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Enbridge Inc.’s plan to contract space on its Mainline oil pipeline system is drawing the ire of producers who argue the new system will give too much power to Midwest refiners.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Aug. 26 announced that the 2.1 million barrels of crude aboard an Iranian oil tanker pursued by the United States have been sold to an unnamed buyer as the ship, at the center of a crisis roiling the region, continued its voyage in the Mediterranean Sea.

Oil steadied near $56 a barrel as hints of a trade detente between the U.S. and China, along with the prospect of monetary stimulus, buoyed financial markets.

A glut of oil is headed to the Gulf Coast. That development is triggering a race among a growing number of entrants to build deepwater crude export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico to ship most of that oil to foreign markets.

The days when energy stocks and the price of oil moved in lockstep are now few and far between. In Canada, it’s the worst divergence on record.

The world’s biggest oil tanker has begun a 12,400-mile voyage to a fuel-storage zone in Asia, the latest movement of a vessel that has intrigued the shipping market and fuel traders for months.

TURKMENBASHI, Turkmenistan — Five countries bordering the energy-rich Caspian Sea met Aug. 12 at an economic forum hosted by Turkmenistan in a bid to agree on how to divide the region’s oil wealth.

Oil surged the most in nearly a month as investors digested Saudi Arabia’s latest plan to help stabilize prices following a large dip earlier in the week that was fueled by demand concerns.

U.S. refiners want more Canadian oil, and pipeline companies are finding ways to get it to them. Companies are adding space to their congested oil export pipelines from Canada even as plans for bigger expansions and new lines face delays.

Oil traded near a two-week high in New York amid signs of a further drop in U.S. stockpiles and ongoing concerns that political friction in the Persian Gulf could disrupt exports.