1. Qatar Signs 10-Year Naphtha Deal With Marubeni

    ...wnstream investments leading to the inauguration of Qatar’s first three export trains in 1996 (MEES, 28 July 2017). However, the contract for Qatargas 1 expired in January 2022, with Marubeni losing its stakes in the project. More recently Marubeni has invested in regional renewable energy projects. Th...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 29 Sep 2023
  2. Egypt Independent Cheiron Eyes Regional & Local Expansion

    ...CUS        Cheiron’s local expansion beyond the Gulf of Suez legacy area started in 2017 with the purchase of a 50% (later increased to 80%) share in the Western Desert’s North Bahariya concession and the purchase of French firm Engie’s West El Burullus project in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean, no...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 22 Sep 2023
  3. Oman Gas Networks: Expansion In The Pipeline

    ...derway or planned projects to expand the capacity of pipelines to meet existing and upcoming gas-fed projects along the sultanate’s coast. Oman’s gas sector took off in 2017 with the startup of the BP-operated Khazzan tight gas field, with the second phase Ghazeer development boosting capacity to 2bn cf...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 22 Sep 2023
  4. Shell Spuds Key Mauritania Wildcat

    ...scovery, the Chinguetti field which produced from 2006 to 2017. Shell entered Mauritania when it signed up for the C10 permit in 2018 (MEES, 27 July 2018), and in February signed up for a second permit, C2. QatarEnergy farmed in for a 40% stake in March (MEES, 7 April), whilst state firm SMH retains it...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 22 Sep 2023
  5. Germany’s Covestro Confirms Adnoc Takeover Talks

    ...quisitions. In 2017 it launched an aggressive $109bn downstream investment strategy, within which it set a target of more than tripling petrochemicals capacity to 14.4mn t/y by 2025 (MEES, 1 December 2017). While Adnoc has not outlined any new target figure, it is clear that the firm is pushing to go far be...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2023
  6. Oman’s OQ In $1.4bn Upstream Sell-Off

    ...en highly active at Block 60 in recent years. Output increased by 12,000 b/d year-on-year to a record 61,000 b/d for 1H 2023. The gains were driven by the Bisat oil field which was first discovered in 2017 and now has production capacity of 60,000 b/d (MEES, 27 January). Conversely, gas was down from 35...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2023
  7. Eni Spuds Key Morocco Wildcat

    ...ast (see map).   MOROCCO GAS EXPLORATION & INFRASTRUCTURE       Though the well, spudded by the Topaz Driller jackup in 100ms water depth, is the first since the block was awarded to Eni in 2017, both Portugal’s Galp and UK independent Cairn drilled nearby wells la...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2023
  8. Sonatrach Cuts Flaring As New Processing Plant Starts Up

    ...ripheral fields is perhaps 300,000 b/d.   Plans to bolster output have taken two forms: the tie-in of peripheral fields, and increased use of advanced recovery. HGA ticks both boxes. The plant, delivered by India’s Dodsal under a $1.08bn 2017 EPC contract, processes output from several satellite fi...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 15 Sep 2023
  9. Iran’s Oil Exports At Post-Sanctions Record

    ...NDENSATE. ^SEIZED CARGOS. ^^MOSTLY TO CHINA SINCE 2018. SOURCE: KPLER (2017-18), UANI (2019>), MEES.   Unlike in the pre-sanctions era, Iran is overwhelmingly reliant on China for its exports, to the tune of 85% in volume terms for 8M 2023 and likely substantially more in revenue terms given that ca...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 36
    Published at Fri, 08 Sep 2023
  10. RAK Strikes Gas At Block 5

    ...ocessed volumes from Saleh. Khor Khwair has also previously processed gas from Oman’s nearby Bukha and West Bukha fields, until the sultanate commissioned its Musandam gas processing plant in 2017. Khor Khwair has also processed volumes from the nearby Umm al-Quwain gas field, where Norwell Engineering la...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 36
    Published at Fri, 08 Sep 2023
  11. Kuwait Steps Up Offshore Exploration With Arrival Of Second Drilling Rig

    ...ploration work was a 3D seismic survey of the Kuwait Bay area which was completed in 2017. RETURN OF THE RIGS      It is notable that the Oriental Phoenix’s first well was drilled on the eastern flank of Kuwaiti waters close to the undemarkated border with Iran. For one thing, this location is di...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 01 Sep 2023
  12. Oman LNG Close To Sold Out With New OQ & Shell Sales Deals

    ...tlook for Oman’s LNG exports was in doubt amid rising domestic gas demand and an uncertain production outlook. The 2017 startup of the Khazzan tight gas development changed all this, with capacity from Khazzan and the second-phase Ghazeer now standing at 2bn cfd. The successful project encouraged IOCs to...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 01 Sep 2023
  13. Lebanon Hooked On Diesel Imports Amid Financial Crisis

    ...shington earlier this year for “importing tainted fuel, causing significant harm to Lebanese power plants.”   Interestingly, between 2017 and 2020 Lebanon’s fuel oil shipments originated mainly from the United States followed by several European countries including Belgium, Netherlands, and Spain. Ga...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 01 Sep 2023
  14. Saudi Aramco Gas Output Leaps In Q2

    ...elds) and the more modest 75mn cfd Midyan plant in 2017. In order to be better able to meet domestic demand during peak periods, Aramco has also commissioned the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage facility. Aramco injects gas into the facility during low-demand periods, and once fully operational it...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2023
  15. Oxy Hits Payday In Oman

    ...US independent Occidental (Oxy) is optimistic about the prospects at its Block 65 asset in northern Oman. Oxy was awarded Block 65 in Oman’s 2017 licensing round (MEES, 21 December 2018), with the asset lying in a crescent of acreage being developed by the firm running across the north of the su...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 32
    Published at Fri, 11 Aug 2023
  16. Egypt Braces For Prolonged Power Cuts

    ...ypt’s Electricity Ministry. Fuel oil imports though increased before that, rising to 237,000 tons (1.57mn barrels) for the week beginning 17 July, the highest in Kpler data going back to 2017. This coincided with the beginning of the power cuts. Last year Egypt ramped-up fuel oil burn, as it ma...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 31
    Published at Fri, 04 Aug 2023
  17. KRG Begins Baghdad Mandated Crude Supplies

    ...mplex in Erbil. The 60,000 b/d ‘Nineveh refinery’ portion of the refining complex is typically contracted by the ministry of oil to refine Kirkuk crude produced by North Oil Company (NOC), as part of an arrangement first agreed in 2017 (MEES, 24 February 2017). The remaining 90,000-100,000 b/d ‘KAR-1’ an...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2023
  18. Al Zour Emerges As Qatar’s VLSFO Supplier Of Choice

    ...th the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 regulation.” Qatar had earlier been forced to quickly develop its bunkering capabilities following the start of the embargo imposed on it by neighboring states between June 2017 and January 2021, with Qatari vessels prohibited from calling at Fu...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2023
  19. Egypt Blackouts Led By Heatwave, Gas Shortages

    ...capacity installed in 2018 key to transforming Egypt’s fortunes (MEES, 27 July 2018). These plants were brought online as Cairo’s own gas output was undergoing a resurgence thanks to the December 2017 start-up of the giant 21.5tcf Eni-operated Zohr gas field. Zohr supplies enabled Egypt to ha...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2023
  20. Kuwait’s Four Year Government Program Gets Little Support

    ...d 2021/22 (to 31 March 2022), but since September 2017 the government has been unable to raise debt to finance these deficits as parliament has repeatedly blocked the passage of a debt law allowing state borrowing. MPs have largely cited their opposition to the law by saying that instead of bo...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 30
    Published at Fri, 28 Jul 2023