’s inauguration festivities. The ceremony has marked the end of a presidential term and beginning of the second. According to the 20th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the mandate of elected President begins at noon on January 20. Because January 20, the date on which Obama has officially ended his first term at the helm of the United States, this year fell on a Sunday, are organized two oath ceremonies.
The first ceremony, private, took place on Sunday in the Blue Room, was officiated by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. Surrounded by family, friends and staff, in the Blue Room of the White House, Mr. Obama had placed his hand on the historic Robinson family bible, selected specifically for the occasion, and recited the 35-word presidential oath.

Monday’s inauguration festivities

The second ceremony is scheduled for Monday and will be held outside the West Front of the Capitol, established of American Congress  (at 11:30 local time / 16:55 GMT). Mr. Obama had selected historical bibles including those used by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King for his swearing in ceremonies.

“I will be honoured to again stand on the Inaugural platform and take part in this important American tradition,” Mr. Obama had said earlier this month.

At the public ceremony will be attended by more than a half million Americans (between 800,000 and 900,000 people, the CNN reported.). After the speech at the Capitol, Obama will walk to Pennsylvania Avenue, which connects the seat of legislative power and the executive power of the United States.
After oath ceremony,  a big parade will follow the same avenue, where Barack Obama will attend from a huge gallery installed near the White House. Inaugural balls, held at Congress Center in Washington, will take until late at night.

US Senate approves fiscal cliff legislation

The Senate moved the U.S. economy back from the edge of a “fiscal cliff” on Tuesday, voting to avoid imminent tax hikes and spending cuts in a bipartisan deal that could still face stiff challenges in the House of Representatives, report Reuters.

In a rare New Year’s session and two hours after deadline (at around 2 a.m. EST), senators voted 89-8 to raise some taxes on the wealthy while making permanent low tax rates on the middle class that have been in place for a decade. Senate passage set the stage for a final showdown in the House of Representatives, where a vote was expected later Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday.

“But the measure did little to rein in huge annual budget deficits that have helped push the U.S. debt to $16.4 trillion”, said Financial Times. The agreement came too late for Congress to meet its own deadline of New Year’s Eve for passing laws to halt $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts which strictly speaking came into force on Tuesday. But with the New Year’s Day holiday there wasn’t real world impact and Congress still had time to draw up legislation, approve it and backdate it to avoid the harsh fiscal measures. More, because the financial markets were closed, giving them a second chance to return to try to head off the fiscal cliff.

What means this deal ?

“Under the deal, taxes would remain steady for the middle class and rise at incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples — levels higher than President Obama had campaigned for in his successful drive for a second term in office”, says USAToday.

“Spending cuts totaling $24 billion over two months aimed at the Pentagon and domestic programs would be deferred. That would allow the White House and lawmakers time to regroup before plunging very quickly into a new round of budget brinkmanship certain to revolve around Republican calls to rein in the cost of Medicare and other government benefit programs”

Shortly after the Senate vote, President Obama said, “While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without delay”.

One set of taxes is set to go up in 2013: The deal does not address the end of the payroll tax holiday on Tuesday. That tax will rise by 2%, back to its 2010 level.

The deal also stops scheduled pay increases for Congress set for spring 2013 and includes a nine-month extension of the farm bill, which had been delayed for months because of differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation that sets U.S. agricultural policy every five years.

Update / 2 January 2013 – U.S. markets surged more than 2 percent Wednesday morning, hours after Congress approved a plan to avoid the “fiscal cliff” by raising taxes on American’s wealthiest households.

Rosneft and ExxonMobil – new steps towards implementation of strategic cooperation

The Russian state company Rosneft and US Exxon Mobil Corporation signed another deal in first week of December 2012, a new sign for mutual project called a  “Pilot Development Agreement”, according to the deal both of them will assess the opportunity of commercial production of fixed oil reserves at Achimov and Bazhenov in Western Siberia.

The agreement was signed by Igor Sechin, president and chairman of the management board at Rosneft, and Stephen Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company. Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, was present for the signing, as well as the senior management of both companies. The document is another step towards implementation of the long-term strategic cooperation agreement the companies signed in 30 August 2011.

“The companies will set up a joint venture to run a pilot program and potential commercial production with equity interests of 51 percent for Rosneft and 49 percent for ExxonMobil. Work will be carried out at Rosneft’s 23 license blocks covering a total area more than 10,000 square kilometres. Rosneft and its production subsidiaries will provide staff and access to existing infrastructure. ExxonMobil will provide financing of up to $300 million for the pilot program, as well as state-of-the-art technologies and specialists in geology, development and well engineering and completion. ExxonMobil will also provide production management services for drilling complex horizontal wells so as to evaluate and commercially develop these tight oil reserves” it says in the press release of Russian Company. Upon completion of the pilot program, Rosneft and ExxonMobil will jointly select blocks for commercial development in 2015. The two companies will draw on their technical and production experience to ensure commercially viable development and potential production growth in Russia’s West Siberian basin.

“Maximising production efficiency at every field and exploring new technologies to exploit the potential of tight reservoirs is a strategic priority for Rosneft” said chief of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. “I am certain that our experience and infrastructure in Western Siberia, coupled with the state-of-the-art technologies of our partner ExxonMobil, will allow us to begin developing large tight oil reserves.”

Also, a few days later, ExxonMobil and Rosneft signed a Declaration on Protection of the Environment and Biodiversity for Oil and Gas Exploration and Development on the Russian Arctic Continental Shelf. The declaration was signed during a meeting between Igor Sechin, Rosneft president and chairman of the management board, and Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and senior managers from both organizations. The declaration sets out measures to help protect the Arctic’s ecosystems during oil and gas exploration and development activities to be undertaken by Rosneft and its partners. Commenting on the signing, Sechin said, “Rosneft and ExxonMobil have worked together effectively for quite a long time. I am grateful to Rex Tillerson for the decision to join the initiative.”

PS: Recent, US oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corphas announced it is to begin exploration activities on the east coast of South Africa.