1. QP Announces Aggressive Upscaling Of LNG Expansion Project

    ...ld MEES in 2017 that “the winner in this business is the one which can remain the lowest cost producer…we are the lowest cost producer” (MEES, 8 December 2017). When it comes to the expansion, Mr Kaabi is adamant that “you have to make sure that you are going to be efficient in your construction, an...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 48
    Published at Fri, 29 Nov 2019
  2. Kuwait Oil Exports: China Dominant, While Vietnam Rises

    ...rea’s imports of Kuwaiti oil are already on track to fall to a four-year low of 411,000 b/d in 2019, while No.4 buyer India is heading for a three-year low of 209,000 b/d. Taiwan volumes are also in decline and are neck-and-neck with the 2017-level (see chart). Kuwaiti crude and condensate exports ha...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 48
    Published at Thu, 28 Nov 2019
  3. Algerian Gas Exports Set For Quarter-Century Low

    ...derlying declines at aging fields. Even though three projects in the southwest with a combined 9.2bcm capacity have come online since 2017, Algeria has recorded output declines in each of the following years. And while the long-delayed 4.5bcm Touat project led by London-based Neptune Energy finally started up...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 47
    Published at Fri, 22 Nov 2019
  4. Bab Expansion Plans Grow

    ...Adnoc is investing $489mn to further expand its key onshore Bab field to 485,000 b/d. Work was already underway through a 2017 contract to expand the field from 420,000 b/d to 450,000 b/d by next year (MEES, 17 November 2017). The EPC contract for the latest expansion was awarded to Gr...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 46
    Published at Fri, 15 Nov 2019
  5. Oman Offshore Ambitions Creep Forward

    ...illing next year will be in Oman, the first deep offshore drilling in Oman, so it’s quite important,” he says. “That is most likely gas or gas/condensate, and we are drilling only seven months after the acquisition [closed], which is a big achievement.”  Eni acquired Block 52 operatorship in 2017 (ME...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 46
    Published at Fri, 15 Nov 2019
  6. Iran Digs Deep With Massive Heavy Oil Find

    ...elds including Darquain, Mansuri, Sepehr, Ab Teymour, Jufeyr and Susangerd (see map). Several of these fields in the ‘West Karun’ region bordering Iraq were among those that Iran sought to offer up to foreign investors in 2017 (MEES, 23 June 2017). Indeed the ‘new’ field appears to at least in pa...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 46
    Published at Fri, 15 Nov 2019
  7. Iraq: Lukoil Not Happy

    ...lt in recent weeks. The West Qurna-2 expansion is not the only Lukoil project under threat. Lukoil also operates Block 10 (60%, 40% Japan’s Inpex) where it has been looking to develop its 2017 2.5bn barrel-plus Eridu discovery (MEES, 3 March 2017). The find was dubbed Iraq’s “largest in decades”: Ir...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 46
    Published at Fri, 15 Nov 2019
  8. Iraqi Kurdistan Closes In On 500,000 B/D Oil Production

    ...late 2017 (MEES, 20 October 2017), Iraqi Kurdistan’s tempestuous oil sector is poised to once more produce 500,000 b/d as foreign firms continue to invest in the region (see chart). By the end of the year, MEES expects output to exceed 490,000 b/d, with 500,000 b/d breached in early 2020. Ov...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 45
    Published at Fri, 08 Nov 2019
  9. Egypt Oil Output Target Slips Further From Reach

    ...Egypt’s oil output fell to a two and a half year low of 619,000 b/d for September with output from the country’s oil heartland Western Desert also slipping to its lowest level since April 2017. Egypt’s target of reaching oil output of 690,000 b/d by June next year appears to be slipping fu...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 45
    Published at Fri, 08 Nov 2019
  10. Eni Hit By Zohr Output Cap, Repeats Call For LNG Restart

    ...rprising if the Rome-based firm had not been involved. Meanwhile, EGAS’ freshly released 2018-19 report flags up an “MoU with Toyota to study the way to implement LNG bunkering project in Egypt.” France’s Total also has Egypt LNG ambitions having acquired 5% of ELNG (10% of Train 1) in its 2017 pu...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 44
    Published at Fri, 01 Nov 2019
  11. Mauritania Sees ‘2019’s Largest’ Deepwater Find With 13tcf Orca

    ...smos says. True, though 2017 wells targeting oil, and ‘outboard’ (further offshore) prospects flopped (MEES, 15 December 2017). US independent Kosmos (28%) partners BP (62%) on each of the major’s four Mauritanian deepwater blocks. Indeed, it was Kosmos that made the key initial discoveries, in...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 44
    Published at Fri, 01 Nov 2019
  12. Israel Offshore Awards: Small Firms, Smaller Commitments

    ...e ministry to attract bigger names to its offshore after 2017’s previous bidding flop (MEES, 15 December 2017). Then, just six of the 24 much smaller blocks on offer were awarded, with Energean taking five. The Greek firm has yet to undertake any exploration on the acreage. Energean’s key focus is...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 44
    Published at Fri, 01 Nov 2019
  13. KRG: DNO Tawke Output Down Again

    ...gion’s oil sector. And whilst the 2017 start-up of the 52,000 b/d Peskhabir field has provided a boost, in recent months it has failed to offset losses at the eponymous Tawke field which saw output dip to 67,800 b/d in Q3 – down from 83,400 b/d in 3Q 2018 and 107,000 b/d in 3Q 2017. DNO expects to ex...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 44
    Published at Fri, 01 Nov 2019
  14. Yemen: Second State Firm Restarts Production

    ...n’t the first firm to restart production following the start of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign in early 2015: state firm PetroMasila resumed production at Blocks 10 & 14 further east in 2016 where it currently produces around 40,000-50,000 b/d (MEES, 15 September 2017). Volumes are exported from the As...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 42
    Published at Fri, 18 Oct 2019
  15. Algeria’s New Hydrocarbons Law: One Step Forward

    ...terly failed in bringing outside investment to sustain output – never mind increase it. Algeria’s last four bid rounds saw a measly 13 blocks awarded from an offered 67 (MEES, 20 October 2017). North Africa Risk Consulting’s Geoff Porter says even if the law was to pass in its current form “Al...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 42
    Published at Fri, 18 Oct 2019
  16. Qatar Petroleum Finalizes Idd al-Sharghi Takeover

    ...ES, 16 March 2018). QP partners France’s Total at Al Khalij and Al Shaheen, with the contracts restructured in 2014 and 2017 respectively. KEY QATAR OIL INFRASTRUCTURE   QATAR MARINE GOING EAST            Idd al-Sharghi’s 100,000 b/d capacity is by far the largest contributor to th...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 11 Oct 2019
  17. Iran Presses On With South Pars Development Despite CNPC Pullout

    ...velopment of Iran’s South Pars gas field (see map). The $4.8bn July 2017 contract was highly touted as the first major post-sanctions award to foreign firms (MEES, 7 July 2017). But, unfortunately for Tehran, it failed to spur further awards and ultimately has come to naught thanks to the return of sa...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 11 Oct 2019
  18. South Pars Oil Field: No Takers

    ...ich is operated by a 70:30 JV of Qatar Petroleum and Total. South Pars crude is heavy at 21° API and production started in 2017 (MEES, 24 March 2017) with capacity currently around 35,000 b/d. Denmark’s Maersk, which operated Al Shaheen until 2017, had been keen to take on the project prior to its ta...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 11 Oct 2019
  19. NOC Eyes Russian Firms’ Return

    ...king a full return, however. Tatneft was awarded eight exploration blocks (Areas 69, 82 & 98) in Libya in 2005 and 2007 (MEES, 28 July 2017, see map). It struck oil several times, but was forced to exit in 2011 as it was preparing for a fresh drilling campaign. It has been one of the few co...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 11 Oct 2019
  20. Eni, Shell & OMV In Tunisia: Will They Stay Or Will They Go?

    ...oblem at Baraka has brought combined output at the fields down to a measly 1mn cfd from around 13mn cfd in early 2017. The two fields have lots of potential and would have fared much better “if they were managed better. The reserves are there,” the source says. Though Eni is Tunisia’s top oil pr...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 04 Oct 2019