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Iraqi Parliament Seeks To Block NOC Appointments
...iticized the 2017 creation of Dhi Qar Oil Company (DQOC) . CAN INOC DELIVER? With Exxon heading to the exit, Baghdad may sooner or later have to step in and operate the 470,000 b/d WQ-1 field. But whether it has the capacity to manage this on top of the other fields, such as 250,000 b/d Majnoon, is an...
Volume: 64Issue: 28Published at Fri, 16 Jul 2021 -
Sparks Fly As Saudi-Emirati Economic Competition Intensifies
...aditionally held a clear dominance. In the UAE, Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc is planning to invest $122bn over 2021-2025, much of which is dedicated to expanding its crude oil production capacity from around 4mn b/d to 5mn b/d by 2030. Just five years ago, before the first Opec+ cuts came into force in 2017, the UAE wa...
Volume: 64Issue: 27Published at Fri, 09 Jul 2021 -
Gulfsands Bullish On Syria Return As Key Russian Investor Consolidates Position
...nserving cash for potential Syria re-entry. Whilst Gulfsands says it has had no control over and received no revenue from its Syria assets since 2011, it was informed by Syrian state firm GPC that the Block 26 fields, having produced intermittently since 2014, “returned to regular production in January 2017...
Volume: 64Issue: 23Published at Fri, 11 Jun 2021 -
Another One Bites The Dust: Shell To Quit Tunisian Upstream
...bruary 2017), nor did state-power firm Steg’s chronic inability to pay Shell for gas produced. As of end-2018 debt-ridden Steg owed Shell some $230mn. With the current dire state of the country’s finances (see p10), it is unlikely matters have improved since. Shell has previously tried and failed to se...
Volume: 64Issue: 18Published at Fri, 07 May 2021 -
Sunny Hill: No More Eggs, No More Basket
...layed – it was previously slated for 2017 start-up (MEES, 21 July 2017) – it was thought that Petrofac’s EPC contract had been progressing relatively smoothly, albeit with some potential pandemic-related delays. That Sonatrach is pursuing start-up just two months after the date of the original 48-month co...
Volume: 64Issue: 15Published at Fri, 16 Apr 2021 -
Marib Conflict Threatens Yemen’s Struggling Oil Sector
...llapsed to just 14,000 b/d in 2016. Green shoots then began to emerge, first in the eastern Masila Basin where state firm PetroMasila restarted oil production in 2016 (MEES, 15 September 2017). PetroMasila produces 40,000-50,000 b/d from Blocks 10 & 14, of which some 34,000 b/d was exported last year. Oi...
Volume: 64Issue: 12Published at Fri, 26 Mar 2021 -
Ex-Sonatrach CEO Held In Dubai Amid Refinery Probe
...rest warrant “against the main accused” in the ongoing corruption case surrounding Sonatrach’s December 2018 purchase of Italy’s 200,000 b/d Augusta refinery (MEES, 11 May 2018). “The main accused” was widely believed to be Ould Kaddour, who was Sonatrach CEO from 3 April 2017 to 23 April 2019 and le...
Volume: 64Issue: 12Published at Fri, 26 Mar 2021 -
Houthis Step Up Siege On Aramco Energy Infrastructure
...rt of a regional tour, during which he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. During the talks, Prince Faisal said that Riyadh will take “necessary deterrent measures to protect its national resources,” hinting that the kingdom could pursue its plans from 2017 to purchase Russian S-...
Volume: 64Issue: 10Published at Fri, 12 Mar 2021 -
Repsol & Shell Leave Morocco; Repsol Quits Iraqi Kurdistan
...as Covid hit) fuel Morocco’s two gas-fired power plants (MEES, 5 June 2020). The exit of Repsol and Shell leaves the only sizable players in Morocco as Eni, which has the shallow water Tarfaya permit off the south of the country (MEES, 22 December 2017), and ConocoPhillips which signed up for th...
Volume: 64Issue: 09Published at Fri, 05 Mar 2021 -
Egypt-Palestine-Qatar
...om Egypt and Qatar this week meeting in Kuwait to discuss the normalization of bilateral relations. Egypt in 2017 joined Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain in breaking off relations with Qatar. The three Gulf countries last month agreed to end the embargo and reestablish relations (MEES, 8 January). ...
Volume: 64Issue: 08Published at Fri, 26 Feb 2021 -
Iraq Struggles To Find Developers For Mansuriya Gas Field
...erating on a feedstock of diesel and heavy fuel oil. Iraq’s notorious practice of fuel switching due to gas shortages reduces efficiency and increases maintenance requirements (MEES, 12 February). In 2017, GE restored 90% of the power station’s generation capacity after large parts of the site had be...
Volume: 64Issue: 07Published at Fri, 19 Feb 2021 -
Libya’s Power Sector In A Race Against Time
...ka said last month it was “about to start construction” on two gas turbine power plants – 650MW Misrata and 690MW Tripoli West – worth a combined 1.3GW (MEES, 8 January). Enka’s partner on the projects, Siemens, will provide the turbines. At the time of the original award in 2017, Siemens costed th...
Volume: 64Issue: 05Published at Fri, 05 Feb 2021 -
Long-Running Qatar Embargo Ends With GCC Summit Agreement
...Three and a half years after it began, the embargo of Qatar is over as Saudi Arabia and its allies agreed to restore ties. The decision appears based on pragmatic economic calculations, with Saudi Arabia keen to attract foreign investment. But the scars from 2017’s actions mean that full re...
Volume: 64Issue: 01Published at Fri, 08 Jan 2021 -
Iraq’s Northern Oil Infrastructure Under Attack From Islamic State
...vember Kasak 10 Restarted in 2017 following IS damage Qayara 14 Restarted in 2017 following IS da...
Volume: 63Issue: 51Published at Fri, 18 Dec 2020 -
Russia Overtakes KRG As Israel’s Top Crude Supplier For 2020
...plying a record stockbuild given lackluster demand (MEES, 4 September) – imports fell back to 208,000 b/d last quarter according to data intelligence firm Kpler. That marked the lowest quarterly figure since Q4 2017’s 197,500 b/d. Israel has had considerable success in diversifying its import slate si...
Volume: 63Issue: 43Published at Fri, 23 Oct 2020 -
Turkey’s East Med Drilling Campaign: Politics By Other Means
...le in the wider region. The 2017 collapse of internationally-mediated talks in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana to unite ethnically divided Cyprus also provided a fig leaf for stepping up activity in Cyprus’ waters. LITTLE OFFSHORE EXPERIENCE Until its recent acquisitions of dr...
Volume: 63Issue: 41Published at Fri, 09 Oct 2020 -
Lebanon-Israel Talks
...d Russia’s Novatek still bid (and were awarded) Lebanon’s Block 9 in 2017 – though the French giant explicitly noted it wouldn’t drill within disputed waters (MEES, 16 February 2018). The first well is expected early next year following the consortium’s flop in Block 4 earlier this year (MEES, 1 Ma...
Volume: 63Issue: 40Published at Fri, 02 Oct 2020 -
Qatar Trade Patterns Three Years Into The Embargo
...plomatic relations with Qatar on 5 June 2017 and imposed an economic embargo that remains in place to this day. Qatar was forced to reshape its trade links in order to withstand the embargo (MEES, 9 June 2017) and three years later trade patterns have changed considerably. The situation has normalized to...
Volume: 63Issue: 37Published at Fri, 11 Sep 2020 -
Iraqi PM Courts Iran & Saudi Arabia
...udi Arabia’s influential Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has adopted a more nuanced approach to Iraq however, and has extended an olive branch to Baghdad in a bid to counter Iran’s influence (MEES, 1 September 2017). With Saudi Arabia far better placed than Iran to finance large-scale projects, th...
Volume: 63Issue: 30Published at Fri, 24 Jul 2020 -
Kuwait’s Ailing Emir
...gional level, Emir Sabah’s rule has been characterized by his active role as a mediator in local disputes. Perhaps the most pertinent recent example is his – so far unsuccessful – efforts to broker an agreement between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain since the start of the June 2017 embargo (ME...
Volume: 63Issue: 30Published at Fri, 24 Jul 2020