Iraq: Record Exports, But Contract Reform Hangs In The Balance

...2017 was a year of consolidation for Baghdad; federal exports averaged 3.31mn b/d, and revenues rose $15.7bn. But longer term, the oil ministry must address perennial contract issues to steer the industry in the right direction. Iraq exited 2017 on a high note with record federal crude ex...

Egypt: Focus On Red Sea

...fset broadband multiclient seismic” being shot by Schlumberger and Norwegian seismic experts TGS under a $750mn deal inked in July last year (MEES, 4 August 2017). As part of the agreement signed with state oil firm EGPC’s Upper (southern) Egypt focused arm Ganope, Schlumberger and TGS will have ex...

China LNG Buying At Record Levels, Prices At 3-Year High

...rld’s number two LNG importer over the course of 2017. China imported 33.3mn tons for January-November, up 48% year-on-year. Korea’s imports, at 33.5mn tons for the same period, were slightly higher. •  Although Korean imports are up by a not-inconsiderable 14% year-on-year, this pales alongside the gr...

Libya’s 2017 Energy Fortunes: Good-Ish News On Oil, Less So On Gas As Instability Continues

Saudi Hikes Gasoline Prices, Hard On Heels Of Electricity Tariffs Rise

...nuary 2016). This has led diesel demand to fall considerably in the kingdom. After averaging a record 779,000 b/d in 2015 it fell 10% to 701,000 b/d in 2016. It’s on course to have fallen to 600,000 b/d or even less over 2017, averaging 120,000 b/d less than 2016 over the first 10 months. Any in...

Saudi: More Delays For Key Petchems JV

...ecialty chemicals. Some units are complete: the partners tested a 15,000 t/y thermoplastic olefins (TPO) unit in May 2017 and a 75,000 t/y Nylon 6 plant in June 2017. A cumene unit, to provide feedstock for making phenol as a route to other final products, is also complete. Petro Rabigh blames de...

Jordan Lines Up More EBRD Cash For Renewables Projects

...ectricity grid operator Nepco. Acwa says the project will deliver electricity at JD0.042/kWh (US¢5.92/kWh), a record low for Jordan but much higher than recent bids for bigger projects in the Gulf region which bring economies of scale (MEES, 6 October 2017). Acwa Power managing director Thamir al-Sh...

The USA: The Global Oil Trade Titan

...oil trade hit a record 16.2mn b/d in 2017, the highest figure for any country ever. US oil output is at record levels. Crude production rose to 9.64mn b/d in October, the highest figure since 1971; add in record 4mn b/d NGLs output, and total oil output is well over 13mn b/d, an all-time high (se...

Eni Drills Offshore Cyprus In Spite Of Turkey Threats

...reunify the island collapsed in July (MEES, 14 July 2017). Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, in a 29 December statement, says it “is determined to protect both its own rights and interests in its continental shelf and to continue its support to the Turkish Cypriot side.” Ankara has even th...

Qatar Petroleum Presses Ahead With Shakeup

...nouncement (MEES, 8 December 2017). Qatari LNG exports equate to some 10.3bn cfd, while it also exports about 1.9bn cfd through the Dolphin pipeline (1.7bn cfd to UAE, 200mn cfd to Oman). Qatargas is therefore responsible for marketing around 86% of Qatar’s total gas exports. However, LNG volumes appear to...

Algeria Forex Reserves Slump Below $100bn For First Time In 10 Years

...ude prices rising by around $10/B over the last three months of 2017. The country’s finance ministry projects that this rate of decline will ease over the coming years, with reserves stabilizing at around $76bn in 2020. The IMF is considerably more bearish – albeit in forecasts made in July, be...

Saudi Foreign Reserves*

...ARE ON TRACK FOR A $45bn (8.4%) 2017 DRAWDOWN...   ...BUT, HAVING FALLEN BELOW $500BN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2011 IN MAY, THEY HAVE SINCE STABILIZED AT JUST SHY OF THIS LEVEL ($bn) *SAMA NET FOREIGN ASSETS ($BN, END PERIOD). ^FORECAST BASED ON DATA TO END-NOV. SOURCE: SA...

Oman Plans Cut To 2018 Spending In Bid To Trim Deficit

...at there is a good chance that oil and gas revenues – forecast at 71.4% of the total for 2018, down from 73.5% for 2017 – will overshoot. The budget’s low-looking $50/B oil price assumption is less than the average Omani figure for 2017 of $52.30/B – around $2.20/B below Brent. If Omani crude av...

Jordan’s Finances Get $800mn USAID Boost

...pport Fund for Jordan for 2017. The minister says this will be used to fund priority projects in the 2017 budget and thus help cut the fiscal deficit. The US is also providing Jordan with $337mn in financial assistance to support economic development and improve social services. This takes total US no...

US Oil Output At Record Levels: October Crude Highest Since 1971. Record NGLs Output (4mn B/D For October) Mean Overall Oil Output At Record 13.6mn B/D...

...  ... WITH 2017 OUTPUT ABOVE 2015 DESPITE LOWER CRUDE. 1.2MN B/D OF FURTHER GAINS ARE FORECAST^ FOR 2018 *INCLUDES PROVISIONAL FIGURES FOR NOV AND DEC 2017. ^LATEST FORECASTS FROM DEC17 STEO. SOUREC: EIA, MEES.  ...