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Iraq’s Politicized 2018 Budget Aims To Slash Deficit
...om the revised 2017 budget. While current spending is set to decline only marginally in real terms (see table), parliament opted for a substantial 15.3% cut from $24.1bn in 2017 to $20.8bn in capital expenditures real terms a surprising decrease given the emphasis Baghdad is rightly placing on th...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Kuwait’s Overseas Downstream Expansion Stutters On Vietnam Refinery Delays
...nounced readiness for start-up operations, seven months after Kuwait despatched a 2mn-barrel crude cargo for the plant’s commissioning (MEES, 4 August 2017). No reason has been given for the further schedule slippage. Refinery manager Junzo Yamamoto announced on 28 February that “the project is now re...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Oman Taps Major Players For 500MW OPWP Solar Project
...cal firms (see table). OPWP revealed plans for a first utility-scale solar project in October 2016 (MEES, 21 October 2016). Encouraged by a string of record low bids for regional solar projects, OPWP announced in late December 2017 that the project would be a 500MW plant to be built 300km west of Mu...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Saudi: Major 2017 Oil Revenue Gains, But Non-Oil Disappoints
...Saudi Arabia strengthened its trade balance in 2017 with its surplus more than doubling to $95bn. Healthier oil prices more than offset lower export volumes, boosting export revenues, but the government’s efforts to invigorate the non-oil sector continue to fall flat. Saudi Arabia has be...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Saudi Arabia Starts Year Of Heavy Borrowing
...Saudi is gearing up for another year of heavy borrowing on the back of record 2016-17 fundraising (MEES, 29 September 2017) as it seeks to kickstart its economy. It’s starting with refinancing a $10bn international loan raised in 2016. The original loan, for five years, was Saudi Arabia’s fi...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Indian Crude Imports ('000 B/D): Iraq Overtakes Saudi For Top Supplier Spot, Iran And Oman Send Record Volumes
...INDIA’S TOP 3 CRUDE SUPPLIERS ('000 B/D): IRAQ HAS DECISIVELY OVERTAKEN SAUDI FOR TOP SPOT SINCE THE START OF 2017... SOURCE: INDIA CUSTOMS, MEES CALCULATIONS. …WITH 2/3 OF INDIA’S RECORD 4.32MN B/D IMPORTS COMING FROM MENA COUNTRIES ...
Volume: 61Issue: 10Published at Fri, 09 Mar 2018 -
Abadi Claims KRG Pipeline Deal As Trucking Plans Fade
...reement has been reached with northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export crude oil through the autonomous region’s 700,000 b/d pipeline to Turkey. This raises the prospect of an end to the shut-in of 280,000 b/d of Kirkuk crude (MEES, 20 October 2017). The minister announced the ag...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
KRG Eyes Major Support For Future Output Gains
...bil as it adopts a low profile there. Elsewhere, Chevron finally resumed drilling its Sarta license in late February and expects to announce results from the work in Q3. It had planned on drilling the license in late 2017 but withdrew personnel in the wake of October’s Kirkuk upheaval (MEES, 20 Oc...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Algeria Gas Set For Record 2018 With Start-Up Of Key Southwest Fields
...Algeria’s 2017 gas output was only just shy of record levels set the previous year. With the second of two key ‘Southwest Gas Project’ components starting up this week, the country can expect new records in 2018. The 24 February start-up of output at the Timimoun gas field makes it the se...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Saudi Military Shake Up
...hammad bin Salman was the man behind the orders. Since being appointed defense minister in 2015, Muhammad bin Salman has prompted the kingdom to adopt a more proactive role in the region, particularly toward rival Iran (MEES, 24 November 2017). But the recent shake up suggests unease with the current st...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Adnoc Signs Up Japan’s Jodco At Lower Zakum, But Major Absence Remains
...ncession (Adnoc 60%, Jodco 40%) produces around 30,000-40,000 b/d and unlike the legacy-Adma concession had been operated by the rival Zadco offshore concession until it merged with Adma in October to create Adnoc Offshore (MEES, 30 October 2017). The new deal finalized the increase of Inpex’s Umm al-Dalkh st...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Iran: Gulf Star Ramp-Up Hikes Gasoline Output In Face Of Rising Consumption
...oject at Bandar Abbas. PGS-1, where construction began in 2007, was slowed by a lack of funds during sanctions. Despite this, PGS was touted as a strategic project, vital to ending Iran’s reliance on gasoline imports. When PGS-1 started up in April 2017, its naphtha reformer was not operating, so na...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Saudi Pushes On With Nuclear Plans Despite US Concern
...dioactive waste management (MEES, 28 July 2017). With US President Donald Trump wanting to boost the chances of US firms, particularly Westinghouse, securing nuclear contracts in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh’s plan to exploit its own uranium resources could create an entry barrier. While Saudi Arabia has signed th...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Global LNG Trade Hits New Records. More To Come?
...Not only did 2017 see global LNG trade hit new records, but January 2018 saw new monthly highs. Shell’s latest ‘LNG Outlook’ suggests that new records are in store. The three East Asian countries which are by far the top three global LNG importers – Japan, China and South Korea – im...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Noble East Med Plans Gather Pace
...% (%) TAMAR POSTS QUARTERLY RECORDS IN 2017 (MN CFD) SOURCE: NOBLE, DELEK. ROOM TO GROW Beyond the contracted volumes, Noble says it believes there is “substantial remaining opportunity in both the regional export market and within Israel.” Israel is prioritizing gas usage in po...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Mubadala US Petchems JV
...ganizations were merged under the Mubadala name in early 2017. Expansion of its already complex links with OMV forms a key part of Abu Dhabi’s petchems plans. State petroleum firm Adnoc and Borealis are partners in the 60:40 Borouge JV, operating three polyolefins plants with a combined capacity of 4....
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Middle East Adjusts To Trump’s Foreign Aid Game
...nual hike to the already sizable assistance the US provides to Amman. Jordan is the most aid-dependent country in the Middle East, with foreign grants comprising about 10% of budgeted revenues this year (MEES, 1 December 2017), and the US is Jordan’s single biggest donor. Israel, the region’s se...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Growing Saudi’s Non-Oil Economy: A Mirage In The Desert?
...tervention Centre, which is working on the revamp, overall implementation of the NTP is still planned for 2020 but some targets will be pushed back to 2025 and 2030. Completion of the revamped NTP known as “NTP 2.0” was scheduled for the end of October 2017 according to the same document but has yet to ma...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Spain 2017 Gas Imports (Bcm)*: Algeria Down 9% At 16.9bcm, Below 50% Of Total For First Time In 5 Years
...*ORIGINAL DATA IN GWH. CONVERTED AT 1GWH =90,000m³ (STANDARD IEA CONVERSION FOR SPAIN DATA). ^CHANGES EXPRESSED ON A PERCENTAGE POINTS BASIS. SOURCE: CORES, IEA, MEES CALCULATIONS. SPANISH GAS IMPORTS FROM ALGERIA (BCM): STILL THE DOMINANT SUPPLIER BUT VOLUMES, AT 16.9BCM FOR 2017...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018 -
Italy 2017 Crude Imports ('000 B/D): Iran More Than Triples Volumes To 7-Year High, Kuwait Supplies Record 73,000 B/D (And 100,000 B/D For Q4), Libya Rebounds To 4-Year-High, Mideast Supplies Record 41.3%
...*CHANGES EXPRESSED ON A PERCENTAGE POINT BASIS. SOURCE: ITALY CUSTOMS DATA, MEES CALCULATIONS. ITALY’S TOP 8 CRUDE SUPPLIERS ('000 B/D): RESURGENT IRAN FALLS JUST SHORT OF AZERBAIJAN AS #1 SUPPLIER WITH 7-YEAR HIGH OF 352,000 B/D IN NOV 2017 ITALY CRUDE IMPORTS BY...
Volume: 61Issue: 09Published at Fri, 02 Mar 2018