1. Lebanon Bid Round: Second Time A Charm?

    ...ES, 4 January 2013) and, having fallen prey to a lengthy political crisis, only closed in October 2017 (MEES, 20 October 2017). With two exploration and production agreements (EPAs) penned in February (MEES, 16 February), Lebanon’s hydrocarbon fever is now on the rise. A consortium consisting of To...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  2. US Scales Back Output Growth Projections

    ...vestment to other basins, they still expect Permian output to keep growing. LATEST* US OIL FORECASTS (MN B/D): 2018 & 2019 OUTPUT REVISED DOWN       2017 2018 vs 17 20...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  3. China Trade War Threat To Us Exports

    ...om the US, also makes it even less likely that China will cut imports from Iran in response to US threats. Ship monitoring data indicates that China took over 700,000 b/d from Iran in July versus average 2017 volumes of 620,000 b/d.   ...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  4. Genel To Expedite Bina Bawi Oil Development

    ...nistry of natural resources by end-2018. Genel’s financials are looking up this year. Despite net production down 5,000 b/d compared with 1H 2017, revenues jumped from $87.1mn to $161.1mn thanks to regularized payments from Erbil and higher oil prices. In presenting the firm’s first half results on 7 Au...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  5. Israel: Record Gas Output

    ...ntract, but this includes 350mn cfd for supply to Egypt which has yet to be firmed up (MEES, 10 November 2017). Noble CEO David Stover tells the 3 August call that “we’re making excellent progress on commercial agreements to deliver our gas from Tamar and Leviathan into Egypt.” Mr Stover later makes cl...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  6. Opec Output Edges Up Despite Saudi Cut

    ...yers shun Iranian crude in advance of US ‘secondary’ sanctions (see p11). Exports also slid  despite bumper buying from India and China. South Korea, the erstwhile number-three importer of Iranian crude, halted imports altogether in July (MEES, 3 August). In 2017 South Korea imported 360,000 b/d from Ir...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  7. Turkey Plans East Med Drilling: Politics Over Geology?

    ...will drill the first well… off the coast of Antalya… within Turkish economic waters,” he said 8 August. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, on 3 August announced that Turkey will acquire a second drillship. Turkey only acquired its first drillship late 2017, paying $200mn for the ‘De...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  8. Saudi Petchems Firms Report Best Profits Since Crude Price Collapse

    ...88bn) for the second quarter of 2018, with some of the boost attributable to strong oil prices. State-led giant Sabic disclosed a second quarter net profit of SR6.7bn ($1.79bn), up 81% on Q2 2017, while the combined quarterly profits of the other smaller firms topped $1bn for the first time (see ch...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  9. Aramco Seeks Rapid $8bn

    ...integrated 3.5mn t/y petchems complex (MEES, 3 March 2017). DOUBLE REFINING CAPACITY            Aramco plans to double its global net refining capacity from 5.4mn b/d now to 10-12mn b/d and to increase global petrochemicals capacity to 34mn t/y from the current 12mn t/y. This plan will li...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  10. US Slaps Back Iran Sanctions, With More To Come

    ...emselves more risk-averse. South Korea, Iran’s third largest buyer of crude and condensate in 2017 with 361,000 b/d, halted oil imports in July (MEES, 3 August), whilst Japanese imports fell to 130,000 b/d in Q2 from 190,000 b/d in Q1. Key EU buyers Italy and France have also been cutting volumes, th...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  11. Kufpec Raises $1.1bn Loan

    ...lies on ‘backdated’ purchases to bolster production figures, buying into two Norwegian gas fields last September (MEES, 8 September 2017).  Its $900mn purchase of Shell’s stake in Thailand’s 1bn cfd Bongkot field fell through in October (MEES, 13 October 2017), but the  July startup of train 2  at the 8....

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  12. Japan Slashes Abu Dhabi LNG Imports

    ...r three years from 2019. Jera says that “This MOA is in line with the Japan Fair Trade Commission ruling issued in June 2017.” This ruling bars Japanese importers from inking new deals that contain ‘destination clauses’ preventing cargo resale (MEES, 28 July 2017). Jera was formed in 2015 as To...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  13. Asian* LNG Imports Soar To New Record Highs (Mn Tons)

    ...Q2 IMPORTS FELL FROM Q1’S ALL TIME HIGH BUT WERE STILL UP 12% YEAR-ON-YEAR...   ...WHILE FIRST HALF VOLUMES WERE UP A WHOPPING 14.5% *THESE 5 KEY ASIAN IMPORTERS ARE ALSO BY FAR THE LARGEST GLOBAL IMPORTERS ACCOUNTING FOR 68% OF GLOBAL LNG TRADE IN 2017. SOURCE: OFFICIAL IM...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 10 Aug 2018
  14. Abu Dhabi Plans Further Offshore Reshuffling

    ...pplier (with just under 300,000 b/d for H1 2017), with Thailand in turn Abu Dhabi’s #3 customer (see data, p17). PTT has both production and development projects in Algeria and is a pre-qualifier for Iranian upstream awards. Russian state-firm Rosneft was prequalified for Adco but in the end didn’t su...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  15. Egypt Oil Output: Apache Looks To Low Hanging Fruit For Output Rebound

    ...Whilst gas has grabbed the headlines since Eni’s mid-2015 Zohr discovery, oil production has remained on a downward trajectory. Egypt’s crude and condensate output averaged just 623,000 b/d in the first half of 2017, the lowest for any comparable period since 1981. Egypt was a net crude ex...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  16. Iraq Makes Progress On Chronic Gas Shortage

    ...average 711mn cfd over the course of 2017 and plans to hit 1bn cfd the following year. So far this year, Iraq is certainly posting strong gains. Sales gas volumes are up 20% in the first half of the year to average 1.12bn cfd. The proportion of gas flared has fallen from 64.4% to 59.0% over th...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  17. Offshore Exploration: What Chance Of A Rebound?

    ...cent Q2 results of taking advantage of lower prices to increase investment in long-term projects. Exxon plans to increase capex over the coming years – albeit modestly. “As a rule going forward we are sticking with around $22bn in 2017, slowly ramping up [to $25bn] through the end of the decade,” IR...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  18. Mauritania: 15 Tcf Tortue FLNG Targets 2021 Start Up

    ...ars. In addition to being the largest discovery of 2017 in creating a second LNG hub in the region, the Yakaar results further de-risk the key play elements of the basin… Subsequent wells in our drilling program [have] a similar geologic setting,” Mr Inglis says. But with “~75% of undrilled pr...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  19. Oman Lines Up Duqm Contractors, Targets Products Exports

    ...oducts, to Asia and Africa in particular (see map). Oman produced 968,000 b/d of crude and condensate in H1 2017 and exported 809,000 b/d. Products trade in either direction is minimal, though most months see some diesel exports. Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and Korea’s Daewoo E&C have been selected by DR...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017
  20. Opec Banks On Oil Demand Boost From Stronger Economic Growth

    ...Waning compliance with the Opec/non-Opec “declaration of cooperation” to curb crude output is severely hampering efforts to rebalance the crude market. Allied with strong production gains elsewhere, this poor compliance has helped keep global stock levels high, putting a lid on prices in 2017...

    Volume: 60
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2017