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Kuwait’s Ailing Emir
...bah. But both have been tarnished by their rivalry and appear out of the running (MEES, 4 July 2014). More recently, Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak’s resignation as Prime Minister last year ended any faint prospect of his potential elevation – he is from a more minor branch of the family. The new PM Sh...
Volume: 63Issue: 30Published at Fri, 24 Jul 2020 -
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...
Volume: 63Issue: 22Published at Fri, 29 May 2020 -
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...
Volume: 63Issue: 20Published at Fri, 15 May 2020 -
Can Iraq’s New Government Weather The Economic Storm?
...l price, Iraq will burn through its fiscal buffers and we will see more social unrest.” “The biggest threat right now, and the one that can derail everything a whole lot faster, is denial,” Mr Tabaqchali says. “They are talking like this is 2014-2016 again and the difficult times will pass. So my...
Volume: 63Issue: 19Published at Fri, 08 May 2020 -
Algeria: Exports Down, Revenue Down, Outlook Dire
...tober 2014’s 171mn cfd. Volumes have bounced back slightly so far in April but at 572mn cfd are still the second lowest in the past five years (barring March). Algeria could regain some demand from both Italy and Spain later in the year when its oil-linked piped gas prices begin to fall with lower oi...
Volume: 63Issue: 18Published at Fri, 01 May 2020 -
Libya’s Financial Vulnerabilities Laid Bare By Dwindling Oil Revenue
...consultation with Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital. STATE FAILURE Such is the level of state failure in Libya, that since a political crisis in 2014 it has had two rival governments, two central banks and two national oi...
Volume: 63Issue: 17Published at Fri, 24 Apr 2020 -
Syria Emerges As Iran’s Top Crude ‘Customer’
...e embattled Assad government lost key northeastern fields to Kurdish-led forces and key Euphrates fields (once Shell and Total-operated) to various rebel groups, sending oil output to 28,000 b/d in 2013 and 9,000 b/d in 2014, where it remained for four years. Damascus subsequently developed a sh...
Volume: 63Issue: 15Published at Fri, 10 Apr 2020 -
Algeria Posts 5th Straight Trade Deficit
...$6.11bn for 2019 (see chart). Oil and gas revenues are down 15% at $33.24bn – half levels consistently reached before the 2014 oil price crash and a substantially larger slump than the 9% fall to $64.5/B in the price of Algeria’s Saharan Blend crude. This reflects the fact that gas prices have been un...
Volume: 63Issue: 08Published at Fri, 21 Feb 2020 -
Iraq Crude Exports: Slow January Highlights Systemic Vulnerabilities
...aqi exports averaged 3.96mn b/d over 2019, up from 3.82mn b/d for 2018. Overall, more than 60% of Iraqi exports ended up in the major Asian markets. The proportion has increased considerably over the past five years, with barely 50% heading to Asia in 2014. Unsurprisingly, China as the world’s la...
Volume: 63Issue: 06Published at Fri, 07 Feb 2020 -
Oman At The Crossroads As New Sultan Takes The Reins
...owing to a record $39.4bn in 2014. At the time, all was well and good: $100/B+ oil filled state coffers, covering additional spending and keeping Oman’s public debt in check (see chart). But once implemented, government handouts are politically difficult to stop. And when oil prices crashed in la...
Volume: 63Issue: 03Published at Fri, 17 Jan 2020 -
Lebanon Creeps Toward Economic & Political Abyss
...GDP (see chart 3). The 2014 crash in oil prices and subsequent effect on the GCC economies (where many Lebanese work) was a major factor. To compensate, Banque du Liban continued to raise interest rates (which have routinely exceeded 10-15% in recent years) on bank deposits to attract foreign do...
Volume: 62Issue: 51-52Published at Fri, 20 Dec 2019 -
Iraqi Kurdistan Poised For More Gains In 2020
...20’s potential gains are the product of sustained IOC investment in the region. Those IOCs have endured some lean times, with the share price of KRG-focused companies plummeting since early 2014 amid low oil prices, payment difficulties and delayed ramp-up plans. IOCs will feel the pressure to reward sh...
Volume: 62Issue: 50Published at Fri, 13 Dec 2019 -
Baghdad And KRG Sign Preliminary Oil Sharing, Budget Deal
...ude-for-revenues agreement in 2014, which fell apart as Baghdad never made full payment (MEES, 5 December 2014). A year ago, Mr Abd al-Mahdi and his deputy PM (and Oil Minister) Thamir al-Ghadhban reached an agreement with the KRG to export 100,000 b/d via Iraqi Kurdistan’s export pipeline to Ceyhan, an...
Volume: 62Issue: 48Published at Fri, 29 Nov 2019 -
Kuwait Emir’s Son Unleashes Political Upheaval
...sponded by strenuously denying the allegations and slamming his accuser for going public. The Emir dismissed both men following their public spat. This is the most controversial public feuding within Kuwait’s royal family since 2014 when former deputy PM Sheikh Ahmed Fahd al-Sabah accused his long-time ri...
Volume: 62Issue: 47Published at Fri, 22 Nov 2019 -
Iran Ups Geopolitical Stakes With Nuclear Advances
...at is expected to take six years. The Bushehr-2 plant will be built by Russia’s Rosatom, under a 2014 agreement between Moscow and Iran for the construction of four new 1GW plants at Bushehr. Rosatom completed the Bushehr-1 reactor in 2011, generating electricity from fuel rods supplied by Ru...
Volume: 62Issue: 46Published at Fri, 15 Nov 2019 -
Five Years On From Khafji Shut-In, Is The Neutral Zone Poised For Restart?
...wait Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) burst to the surface with the shut-in of the offshore Khafji field in October 2014 (MEES, 24 October 2014). And in just six months’ time, it will be half a decade since the 500,000 b/d capacity PNZ last produced a drop of oil (MEES, 15 May 2015). There is growing op...
Volume: 62Issue: 43Published at Fri, 25 Oct 2019 -
Israel-Egypt Gas Deal: More Problems?
...at the two key Leviathan partners are looking for another potential Egyptian offtaker for their gas. Given that Egypt’s moves to gas market liberalization are in their infancy (MEES, 5 April) the obvious counterpart would be EGAS. Dolphinus was formed in 2014 by Egyptian entrepreneurs Alaa Arafa, Kh...
Volume: 62Issue: 37Published at Fri, 13 Sep 2019 -
Israel-Jordan Gas Deal Details See Light
...is deal was set at $4.79/mn BTU, substantially below the Leviathan-Nepco deal. A late 2014 antitrust ruling that Noble and Delek were operating as a monopoly offshore Israel left the country’ upstream in stasis until a gas outline compromise deal was reach in May 2016 (MEES, 27 May 2016). As part of...
Volume: 62Issue: 35Published at Fri, 30 Aug 2019 -
Yemen: UAE Exit Pushes War Into Further Disarray
...lhaf, Yemen’s biggest potential returners are state companies. Even before the country destabilized in 2014 IOCs were on the way out in Yemen (MEES, 21 February 2014). The return of state firm SAFER to the crucial Block 18 would be a major boon as the block produced 40,000 b/d in early 2014, but damage to...
Volume: 62Issue: 33Published at Fri, 16 Aug 2019 -
Tunisia At The Crossroads
...2014. Mr Essebsi won Tunisia’s first free presidential election and his Nidaa Tounes party took the most seats in the legislative elections. Nidaa Tounes formed a coalition with the Ennahda party (alongside two others) which sought to tackle deep socioeconomic challenges. In 2016, the co...
Volume: 62Issue: 31Published at Fri, 02 Aug 2019