Shamaran Plans EPFs at KRG

...rathon’s 15% stake to boost its share to 35.1%. The KRG holds the remaining 25%. Production began in July 2017 and while capacity is 30,000 b/d the closest it has come was 27,000 b/d in January. Since then output has been hampered by technical problems and fell to around 12,000 b/d in April before bo...

Noble Completes Tamar Farm-Down

...rel for $450mn in July 2017 before setting up Tamar Petroleum as a vehicle to sell off additional stakes (MEES, 30 June 2017). The largest single shareholder is now privately-owned Israeli firm Isramco with 28.75% though Noble, with 25%, remains operator (see chart). NOBLE COMPLIES WITH RE...

Saudi Steps Up Spending In Bid To Boost Economy

...lf of 2018 that will see the budget deficit nearly quadruple from 1H 2018. Nevertheless, the expected $39.5bn deficit announced in revised Ministry of Finance figures is still considerably less than 2017’s $63.6bn. Government figures show that the kingdom accrued a deficit of $11.1bn in the first ha...

Libya Oil Output Boosted By Sirte Basin Rebound

...oduction share of 8.16%. The firm did not break down production into oil and gas, but reported an increase in its share of output from Libya to an average 12,000 boe/d in Q3, up from 6,000 boe/d in Q2 2017. Hess reported average output for the first nine months of the year of 7,000 boe/d, which implies ov...

Medco Announces $180mn Impairment On Libya’s Area 47

...Indonesia’s Medco Energi Internasional suffered impairment losses of $180.2mn on its Area 47 acreage in the Ghadames basin in Libya in 2016, the firm announced in its H1 2017 results published in late September, but it doesn’t appear to have written off the asset. The firm also reported a 20...

Kuwait Urges Gulf Unity as Qatar Exports Rise Despite Embargo

...hrain and Egypt to isolate Qatar in order to force it to accede to their demands. Qatar’s export revenues totaled $16.5bn in Q3, the highest quarterly figure since Q4 2015. Full-year 2017 revenues are on track to hit $65bn, up 13% on 2016. However, this would still be more than $10bn less than in 20...

China 3Q17 LNG Imports (Mn Tons): Qatar On Course To Post 3-Year High In 2017 But Still Less Than Half Of Australia

Oman Eyes Crude, Condensate Revenue Boost As Refinery Undergoes Maintenance

...tober). Production of crude and condensate has averaged 969,000 b/d in the first nine months of 2017, down 3.4%, and bang in line with Oman’s obligations. Exports meanwhile have averaged 805,000 b/d, down a hefty 8.1% year-on-year. 1: OMAN OIL* OUTPUT & EXPORTS (‘000 B/D): EXPORT VOLUMES SINK IN 2017, BU...

Iraqi Crude Burn Levels Slump As Iranian Gas Imports Displace Liquids

...nsistently posting moderate year-on-year increases in crude burn volumes, indicating that full year volumes would be up on last year’s 169,000 b/d average. But absent a surge in the final four months of the year, they are on track to average 160,000 b/d in 2017. Iraq’s power plants have also been burning si...

Opec Members Maneuvering For Advantage In Key Asian Export Markets

...eas. Exports to the US initially held up in 2017, but the intense scrutiny afforded to US figures has seen Opec increasingly cut there, to boost oil prices. Saudi Arabia and Iraq are the two largest Opec suppliers of crude oil to the US. Provisional weekly figures from the US government’s EIA shows cr...

Middle East Remains Important Segment In Services Firms’ Portfolio

...art of the year, Schlumberger proclaimed the industry had “reached bottom of the cycle” (MEES, 28 April) but profits so far in 2017 for services firms have been slow in appearing. Schlumberger and Halliburton posted profits of $580mn and $360mn respectively in Q3, but that is a far cry from the multi-bi...

Saudi Calls For Dreamers To Radically Reshape Economy

...s funding is derived from external sources, would leave a big gap in the kingdom’s finances. The kingdom is on track for a $40.7bn deficit in 2017 alone. But perhaps the more serious challenge to Vision 2030 is the willingness of the average Saudi citizens to alter their way of life and culture in...

Bahrain’s Nogaholding Raises $1bn

...18. With the plunge on oil prices since mid-2014 Bahrain is increasingly facing financial pressure to balance its fiscal deficit which is projected to hit $7.1bn in its two-year budget for 2017-18. The oil price assumption for the two years is $55/B, which looks feasible. But the government says it ne...

Crude Official Selling Prices ($/B)

...*VS ICE BRENT FROM JULY 2017 PREVIOUSLY VS BWAVE....

Iraq Continues IOC Investment Hunt, But Commitments Remain Out of Reach

...mestic demand is steadily marching upwards. Demand for gasoline and diesel alone is up 17% year-on-year through the first eight months of 2017, and the liberation of swathes of territory from Mosul will see this accelerate. The integrated Nasiriya project has also garnered interest from the Pe...

Algeria Plans New Hydrocarbons Law: Will Investors Bite?

...e licensing regime could help, or it could end up being yet another fig leaf for the institutional shortcomings of Algeria’s economic policy. ALGERIA’S FALLING CRUDE OUTPUT (MN B/D) *JAN-SEP 2017. SOURCE: MEES ESTIMATES.   FAILING LICENSING REGIME Algeria’s current hy...

Asian LNG Buying Up 13% In 2017, Chinese Imports Soar 44%

...llective purchases by Japan, South Korea, China, India and Taiwan are up 13.1% or 14.7mn tons year-on-year to 126.7mn tons for January-August 2017 (see chart). This puts volumes on track to smash 2016’s record 175.1mn tons (MEES, 10 March), which in turn accounted for fully two-thirds of the 263.6mn tons of...

Korea LNGImports: Volumes Leap 20% For Jan-Sep 2017 With Australia The Key Beneficiary

...*INCLUDES RE-IMPORTS. SOURCE: KOREA CUSTOMS SERVICE, MEES CALCULATIONS.   KOREA’S TOP FIVE LNG SUPPLIERS (MN TONS): QATAR STILL THE UNDISPUTED MARKET LEADER FOR JAN-SEP 2017 BUT AUSTRALIA CLOSING IN...

Newly Streamlined Adnoc Targets EOR Expertise For Offshore Fields

...er the first nine months of 2017 against last year. By contrast, Japan is taking more volumes from its number one supplier Saudi Arabia so far this year. India is the UAE’s second largest customer, and has increased its takings this year. Liftings of Emirati crude are up around 10% year-on-year an...

Aramco Targets 12GW Powergen Capacity By 2020, Seeks Supply License

...0 Expansion projects Oil, gas-fired 84 Added 2017: Turaif Wind turbine 3 Total Op...