Hungary’s Mol - Mena Profile: No More Chasing Barrels

...scal and political stability,” Dr Gaso says. Certainly this stability is an enviable asset in comparison to Mol’s other Mena experiences. Its difficulties in Kurdistan are nothing in comparison to having had to pull out of Syria due to the civil war there and EU sanctions imposed in 2011 (MEES, 10 Oc...

Egypt Reserves Up Again As Cairo Pockets World Bank Cash

...Egypt’s foreign currency reserves rose by a further $200mn last month to stand at $26.6bn at the end of February, their highest level since 2011 (see chart). And reserves will likely have risen further during March with Egypt’s receipt of the second $1bn tranche of a $3bn World Bank loan. Th...

East Med Deepwater Exploration: In Search Of ‘More Zohr’

...viathan, discovered December 2010 by US firm Noble Energy, for the title of the East Mediterranean’s largest gas discovery. Leviathan and Noble’s other key East Med deepwater discoveries – Tamar the previous year and Cyprus’ Aphrodite in 2011 – were all of ‘lean’ gas (near 100% methane) in Miocene deep-wa...

Iran LNG Plans Hamstrung By Domestic Demand, Lack Of Foreign Cash

...located 32bcm to reinjection in 2014. Of course in 2014 (and 2011, 2012 and 2015) demand for sanctions-hit Iran’s crude was low enough that Iran could afford to slash reinjection and still have enough oil to meet demand. The corollary is that last year as post-sanctions Iran sought to ramp up crude output to...

Majors In The Middle East: 2016, A Year Of Consolidation

...tent of its ultimate stake in the combined asset is unclear.   As for Total’s Middle Eastern gas output, conflict outages in Syria and Yemen mean this is barely half what it was in 2011. And those conflicts are set to continue for the foreseeable future. The primary source of potential additional ga...

Fitch Downgrades Saudi, Increasing Headwinds For $15bn Bond Plans

...reign assets as of end-January falling below SR2 trillion for the first time since October 2011. At $524bn they are 30% below the record $746bn level hit in mid-2014 (MEES, 10 March). The country’s 2017 budget projects a whopping $53bn deficit, albeit down by a third from 2016 (MEES, 6 January). Fi...

Libya’s East-West Divide Flares Up Amid Oil Port Fighting

...would prefer a man with an iron fist and a promise to keep a grip on emigration to indefinite instability or an Islamist leaning democracy. Mr Haftar has a long history with the US, having been given refuge there for two decades before his return to Libya in 2011. But he is vilified by opponents in...

Production Curbs Help Market Inch Towards Balance

...ply some 160,000 b/d stockbuild last month (4.48mn barrels). Saudi crude stocks fell 52.9mn barrels last year, from a record 325.5mn to 272.6mn, the lowest since 2011. 3: BRAZIL CRUDE OUTPUT (MN B/D): JANUARY WAS SECOND ONLY TO DECEMBER AS THE HIGHEST ON RECORD   4: OMAN OIL* OUTPUT (‘00...

Indian LNG Imports 2016: Qatar Still Dominant With 62% Of Total

...    ALL 2016 NUMBERS AND ALL VOLUME NUMBERS ARE FOR CALENDAR YEARS. ANNUAL VALUE/PRICE NUMBERS FOR 2011-15 ARE FOR FINANCIAL YEARS ENDING 31 MARCH (IE ‘2015’ IS APR15-MAR16). *CHANGES EXPRESSED ON A PERCENTAGE POINTS BASIS. SOURCE: INDIAN DEPT OF COMMERCE, IGU, GIIGNL, MEES CALCULATIONS....

IEA Warns Of Capacity Squeeze Unless Investment ‘Rebounds Sharply’

...8% a year in the five years to 2016 and 5.5% a year in the five-year period ending in 2011. A net 1.8mn b/d of Chinese oil demand is forecast to be added to the end of 2022, underpinned by “supportive economic conditions, big increases in petrochemical activity and a voracious appetite to increase ve...

Saudi (Sama) Net Foreign Assets Fall To $524bn In January, Below Sr 2TRN For First Time Since October 2011

Zohr On Target, Rosneft Farm-In Questioned

...ws that both Eni and its CEO Mr Descalzi have been charged by Italian prosecutors for their alleged roles in an international corruption case regarding the 2011 purchase of Nigerian acreage for some $1.3bn. Mr Descalzi will face trial with former Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni and nine other individuals in...

Aramco Pays Petronas $7bn For 50% Stake In Rapid Project

...uthwestern Yunnan province, having signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2011. CNPC has finished building the 260,000 b/d refinery, the first in the landlocked province, and aims to import crude for the plant via a spur line from the 2,400km, 440,000 b/d Myanmar-China pipeline, which will receive cr...

IOCs Continue To Play It Safe In Libya

...rms. It accounts for the bulk of Libya’s gas output and has been responsible for all of its gas exports since LNG shipments halted in early 2011 (see chart). LIBYAN GAS EXPORTS (MN CFD)* *ALL EXPORTS ARE TO ITALY VIA THE ENI-OPERATED GREENSTREAM PIPELINE. SUPPLIES COME FROM ENI’S WAFA AND BA...

EU Crude Imports By Origin & Grade 2011-2015 (‘000 B/D)

Iran, Iraq & Saudi Step Up Battle For Market Share In Asia And Europe

...ked imports from Iran in February. Korean imports of 267,000 b/d were the highest since 2011. For March, the key increment is the 6mn barrels of Iranian crude (just under 200,000 b/d) which has arrived, or is set to arrive in EU ports (see graph p9).  4: EU IMPORTS OF KRG CRUDE* RISE EIGHTFOLD IN 20...

MEES Special Report: Jihadist Instability In North Africa And Beyond

...se of IS in Libya, which since the fall of Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi in 2011 has been characterized by lawlessness and division. “Further instability in Libya and the ongoing absence of a unity government or unified security could plunge the country into a further crisis which would impact Europe in se...

Libya Oil Production Falls Further

...tput. Power shortages since the 2011 revolution have presented a recurrent impediment to output (MEES, 17 May 2013)....

Total: Adco Boosts Oil Output But Gas Lower On Yemen conflict

...wars. In Syria the firm produced 218mn cfd of gas in 2011 – making it Total’s third biggest MENA province: it has produced nothing there since. In Libya, Total’s oil output collapsed to 20,000 b/d in 2011 with the ‘revolution’ and again in 2014 and 2015 as instability grew: current (and 20...

Majors Have Another Year To Forget In The Middle East

...ay, allowing Qatar to open up a 0.36bn cfd lead as the company’s largest source. This is the biggest gap since 2010, when Qatari volumes were 1.27bn cfd more than US contributions. Qatari volumes rose for the first time since 2011, but were unable to prevent a fourth consecutive drop in annual global ga...