1. Libya’s New PM Faces Old Problems

    ...ime Minister since the 2011 overthrow of Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi. The vote was immediately contested, but seems likely to stand. Mr Maiteeq, a businessman from Libya’s third largest city Misrata, gave a televised speech the following day, in which he pledged to “improve state control and sovereignty, re...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 19
    Published at Fri, 09 May 2014
  2. Egypt: A Revolution Undone

    ...EGYPT   Egypt: A Revolution Undone   This week’s mass death sentences against political opponents have made it obvious that the army has reversed the course set by the 2011 revolution. But the military leadership has inherited the problems that ended Mubarak’s rule, and it is cr...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 18
    Published at Fri, 02 May 2014
  3. Syria: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

    ...test the waters, and could resort to larger shipments in future. Syria’s revolution started in March 2011 with mainly peaceful demonstrations. Army deserters established the moderate Free Syrian Army, a grouping of militias that remains splintered. Islamist militias followed. Both the Free Sy...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 17
    Published at Fri, 25 Apr 2014
  4. MENA Countries Hike Defense Spending For 2013

    ...stern Anbar province bordering Syria. Bahrain has beefed up arms purchases since mass protests by its marginalized Shi’a majority were suppressed with the help of its GCC neighbors in 2011.Oman’s military spending fell 27% in 2013, although this comes on the back of a more than doubling in spending be...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 16
    Published at Fri, 18 Apr 2014
  5. Libya Taps ‘Emergency’ Power Units

    ...stalled and commissioned, six weeks after sites were confirmed in December. Two further units are expected to be operational by the end of March. All are dual fuel turbines, able to run on natural gas or diesel. Before Libya’s 2011 overthrow of former dictator Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi, the country had in...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 13
    Published at Fri, 28 Mar 2014
  6. Iran Nuclear Talks Resume In Shadow Of Rising Crude Exports

    ...d condensate have been on a downward trajectory since early 2012. US sanctions targeting third-party imports of Iranian crude came into effect in late 2011 and EU sanctions from July 2012. For 2013, sales of Iranian crude oil and condensate averaged 1.12mn b/d, down 30% from 1.59mn b/d in 2012; and 56...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 12
    Published at Fri, 21 Mar 2014
  7. Israel Attacks Gaza

    ...ccession as unrest spreads across the region in 2011. Parliament says that it will not hold the vote if the government expels Israel’s ambassador. ...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 11
    Published at Fri, 14 Mar 2014
  8. Domestic Upheavals Challenge Oil Industry In Iraq, Libya

    ...IRAQ/LIBYA   Domestic Upheavals Challenge Oil Industry In Iraq, Libya   Moves to less centralized structures, both planned and unplanned, in Iraq since the 2003 invasion and in Libya since Qadhafi’s 2011 ouster have left the oil industry in both countries in uncharted te...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 11
    Published at Fri, 14 Mar 2014
  9. Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain Pull Doha Ambassadors

    ...ani, who took over from his father last year and is still trying to find his feet on shaky Arab ground, still unsettled since the start of the wave of revolutions that swept across North Africa in 2011. Doha’s growing support for the Muslim Brotherhood since he took over as head of the leading gas pr...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 10
    Published at Fri, 07 Mar 2014
  10. Egypt’s Wheels Of Change Keep Spinning

    ...EGYPT   Egypt’s Wheels Of Change Keep Spinning   Three years after the Arab Spring, Egyptian politics remain in a state of flux.   The 2011 Arab Spring introduced a new road map for Arab revolutions, as millions took to the streets calling for the overthrow of Pr...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 10
    Published at Fri, 07 Mar 2014
  11. Egypt: Motivation Behind Government Resignation Unclear

    ...pitalize on the popular notion that a strong leader is needed to restore order after the chaotic years following the 2011 revolution. Many Egyptians are weary of the uncertainty and economic stagnation that has been the hallmark of the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Keen to be seen as serving the county’s in...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 09
    Published at Fri, 28 Feb 2014
  12. Iran Talks: Caution Urged Despite ‘Good Start’

    ...chnically, Iran is allowed to maintain its crude oil exports at “current levels” of around 1mn b/d, and no more. Iran’s crude oil exports have nosedived under the weight of US and EU sanctions, averaging just over 1.1mn b/d in 2013. This represents a 54% drop in shipments relative to 2011, before the la...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 08
    Published at Fri, 21 Feb 2014
  13. Syria Oil Sector In Chaos As War Barrels On

    ...SYRIA   Syria Oil Sector In Chaos As War Barrels On   Production from government-controlled areas of Syria has fallen to just 14,000 b/d, from 385,000 b/d at the beginning of the crisis in 2011, Syria’s Oil Minister Sulaiman al-‘Abbas says, with the oil ministry “depending on th...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 08
    Published at Fri, 21 Feb 2014
  14. Yemen Shows IOCs The Exit As Contract Deadlines Approach

    ...rd on the street is that no one gets an extension. Ever.” Up for renewals are Blocks 5, 10 and 53, which together account for close to half of the country’s current crude oil production – estimated at close to 170,000 b/d. This is down from around 180,000 b/d in 2012, 220,000 b/d in 2011 and a 20...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 08
    Published at Fri, 21 Feb 2014
  15. Enigmas Of The Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant

    ...inly an Iraqi group until its entry into the Syrian conflict. While ISIL was established following the 2003 US occupation of Iraq, it was able to spread quickly and forcefully within the Iraqi Sunni community, spreading its influence in eight provinces, including Baghdad. The 2011 Arab Spring has pr...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 07
    Published at Fri, 14 Feb 2014
  16. New Kuwait Inquiry Targets GDF Suez, Sumitomo Deal

    ...osecutor, where the case has sat unresolved since 2011. Yet the man who led the charge against the Shell deal, ‘Ali Salih al-‘Umair, was recently appointed Minister of Oil. The al-Zour IWPP is not alone in the latest round of parliamentary scrutiny: also targeted is a $4.4bn deal to purchase 25 new Ai...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 06
    Published at Fri, 07 Feb 2014
  17. Force Majeure A Reminder Of Risks For Energy Producers In Egypt

    ...wn the impact of the Arab Spring upheaval on business, even as the amount of outstanding receivables continued to grow. Gas Pipeline Bombed, Again But while oil and gas production sites have remained unaffected by the violence that has periodically engulfed Egypt’s main cities since 2011 (th...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 05
    Published at Fri, 31 Jan 2014
  18. Libya: Situation Normal, All Falling Apart

    ...my is no match for the plethora of militia groups that effectively control the country. These include radical Islamists that have made their presence noticed by fighting government forces in Benghazi. The militias’ unchecked rule has led to the unlawful incarceration of thousands of Libyans since the 2011...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 24 Jan 2014
  19. Sudan’s Upstream Banking On Repeat Business

    ...SUDAN   Sudan’s Upstream Banking On Repeat Business   Sudan is looking to drum up interest in its stalled upstream, close to three years after losing the majority of its oil producing assets due to South Sudan’s independence in July 2011: since the South’s secession production ha...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 24 Jan 2014
  20. Egypt: Sisi In The Wings As Arab Spring Challenges Remain Center Stage

    ...re voting for a new constitution, the third in three years. Since the demonstrations in Tahrir Square ushered in the end of Husni Mubarak in February 2011 the country has been in turmoil, and its population has repeatedly been asked to choose or legitimize a successor regime. With no improvements to...

    Volume: 57
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 17 Jan 2014