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The Plan: Boost SMEs; The Reality: Boost The State Payroll
...rld Bank’s annual ‘Doing Business’ rankings in 2013 pegged Tunisia at a reasonably-respectable fifty-first place, just ahead of Spain. But Tunisia has fallen in the rankings every year since – to #88, in the latest rankings issued in November 2017, just behind Bosnia and Zambia (though ahead of Saudi Ar...
Volume: 61Issue: 03Published at Fri, 19 Jan 2018 -
Iran: After The Turmoil Will It Address Its Domestic Problems?
...ly 2015 and the subsequent lifting of the bulk of sanctions in January 2016. But hopes that this would end Iran’s isolation and usher in much-needed foreign investment have been largely dashed. Oil export revenue has risen from $27.3bn in 2015 to $59.4bn in 2017, with crude/condensate exports ne...
Volume: 61Issue: 03Published at Fri, 19 Jan 2018 -
Libya: New Year, Same Output Wobbles
...ior to the explosion, with output having doubled in the second half of 2017 (MEES, 1 December 2017). The Es Sider terminal, along with those at Brega and Zueitina, was closed between 21-25 December due to bad weather, but exports were not affected. No explanation has been given for the explosion, th...
Volume: 61Issue: 02Published at Fri, 12 Jan 2018 -
Eni Drills Offshore Cyprus In Spite Of Turkey Threats
...reunify the island collapsed in July (MEES, 14 July 2017). Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, in a 29 December statement, says it “is determined to protect both its own rights and interests in its continental shelf and to continue its support to the Turkish Cypriot side.” Ankara has even th...
Volume: 61Issue: 01Published at Fri, 05 Jan 2018 -
Regional Powers Face Off In Post-Islamic State Vacuum
...Iraq and Syria have declared victory over IS. As the smoke clears they face the monumental task of rebuilding, while regional powers face off in their territories. In 2017, Iraq and Syria retook almost all of the 100,000km² formerly held by Islamic State (IS). Between the Russian-ba...
Volume: 60Issue: 51/52Published at Fri, 22 Dec 2017 -
Division In The Gulf: Is There Any Way Back For GCC Unity In 2018?
...Battle lines have been drawn in the GCC. Saudi, the UAE and Bahrain are aligned firmly against Qatar, with Kuwait and Oman remaining neutral. A return to pre-June 2017 normality looks unlikely. The dream of GCC unity will wither further in 2018. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ex...
Volume: 60Issue: 51/52Published at Fri, 22 Dec 2017 -
World Bank Oil Funding Ban To Hit Egypt Hard
...t to be finalized, with a previous target date of June 2017 having come and gone. The project’s reliance on multilaterals and western state lenders could make it vulnerable to moves against funding oil and gas projects. Multilateral lending, including from MIGA, was instrumental in getting Eg...
Volume: 60Issue: 50Published at Fri, 15 Dec 2017 -
Six Months Of Solitude: Qatar Crisis Threatens Future Of GCC
...aken at first, appears to have largely stabilized. With much of its imports previously sourced from, or transshipped via, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, it has had to swiftly secure new import routes. Monthly imports were relatively flat at around $9bn in the first half of 2017, but plunged to $5.9bn in Ju...
Volume: 60Issue: 49Published at Fri, 08 Dec 2017 -
Libya’s Waha Ramps Up Output To 260,000 b/d But Challenges Lie Ahead
...s 159,000 b/d in 2013, down from 270,000 b/d in 2009 and 282,000 b/d in 2010. 1: LIBYA WAHA CONSORTIUM CRUDE OUTPUT (‘000 B/D) *21 NOV. SOURCE: CONOCO, MARATHON, HESS, MEES CALCULATIONS. 2: LIBYA’S NOC FALLING SHORT OF LATE 2017 1.25MN B/D TARGET ('000 B/D) ^MABRUK OU...
Volume: 60Issue: 48Published at Fri, 01 Dec 2017 -
Lebanon Resignation Fiasco Highlights Limitations Of Saudi Iran Strategy
...isis” emerged in June 2017 when Saudi Arabia and its coalition issued a 13-point ultimatum and called on Qatar to cease its support of terrorist groups. The subsequent embargo is now in its sixth month, but Qatari exports have edged up (MEES, November 24). Seemingly cognizant that its strategy of re...
Volume: 60Issue: 47Published at Fri, 24 Nov 2017 -
Iraq Dreams Of Economic Normality With Draft 2018 Budget
...ficit is $9.9bn. Likewise, the $21.2bn deficit implied by the August revision to this year’s budget is based on an oil price assumption ($44.4/B) that now also looks highly conservative. Plug in the actual $47.3/B achieved for Iraqi crude exports in the first 10 months of 2017 and the deficit sh...
Volume: 60Issue: 46Published at Fri, 17 Nov 2017 -
Kuwaiti Government Resigns As Political Dysfunction Grows
...ve months of the current financial year (April-August 2017) imply that capital spending is on track to fall well short of the budgeted amount. The budget calls for $11.2bn capital spending, but Kuwait is on track to spend just $7.7bn. Prospects of a surge in the second half of the year are reduced by th...
Volume: 60Issue: 44Published at Fri, 03 Nov 2017 -
Iraq’s Kirkuk Deployment Reshapes KRG’s Oil Sector
...sesses the situation. KRG’S LOST KIRKUK OUTPUT NEARLY HALVES PRODUCTION ('000 B/D) *CURRENT OUTPUT. ^OPERATED BY IRAQ’S NORTH OIL COMPANY SINCE 16 OCTOBER 2017. SOURCE, MNR, COMPANY STATEMENTS, MEES. PREPAYMENT OBLIGATIONS ADD COMPLEXITY Unless the KRG opts to slash already low re...
Volume: 60Issue: 42Published at Fri, 20 Oct 2017 -
On Iran, Trump Opts for Uncertainty
...the first five months of the current fiscal year (from 21 March), which itself is insufficient (MEES, 20 October). EU CRUDE SALES PROVIDE ESSENTIAL RELIEF Iranian crude sales have risen around 15% in 2017 according to the government’s submissions to the Riyadh-based Jodi institute. Crude ex...
Volume: 60Issue: 42Published at Fri, 20 Oct 2017 -
KRG: Russian Oil Firms Ensure Kremlin’s Tacit Support
...cure more than 80,000 b/d of crude to send through a re-opened Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. And as that crude can currently find its way to market via the Kurdish pipeline, is it worth the expense? Iraq’s economy is in rough shape and on track for a 2017 budget deficit in excess of $20bn (MEES, 8 Se...
Volume: 60Issue: 41Published at Fri, 13 Oct 2017 -
KRG’s Troubled Waters
...0 B/D) 2017* vs 2016* 2014 2015 Tawke 111.0 3....
Volume: 60Issue: 39Published at Fri, 29 Sep 2017 -
Assad Looks To Rebuild As Syria War Enters Final Act
...maged by IS rockets launched during the Palmyra offensive in early 2017. Small-scale production of 35mn cfd at Ebla resumed this month: Mr Ghanem optimistically claims this will ramp up to 75% of pre-war production, 66mn cfd, by 2018. Gas production is crucial to meeting Syria’s domestic power de...
Volume: 60Issue: 39Published at Fri, 29 Sep 2017 -
Algeria To Step On The Gas: Max Revenue For Minimal Spend Amid Opec Constraints
...ficials in Algeria said that in theory cuts to production could be shared between all the country’s oil producers (MEES, 17 February). But operational reports for the first two quarters of 2017 from Algeria’s foreign partners make no mention of official requests to limit output. Rather, the in...
Volume: 60Issue: 37Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2017 -
Iraq: Minister Luaibi Tightens Grip On Oil Sector
...rchasing the June 2017 cargo at a $0.31/B premium to the official selling price (OSP). It then established the Lima joint venture with Litasco – trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil – in May to trade 2mn barrels per month of Basra Light (MEES, 26 May). The possibility of a new Basra Medium grade was also floated by...
Volume: 60Issue: 37Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2017 -
Qatar’s Economy Proves Resilient As Embargo Enters Fourth Month
...e causing delays and additional expense, but nothing that looks likely to prompt Qatar to alter course (MEES, 7 July). Qatar’s economy is proving resilient and the IMF still sees the budget deficit easing considerably from 2016. In a 30 August statement, the IMF projected that Qatar’s 2017 de...
Volume: 60Issue: 36Published at Fri, 08 Sep 2017