1. Bahrain In Talks With Neighbors Over GCC Gas Grid

    ...xt month, no expansion here is viable for the foreseeable future. Saudi Arabia was in fact in talks with Qatar over potential gas imports before the embargo began in June 2017 (MEES, 8 December 2017). That option is now gone, but energy ministers from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all ra...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 22
    Published at Fri, 29 May 2020
  2. Saudi Arabia Looks To Expand Iraq Footprint

    ...aken Iran’s dominance in Baghdad (MEES, 1 September 2017). As Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and Middle East expert on the US National Security Council told MEES in 2018, Saudi Arabia’s evolving relationship with Iraq is “perhaps the most enlightened part of current Saudi foreign policy” (ME...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 22
    Published at Fri, 29 May 2020
  3. Kuwait Eyes First Exports After Clean Fuels Upgrade

    ...726,000 b/d at two plants in March 2017, when KNPC shuttered the 200,000 b/d Shuaiba refinery after a series of unscheduled outages. Once CFP is finished Kuwait’s next refining capacity increase will come at a new 615,000 b/d refinery at Al-Zour. This is running behind schedule, with start-up ac...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 22
    Published at Fri, 29 May 2020
  4. Lebanon-Sonatrach Fuel Scandal Lays Bare Energy Sector Corruption

    ...ddy and Raymond Rahme, who have a variety of business interests – including alleged ties to the Barzani family in Iraqi Kurdistan. Around 2017, the firm emerged as a heavyweight in the Lebanese products sector, suspiciously underbidding in several gasoil and gasoline contracts – an oil trader te...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 22
    Published at Fri, 29 May 2020
  5. Oman Smashes Output Records

    ...,000 b/d in 2017 to 148,000 b/d so far this year – mainly a product of the Khazzan gas field ramp up and 2018 and the Rabab Harweel project coming online last year (MEES, 6 December 2019).  ...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 22
    Published at Fri, 29 May 2020