1. Post-Sanctions Iran Courts Admirers

    ...lling to just 1.1mn b/d in 2014, prospects for a major resumption of Iranian imports look slim. However, Mr Rohani met with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in Rome on 26 January, and discussions will doubtless have covered resuming purchases of Iranian crude. Eni figures show that the company purchased $74...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  2. Iran Gas Production Set To Rise While Exports Remain Low

    ...an’s producing oil fields have decline rates of between 5-8%. Iran therefore needs to utilise enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques involving reinjecting natural gas to achieve its oil production targets. Iran injected 31.75 bcm of gas into oil reserves in 2014, down from 35.37 bcm in 2012 and well be...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  3. Suez Canal Oil Transit Hits 2015 Peak But Revenues Fall

    ...sult of last years’ low oil prices compared with 2014, which improved refining margins and encouraged European refiners to export to Asia. Hence gasoline transit leapt 66.2% to a record 9.86mn tons (230,000 b/d) and naphtha rose 18.7% to a record 18.25mn tons (410,000 b/d). Southbound LNG transit am...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  4. Can Climate Change Catalyze Middle East Economic Reform?

    ...otovoltaic (PV) and wind technologies have become a greater incentive for investors. According to IRENA, onshore wind costs have been declining over the past years, with the best projects delivering electricity at $0.05cents/kWh without financial support. The price of solar PV modules fell by around 75% in 2014...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  5. Egypt’s $3.7bn ERC Project On Schedule

    ...mpany (CORC) refinery, for upgrading into 75,000 b/d of mainly lighter products (MEES, 25 April 2014). However, Mr Sa’d told Egypt Daily News that ERC will need to import 1.2mn tons/year (24,000 b/d) of crude oil feedstock, as CORC’s fuel oil production will not meet the cracking unit’s needs. He sa...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  6. OPEC Risks Becoming An Irrelevance As Revenue Again Tanks

    ...at Opec says would require a massive $10 trillion in investment.  PROBLEM, WHOSE PROBLEM? Mr Badri pulled out a slide showing that all of the net global supply growth – some 6mn b/d of it – between 2008 and 2014 came from non-Opec countries. The inference is: ‘They caused the problem, it’s th...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  7. OPEC Revenue Lowest For 11 Years; Markets Indicate Further Slide In 2016

    ...alyst notes. They can’t afford to maintain social spending. But they can’t afford not to. OPEC 2016 OIL EXPORT REVENUE WOULD BE 70% DOWN ON 2014 BASED ON CURRENT FUTURES PRICES ($BN) SOURCE: OPEC, DME, *MEES CALCULATIONS. FOR 2016 'A' USES AVERAGE BRENT FUTURES FOR 1-21 JAN; 'B' USES AV...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  8. Oilfield Services Firms Face More Cuts: Middle East Activity Remains Resilient

    ...hlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield service firm, saw its overall profit more than halve, falling by 60% to $2.14bn in 2015 from $5.35bn in 2014. The fourth quarter of 2015 saw the firm post a loss of $989mn after managing to remain in the black throughout the rest of the year. Speaking on the firm’s 22 Ja...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  9. Kuwait Energy Reverses Production Decline With Iraqi Start-up

    ...versed two consecutive months of falling overall output for the firm, which remains well down on Q4 2014 production of 26,780 b/d. Block 9 is located in Iraq’s oil heartland of Basra. KEC spudded the Faihaa-2 Well at the block on 3 January and estimates that gross output will rise above 5,000 b/d in mi...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  10. Kuwait Strikes Overly Optimistic Stance On PNZ

    .... The 300,000 b/d offshore Khafji field has been closed since October 2014. Kuwait has lost around 250,000 b/d of output from the PNZ and has been unable to compensate for reduced output. It produced 2.88mn b/d in September 2014, but just 2.75mn b/d in December. While renewed PNZ production wo...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  11. Algeria’s Oil & Gas Revenues Plunge 41% In 2015

    ...Algeria’s oil and gas export revenues, which account for around 95% of the total, have fallen by a whopping 41% in 2015 to $35.72bn from $60.3bn in 2014, as a result of the crash in oil prices, according to statistics published by the Algerian Ministry of Finance. MEES number-crunching in...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016
  12. IMF: Saudi Fiscal Reforms A Positive Step, More Needed

    ...pressing economic growth in the private sector and curtailing non-oil economic activity, as many companies in this sector depend on public sector spending. The IMF therefore expects growth in 2016 to average 1.2% and rise to 2% in 2017, down from 2015’s 2.8% and 2014’s 3.5% (MEES, 22 January). Ad...

    Volume: 59
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2016