1. The US Oil Rig Count’s 2020 Rollercoaster Ride

    ...FROM 670 AT THE START OF 2020 THE US RIG COUNT SLUMPED TO 172 BY MID AUGUST BUT HAS SINCE ADDED 103 RIGS, 60% OF THESE IN THE PERMIAN...   ...DESPITE THIS, THE US END-YEAR OIL RIG COUNT FOR 2020 WAS THE LOWEST IN 14 YEARS AND LESS THAN A FIFTH OF THE 2014 PEAK SOURCE: BA...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  2. Opec Keeps Demand Forecast Stable Amid Cloudy Outlook

    ...ventories in OECD countries. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced after last week’s Opec+ ministerial meeting that inventories will be judged against the 2014-2019 five-year average, rather than 2015-2020 so as to not be affected by last year’s bloating of global stocks. The la...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  3. Korea, Taiwan 2020 Crude Imports: Volumes Down, Mideast Down Further

    ...port volumes in the more recent monthly data. The last three quarters of 2020 were the three lowest quarterly figures since 2014, with Q4 2020 at 2.54mn b/d the lowest of the lot.   1: KOREA CRUDE IMPORTS ('000 B/D): OVERALL VOLUMES SLUMP BUT MIDEAST DOWN MUCH FURTHER....   2: ...TO...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  4. Yemen: 2020 Oil Exports Up, But Conflict Remains

    ...nflict. OIL EXPORTS RISE      Given the dire situation, the slow but steady progress of the country’s oil sector remains an anomaly. Current production and exports remain at just a fraction of pre-2011 days when production averaged 300,000-400,000 b/d, and even short of the 127,000 b/d produced in 2014...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  5. Iraq Baiji Refinery Sees Restart Of Second CDU

    ...,000 b/d Salahuddin-2 unit at the Baiji refining complex in northern Iraq, boosting the country’s effective refining capacity by around 10%. The once-310,000 b/d Baiji complex – also called al-Samoud – was completely destroyed in 2014 by Islamic State militants leading to a sizeable drop in the co...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  6. Exxon’s Star Shines Brightest Among Egypt’s Slew Of Mediterranean Awards

    ...ild-up immediately lying below the Messinian Salt.” BETTER TERMS              One reason Shell’s earlier modest discoveries were deemed uneconomic was that at the time Cairo was only willing to pay a fixed $2.65/mn BTU for domestic output. By 2014, and with investment from IOCs drying up, Eg...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 08 Jan 2021
  7. Saudi Surprises Market With 1mn B/D Production Cut

    ...tput to barely 3mn b/d in the 1980s while other producers simply filled the void. As then-oil minister Ali Naimi told MEES in 2014 as Saudi Arabia was withstanding pressure to cut unless Russia participated, “If I reduce, what happens to my market share? The price will go up and the Russians, the Br...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 08 Jan 2021
  8. Oman Fiscal Dilemma Shows No Signs Of Abating In 2021

    ...art 1). On paper, this amounts to around 75% of GDP – not particularly bad – but given years of low growth and perennial budget deficits since the 2014 oil price crash, the concern is that it will continue to grow to unmanageable levels. Oman’s economic outlook is growing increasingly grim, and an im...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 08 Jan 2021