Cyprus: Eni Plans September Drilling, CNOOC Eyes Aphrodite Stake

...orouk Offshore, awarded last year (MEES, 19 April 2013). Total last year completed a 3D seismic survey on Block 11 and kicked off a 2D survey on Block 10 in February 2014. Cyprus Offshore Blocks...

Saudi Leads Capacity Expansion But Mideast Runs Slide-BP

...SAUDI ARABIA Middle East refiners raised their combined crude distillation capacity by 567,000 b/d or 6.9% in 2013 to 8.822mn b/d, according to the BP Statistical Review 2014. The largest increment, of 400,000 b/d, was in Saudi Arabia, taking the kingdom’s total throughput capacity to 2....

Oman Seeks 2.6GW Capacity For MIS Grid

...S peak electricity demand is expected to hit 93% of installed capacity in 2016, before the 2.6GW of new capacity can be brought online. While a 2GW gas-fired IPP at Sur is due to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2014, OPWP is looking to extend existing power purchase agreements due to expire by...

Massive Us Growth Balances Mideast Instability, But For How Long?

...erstate the degree to which the North American supply boom has, since its onset, consistently defied expectations,” the IEA says in its 2014 Medium-Term Oil Market Report, also released this week. “US and Canadian production for 2013 is 330,000 b/d greater than had been expected last year, 420,000 b/d gr...

MENA Oil & Gas: Key Production/Consumption Numbers From BP’s 2014 Statistical Review

Yemen Oil Minister Replaced As Fuel Crisis Deepens

...mage. Latest figures from the Ministry of Oil and Minerals suggest attacks on the pipeline have cost the country in the region of $400mn in lost oil export revenues in the first quarter of 2014. The situation is expected to improve in the immediate term at least with Yemen’s National Oil Company th...

Libya: Budget ‘Approved’ But More Cuts Likely

...LIBYA Libya’s caretaker government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni now considers the 2014 Libyan budget as having been “legally approved by the General National Congress (GNC).” Following a meeting on 10 June, the government issued a statement explaining that, in its own in...

Morocco €1Bn Bond

...indexation), while extending social support to the most vulnerable of the population. In January 2014, the authorities removed subsidies on gasoline and industrial fuel and reduced the per-unit subsidy of diesel, and announced further reductions for the remainder of the year. Total subsidies in...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...OIL PRICES     19 Jun 9-13 Jun 2-6 Jun May-14 Apr-14 Q1 2014 Q4 2013 2013 20...

Cumulative Energy Supply Investment, IEA New Policies Scenario, 2014-35

Jihadist Advance Threatens Key Iraq Oil Facilities

...ibi also asserted, more confidently, that Iraq’s southern oil fields and export terminals were safe from attack. 2014 Target Revised Down Even before the recent turmoil, Iraq had decided to lower its 2014 oil export target as a result of the protracted dispute with the KRG to an average 3m...

IEA: Middle East Gas Output Set For Strong Growth But Outpaced By Demand

...REGIONAL The Middle East will be one of the fastest growing regions globally for gas production over the five years to 2019, according to the IEA. But growth will struggle to keep pace with runaway regional demand. The IEA’s 2014 Medium Term Gas Report, released this week, revises up...

IEA Sees $735Bn Investment In Evolving LNG Market Through 2035

...oject anywhere in the world which cannot pass this test needs to be reexamined or postponed.” Market Outlook The gas market will see gradual changes through 2035, as high costs will make some projects unviable from investor, as well as buyer perspective. The IEA’s Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2014...

Renewables: Turkey, UAE Make Progress But MENA Investment Lags

...REGIONAL/TURKEY/UAE Turkey and the UAE made their mark on the global renewables scene last year, according to Paris-based global renewable energy think-tank REN21. The agency’s Renewables 2014 Global Status Report says Turkey added the second largest amount of geothermal generating ca...

OPEC Stays The Course As Iraq Storm Brews

...rld economic growth, in particular supply/demand projections for the second half of the year, as well as the outlook for 2015 “noting that the relative steadiness of prices during 2014 to date is an indication that the market is adequately supplied, with the periodic price fluctuations being more of a re...

Saudi Rise Boosts May OPEC Total

...low, Libya is capable of raising production by “not less than 500,000 b/d” within a week. 2014 West African Output On The wane (Mn B/d) OPEC Well-Head Production (Mn B/D, Mees Estimates)   May ‘14 Apr ‘14 May vs...

Nigerian Minister Surprises With Bid For OPEC Top Job

...OPEC The first OPEC ministerial meeting of 2014 was expected to be a humdrum affair. A rollover of the 30mn b/d group ceiling had been flagged several weeks earlier by Saudi Arabia’s Ali Naimi – minister of the producer club’s most powerful member. The Saudi minister had declared hi...

Saudi Arabia Ponders Creation Of ‘National Reserve Fund’

...the medium term, while Saudi government spending continues to rise. The IMF has recently warned that the fiscal surplus is not sustainable and could decline further in 2014, with government spending, leading to a budget deficit in the next few years. Therefore the IMF stresses that it was im...

Sisi Lays Out Egypt’s Economic Challenges

...0,000)/year, to be implemented for a three-year period starting 2014-15 (year beginning 1 July 2014). The 5% tax will also now apply to some companies; initially officials said companies were to be exempt.  Mahlab To Form New Government In a bid to maintain economic continuity Mr Sisi has re-ap...

Jordan Plans $1Bn Bond

...reign grants to reduce its budget deficit. It expects to receive JD1,151mn ($1,623mn) in foreign grants in 2014, up from JD982mn ($1,385mn) in 2013 (MEES, 21 March). Gas Shortage Jordan’s fiscal situation worsened after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which led to a disruption in Egyptian gas su...