Egypt’s Economy & Energy Sector Reel From Covid-19

...w for April (see chart, p7).  With the power sector accounting for 55% of Egypt’s gas consumption, and industrial activity also down, it is no surprise that overall gas use is also at the lowest level since 2016 (see chart 3). From a chronic gas shortage for 2014-17, Egypt rapidly switched to...

Saudi Arabia Oil & Gas Rig Count*: Gas Drilling Slashed In June, Rigs Down 10 To 41, Lowest Since October 2014. Oil Rigs See Minimal Rebound, Up One To 54

Ecomar Thinks Big After Fujairah Refinery Start-Up

...ly 2014). “The concept was changed,” says Mr Shaddick. “We currently process a mixture of Arab Heavy and Arab Light crudes [from Saudi Arabia], which are relatively low in sulfur among regional crudes. We are looking to add a coker and desulfurization units in the near future as part of our ex...

Oman Feels The Pain As Export Revenues Plummet

...onomic outlook. A succession of six sizeable annual deficits since the 2014 price crash has gradually pushed-up Oman’s debt levels, and another substantial rise this year seems inescapable (see chart 2). Current spending jumped in 2011 as Oman sought to ride out ‘Arab Spring’ protests through higher pu...

IEA Backs Saudi Arabia To Lead Mena Gas Supply Push

...anned start-up date of 2014 (MEES, 12 October 2012) and is currently due online this year. Recent delays have been down to problems with the offshore pipeline. As for Iran, despite being subject to stringent US sanctions, it is still advancing the development of its South Pars gas field. Mohammad Me...

Petro Rabigh Adds Hydrotreater

...nthly Jodi data. Saudi refinery throughputs for April were 1.84mn b/d, their lowest level since the 1.81mn b/d processed in November 2014 (see chart). Saudi refinery operations in 2020 had earlier been impacted by a mid-January to end-February shutdown of 440,000 b/d Satorp refinery at Jubail, a jo...

Iraq Fights For Survival Amid Growing Pressure To Slash Oil Output

...the 6 June meeting, is for Baghdad to reduce crude output month-by-month in order to produce under its quota in August-September to make up for May-July overproduction. This would ultimately bring Iraqi output to 3-3.5mn b/d, its lowest since 2014. Needless-to-say such a scenario is difficult to im...

Syria’s Block 26 Continues To Pump As UK’s Gulfsands Waits On Standby

...lfsands’ Block 26 was one of Syria’s most promising oil assets when the war erupted in 2011, forcing the UK minnow (and every other western firm) to declare force majeure and halt operations. The firm still retains 50% of the block, with Chinese state firm Sinochem holding the other half. But since 2014 wh...

Saudi Oil Exports Back On Top

...udi figure was the lowest since 4Q 2014, and was primarily due to a steep drop in exports of refined products (MEES, 22 May).  But Saudi Arabia surged back ahead of the US in April as it ramped up crude output to record levels amid its short-lived price war with Russia. Official data is not yet av...

US Data: Record Stocks, Record Cuts, Which Way From Here?

...om services firm Baker Hughes (see chart 1). The overall US oil rig count of 222 is the lowest since 2009 with the 72.3% year-on-year collapse the highest on record.   *Indicative of leaner drilling operations in the latest boom versus the years to 2014 is that March’s record 4.80mn b/d Pe...

Italy Imports At Record Low As Covid Hits But Iraq Bucks The Trend

...Italy’s crude imports fell to just 1.05mn b/d for February, the lowest figure since 2014 as the country became the first European nation to get battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Italy is not only an important oil consumer in its own right, it is but also the location of several key re...

Energy Investment: Oil And Gas Bear The Brunt Of Unprecedented Cuts

...vestment, the sharp drop-off in investment could have profound ramifications down the line. Since the crisis struck, IOCs have sought to emphasize that they are in much better shape to handle this downturn than the previous oil price fall in 2014. That fall led to significant belt-tightening and ef...

Saudi Arabia Looks To Expand Iraq Footprint

...ntract, does not make sense” – adding that the Saudi media could have possibly misinterpreted the comments made my Mr Allawi. Nonetheless, Akkas remains a major bone of contention. Iraq’s oil ministry continues to urge Kogas to return to the field, where the Koreans declared force majeure in 2014 as Is...

Oil Investment Collapse Risks Future Shortfall-IEA

...pes out the modest increases in spending since the 2016 nadir, it leaves expected 2020 spending at a mere 42% of 2014’s peak outlay. And this is in nominal terms – in real terms the fall is much larger. *Unlike the 2015-16 spending slump, when the effect of capex cuts was mitigated by falling up...

Mena Renewables Projects Tap Chinese Funding

...tensibly multilateral identity, the Silk Road Fund is intimately linked to President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt & Road Initiative which is intended to promote Chinese investment, and with it influence, across a swathe of the planet, including the Gulf region. Founded in December 2014, Silk Road Fund cash co...

Neutral Zone Set To Close Again

...It was a brief run, but having started producing in February for the first time since 2014 the Khafji field is once again being shut-in. Located in the Neutral Zone (PNZ) where output is split 50:50 between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, an agreement reached in late 2019 saw output restart, with th...

Apache ‘Excited’ By Egypt Despite Output Plunge

...8). 1: EGYPT OIL OUTPUT FELL TO A 38-YEAR LOW OF 608,000 B/D FOR MARCH ('000 B/D)   2: APACHE GROSS EGYPT OUTPUT IS AT A 10-YEAR LOW BUT THE US FIRM HOPES A WELL-STOCKED INVENTORY WILL SEE A REBOUND   3: APACHE HIKES EGYPT CAPEX, BUT STILL JUST 40% OF 2014 LEVELS *IN...

Cepsa’s Upstream Shift Hampered By Algeria Output Slump

...e Adoc concession which it entered in 2014 (MEES, 14 November 2014) as well as the Sarb/Umm Lulu stake. But though Sarb/Umm Lulu did provide a boost to Cepsa’s net output for 2019, underlying decline in the rest of its upstream portfolio – southeast Asia, Latin America, and above all Algeria – me...

On Iraq Power, And Power Politics: MEES Interview with Luay al-Khatteeb

...proving supply efficiency from certain stations, and adding new units and power stations. Additionally, we added significant capacity to the transmission lines and extended the distribution system in the liberated areas – so for the first time since the 2014 Daesh [Islamic State] insurgency we have ma...

Egypt Lines Up Ammonia Project

...st of $10.9bn. The project, conceived when Egypt’s gas resources were increasingly overstretched, is intended to process 4mn t/y of imported naphtha (MEES, 4 April 2014). Financing remains incomplete despite EPC work being awarded in mid-2018 (MEES, 14 December 2018).  ...