Output Slump, Revenue Slump

...le state in the northeast has also dropped, from about 220,000 b/d in November 2013 to an average of 150,000 b/d for 2015 and just 120,000 b/d for 2016 and 2017 (see chart). The collapse in global oil prices from mid-2014 compounded the woes. CRUDE ‘DIVERSIONS’ SINCE 2Q 2015 HAVE LAGGED EVEN ON...

Saudi Oil For Sudan

...dan and Saudi Arabia, which backed the lifting of key US sanctions against Sudan in October (MEES, 13 October 2017). Riyadh’s ambassador to Khartoum, Ali Hasan Ja’far, said on 6 May that the kingdom plans to sign several defense and economic cooperation agreements with Sudan involving “unlimited Saudi in...

Oman: Khazzan Boosts LNG Exports To Record Levels

...Oman’s LNG exports hit a four-year high in 2017. Since then the 1bn cfd Khazzan field has hit full capacity. With domestic demand lagging, 2018 may see Oman fill up its 10.4mn t/y export capacity for the first time ever. Two years ago, Oman’s LNG sector looked in trouble: output had tu...

PDO To Invest $5bn/Y To Maintain Its ‘Difficult’ Fields

...tential oil and gas capex savings. This would be a 29% cut from 2017’s $5.8bn spend, reflecting Oman’s stretched finances (MEES, 23 March). PDO is a joint venture grouping Oman (60%), Shell (34%), Total (4%) and Partex (2%). It operates Oman’s massive 90,874km² Block 6. This produced 650,663 b/d last ye...

Cyprus Exploration: Crunch Period Nears

...15. 11 Jan13 Total 50%op, Eni 50% July ‘17 well hit sub-commercial gas. Eni farm-in March 2017...

Damietta Restart Key To Zohr Exports-Eni

...G under a deal struck that year between Shell and Egyptian state firm EGPC. For 2017 the plant exported 12 cargoes totaling 780,000 tons, according to the recently-released 2017 report of LNG importers group Giignl. India was top customer with three cargoes (190,000 t); Kuwait and Japan took two ea...

Abu Dhabi Offshore: Dust Settled

...t out expansion in the Gulf as a key element of its expansion plan to 2025. The other key target country is Iran. The $1.5bn is a sizeable commitment for OMV, who already has a presence in Abu Dhabi through its interest in downstream JV Borouge (MEES, 17 November 2017).  ZAKUM: INPEX ‘ASSET LE...

Saudi Crude Exports To Key Customers (‘000 B/D)

...Q1 SAW SAUDI ARABIA’S CRUDE SHIPMENTS TO THE US REBOUND SOMEWHAT FROM THE 30-YEAR LOWS HIT IN 2H 2017...   ...JAPAN, WHICH OVERTOOK THE US FOR #1 IN 2015, EXTENDED ITS LEAD LAST YEAR. CHINA VOLUMES EDGED UP... SOURCE: OFFICIAL IMPORT STATISTICS, JODI, ME...

KRG: Foreign Firms Press On Amidst Uncertainty

...rlier (the vast bulk is from the KRG which accounted for 96% of 2017 output, MEES, 23 February). “We have the wind on our back…With higher oil prices [and] timely export payments in Kurdistan,” DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani says. DNO plans to hike KRG spending by 50% to $250mn for 20...

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Under Fire As KPI Eyes Indian Refinery

...ly appointed minister in December, having previously been chief executive of KPI (MEES, 15 December 2017). Among accusations against Mr Rashidi are claims he caused losses of hundreds of millions of dollars through delays in starting up the Vietnamese refinery. State news agency Kuna said this we...

Sabic and Exxon Kick Off US Petchems JV

...rm Kiewit, the other Taiwan’s CTCI and US firm McDermott. Sabic costs the project at $7.3bn, of which its 50% share will be financed through both internal and via external funding. The firm’s 2017 earnings were $4.9bn (MEES, 27 April). Initial engineering and construction work is scheduled to be...

Saudi Renewable Plans Thrown Into Confusion By SoftBank Power Play

...ar had agreed to invest $45bn with SoftBank (MEES, 26 May 2017), informed state utility Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) that it would partner with SoftBank to create the 2030 solar plan. However, SEC said only that PIF and SoftBank planned to launch a 3GW solar project in the kingdom in 2018. Pr...

Algeria Slashes Oil & Gas Investment

...Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach is finally having to learn to live within its reduced means. Key oil and gas figures for 2017, released by Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour, CEO of state firm Sonatrach on 2 May, indicate that the company, which dominates the country’s upstream slashed capex by 8....

Egypt: $4bn Kuwait Relief

...tober 2017). This will afford Cairo some breathing space regarding its debt relief. With the $6bn from Egypt’s key Gulf backers rolled over, Cairo is now slated to repay $13bn to foreign creditors by the end of 2018, Mr Amir says.  The three creditor states rushed to rescue Egypt in 2013 with ma...

Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)

...18 Q4 2017 Q3 2017 2018 (>3May) 2017 2016 2015 WT...

Iran Oil Shipments To Asia At 1.59mn B/D For Q1 2018 Are Down On 2016 And 2017 Average Volumes (‘000 B/D)

Iraq Bid Round Flatters To Deceive

...bstantially larger with 2017 gross output of around 80,000 boe/d, of which 80-90% was gas. UEG’s production is all in Pakistan, after acquiring BP Pakistan’s assets for $775mn in 2011. Output has increased under UEG, from around 35,000 boe/d under BP (10,000 b/d oil, 200mn cfd gas). ...

New ADNOC Trading Unit

...erations.” Adnoc plans to hike refining capacity by 60% to 1.44mn b/d by 2025, while in petrochemicals the aim is to more than triple capacity to 14.4mn tons/year by 2025 (MEES, 1 December 2017). “We aim to capture more value further along the value chain,” says Mr Jaber. “Our goal is to become a major gl...

Iraq’s Southern Infrastructure Constraints Take Their Toll On Export Capacity

...e Jordanian port of Aqaba, with a spur to Jordan’s 70,000 b/d Zarqa refinery (MEES, 3 November 2017). Mr Shatari confirmed the “project is still in place and of course we will go with it. We have to have another outlet for our crude oil and not depend entirely on the Gulf area and Ceyhan.” The 1m...

Waha: Total Says Done & Dusted, Libya Thinks Otherwise

...November 2017). Whilst there has been little recent talk of the Waha partners coming under similar pressure, it would have been surprising if Marathon had been allowed to transfer these privileged terms to another firm without this catching NOC’s eye. “The terms of the concession did not ch...