Libya’s North Hamada: Development At Last?

...ree wells in 2014 which were all successful, leading the government to declare second commerciality for structures B, C and J. By this time, Nafusah Oil Operations was set up consisting of Medco (25%op), LIA (25%) and NOC (50%) to handle development. Development plans are based on 2P reserves of 245mn ba...

Algeria’s Touat: June Start Up, July Plateau

...mainder of 2019. The Karam field, where output began in late 2014, is the key producer on the Western Desert concession. Neptune says drilling of the ‘Karam-10’ development well is ongoing following “positive results” from last year’s Karam-9 well. Shell was the key winner of Western Desert acreage in re...

China Imports: Saudi Cements Top Spot; Iran At 5-Year High Amid Overall Record

...ivers’.   *China imported 787,000 b/d from Iran in April, the highest figure since April 2014 and only just shy of the 800,000 b/d figure indicated by Reuters ship tracking (MEES, 10 May). Reports indicate that Beijing took advantage of massively-discounted Iranian barrels to expand its strategic st...

Gulf Refiners Push 2.7Mn B/D Crude Processing Hike By End-2025

...udi Arabia which will lift the kingdom’s refining capacity to 3.3mn b/d. The refinery was originally due online in 2017 (MEES, 28 February 2014) and its planned late-2019 start up may yet slip into 2020 (MEES, 22 February). However, the project looks more likely to come online this year with Iraq’s pl...

Iraq Power Generation Hits New Heights Despite Stalled KRG Deal

...iginal intention of receiving gas feedstock from the nearby DNO-operated Summail gas field. Gas flows began in May 2014 (MEES, 12 September 2014) but didn’t last long, with DNO halting operations at the field in 2015 and relinquishing the license in 2016. Since the Summail flop, Duhok has been ru...

Jordan’s Nepco: An End To Operating Losses?

...Jordan (MEES, 8 August 2011). Volumes fell from 220mn cfd in 2010 (which nearly met domestic demand) to 78mn cfd the following year forcing Jordan to increasingly import diesel and fuel oil to generate power just as oil prices were exceeding $100/B. By 2014, Nepco was relying on oil products fo...

Tunisia Struggles To Halt Oil And Gas Decline

...ble).  In theory an FPSO development here was slated to produce 15,000 b/d. In practice development was already long-stalled when Medco bought the assets for $128mn in 2014 (MEES, 29 August 2014). Medco says nothing on a buyer or price. But for sure the firm is making a hefty loss. The firm’s freshly-re...

Algeria’s Export Revenue Buffeted By US Shale Hurricane

...trade present an additional challenge for Algeria at this critical juncture. OIL OUTPUT DOWN   Algeria’s oil output (crude plus condensate) has fallen every year since 2014 to just 1.515mn b/d (1.041mn b/d crude, 474,000 b/d condensate) for 2018, the lowest since 2003 (see chart). Pr...

Sipchem/Sahara Complete Merger

...mpanies first announced a plan to merge in December 2013, but shelved it after the 2014 collapse in crude oil prices undermined their business outlook (MEES, 26 August 2016).  ...

Stalemate in Tripoli: A New Status Quo?

...rporation (NOC) are deposited in the Tripoli-based central bank. While the Tripoli central bank does pay out some cash for the day-to-day running of the eastern-based administration, it is the GNA that gets to decide on the bulk of the budget. Libya has been divided since 2014 when Islamists on the lo...

Yemen: Second IOC Returns Despite No End In Sight To Conflict

...e drone attacks.  YEMEN KEY OIL & GAS INFRASTRUCTURE   YEMEN EXPORTS* REMAIN AT LESS THAN HALF 2014 LEVELS ('000 B/D) *BASED ON IMPORT DATA. SOURCE: MEES.   PRODUCERS EDGE BACK…   Further east, the story is markedly different. Vital supplies remain low and a st...

Shell’s Oman GTL Proposal: What’s Changed This Time Around?

...ned. Given such a propensity to budget blowouts it’s little wonder that remaining interest in GTL evaporated in the wake of the collapse in oil prices in the second half of 2014. South Africa’s Sasol had signed preliminary agreements for a GTL project in Uzbekistan of a similar size to Oryx, but put th...

Rosneft Begins Pilot Production in Iraqi Kurdistan

...10,000 b/d installed by former Hungarian operator Mol, which could also be linked to the nearby Jisik discovery (MEES, 31 August 2018). Mol had high hopes for Bijeel, targeting 50,000 b/d (MEES, 15 August 2014), but it exited in 2016 after downgrading reserves from 800mn barrels to just 4mn (MEES, 15...

IOCs Face Mixed Picture In The Mena Upstream

...e region looks set to slide further. Meanwhile, its overall Mena liquids output fell, ExxonMobil is pressing ahead with expansion work in Abu Dhabi. After its stake at the Adco (now Adnoc Onshore) concession expired in 2014, ExxonMobil’s Abu Dhabi output collapsed from 306,000 b/d to just 16...

Tamar Shutdown Highlights Israel Upstream Risk

...3 May during a protest against the continued blockade of Gaza, the worst violence the region has seen since July and August 2014, when Israel launched a ground offensive on Gaza. Whilst Israel’s defense ministry says some 90% of rockets were intercepted by Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defenses, four Is...

Iran Threat To Nuke Deal As Exports, Revenues Face Collapse

...uters ship-tracking indicates a record 800,000 b/d. If correct this would be an all-time high, eclipsing the previous record of 798,000 b/d set in April 2014 and the more recent July-August 2018 highs of 770-775,000 b/d. That said, more generally Chinese imports from Iran are down: 475,000 b/d for 1Q...

Iraq Rig Count Hits 73 For April, Highest Since 2014 Oil Price Slump

Adnoc Eyes Unconventional Riches As It Launches Second Bid Round

...rge new ones. The firm has broadened its partner-base considerably since 2014 as it replaced expiring multi-decade concessions. Last year’s bid round saw existing partners secure further acreage, but Thailand’s PTT was the only new partner brought in to the emirate. Previously Adnoc officials have fl...

Saudi Government Posts First Surplus Since 2014 In Q1