Saudi Speciality Petchems Transformation Focuses On Aromatics

...omatics/Propylene:   2,200     Paraxylene Satorp, Jubail 700 2014...

Iran Starts Work On 1GW Zanjan Plant

...xt five years. Zanjan Electricity Company head Ali Chehlamirani says the area’s demand peaked at 580MW in summer 2014, of which 73% was consumed in the industrial and agricultural sectors. New plants in Zanjan province are part of a Ministry of Energy plan to add 30GW of generating capacity na...

Saudi Arabia Takes On Oil Market Bears

...om the previous month’s forecast, based on expectations of slower global economic growth for both this and next year. This would represent growth of only 700,000 b/d for 2014, rising to 1.1mn b/d in 2015. Non-OPEC supply growth next year is estimated at 1.2mn b/d. This in turn has cut the call or de...

Abu Dhabi Boosts Offshore Output As Umm Lulu Comes Online

...January 2015. ADMA-OPCO crude production (’000 B/D) 2014-2020 ADMA-OPCO Additions (‘000 B/D) State-owned ADNOC, which now has 100% ownership of ADCO, is more manager than decider. The final decision lies with the SPC, which is headed by UAE President Shaikh Khalifa bin Za...

IMF Downgrades MENA, Global 2014-15 Growth Projections

...REGIONAL The IMF has downgraded its projections for global growth this year and next. The MENA region, hit by war, instability, and falling oil prices, sees the biggest downgrade of all. Real GDP growth in the MENA region is projected at 2.6% in 2014 and 3.8% in 2015, a downgrade 0.5 an...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     16-Oct 6-10 Oct 29 Sep - 3 Oct Sep-14 Aug-14 Q3 2014 Q2 2014 20...

Iraq Running Out Of Time To Implement Gas Strategy

...vernment but that are now in limbo along with the 2014 state budget. Iraq*: Gas Output Rises With Oil But Infrastructure Fails To Keep Pace   ISIS Impedes Gas Projects While Iraq estimates its natural gas reserves at 112 tcf, much of the country is still unexplored, particularly in the we...

Lebanon Bid Round Stuck In Neutral

...LEBANON Lebanon’s first offshore oil and gas bid round will eventually proceed, though the country’s deadlocked politics will force further delays – likely deep into 2015. Lebanon’s Ministry of Energy and Water has postponed its flagship event of 2014, the Lebanon International Pe...

MENA Active Drilling Rigs, September 2014.*

Egypt Bags More Aid Amid Gaping Budget Deficit

...just over $39bn (see table). As a percentage of GDP the figure is also down from a sky-high 13.7% for 2012-13. For the current July 2014-June 2015 financial year Egypt is budgeting for a further fall in the deficit to E£240bn ($33.7bn), down around 14% in real terms. The Finance Ministry sa...

Algeria Stares Deficit In The Face

...ALGERIA Algeria’s trade surplus in the first eight months of 2014 has fallen by 20.4% to $4.67bn from $5.87bn in the corresponding period of 2013, official customs statistics show. In 2013 the trade surplus fell to $11.1bn from $21.49bn in 2012. As recently as February the IMF pr...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     9-Oct 29 Sep - 3 Oct 22 - 26 Sep Sep-14 Aug-14 Q3 2014 Q2 2014 20...

Payment Problems, And Solutions

...tstanding debt in December 2013 but despite this its debt pile grew by $1.4bn in the first half of 2014. LNG exporters BG Group and Eni-led Union Fenosa have seen their profitability in Egypt collapse as the government forced them to divert their gas output to the domestic market. However, according to...

Algeria Bid Round Flatters To Deceive

...at is to say 34.3% overall) and be operator at Tinhert Nord, with Enel taking up the rest; the stakes are reversed at Msari Akabli. Algeria: Blocks On Offer In 2014 Bid Round No Progress The bid round was launched with much fanfare in January, and Alnaft reached out to IOCs with a se...

Iran Gas Balance To Get Worse Before It (Hopefully) Gets Better

...lumes to Iran,” he said. Mr Araqi added that current imports from Turkmenistan are running at 12mn cmd. This figure implies 4.4 bcm/year, a figure slightly down on actual 2013 imports of 4.7 bcm, although factoring in the upcoming pre-winter hike likely means that overall 2014 volumes will exceed those fo...

New Japan LNG Exchange May Prove Disruptive In Key Qatari Market

...45 9.18 6.24 6.85 9.45 10.26 10.60 Source: IEA Natural Gas Information 2014. Widening Premium: Average Japan Vs Eu Lng Import Prices ($/Mn Btu)...

Gulf Refinery Expansions Mean 1mn B/D Products Exports From 2015

...oject are due to take Gulf refining capacity from 6.88mn b/d at the end of 2012 to 8.76mn b/d in 2020, a hike of 1.88mn b/d. Taking typical regional run rates (once plants have fully ramped up) of 85% and MEES estimates of domestic demand (based on actual figures to July 2014, current trends and kn...

Egypt Eyes 2016 Start For 650MW Suez Plant

...w of 4.6bn cfd in July 2014 (see graph, MEES, 26 September). EEHC estimates Egypt’s electricity generating capacity at 30.8GW. Besides the Suez project, new capacity is also coming from the 1.95GW South Helwan thermal plant, under construction for startup in 2018. This will require 420mn cfd of ga...

Saudi Arabia Sees $90/B Oil As Price Floor

...oser to the organization’s forecasted ‘call on OPEC,’ which it recently revised down to 29.45mn b/d for 2014 and 29.2mn b/d for 2015 (MEES, 12 September). These forecasts are both down 160,000 b/d from those made by OPEC a month earlier. The more telling number is the expected quarterly decline in de...

Airstrikes Hit Syria’s Murky Wartime Oil And Gas Sector

...oduction levels are difficult to verify as they are based on hearsay and speculation, extrapolation of limited data and best-guesses. Mr Asad’s government most recently said that regime-controlled areas produced 17,000 b/d in the first half of 2014, just 4.4% of 385,000 b/d prewar output. Meanwhile, IS re...