1. Drilling Tie-Ups Focus On Mideast

    ...ntracts in the kingdom (MEES, 13 January 2017). The deal will create “a leading offshore driller by fleet size, geographic presence and customer base, with 82 rigs spanning six continents and collectively serving more than 35 customers, including the largest national oil companies, international ma...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 12 Oct 2018
  2. Saudi-Bahrain Pipeline Completed

    ...arded the $4.2bn EPCC contract for the long-planned Bapco Modernization Program in late 2017, with contractors anticipating completion in 2022 (MEES, 8 December 2017).  ...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 12 Oct 2018
  3. Crude Official Selling Prices ($/B): Gulf Producers Raise November Asia Prices For Key Grades To Near 4-Year High

    ...*VS ICE BRENT FROM JULY 2017 PREVIOUSLY VS BWAVE....

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 41
    Published at Fri, 12 Oct 2018
  4. Egypt Gas Hub Ambitions Gather Pace

    ...d LNG import bill which came to $10.3bn in 2017. Since receiving its first cargoes in April 2015 the bulk of the LNG Egypt received was in 2016, when imports totaled 979mn cfd of gas, some 20% of the country’s total gas consumption – which would in turn have been higher had more gas been av...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  5. Iraq: Record Oil Exports, Revenues At 6-Year High

    ...which appear on the cards but cannot be discounted – full year revenues are set to total around $87bn. This would be a 46% increase on 2017’s $59.5bn and the highest figure since 2013’s $89.2bn (see chart 2). DIVERSE EXPORT SLATE         Iraq has a relatively broad slate of crude buyers, al...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  6. Saudi Solar Plans: Crashing Like Icarus?

    ...y). This in turn marked a scaling back of government atomic and renewables agency Kacare’s 2013 plan for 54GW of renewables capacity by 2030. The megaplan was also in stark contrast to Saudi renewables progress to date: total renewables capacity amounted to 92MW as of the end of 2017, according to Ab...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  7. OPEC Production Up As Saudis Tout More In The Pipeline

    ...oduction rose just 100,000 b/d in September as the group struggled to offset ongoing declines in Iran and Venezuela. The 33.01mn b/d that it posted was a 14-month high, and was 110,000 b/d more than in September 2017. Opec output has averaged 32.60mn b/d over the first nine months of the year, 16...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  8. Iraqi Government Formation Gathers Pace

    ...om within the Kurdistan political establishment may be little more than tepid. His support for last year’s controversial independence referendum (MEES, 22 September 2017) was cool at most: the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) backed Mr Masum for the presidency. On the international stage it...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  9. KRG Vote: No Change

    ...aq’s May elections and September 2017’s controversial independence referendum) and concerns over corruption. Indeed, allegations of election fraud since the polls are rife. The duopoly of the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was further entrenched as...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  10. Iran Awards Key Contract For Strategic Hormuz Bypass Project

    ...ports – overwhelmingly from Kharg Island, with small volumes from nearby Soroosh – averaged 2.1mn b/d in 2017, alongside a further 490,000 b/d condensate from Assaluyeh, for a combined 2.6mn b/d. But with the imminent return of US oil-sector sanctions after 4 November, Iran’s oil exports have already be...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  11. Egypt’s Petchems Producers Step On The Gas

    ...st short of the 10.6% rise in Egypt’s gas output over the same period. Egypt’s gas output rose by a further 19% to average 5.34bn cfd for 2017-18, implying a jump in propane output to over 687,000 t/y. The further leap in gas output to a record 6.6mn cfd for September has almost certainly boosted Eg...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  12. Egypt LPG: Jekyll & Hyde

    ...ged up to 16,000 b/d for 2017-18. Egypt’s butane imports rose by 11% to 74,000 b/d for 2017-18, though Cairo will be hoping that efforts to expand the country’s piped natural gas network on the back of record output will make this a high-watermark.  ...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  13. Shamaran Plans EPFs at KRG

    ...rathon’s 15% stake to boost its share to 35.1%. The KRG holds the remaining 25%. Production began in July 2017 and while capacity is 30,000 b/d the closest it has come was 27,000 b/d in January. Since then output has been hampered by technical problems and fell to around 12,000 b/d in April before bo...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  14. Noble Completes Tamar Farm-Down

    ...rel for $450mn in July 2017 before setting up Tamar Petroleum as a vehicle to sell off additional stakes (MEES, 30 June 2017). The largest single shareholder is now privately-owned Israeli firm Isramco with 28.75% though Noble, with 25%, remains operator (see chart). NOBLE COMPLIES WITH RE...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  15. Saudi Steps Up Spending In Bid To Boost Economy

    ...lf of 2018 that will see the budget deficit nearly quadruple from 1H 2018. Nevertheless, the expected $39.5bn deficit announced in revised Ministry of Finance figures is still considerably less than 2017’s $63.6bn. Government figures show that the kingdom accrued a deficit of $11.1bn in the first ha...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 40
    Published at Fri, 05 Oct 2018
  16. Abu Dhabi Awards Contract For Offshore Gas Boost

    ...tar – despite the ongoing embargo – to meet demand. 2017 was a positive year for the UAE’s gas sector, with production edging up above 60bcm for the first time according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy. Meanwhile consumption had a rare annual dip from 72.5bcm to 72.2bcm. But this still en...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 28 Sep 2018
  17. Abu Dhabi Field Startup Paves Way For New Crude Grade Launch

    ...om Abu Dhabi’s onshore fields. Reuters reported this week that marketing of the new grade is to begin imminently, with exports slated to begin in November. The new grade had originally been slated for Q1 launch (MEES, 17 November 2017). The UAE exported 2.38mn b/d in 2017, of which 98.6% went Ea...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 28 Sep 2018
  18. Iraq’s 200,000 b/d Halfaya Boost: Is There An Outlet?

    ...has missed its 2017 target. Production is then to be kept at this level for 16 years. Despite concerns over delayed payments in recent years – that have now been allayed – the field partners greenlit Phase-3 development in early 2017 (MEES, 28 April 2017). Halfaya was already the largest pr...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 28 Sep 2018
  19. Qayara Production Resumes

    ...nsidering quitting Qayara and the nearby Najma field even before being forced out by IS in early 2014. Nevertheless, Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi invited Sonangol to resume operations at Qayara and Najma in January 2017 and the firm officially agreed to return in February (MEES, 9 February). The mi...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 28 Sep 2018
  20. Chinese Takeover For Cash-Strapped Kuwait Energy

    ...l of the firm’s 62,300 boe/d net production in 2017 (primarily gas). The firm also closed its $192mn purchase of OMV’s Pakistan assets in June this year adding a further 42mn cfd and 550 b/d to its net production. KEC’s portfolio consists of 10 assets. Four producing oil blocks in Egypt account fo...

    Volume: 61
    Issue: 39
    Published at Fri, 28 Sep 2018