Mauritania: Bullish Kosmos Eyes Second Major Entry; Is It Downplaying The Risks?

...elude off northern Australia is currently more than two years behind schedule with no sign of imminent start up (MEES, 22 February). This leaves only two 1.2mn t/y FLNG vessels currently-operational. The first, in Malaysia, started up in 2017. The second, Cameroon LNG, operated by Golar LNG, started up...

Oman: Oxy Inks Block 72 Deal

...able data by 2Q 2020, after which it will embark on a drilling campaign. The signing is but another move as Oxy rapidly acquires Omani acreage: it was also recently awarded two other blocks - 51 and 65 - as part of Oman’s 2017 licensing round taking its total Omani assets to eight. Oman will prove a vi...

Adnoc Advances Infrastructure Revamp With Storage, Pipeline Deals

...ores up to 6.29mn barrels at Kiire (MEES, 27 January 2017). UAE OIL & GAS INFRASTRUCTURE   PIPELINE INVESTMENT PROJECT      Shortly before the storage announcement, Adnoc confirmed that a deal had been reached to lease 18 crude oil and condensate pipelines to US investors Bl...

Saudi Arabia Russia In Battle For Supremacy In China

...Saudi Arabia and Russia are increasingly cooperating in the energy sphere, having come together through the onset of Opec/Non-Opec production cuts since January 2017. But when it comes to the lucrative Chinese oil market, the two are engaged in a fierce battle for market share. China looks se...

Algeria Completes Refinery Expansion, Looks Overseas For Further Gains

...halt “a litigation that was detrimental to both parties” (MEES, 9 June 2017). The work was re-awarded to Chinese state firm CPECC for AD45bn ($408mn at the time) in late 2016 (MEES, 11 November 2016). Completion of the project takes Algeria’s crude processing capacity to 559,000 b/d, or 72...

Egypt Set To Miss 2022 Transport Fuel Self-Sufficiency Target

...ypt’s reliance on products imports. The focus of upgrades is on increasing output of the two key transport fuels, diesel and gasoline. For both, Egypt was reliant on imports to meet 46% of 2018 demand. This figure is actually an improvement on record levels of over 50% seen in 2016 and 2017. Ho...

Masdar: Abu Dhabi’s Flagship Renewables Firm With A Global Footprint

...heduled for start-up in April 2020 (MEES, 24 March 2017). Among Masdar’s international projects are two of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, the UK’s London Array and Dudgeon. In the Hywind wind farm offshore Scotland, Norway’s Equinor and Masdar have installed the world’s first battery storage fa...

Aramco 100k B/D Upgrading Feed

...pacity Rabigh refinery on the Saudi Red Sea coast produced just over 100,000 b/d of fuel oil in 2016 and 2017. In a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on 27 February, Petro Rabigh – which is owned 37.5% each by Aramco and Sumitomo with the remaining 25% of shares traded on Tadawul – in...

Kuwait Set For First LNG Imports Of The Year

...Sahla LNG tanker docked alongside it on 26 February, carrying Kuwait’s first LNG supplies of the year. Al Sahla had not unloaded by the time MEES went to press, so no imports will be registered for February. Final figures are not yet out, but imports last year will have exceeded 2017’s record 3....

Mubadala Ties Up Thailand Contract

...und. It also operates the adjacent Andaman I, and has a non-operating stake at Andaman II. Mubadala reports current net output of 360,000 boe/d from its portfolio, up from 320,000 boe/d in 2017. The boost was largely due to its acquisition of 10% at Egypt’s Zohr in March 2018 (MEES, 20 April 2018).    ...

China LNG: Record January Imports; Record Qatar, Oman Volumes

...an, having only ever supplied six cargoes to China to Q3 2017, has now supplied 11 in the last three months: four in November, three in December and four (188,000 tons) in January. Korea is Oman’s top customer taking 360,000 tons (six cargoes) for January, in line with average 2018 deliveries (MEES, 18...

Chevron, Genel 2020 KRG Vision

....9%, Shamaran 20.1%, Marathon 15%, KRG 25%) in July 2017 (MEES, 14 July 2017). Momentum is again building in Kurdistan’s oil sector, and Chevron is not the only US Major eying production startup. ExxonMobil is developing the Baeshiqa license (DNO 32%op, ExxonMobil 32%, Turkish Energy Company 16%, KR...

Turkey 2018 Crude Imports (‘000 B/D): Iran Volumes Fall Almost 40% From Record 2017

Abadi Claims KRG Pipeline Deal As Trucking Plans Fade

...reement has been reached with northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export crude oil through the autonomous region’s 700,000 b/d pipeline to Turkey. This raises the prospect of an end to the shut-in of 280,000 b/d of Kirkuk crude (MEES, 20 October 2017). The minister announced the ag...

KRG Eyes Major Support For Future Output Gains

...bil as it adopts a low profile there. Elsewhere, Chevron finally resumed drilling its Sarta license in late February and expects to announce results from the work in Q3. It had planned on drilling the license in late 2017 but withdrew personnel in the wake of October’s Kirkuk upheaval (MEES, 20 Oc...

Algeria Gas Set For Record 2018 With Start-Up Of Key Southwest Fields

...Algeria’s 2017 gas output was only just shy of record levels set the previous year. With the second of two key ‘Southwest Gas Project’ components starting up this week, the country can expect new records in 2018. The 24 February start-up of output at the Timimoun gas field makes it the se...

Saudi Military Shake Up

...hammad bin Salman was the man behind the orders. Since being appointed defense minister in 2015, Muhammad bin Salman has prompted the kingdom to adopt a more proactive role in the region, particularly toward rival Iran (MEES, 24 November 2017). But the recent shake up suggests unease with the current st...

Adnoc Signs Up Japan’s Jodco At Lower Zakum, But Major Absence Remains

...ncession (Adnoc 60%, Jodco 40%) produces around 30,000-40,000 b/d and unlike the legacy-Adma concession had been operated by the rival Zadco offshore concession until it merged with Adma in October to create Adnoc Offshore (MEES, 30 October 2017). The new deal finalized the increase of Inpex’s Umm al-Dalkh st...

Iran: Gulf Star Ramp-Up Hikes Gasoline Output In Face Of Rising Consumption

...oject at Bandar Abbas. PGS-1, where construction began in 2007, was slowed by a lack of funds during sanctions. Despite this, PGS was touted as a strategic project, vital to ending Iran’s reliance on gasoline imports. When PGS-1 started up in April 2017, its naphtha reformer was not operating, so na...

Saudi Pushes On With Nuclear Plans Despite US Concern

...dioactive waste management (MEES, 28 July 2017). With US President Donald Trump wanting to boost the chances of US firms, particularly Westinghouse, securing nuclear contracts in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh’s plan to exploit its own uranium resources could create an entry barrier. While Saudi Arabia has signed th...