1. Lebanon Bidding Risks Stalling Amid Major Pullback

    ...Lebanon’s relaunched offshore bid round risks flopping. With only five blocks on offer and three of these contested with Israel, the number of firms looking to operate has fallen to just six from 13 in 2014. ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell are among those to have pulled back. Lebanon’s En...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  2. BP’s WND Starts Up

    ...e Libra and Taurus fields, which constitute Phase 1 of the 1.2bn cfd project, are currently producing 700mn cfd of gas and 1,000 b/d condensate “20% higher than the planned sales gas plateau,” BP says. This implies that Egypt’s gas output has hit 5bn cfd for the first time since January 2014 (se...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  3. Iraqi Coffers Reap Reward Of Higher Oil Prices

    ...low 2014’s $30.2bn. Revenues for April were up 37% year-on-year at $4.6bn and were higher than every month in 2016 except December. Although they slipped slightly from March’s $4.8bn, this was effectively due to the shorter month, as daily revenues averaged $154mn in both March and April. Oil re...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  4. Jordan: Zarqa Expansion

    ...id, according to Jordan’s official stats, oil demand fell from a peak of 155,000 b/d in 2014 to a five-year low of 133,000 b/d for 2015, an unlikely outcome given the country’s rising population. One possible explanation is that ‘official’ supplies are being augmented by smuggled products from ne...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  5. Wintershall Dispute Takes Gloss Off Libya Production Peak

    ...Libyan output has topped 800,000 b/d for the first time since 2014. Output would be even higher were it not for a dispute with Germany’s Wintershall, says NOC. Crude production on 10 May was at least 800,000 b/d, according to officials from Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation (NOC), th...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  6. Libya Wins $1bn From SocGen, But Cases Highlight Shambolic Economic Governance

    ...ADERSHIP DISPUTES The issue over who heads the LIA has been long drawn out. Mr Breish was deposed as LIA head in June 2014 under Law 13, a measure passed by parliament in May 2013 that excluded those associated with the previous regime from participating in state functions. But he continued to be re...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  7. Libya Investment Authority: A History Of Legal Wrangles

    ...The LIA lodged a lawsuit against French Investment bank Societe Generale in 2014. In this it claimed the relationship between it and SocGen through which the latter executed $2.1bn of trades on behalf of the LIA in the 2007-09 period was based on a “fraudulent and corrupt” scheme involving a $58...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017
  8. Gulf Banking Ripe For Takeover Spree

    ...venues fell from a six-year high of $97.2bn in 2014 to just $44.3bn in 2016, a collapse of 54% (see chart). They are projected to rise back above $50bn this year but will still remain well short of 2014 levels. It’s a similar story elsewhere in the GCC, with Saudi crude revenues falling a staggering $15...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 12 May 2017