1. Iraq Looks To Turkey For Support Up North

    ...rkuk after abandoning its commitment to conduct a technical study of the fields when the Islamic State threatened operations in 2014 (MEES, 19 January). Mr Luaibi characterized BP’s return as part of an “ambitious plan” to raise output to 750,000 b/d  but at present a dearth of export options will st...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 08
    Published at Fri, 23 Feb 2018
  2. India Makes Splash Offshore Abu Dhabi With First Post-Adma Contract

    ...ate firms – which typically group up in their overseas forays – previously submitted an ultimately unsuccessful bid in 2016 for a stake in Abu Dhabi’s giant onshore concession (formerly known as Adco), which expired in 2014. The latest consortium is headed by state giant ONGC Videsh, alongside fellow st...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 16 Feb 2018
  3. Iraq Reboots Downstream Development Drive

    ...imacy of rehabilitating the Baiji refinery, formerly Iraq’s largest at 310,000 b/d but now offline after being gutted by the Islamic State in 2014. Achieving “some level of operations” at the Baiji refinery is “the most urgent requirement within the petroleum sector,” the document says, adding that “it...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 16 Feb 2018
  4. Dewa Awards Gas-Fired Power Project

    ...tensive LNG export commitments – around 90% goes to Japan, which took 4.68mn tons in 2017 down from 4.99mn t in 2016 and a record 5.70mn t in 2014 (see chart, MEES, 16 February). This means that the UAE only achieves gas balance by importing 1.7bn cfd via the Dolphin pipeline from Qatar to Abu Dhabi as...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 16 Feb 2018
  5. Russia, Saudi Arabia Commit To Enforcing Production Discipline

    ...cember’s inventory levels stand in terms of forward cover? Using their respective 2018 average OECD demand figures, the IEA data shows 60.1 days coverage and Opec 60.5 days, and December’s stocks represented 62-63 days cover at 2014 demand levels. HOW CAN I RESIST YOU? Abu Dhabi newspaper The Na...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 16 Feb 2018
  6. Will 2018 Be A Boon Year For Middle Eastern IPOs?

    ...The Middle East IPO market dried up after oil prices fell in H2 2014. But the urgent need to generate new revenue means the sustained oil price slump is now the key driver of energy sector privatization plans across the region.   After several torrid years, the Middle East IPO market st...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 16 Feb 2018
  7. Iraq Seeks To Reboot Northern Oil Sector

    ...chnically challenging development required (MEES, 8 February 2010). Sonangol declared force majeure in 2014 when Islamic State stormed the northern Nineveh Governorate and seized the two fields. It was already eying the exit, citing escalating sectarian violence in 2013 (MEES, 25 October 2013). Mr Lu...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  8. Iraq Drilling Hits 3-Year High, Abu Dhabi Sets New Record

    ...rrying about any commitments to Opec to limit output (see p9). However, Iraq’s rig count remains at little more than half of the record 96 seen in the first half of 2014 before Islamic State overran large swathes of the country. The UAE is another country where Total, in its 2017 results and 2018 ou...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  9. Iranian Oil Exports Hit Pre-Sanctions Levels As European Share Grows

    ...indled from 185,000 b/d in 2011 to a low-point of 104,000 b/d in 2014 and then stayed relatively flat at 111,000 b/d in 2015. 2016 saw a noticeable 24% gain to 138,000 b/d, but latest data to November implies volumes soared 75% to around 240,000 b/d in 2017. This would put Turkey as the fourth largest bu...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  10. Egypt: Increased Gas Availability Boosts Petchems Producers

    ...stallations were not directly affected, instability deterred investment, as did the cash-strapped Islamist government of Muhammad Mursi’s inability to pay IOCs for their oil and gas production. Gas output collapsed from 6bn cfd in 2011 to 4.7bn cfd in 2014 and a 12-year low of 3.9bn cfd in H1 2016. At le...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  11. Opec Steadies Production In January

    ...cember 2017), especially when pointing to the instability that has plagued output in recent years. Should either be accused of producing too much, they could argue that this would be to offset the risk of near-term drop-offs. January’s combined output of 2.82mn b/d was the highest since September 2014...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  12. Major Threat For Opec With Offshore Exploration Boom

    ...hlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard told his 19 January earnings call. LONG TERM: DEEPWATER FOCUS      Mexico’s latest bid round last week was by far the most successful since the country opened up its upstream to international investment in 2014. Total investment commitments were $93bn with 19 of 29 de...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 09 Feb 2018
  13. KRG To Struggle For Minor 2018 Production Gains

    ...ree new wells planned and re-entry at a 2014 well. Two wells are also planned at Zey Gawra.  Russian state-backed firm Rosneft finalized a deal for five blocks in October 2017. While the blocks were not specified, registered company names suggest they are Blocks 8,9,10,11 and 13 (see map & table). Ro...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  14. Qatar Sidesteps Trade Embargo With 20% Export Revenue Gain In 2017

    ...ar’s gains, with hydrocarbon exports amounting to 84% of total sales – the highest figure since 2014’s 87% when oil prices averaged almost $100/B. Hydrocarbon revenues rose 21% year-on-year thanks to a combination of rising oil prices and the start of commercial operations at the 146,000 b/d Ras La...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  15. Japan Big Winner As Saudi Arabia Cuts Crude Exports

    ...uth Korea’s thirst for crude increased last year to 2.984mn b/d from 2.880mn b/d in 2016, while it too has diversified its suppliers. The Saudi share of total Korean imports fell to 28.9% last year, almost five percentage points less than 2014 (MEES, 12 January). Japan is the only market where Sa...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  16. Iraq Hypes Over-Ambitious Refining, Export Capacity Targets

    ...ve more luck with the Fao plant given that products output is slated for the export market. The only one of Iraq’s new refineries to progress is a 140,000 b/d plant at Karbala for which a $6bn EPC contract was awarded in 2014 to a Korean consortium led by Hyundai E&C. But work here has been sporadic, wi...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  17. Iraq’s Crude Burn Falls From Peak As Generators Exploit Alternative Fuels

    ...NERATION (MW) Plant type 2014 2015 2016 2017 Steam turbine 3,...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  18. Saudi-Russia Relations Mean Opec+ ‘Deal’ Will Continue. At What Price?

    ...al. Crude prices at their highest level since late 2014 also point in this direction. But the interests of both core participants, Saudi Arabia and Russia, make a formal wind-down unlikely. Venezuela’s output collapse enabled Opec and the 10 non-Opec countries party to the December 2016 output de...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  19. Sabic Profits Boost From Rising Oil Prices As Horizons Expand With Clariant Buy

    ...s SR18.40bn ($4.9bn) for 2017, up 4.5% on SR17.61bn ($4.7bn) for 2016. This was the first annual net profits upswing since the crude oil price collapse of 2014 undermined the petrochemicals sector, whose products prices are index-linked to crude. Mr Binyan attributes last year’s increase in net pr...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018
  20. Kuwait Budget Deficit Set To Shrink In 2018-19 As Oil Prices Recover

    ...d already grown frosty and the nine months 2016 awards were well down on the same period in 2014 ($24bn) and 2015 ($30bn).  Of 2017 awards, around $2.2bn (25%) is related to the oil and gas sector, including $850mn to Italy’s Saipem for a 450km feeder crude pipeline to the planned Al Zour re...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 02 Feb 2018