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Saudi Government Posts First Surplus Since 2014 In Q1
...rplus being unique for 2019. Indeed, Saudi Arabia does not plan on running a balanced budget until 2023, having decided in 2017 to abandon initial plans to balance the budget in 2020 at the behest of the IMF, which was concerned that the impact that such belt tightening would constrain economic gr...
Volume: 62Issue: 18Published at Fri, 03 May 2019 -
US Sanctions Hit Iran Hard
...eir return, as the mass protests in late 2017 and early 2018 highlighted (MEES, 19 January 2018). While the political leadership in the country is aware of the deficiencies in the economy, it has proven incapable of implementing suitable policies. ...
Volume: 62Issue: 18Published at Fri, 03 May 2019 -
Sudan Secures Gulf Aid
...though the US lifted some trade and economic sanctions on Sudan in October 2017, it remained on Washington’s list of sponsors of terrorism (MEES, 13 October 2017). Mr Burhan says a Sudanese delegation could travel to the US this month to discuss the removal of Sudan from this list, although while the mi...
Volume: 62Issue: 17Published at Fri, 26 Apr 2019 -
Suez Canal Boosted By Saudi, US Oil Trade Transformations
...ade – has continued to edge higher in recent years, hitting a record 491mn tons in 2018, up 4% on 2017’s previous record. *As for LNG, 5.16mn tons went northbound through the canal in Q1 this year, the highest since 3Q 2015. Weaker than usual Asian buying has seen Asian spot prices fall below those in...
Volume: 62Issue: 16Published at Fri, 19 Apr 2019 -
Egypt: Is It Finally Getting Its Energy Finances In Order?
...The end to fuel subsidies and IOC ‘receivables’ may finally be in sight. Egypt is gearing up to remove the majority of fuel subsidies by the start of the next financial year in July. Cairo spent E£121bn ($6.8bn) in the 2017-18 financial year and is on course to spend E£90bn ($5.1bn) in th...
Volume: 62Issue: 15Published at Fri, 12 Apr 2019 -
Algeria’s Economic Sclerosis: Political Change Is Not Enough
...2017. ^INCLUDES VOLUMES TO SPAIN AND ITALY. TURKEY AND FRANCE HAVE BEEN ALGERIA'S TOP TWO LNG CUSTOMERS SINCE 2015. SOURCE: JODI, IEA, CORES, SNAM, SONELGAZ, OPEC, MEES ESTIMATES & CALCULATIONS. SCLEROTIC MODEL Prices for Algeria’s light sweet Saharan Blend crude averaged $110/B for th...
Volume: 62Issue: 12Published at Fri, 22 Mar 2019 -
Egypt Launches ‘Wealth Fund’, Awaits Wealth
...untry’s oil output is more likely to fall than rise over the coming years (see p5). Egypt posted a deficit of E£186.7bn ($10.4bn) for the first six months of the 2018-19 financial year (July-December 2018), more or less unchanged from the E£187.3bn ($10.6bn) for the first half of the previous 2017-18 fi...
Volume: 62Issue: 10Published at Fri, 08 Mar 2019 -
Egypt Raises $4bn Bond, Posts $10.4bn 2H18 Deficit
...6.7bn ($10.4bn) for the first six months of the 2018-19 financial year (July-December 2018), more or less unchanged from the E£187.3bn ($10.6bn) for the first half of the previous 2017-18 financial year. The 1H 2018-19 figures suggest that Egypt is likely to post a significantly lower deficit for 20...
Volume: 62Issue: 08Published at Fri, 22 Feb 2019 -
Petroceltic Threatens Legal Action Over Egypt Dues
...der to get them to pay their dues. But after investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Egypt and creating many jobs we have no choice,” the firm Tweeted on 12 February. The firm’s most recent filings for 2017 (filed October 2018) indicate that the company’s “trade and other receivables” soared fr...
Volume: 62Issue: 08Published at Fri, 22 Feb 2019 -
China Overtakes Germany, Now Libya’s No. 1 Customer
...aim the top spot. *China took just under a fifth of all Libyan volumes last year, recording a whopping 168% increase on 2017’s 65,000 b/d and topping the previous record on 147,000 b/d set in 2012 (MEES, 1 March 2013). *Traditional European customers Germany, Spain and Italy al...
Volume: 62Issue: 07Published at Fri, 15 Feb 2019 -
Europe’s Iran Payments Mechanism: Too Little, Far Too Late?
...vember-December nadir of 800,000 b/d, but it is difficult to imagine the total hitting much more than half of the 2.64mn b/d 2017 volumes (MEES, 25 January). IRAN: INTERNAL DIVISIONS Whilst there appears little chance of Instex taking off anytime soon, its launch has shone a light on...
Volume: 62Issue: 06Published at Fri, 08 Feb 2019 -
IMF To Kuwait: Cut Public Wage Bill, Boost Private Sector, Lessen Oil Dependence
...lf monarchies, Kuwait has talked a good game on the need to diversify its economy and increase the role of the private sector. But, as the IMF makes clear, achieving this necessitates reducing the relative attractiveness of public sector employment. Kuwait’s finances improved considerably in 2017 and 20...
Volume: 62Issue: 05Published at Fri, 01 Feb 2019 -
Jordan Plans Tax Hike To Cover Planned 2019 Deficit
...ministration made a big deal of its increased assistance to Jordan, but Mr Trump himself is a wild card and King Abdullah’s opposition to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017 increased bilateral tensions. Meanwhile, in the Gulf, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has also pl...
Volume: 62Issue: 05Published at Fri, 01 Feb 2019 -
Kuwait 2019-20 Budget Envisages Bumper Deficit Amid Faltering Oil Prices
...vestment the key culprit. Mr Hajraf says Kuwait will maintain development spending at 17% of the total for 2019-20, some $12.4bn. An admirable aim, but one that ignores reality. 2017-18 was the closest Kuwait got to achieving this with 13%: for 2018-19 Kuwait is on track to invest just $5.5bn in in...
Volume: 62Issue: 04Published at Fri, 25 Jan 2019 -
Egypt Delays Subsidy Reform With Economy On The Mend
...ansport fuel subsidies in 2H 2018, the first half of the country’s 2018-19 financial year. This puts the country bang on target to hit the 2018-19 budget plan of E£89bn ($5.2bn). It also marks a real-terms fall of 21% versus the E£45bn ($2.9bn) spend for 1H 2017-18 given 12% inflation. But the co...
Volume: 62Issue: 02Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019 -
Algeria Set For 11th Straight Deficit In 2019
...dget anticipating a $17.4bn deficit. Algeria has run up cumulative budget deficits of over $100bn since 2009, with deficits recorded even in 2011-14 when oil prices were over $100/B. They have ballooned since as oil prices tanked (see charts 1 &2). 2017 was the closest Algeria has got to ba...
Volume: 62Issue: 02Published at Fri, 11 Jan 2019 -
Iran: Khamenei Looks To ‘Resistance’ Budget For 2019
...rchases in return for being granted ‘waivers’ – MEES, 16 November), and at least some of those Mediterranean and East Asian countries that have halted buying to restart. Korea, which imported 361,000 b/d from Iran in 2017 took zero for the third straight month in November. Japan and Taiwan also took ze...
Volume: 61Issue: 51-52Published at Fri, 21 Dec 2018 -
Saudi Reveals Optimistic 2019 Budget But Still Expects To Load Up On Debt
...is option for long. While much of the borrowing will be on domestic markets, the hefty budget deficit spells another trip to the international debt markets for Saudi Arabia. Having issued $17.5bn worth of bonds in 2016, Saudi Arabia smashed this in 2017 with $21.5bn, before falling back to just $13...
Volume: 61Issue: 51-52Published at Fri, 21 Dec 2018 -
Qatar: New 2.5GW Plant Powers Economic Growth
...provements in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions have so far come to naught. However, Kahramaa has prequalified 16 international solar power developers to bid for a 500MW solar photovoltaic plant at Al Kharsaah, 80km west of Doha, and is expected to invite bids shortly (MEES, 29 September 2017). QA...
Volume: 61Issue: 50Published at Fri, 14 Dec 2018 -
Algeria Set For $5bn 2018 Trade Deficit: As Good As It Gets?
...1.03mn b/d for the first nine months of 2018, output of condensate and field NGLs was down 5.6% at 472,000 b/d, whilst gas output fell 1.1% to 67.5bcm. The dip in gas production came despite key project start-ups at Reggane (MEES, 22 December 2017) and Timimoun (MEES, 2 March 2018). Whilst un...
Volume: 61Issue: 49Published at Fri, 07 Dec 2018