1. Saudi, UAE Tighten Pakistan Links With Downstream Dollar Diplomacy

    ...tar, which supplied 84% of Pakistan’s 4.6mn tons 2017 LNG imports. Qatari exports to Pakistan are booming and hit an all time high of $640mn in 3Q 2018, up $240mn year-on-year. There is no sign of any slowdown either with vessel tracking showing that Qatar remains the dominant supplier as of early Ja...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  2. Iraq Nears 5mn b/d Production Capacity Ahead Of Schedule

    ...its parts. Iraq’s oil sector rounded off months of record form in December, with wellhead production at an all-time high of 4.70mn b/d (see p6). For 2018 as a whole, output averaged 4.53mn b/d, up 100,000 b/d year-on-year from 2017, which itself was a record year. That Baghdad has managed to gr...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  3. Libya Revenues At 5-Year High But Remain Unstable As Noc Eyes Gas Boost

    ...venues for 2018, a figure that could have been substantially higher if it wasn’t for intermittent outages at key fields and export terminals, mainly due to civil strife, storage capacity woes and bad weather. 2018’s 78% hike in revenues comes thanks to average oil prices almost $20/B higher than 2017...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  4. Aramco Readies For Sabic Acquisition, IPO With Reserves Upgrade, Bond Plans

    ...nds have exactly matched output of 10mn b/d or so. DeGolyer & MacNaughton assessed Aramco’s crude and condensate reserves – essentially the entirety of Saudi Arabia except for the Neutral Zone shared with Kuwait – as of 31 December 2017 at 268.5bn barrels. Gas reserves were placed at 325.1 tr...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  5. Saudi Kicks Off 2019 Fundraising With $7.5bn Bond Issue

    ...gan in 2016 to tap the international debt market to cover its fiscal deficit. Saudi Arabia raised $17.5bn worth of bonds in 2016, a record $21.5bn in 2017. Issuance dipped to $13bn for 2018 as oil prices hit a four-year high, erasing the strain on Riyadh’s finances (MEES, 21 December 2018). But, with oi...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  6. Opec December Output Tumbled Ahead Of Latest Round Of Cuts

    ...vember’s 33.13mn b/d (see table). This was the largest monthly fall since the previous round of cuts kicked in back in January 2017. That said, October and November output was at the highest level since late 2016 as countries sought to maximize revenue ahead of the cuts and also to ensure high baselines fo...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  7. Qatar Petchems To Benefit From QP’s Upstream Ambition

    ...pco 20%) at Ras Laffan was canned in September 2014, while the $6.5bn 1.5mn t/y Al-Karaana facility (QP 80%, Shell 20%) was shelved in January 2015 (MEES, 16 January 2015). When Mr Kaabi told MEES in December 2017 that QP was launching a new “world scale” 1.6mn t/y ethane cracker it therefore ma...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  8. Saudi Firm Acwa Power Eyes Funding Options For Bumper Projects Portfolio

    ...ices have subsequently (and quietly) been renegotiated upwards. For concentrated solar power (CSP)  the world record low award was Acwa’s offer to supply power for just US¢7.30/kWh from the 700MW fourth phase of Dubai’s MBR solar park at Seih al-Dalal 50km south of Dubai city (MEES, 22 September 2017...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  9. Egypt Delays Subsidy Reform With Economy On The Mend

    ...ansport fuel subsidies in 2H 2018, the first half of the country’s 2018-19 financial year. This puts the country bang on target to hit the 2018-19 budget plan of E£89bn ($5.2bn). It also marks a real-terms fall of 21% versus the E£45bn ($2.9bn) spend for 1H 2017-18  given 12% inflation. But the co...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  10. Algeria Set For 11th Straight Deficit In 2019

    ...dget anticipating a $17.4bn deficit. Algeria has run up cumulative budget deficits of over $100bn since 2009, with deficits recorded even in 2011-14 when oil prices were over $100/B. They have ballooned since as oil prices tanked (see charts 1 &2). 2017 was the closest Algeria has got to ba...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  11. Aramco JV Refinery On Test

    ...Malaysian state oil firm Petronas has begun trial runs of the CDU at the 300,000 b/d Rapid JV refinery in the southern Johor province, according to Reuters. Saudi Aramco is equal partner with Petronas in the project, having paid $7bn in 2017. The partners are looking to reach full commercial op...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019
  12. EDF Seeks Buyer For EDISON Egypt, Algeria Assets

    ...committed to the plans in an attempt to quash rumors that the company planned to quit Egypt (MEES, 21 December 2018). Edison’s other key production is in Algeria, where is has 11.25% of the 2.9bcm/y Reggane North development in the country’s far southwest which started up in late 2017 (MEES, 22 December 2017...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019