China 2017 Lng Imports (Mn Tons): Qatar Volumes Increase 50% From 2016, Share Remains Flat

Thailand LNG Imports ('000 Tons): Qatar Remains Top Supplier In 2017 But Market Share Falls To 60%

Thailand Crude Imports 2017 ('000 B/D): Saudi Closes Gap To Top Supplier Uae But Mideast Share Falls

China 2017 Crude Imports ('000 B/D): Russia Cements Top Spot Ahead Of Saudi; Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar Records

China Crude Imports ('000 B/D): Russia Soars Ahead Of Saudi As #1 2017 Supplier. Strong Q4 Keeps Saudi Ahead Of Angola For Second Place As Overall Imports Dip From Q2 Record.

...LINES SHOW TOP SIX 2017 SUPPLIERS. SEE P19 FOR FULL DATA. SOURCE: CHINA CUSTOMS, MEES....

Kuwait: Jurassic Gas To Bridge Supply Gap Until LNG Import Capacity Rises

...ar (see chart and MEES, 28 July 2017). KEY KUWAITI OIL INFRASTRUCTURE   KUWAIT PRESSES AHEAD WITH MAJOR JURASSIC GAS EXPANSION PLANS (MN CFD) SOURCE: KOC, SPETCO, PETROCIL, MEES.   SPARE PROCESSING CAPACITY The vast majority of Kuwaiti gas output is associated wi...

Oman Casts Its Net Wide In Bid To Maintain Output Capacity

...plenish its reserves. Oman finished 2017 with average annual output of 969,000 b/d, just under its 970,000 b/d Opec/non-Opec production agreement and down from 1mn b/d the year before. Exports dropped from 880,000 b/d in 2016 to 806,000 b/d, though higher oil prices mean hydrocarbon revenues rose by $2....

Kuwait Completes Oman Refinery Buy-In, Start-Up Slips To ‘2023-24’

...C. KPC planning and finance director Wafaa al-Zaabi told reporters last week that “commercial operations should begin in 2023-24.” This is a major setback – until last year KPC was targeting end-2020 (MEES, 5 May 2017). “I think that by the middle of this year we will close the financing for the Du...

Suez Canal Boosted By Oil Trade Records

...•  2017 was a standout year for the Suez Canal, with record oil shipments both northbound and southbound. Revenues, at $5.276bn, were second only to the record $5.465bn hit in 2014. •  Northbound oil shipments – essentially those from Gulf countries to Europe and the Americas – remain mo...

Israel-Jordan Spat Threatens Already Precarious Cooperation

...Israel’s capital on 6 December, relations between Jordan and Israel took yet another hit after an already troubling 2017. Mr Trump’s pronouncement could also prove to be the final nail in the coffin of the already comatose Israel-Palestine “peace process.” Jordan’s King Abdullah immediately de...

Libya Refinery ‘Resolution’ Fails To Hide Need For Multi-$bn Investment

...t infrequent shut-ins (MEES, 10 November 2017), crude has been shipped to the plant by sea from export terminals in eastern Libya. NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla says that now the dispute is ‘resolved’ it hopes Lerco will “restart operations at Ras Lanuf Oil as soon as possible. Trasta and Lerco ar...

Assessing Opec’s Five Year Average Inventory Target

...B/D)                                                                                    2016 2017 vs 16 2018 vs 17 1Q17 2Q17 3Q...

‘The New Tunisia’: A Work In Progress

...the country going to the wall. By 2016 crude output had slid to just 46,000 b/d, a mere 50% of demand. Things could only get better, right? Wrong. 2017 saw a further slump in output to just 38,000 b/d, the lowest figure since 1966, Tunisia’s virgin year of production (MEES, 8 December 2017...

Tunisia’s Loss, Algeria’s Gain

...A key boost to Algeria’s 2017 finances came from sales of gas and oil products to Tunisia, where crude output fell 16%. Tunisia largely imports oil from seaborne markets, with net imports hitting a record 81,000 b/d in August. But for gas the only choice is to buy from Algeria, via of...

The Plan: Boost SMEs; The Reality: Boost The State Payroll

...rld Bank’s annual ‘Doing Business’ rankings in 2013 pegged Tunisia at a reasonably-respectable fifty-first place,  just ahead of Spain. But Tunisia has fallen in the rankings every year since – to #88, in the latest rankings issued in November 2017, just behind Bosnia and Zambia (though ahead of Saudi Ar...

Iran: After The Turmoil Will It Address Its Domestic Problems?

...ly 2015 and the subsequent lifting of the bulk of sanctions in January 2016. But hopes that this would end Iran’s isolation and usher in much-needed foreign investment have been largely dashed. Oil export revenue has risen from $27.3bn in 2015 to $59.4bn in 2017, with crude/condensate exports ne...

Kurdistan Oil On The Ropes But Still Standing

...AVERAGE PRICE KRG RECEIVES FROM TRADERS. SOURCE: MNR, DELOITTE, MEES.   TRANSPARENCY DRIVE, TAKINGS DIVE        The most eye-catching development was the 16 January release of Deloitte’s audit report of the KRG oil and gas sector.  The report is for H1 2017: Deloitte says an audit of th...

Has Egypt’s Economy Turned The Corner? Time Will Tell

...18 has been a good one for Egypt, with news that revenue from two pillars of its economy, the Suez Canal and tourism, hit three and five-year highs respectively in 2017 (see charts). Tourism revenues collapsed in 2016 to $2.69bn after Moscow issued a travel ban to Egypt in the wake of the No...

Jordan: Cash Handouts Amidst Reforms

...rough public works and subsidies (see p8). At the same time, the 2018 budget shows the government is attempting cut down its troubling deficit by 28.9% (MEES, 1 December 2017). To accomplish this Jordan is attempting to push through IMF-supported tax hikes intended to halt growing debt. Implementing st...

South Korea 2017 LNG Imports: Australia Closes Gap On Top Supplier Qatar, Us Overtakes Russia To #6 Place

...*CHANGES EXPRESSED IN PERCENTAGE POINT TERMS. SOURCE: KOREA CUSTOMS SERVICE, MEES CALCULATIONS.   KOREA LNG IMPORTS (MN T): VOLUMES WERE SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD IN 2017 WITH AUSTRALIA CLOSING IN ON QATAR FOR TOP SPOT *ONLY TOP 7 COUNTRIES FOR 2017 ARE INCLUDED. SOURCE: KO...