Saudi Leads Capacity Expansion But Mideast Runs Slide-BP

...SAUDI ARABIA Middle East refiners raised their combined crude distillation capacity by 567,000 b/d or 6.9% in 2013 to 8.822mn b/d, according to the BP Statistical Review 2014. The largest increment, of 400,000 b/d, was in Saudi Arabia, taking the kingdom’s total throughput capacity to 2....

Oman Seeks 2.6GW Capacity For MIS Grid

...S peak electricity demand is expected to hit 93% of installed capacity in 2016, before the 2.6GW of new capacity can be brought online. While a 2GW gas-fired IPP at Sur is due to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2014, OPWP is looking to extend existing power purchase agreements due to expire by...

Massive Us Growth Balances Mideast Instability, But For How Long?

...erstate the degree to which the North American supply boom has, since its onset, consistently defied expectations,” the IEA says in its 2014 Medium-Term Oil Market Report, also released this week. “US and Canadian production for 2013 is 330,000 b/d greater than had been expected last year, 420,000 b/d gr...

MENA Oil & Gas: Key Production/Consumption Numbers From BP’s 2014 Statistical Review

Yemen Oil Minister Replaced As Fuel Crisis Deepens

...mage. Latest figures from the Ministry of Oil and Minerals suggest attacks on the pipeline have cost the country in the region of $400mn in lost oil export revenues in the first quarter of 2014. The situation is expected to improve in the immediate term at least with Yemen’s National Oil Company th...

Libya: Budget ‘Approved’ But More Cuts Likely

...LIBYA Libya’s caretaker government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni now considers the 2014 Libyan budget as having been “legally approved by the General National Congress (GNC).” Following a meeting on 10 June, the government issued a statement explaining that, in its own in...

Morocco €1Bn Bond

...indexation), while extending social support to the most vulnerable of the population. In January 2014, the authorities removed subsidies on gasoline and industrial fuel and reduced the per-unit subsidy of diesel, and announced further reductions for the remainder of the year. Total subsidies in...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     19 Jun 9-13 Jun 2-6 Jun May-14 Apr-14 Q1 2014 Q4 2013 2013 20...

Cumulative Energy Supply Investment, IEA New Policies Scenario, 2014-35

KRG Drops Turkish Six-Block Bombshell; Disputed Areas Included

...ded this year with a 48-inch sealine, Mr Ghadhban says. Two more SPMs are being added, which together with expansion at the 400,000 b/d Khor al-Amaya terminal and debottlenecking at the existing 1.6mn b/d Basra terminal should give southern export capacity of around 6.8mn b/d by end 2014, Mr Ghadhban cl...

Jordan: Gas Needed, No Good Options

...crease electricity tariffs by 15% for users consuming more than 601kw monthly, a figure that encompasses 90% of households according to Jordanian energy ministry estimates. However, following parliamentary pressure, the government’s liberalization scheme was delayed until early 2014. Fuel prices for all pr...

Saudi Mega-Projects Take Shape As Sadara Completes Financing

...cember 2014. IPC in June 2012 obtained a SR1.4bn ($373mn) loan from four Saudi banks and in November 2011 a SR600mn ($160mn) loan from Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF).   Meanwhile, on 13 June US plastics firm Invista announced an exclusive agreement with Petrochemical Conversion Company (PC...

Qatari Solar Plans: Dark Clouds Gather

...versify the economy away from hydrocarbons the state-funded Qatar Foundation set up a joint venture Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) to build a $1bn plant to make polysilicon. It will initially produce 8,000 tons/year by the second half of 2014, delayed by a year. This is enough for solar panels to fit ou...

Election Result: Rohani Stresses ‘Moderate’ Message

...ould remain in power until at least the 2014 Syrian presidential election and that foreign troops should be withdrawn from Syria. Since the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps are active participants in the Syrian civil war, as is Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hizbollah, if Mr Rohani is demanding the withdrawal of...

Korea’s KNOC In Line For ADCO Stake Despite Limited Experience

...e January 2014 renewal of Abu Dhabi’s ADCO onshore oil concession. State firm KNOC stands a decent chance of bagging a minority stake despite a relative lack of upstream experience.   Eleven firms have been prequalified by Abu Dhabi’s state oil firm ADNOC for the new membership of the Abu Dh...

Petrofac Wins ADCO Contract

...plemented in phases, with the first new facilities coming onstream in 2014 and end-2015 completion.   The Petrofac work per se is intended to maintain pressure rather than increase overall production. However, the results of a massive concurrent CO₂ injection program at Bab are expected in 2016, wh...

GCC Measures Against Hizbollah Could Undermine Lebanese Economy

...banese GDP Growth Cut To 2% In its latest Global Economic Prospects the World Bank revised Lebanon’s real GDP growth in 2013 downward to 2% from 2.8% in January. It is now estimating growth at 1.5% in both 2011 and 2012 and is projecting a rise to 2.3% in 2014 and possibly 4.0% in 2015. The World Ba...

Yemen Oil Revenues Take Nosedive

...proving the business climate. An IDB statement said that it is giving Tunisia a financial guarantee to issue a sukuk worth $600mn before 2014. Tunisia hopes to raise its first sovereign sukuk of $700mn later this year. The IMF recently approved a $1.74bn loan for Tunisia for 2013-15. The program aims to st...

Nogaholding Poised For Bahrain Energy Sector Expansion

...e pre-Khuff contains commercial volumes of gas. A final investment decision on pre-Khuff development is not expected until 2014. Like the GCC, which is gas-short apart from Qatar, Bahrain is a “gas consumer rather than supplier,” stresses Shaikh Mohamed. But recent developments help consumers, he sa...

‘Revolutionary’ Economies Face Financing Woes

...nking On A Euro-Rebound The World Bank predicts a sharp rebound in the two key Arab Spring economies of Egypt and Tunisia, with growth of 3.6-3.8% for 2013 and 4.6% by 2014, “more in line with their underlying potential.” But this may prove optimistic given that it is predicated on a stabilization of...