Gulf NOCs Tap Into World-Leading US LNG Sector

...amco in the race. Indeed, QatarEnergy was by far the earliest mover, having agreed in 2014 to convert its Golden Pass LNG import terminal (QatarEnergy 70%, ExxonMobil 30%) into an export terminal (MEES, 11 July 2014). More than a decade later, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad al-Ka...

Saudi Budget Deficit Swells To Largest Since 2021

...er the same period, despite capital investments falling by $1.8bn to a two-year low of $7.4bn. These all combined to push the budget deficit up to $15.7bn, which was the highest quarterly figure since 4Q 2021’s $18.2bn. Indeed, it is the worst start to the year since 2016, at the height of the 2014...

Oman Achieves $1.17bn Surplus for Q1

...ffers to pay down debt.” 2022’s annual surplus of $2.98bn saw Oman end the run of 13 consecutive deficits stretching back to 2009 (MEES, 23 December 2022). The consecutive budget deficits meant debt levels have ballooned in recent years, especially after the 2014 oil price crash. Debt surged from 4....

Saudi Reaps Rewards Of Oil Price Boom

...a whole. The surge in oil prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February has caused Saudi monthly oil export revenues to jump above $30bn for the first time since 2014. The kingdom’s flagship Arab Light crude grade averaged $113/B in March amid the fallout from the conflict, pu...

Oman’s Finances Surge To Largest Surplus In Eight Years

...Oman recorded a $923mn budget surplus for Q1 2022, the largest surplus since 1Q 2014. Oil exporters around the region are notching up multi-year high budget surpluses, but the move into the black is especially notable for Oman which was struggling to achieve budget surpluses even in the pr...

Saudi Arabia Pledges To Invest Oil Export Windfall In Economic Reforms

...P in the first quarter of the year growing at the fastest pace since 2011. Unsurprisingly, the surge has been driven by resurgent oil markets, as the fallout from Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine has pushed oil prices above $100/B for the first time since 2014. The kingdom launched its Vi...

Qatar Slumps Into Recession

...git growth up until 2014, it too has seen its performance decline in recent years, dropping to just 1.3% growth last year. Like its neighboring petrodollar economies, Qatar has been struggling to diversify, despite having its own National Vision 2030. Although the share of oil and gas in the ec...

Jordan’s Nepco: An End To Operating Losses?

...Jordan (MEES, 8 August 2011). Volumes fell from 220mn cfd in 2010 (which nearly met domestic demand) to 78mn cfd the following year forcing Jordan to increasingly import diesel and fuel oil to generate power just as oil prices were exceeding $100/B. By 2014, Nepco was relying on oil products fo...

Algeria’s Export Revenue Buffeted By US Shale Hurricane

...trade present an additional challenge for Algeria at this critical juncture. OIL OUTPUT DOWN   Algeria’s oil output (crude plus condensate) has fallen every year since 2014 to just 1.515mn b/d (1.041mn b/d crude, 474,000 b/d condensate) for 2018, the lowest since 2003 (see chart). Pr...

Iran Threat To Nuke Deal As Exports, Revenues Face Collapse

...uters ship-tracking indicates a record 800,000 b/d. If correct this would be an all-time high, eclipsing the previous record of 798,000 b/d set in April 2014 and the more recent July-August 2018 highs of 770-775,000 b/d. That said, more generally Chinese imports from Iran are down: 475,000 b/d for 1Q...

Saudi Government Posts First Surplus Since 2014 In Q1

Mubadala’s SWF Acquisitions To Create Global Champions

...namic state organizations in the region. It was formed just over 15 years ago in 2002 and is chaired by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayid Al Nahyan whose influence has increased significantly since UAE President Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nahyan’s stroke in 2014 (MEES, 29 August 2014). The Crown Pr...

Saudi Oil For Sudan

...man did not specify whether the oil in question was crude or refined products. Sudan’s crude production fell to just 75,000 b/d in early 2018, from 115,000 b/d in 2014 (MEES, 16 March). The country has been suffering a fuel crisis for several months, leading recently to increasing social unrest. If cr...

Algeria Slashes Oil & Gas Investment

...8% to $8.1bn last year. Algeria faces mounting economic challenges: its foreign reserves halved between end-2013 ($195bn) and end-2017 ($97bn), whilst the country notched up an $11bn trade deficit for 2017 taking the total to a cumulative $45bn for the three years since oil prices tanked in late 2014...

Egypt Economic Reforms Remain On Track But Long Road Ahead

...ensure that these subsidies target those who are most in need. He denies that there is a decision to raise fuel prices, but said that his ministry has a five-year program which started in 2014 to rationalize energy subsidies, stressing however that this program is unrelated to the IMF loan.  NE...

Oman Export Revenues Down, Rating Junked

...finery Improvement Project (SRIP), which commenced in 2014, is slated to increase output capacity for transport fuels by 59% to 197,000 b/d. Construction finished earlier this year and the spike in April refinery output suggests that units temporarily offline for the maintenance are now back online. Ho...

Libya Wins $1bn From SocGen, But Cases Highlight Shambolic Economic Governance

...ADERSHIP DISPUTES The issue over who heads the LIA has been long drawn out. Mr Breish was deposed as LIA head in June 2014 under Law 13, a measure passed by parliament in May 2013 that excluded those associated with the previous regime from participating in state functions. But he continued to be re...

Libya Investment Authority: A History Of Legal Wrangles

...The LIA lodged a lawsuit against French Investment bank Societe Generale in 2014. In this it claimed the relationship between it and SocGen through which the latter executed $2.1bn of trades on behalf of the LIA in the 2007-09 period was based on a “fraudulent and corrupt” scheme involving a $58...

Gulf Banking Ripe For Takeover Spree

...venues fell from a six-year high of $97.2bn in 2014 to just $44.3bn in 2016, a collapse of 54% (see chart). They are projected to rise back above $50bn this year but will still remain well short of 2014 levels. It’s a similar story elsewhere in the GCC, with Saudi crude revenues falling a staggering $15...

Algeria Charts New Economic Direction. Is It Battling Against The Tide?

...blic debt increased,” said the IMF following the conclusion of its Article IV mission to Algeria on 20 March. Algeria’s trade deficit was a record $17.84bn in 2016 up from $17.01bn in 2015 and a surplus of $2.4bn in 2014. Of course the key variable here is the oil price (see chart, and table p5 for fu...