Algeria Keeps Oil Spending Flat, Extends Exploration Search Offshore

...cences on several fields in June 2016. The two firms earlier, in April 2011, agreed to partner on the development of unconventional resources, particularly shale gas. Offshore exploration in Algeria is not a new idea. State oil licensing authority Alnaft has talked about tendering offshore blocks for ye...

Rosatom Starts Work On New Iran Nuclear Plant, Cementing Russia’s Mena Presence

...pear motivated by more than just economics, with the Russian firm looking to expand its regional reach – and that of Russia – and Iran opting for a prestige project. The plant is located where Rosatom completed the Mena region’s first and, so far only, nuclear plant in 2011, the 1GW Bushehr-1 pl...

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...