Jordan Politicians Slam Israel Gas Deal

...en forced to rely on costly imports of liquid fuels. The country’s energy import bill soared to $5.7bn last year with fuel oil imports accounting for almost half the total (MEES, 7 March). The first nine months of 2014 has seen a further 11.5% rise to JD3.358bn ($4.74bn) MEES, 28 November, although th...

Morocco Diversifies Power Sources

...s started up in June 2014. Tarfaya is Africa’s largest wind farm to date, comprising 131 turbines of 2.3MW capacity each. The farm is expected to achieve a load factor of 45%, high for a wind project. GDZ Suez says Tarfaya will contribute significantly to Morocco’s target of having 42% of in...

OPEC’S Choice: Low Prices Now, Or Low Prices & Low Output Later-Naimi

...st month to 31 rigs, the lowest activity level in tight oil regions since end-July 2014, it says. “Were the tight oil rig count to lose another 300 rigs by the end of Q1, then in our view y/y US supply growth should reach zero at some point during Q2,” it adds. The US government’s energy in...

Abu Dhabi Advances Upstream Projects Despite Mounting Cost Pressure

...completed according to schedule, with combined capacity at Rumaitha and Shanayel set to expand to 85,000 b/d from 46,000 b/d in 2014. Adco plans to boost total NEB capacity by 110,000 b/d once all three fields are fully developed. But the Rumaitha and Shanayel contracts were issued before the 75...

Yemen’s Finances Set For Rude Awakening In 2015

...sarray, with little hope of a turnaround. With the current crisis threatening to spread to the central oil heartlands of Marib, east of San’a, prospects for the coming six to 12 months do not look bright. Oil and gas export revenues have historically made up 70% of the Yemeni budget. In 2014 al...

Repsol To Boost Algeria, KRG Presence With Talisman Purchase

...0,000-290,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) production in 2014 sourced from its North American operations. The deal will see Repsol pay $8 per share in cash, an eye-watering 103% premium to Talisman’s 5 December share price, the day before press reports indicated that a deal was imminent. The de...

Kuwait Expects 2015-16 Deficit: $60/B Oil, 2.7Mn B/D Output

...w budget is provisionally based on an oil price assumption of $60/B and average crude oil production of 2.7mn b/d, compared to $75/B and 2.9mn b/d in 2014-15. More than 90% of budget revenue is derived from oil. For the first eight months of the current financial year (April-November 2014) Kuwaiti cr...

Saudi Plans 2015 Counter-Cyclical Bumper Spend

...715bn ($191bn), based on an oil price assumption of $60-65/B. For 2014 the paper is projecting a smaller deficit of SR60bn ($16bn), although the original budget for that year was balanced at SR855bn ($228bn).  For its part Saudi investment bank Jadwa is projecting two scenarios for baseline Brent cr...

Egypt Gets Oil Price Bonus…

...ypt to international oil companies (IOCs) estimated by the government at $4.9bn in early December. Savings from cheaper oil imports will be reflected in a reduction in 2014-15 energy subsidies, projected at E£127bn ($17.7bn) - E£100bn ($14bn) for petroleum products and E£27bn ($3.8bn) for el...

…But Algeria Under Pressure

...om $194bn at the end of 2013. Also the balance of payments recorded a deficit of $1.32bn at the end of June 2014, compared to a surplus of $880mn at the end of June 2013. Mr Laksaci says that although Algeria managed to maintain monetary and fiscal stability despite persistent budget deficits and we...

Lebanon ‘Challenging’

...flow of Syrian refugees (around a quarter of the population now) is straining local communities and taxing already weak public finances. IMF official estimates put real growth remaining below 2% in 2014: insufficient to dent unemployment. Also the fiscal position has improved slightly, ac...

Turkey Official Oil Data (‘000 B/D)

...2 -31.8 662.19 681.12 612.38 612.11 592.76 SOURCE: JODI, MEES. *Data Also Indicates Around 40,000 B/D (For Jan-Oct 2014) Of ‘Other’ Refinery Intake, In Addition To Crude....

Turkey’s Tupras Starts Up Resid Upgrader

...2,000 b/d. These currently produce a 28% diesel yield and 15% fuel oil (see table). Turkish diesel output has failed to keep pace with demand: imports have risen by 100,000 b/d since 2010, hitting  294,000 b/d in Q3 2014. Izmit Refinery Residue Upgrader (‘000 B/D) Feedstock: Fuel Oi...

EU Crude Oil Imports 1h 2014 (‘000 B/D)

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     18-Dec 8-12 Dec 1-5 Dec Nov-14 Oct-14 Q3 2014 Q2 2014 2013 20...