GCC ‘Spat’ Takes On New Dimension

...ar from September 2014. Egypt will reimburse the UAE over four years at an interest rate of 2-3% with a year-long grace period, according to the daily. This will follow the expiration of Saudi oil product aid in August. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE rushed to provide $12bn in grants and loans to...

Saudi Arabia Advances Stock Market Opening

...rket participants – can criticize the regulatory framework and suggest modifications. This framework is therefore likely to be amended in light of the feedback the CMA receives in the three-month period ending on 20 November 2014. The CMA regulations published on its website on 21 August stipulate th...

Rohani One Year On: A Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?

...IRAN By-Jahangir Amuzegar* 1 August 2014 marks the first anniversary of Hojatol-Islam Hassan Rohani’s accession to the Islamic Republic’s presidency. A mid-level Shiite cleric having an advanced degree in theology from a Scottish university, Mr Rohani defeated his five non-turbaned ri...

Chinese Crude Imports, January-July 2014 (‘000 B/D)

Saudi Arabia Official Crude & Products Output, Consumption And Trade Figures, 1h 2014 (‘000 B/D)

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     28-Aug 18 - 22 Aug 11 - 15 Aug Jul-14 Jun-14 Q2 2014 Q1 2014 20...

Algeria Delays Bid Round Once Again

...secure foreign investment in its upstream. Algeria: Blocks On Offer In 2014 Bid Round...

South Sudan Oil Sector Takes Hit With Exxon Exit

...rm-in agreement as of April 2014,” Total said in a 19 August statement e-mailed to MEES, without going into further detail. ExxonMobil declined to comment, though the ongoing conflict – and the lack of clear prospects for a solution – could go a long way towards explaining the company’s decision. Re...

DRPIC Tenders Duqm Refinery Site Prep

...rk tender is expected to be followed by prequalification for an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the refinery in third quarter 2014. DRPIC appointed Shaw Group as project management consultant for the 230,000 b/d refinery in August 2012. The US contractor’s energy and ch...

Dragon Oil’s 1H14 Output Falters As Ambitions Soar

...fshore Cheleken contract in Turkmenistan, in which it holds a 100% stake, stood at 73,440 b/d for the six months to 30 June 2014, slightly down on the corresponding period last year (see table). June production rose to 76,100 b/d, but these numbers may be slightly misleading: in June 2013 for ex...

Oman Oil Names Former Oxy Executive As New CEO

...ins OOC with more than two decades of experience in the oil and gas sector, having previously worked for US independent Occidental (Oxy) and Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas. He served as President and General Manager of Oxy Oman between 2009 and 2014, before being promoted to Senior Vice President for Bu...

Iran Stimulus Plan Approved As Debt Piles Up

...an (CBI) showed that GDP contracted by 1.9% in the Iranian year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014). In the preceding year, the growth rate was negative at 6.8%.    The stimulus plan identifies several obstacles to economic revival, namely a shortage of financial resources, low domestic demand, falling in...

Kuwait Unveils New Five-Year Development Plan

...e new plan. As of January 2014, the Kuwait government had spent only 57% of the allocated expenditure in the current plan. Kuwait’s development process has suffered in the past few years from the absence of decision making, given the ongoing political bickering between the government and parliament. Fr...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES   21-Aug 11 - 15 Aug 4 - 8 Aug Jul-14 Jun-14 Q2 2014 Q1 2014 2013 20...

Egyptian Oil & Gas Output, May 2014: Oil Steady; Gas At Lowest Level Since 2006 (4.8 Bn Cfd)

Kurdistan Grapples With ISIS Threat; Oil Output Steady For Now

...hedule. At Tawke, two wells have come onstream at a combined rate of 37,000 b/d, with surface processing capacity set to increase by 100,000 b/d to around 200,000 b/d by year end. All things being equal, the KRG could conceivably attain its 400,000 b/d target by end 2014 if the pipeline issues are re...

Satorp Refinery Units ‘All Operational’, Says Total

...pears to not yet be onstream. Nevertheless, the refinery’s ramp-up has cut in to Saudi crude exports, whilst boosting products exports to near record levels. Saudi refinery runs averaged 1.85mn b/d during October 2013-May 2014, compared with 1.52mn b/d in the previous eight-month period. Throughputs re...

Aramco/Sumitomo Agree Handover Of Rabigh-2 To JV Operating Company

...urth quarter of 2014. The existing Petro Rabigh complex produces 18.4mn tons/year of petroleum products and 2.4mn t/y of chemicals. Rabigh-2 will produce up to 4.85mn t/y of high value chemicals. Petro Rabigh estimates the cost of the Rabigh-2 plant at SR32bn ($8.5bn), and says it will be online in 20...

Supply/Demand: ‘Eerie’ Calm As Uncertainties Mount

...gh of 2.14mn b/d in May and has likely increased since. With a second 400,000 b/d refinery (Yasref) set to start up by end 2014, the decline in the OPEC kingpin’s crude exports is structural. Libya: Potential Upside For Libya, despite continued fighting, there appears to be a significant ch...

OPEC Output Surges In July On Saudi, Libya Additions

...public. Since the start of 2014, Iranian oil exports have consistently breached the (understood) 1mn b/d limit agreed as part of the interim deal. Yet, they have faced little scrutiny from the US and its allies involved in the nuclear negotiations on the basis that Iranian oil exports have been cushioned in...