Aramco 100k B/D Upgrading Feed

...pacity Rabigh refinery on the Saudi Red Sea coast produced just over 100,000 b/d of fuel oil in 2016 and 2017. In a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on 27 February, Petro Rabigh – which is owned 37.5% each by Aramco and Sumitomo with the remaining 25% of shares traded on Tadawul – in...

Kuwait Set For First LNG Imports Of The Year

...Sahla LNG tanker docked alongside it on 26 February, carrying Kuwait’s first LNG supplies of the year. Al Sahla had not unloaded by the time MEES went to press, so no imports will be registered for February. Final figures are not yet out, but imports last year will have exceeded 2017’s record 3....

Mubadala Ties Up Thailand Contract

...und. It also operates the adjacent Andaman I, and has a non-operating stake at Andaman II. Mubadala reports current net output of 360,000 boe/d from its portfolio, up from 320,000 boe/d in 2017. The boost was largely due to its acquisition of 10% at Egypt’s Zohr in March 2018 (MEES, 20 April 2018).    ...

China LNG: Record January Imports; Record Qatar, Oman Volumes

...an, having only ever supplied six cargoes to China to Q3 2017, has now supplied 11 in the last three months: four in November, three in December and four (188,000 tons) in January. Korea is Oman’s top customer taking 360,000 tons (six cargoes) for January, in line with average 2018 deliveries (MEES, 18...

Chevron, Genel 2020 KRG Vision

....9%, Shamaran 20.1%, Marathon 15%, KRG 25%) in July 2017 (MEES, 14 July 2017). Momentum is again building in Kurdistan’s oil sector, and Chevron is not the only US Major eying production startup. ExxonMobil is developing the Baeshiqa license (DNO 32%op, ExxonMobil 32%, Turkish Energy Company 16%, KR...

Turkey 2018 Crude Imports (‘000 B/D): Iran Volumes Fall Almost 40% From Record 2017

Oman: Struggling To Cope With Too Much Gas?

...ock 61 (BP 60%, state Oman Oil Company 40%) started production in September 2017 and hit full Phase-1 output of 1bn cfd earlier this year. MEES estimates this will boost Omani gas output by 20% in 2018 (MEES, 29 September 2017). BP this month took a final investment decision (FID) on the 500mn cfd Ph...

LNG: Mideast Producers Lose Share Amid Record Global Trade

...ough, with imports of 8.29mn tons for February. • LNG powerhouse Qatar supplied a record 3.85mn tons to the East Asian ‘big three’ in January, though this dipped to 2.99mn tons in February. But Austraila has become increasingly dominant as the top supplier to East Asia in recent years. In 2017 it su...

Iran Looks To Europe As Trump Fears Threaten Embattled Economy

...eks, have exacerbated concerns over Iran’s economic outlook. The economy was already struggling, with latest figures from the CBI for the first 10 months of the 2017-18 Iranian year (ie March 2017-January 2018) implying that Iran was on course to run a $12.2bn deficit. This is up a huge 27% on the pr...

US Imposes Oil Restrictions On South Sudan

...geria’s Oranto Petroleum. Oranto signed a concession agreement for Block B3 in March 2017 in which it pledged to invest $500mn in exploration work (MEES, 5 May 2017). Also placed under licensing restrictions is Russia’s downstream oil contractor Safinat, contracted prior to the onset of war to build a 7,...

Qatar & Sudan Deepen Ties

...lationship following Qatar’s mediation role in the Darfur conflict, which resulted in the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur. And Qatar is in need of friends having faced a regional embargo since June 2017. The main players in the Qatar dispute are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. Khartoum ha...

Israel’s Gasoline Thirst Pushes Oil Products Consumption To 5-Year High

...• Israel fell into a gasoline deficit for the first time in at least 10 years in 2017 as consumption rose to a record 75,300 b/d whilst domestic output from the country’s two refineries fell by 11% to 73,900 b/d. • Bazan, which operates the 197,000 b/d Haifa refinery, says that it expects th...

Israeli Gas Development: Can The Domestic Power Market Absorb It?

...e country’s most recent bid round. All are close or adjacent to Karish and Tanin (MEES, 15 December 2017). The reference to liquids storage capacity is particularly eye-catching given that Israel has no current oil production and that there has been no extended production test at Karish. That sa...

Gulf Bonds In 2018 Another Bumper Year?

...After issuing a record $50.5bn in international bonds in 2017, GCC sovereigns are poised for another bumper year despite rising oil prices easing fiscal pressures. GCC sovereigns raised a record $50.5bn in international bonds in 2017, smashing 2016’s previous record of $37bn, according to...

Crude Official Selling Prices ($/B)

...Crude Official Selling Prices ($/B) *VS ICE BRENT FROM JULY 2017 PREVIOUSLY VS BWAVE.  ...

Algeria Struggles To Maintain Gas Output Amid Project Delays

...les gas output hit 94.5bcm for 2017, only just behind 2016’s record 94.8bcm (MEES, 2 March). But gross wellhead output has actually been in decline since the start of the decade: falling from 146bcm (of which 42% reinjected) in 2010 to 128.5bcm (of which 26% reinjected) in 2016 (see chart). Though gr...

Qatar Presses Ahead With Major LNG Expansion

...ES, 8 December 2017). When the initial expansion was announced in April, and then doubled in July (MEES, 7 July 2017), QP was contemplating securing gains through a mix of debottlenecking existing facilities and constructing new LNG trains. However, the finalized plan relies entirely on new fa...

Abu Dhabi Fills Up Two Largest Post-Adma Concessions As Total, CNPC Dive In Offshore

...its official press release title the “strengthening ties with world’s number one oil importing country.” This was the same rationale behind last year’s deal with CNPC and controversial fellow state-firm CEFC for a combined 13% of Adnoc Onshore (MEES, 24 February 2017). CHINA VOLUMES SI...

Total Reasserts Position As Dominant IOC In Mena On Back Of Abu Dhabi Deal

...some 150,000 b/d less (MEES, 16 March). Abu Dhabi is the single largest source of oil in Total’s portfolio, so walking away from the Adma concession after its 8 March expiry would have been a major blow. At 278,000 b/d in 2017, Abu Dhabi provided 20% of Total’s total output, making it by far th...

Shell Nears Iraq Exit As Itochu Takes WQ-1 Stake

...ocessed a record 676mn cfd gas from three giant fields in 2017 (MEES, 16 March).  ...