1. Algeria Prepares Oil & Gas Bid Round

    ...asons (MEES, 20 October 2017). US firms such as ExxonMobil and Chevron have shown interest in recent years but nothing concrete has been signed so far. Occidental has also hinted at potential shale gas projects. “As a large American company with state-of-the-art shale capabilities we think we have a lo...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 44
    Published at Fri, 04 Nov 2022
  2. Karish Start-Up Increases Israel Gas Competition

    ...mpany that was forced to sell a 50% stake in its Energean Israel operations to private equity firm Kerogen Capital for just $50mn in 2017 to help fund operations (MEES, 17 February 2017).  ENERGEAN KEY ISRAEL OFFSHORE ACREAGE & ASSETS...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 43
    Published at Fri, 28 Oct 2022
  3. Sarsang Expansion Facility Starts Up

    ...r this year (see chart). The new facility will be the first significant new capacity addition since the Atrush field, where Shamaran is also present, came online in 2017. While the Genel-operated Sarta came online in late 2020, results have been disappointing (MEES, 13 May) and output averaged ju...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 43
    Published at Fri, 28 Oct 2022
  4. Hayan Abdulghani Appointed Iraq’s Oil Minister

    ...tired in 2020. He was previously the chairman of Basrah Gas Company (BGC) and director general of South Gas Company (SGC). Mr Abdulghani was appointed director general of SGC in 2017, switching from his previous role as director general of Basrah Oil Company (BOC), which oversees Iraq’s largest oil fi...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 43
    Published at Fri, 28 Oct 2022
  5. Europe Turns To Middle East For Replacement Gasoil Supplies

    ...rope’s imports from the region (including re-exports from Egypt’s Sidi Kerir) jumped by 131,000 b/d to 559,000 b/d in September. This is the highest figure in Kpler data stretching back to January 2017, topping the previous record of 541,000 b/d set in October 2021. But it is still far from su...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 42
    Published at Fri, 21 Oct 2022
  6. Sabic: Jubail MEG Start-Up

    ...bsidiary. United (Sabic 75%, Public Pension Agency 15%, General Organization for Social Insurance 10%) awarded Korea’s Samsung Engineering a $700mn contract for construction of the 700,000 t/y MEG plant in December 2017 with completion initially scheduled for 2020 (MEES, 5 January 2018). The facility was fl...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 42
    Published at Fri, 21 Oct 2022
  7. Egypt Taps Russian Oil, Israeli Gas To Keep LNG Exports Flowing

    ...wer plants in a bid to maximize gas available for LNG exports at record global spot prices (MEES, 23 September). Having been at just 20,000 b/d for much of 2020 and 2021, fuel oil burn is now running at the highest level since 2017 with August’s 119,000 b/d only marginally down on July’s four year mo...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 42
    Published at Fri, 21 Oct 2022
  8. One Year After Elections, Iraq Finally Gets PM Nominee

    ...tober 2017). While Mr Sudani’s links to Mr Maliki may point to difficulties on the horizon, he has also served as Chairman of the Energy Committee of the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council. This could bode well for Iraq’s previous efforts to attract Saudi energy investment (MEES, 22 July). WHAT NE...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 14 Oct 2022
  9. Inpex Mulls Exit From Iraq’s Eridu

    ...ctor firm. The partners estimate the field has 7-12bn barrels of oil in place, of which more than 400mn is recoverable with estimated potential output of 250,000 b/d. Attempts to move the field to development have dragged since its discovery in February 2017, though the ministry confirmed late last ye...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 07 Oct 2022
  10. Opec+ Considers Further Cuts Amid Softening Market

    ...ventories remain severely depleted. The IEA says that despite a 43.1mn barrel rise in July, OECD commercial oil inventories remained 274.9mn barrels below the 2017-21 five-year average which Opec+ long cited as the target range. A period of restocking would be welcomed by most observers. The IEA cu...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 30 Sep 2022
  11. Oman Oil: Production Up, Exports Down

    ...NSTRAINED             It is the sultanate’s success in developing gas plays in recent years that has resulted in soaring condensate output. The start-up of BP’s 1bn cfd Khazzan tight gas project in 2017 was a game-changing development and the second phase 500mn cfd Ghazeer play came online in October 2020 providing an...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 23 Sep 2022
  12. Shell’s Incoming CEO Set To Oversee Streamlined Mena Growth

    ...rely 300,000 b/d by 2017 before dropping sharply to just 252,000 b/d in 2018 as Shell exited its Iraq holdings in frustration over payment delays and slim margins (MEES, 23 March 2018). That left Shell with sizeable equity production from just Oman, Qatar and the Egypt holdings it acquired with its 20...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 23 Sep 2022
  13. Saudi Oil Burn Dips From Record High

    ...After hitting an all-time high in June, Saudi oil burn dropped by 170,000 b/d in July (see data, p18). While a July drop is unusual, the 1.31mn b/d monthly average was still the second highest July figure on record – behind only 2017’s 1.39mn b/d. Oil burn peaks during the summer when surging de...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 23 Sep 2022
  14. UK Considers Israel Embassy Move to Jerusalem

    ...ptember during a meeting at the United Nations. Any such move is likely to draw widespread criticism, especially from the Palestinian Authority, which also heavily criticized Mr Trump’s 2017 decision. It also risks further entrenching tensions with the current US administration and EU states....

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 38
    Published at Fri, 23 Sep 2022
  15. Shamaran Secures Sarsang Stake As Total Exits Kurdistan

    ...rdistan for the second time – the Sarsang stake was acquired via its 2017 purchase of Denmark’s Maersk – was originally announced in July 2021 (MEES, 16 July 2021). Shamaran said at the time that “the Acquisition is highly accretive and transformative to Shamaran as it grows from a single asset company to...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 37
    Published at Fri, 16 Sep 2022
  16. Iran Eyes Local Firms For Downstream Boost

    ...OEC), said on 30 August that “physical progress” had reached 95% at the 210,000 b/d CDU and 100,000 b/d VDU units. The project is financed by a 2017 Sinosure $1.3bn credit line (MEES, 10 February 2017), and Chinese state firm Sinopec has been involved. NIORDC expects the upgrade to be finalised this mo...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 36
    Published at Fri, 09 Sep 2022
  17. Oman Oil Exports Revenues Hit New Record

    ...the 2017 expansion of its Sohar refinery to 197,000 b/d in 2017 (MEES, 11 February 2017). Products export revenues more than doubled in May to $680mn. While this was just a fraction of crude export revenues, it smashed the previous record of $360mn.The planned Q1 startup of the 230,000 b/d Duqm re...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 35
    Published at Fri, 02 Sep 2022
  18. Tunisia’s Oil & Gas Output Falls Amid IOC Disinterest

    ...thout considering the firm’s limited technical capabilities. For Shell, the exit has been a long-time coming. It has only reluctantly operated in Tunisia since being landed with Miskar and Hadsrubal through its 2016 takeover of BG Group. It tried and failed to sell the assets for $500mn in 2017 (ME...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 26 Aug 2022
  19. Anbar Power Plants To Build Case For Akkas Gas?

    ...lamic State terrorist group and was only re-captured in 2017 by government forces. But the price was the extensive destruction of the facility. The Ministry awarded another $82mn for reconstruction work which has been led by a local Iraqi contractor since at least 2020. The plant’s first 125MW unit wa...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 34
    Published at Fri, 26 Aug 2022
  20. Aramco’s Overseas Downstream Expansion: Much More To Come

    ...vestments “We’re looking at highly integrated complexes that have more than 50% liquid to chemical [conversion rate].” One such investment that was struck back in 2017 but has suffered repeated delays is the Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical (PRefChem) JV with Petronas, which operates a 300,000 b/d co...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 33
    Published at Fri, 19 Aug 2022