Egypt Starts Work On Assiut Refinery Upgrade To Boost Gasoline Output

...ise light products output and reduce Egypt’s dependence on imports – Egypt has been a net importer of gasoline since 2010 and has long imported diesel – to meet domestic demand. Gasoline demand averaged 170,000 b/d in the first half of 2017, suggesting that consumption is on track to surpass last ye...

Algeria Plots Unlikely Power Capacity Boost Whilst Rejecting Foreign Funding

...pacity delays (see p13). The first was awarded under a $1.06bn contract (MEES, 30 November 2012), while six more were awarded together under contracts valued at $4.05bn (MEES, 7 March 2014). The Ain Arnat plant was scheduled to reach full capacity in 2016 and the other six were expected to follow in 2017...

Oil Market Surplus To 2019 Despite Strong Growth Projections

...erproduction, if the group’s output stays flat for the remainder of 2017, demand ought to slightly outstrip supply over the course of the year. The IEA pegs demand for Opec crude at 32.70mn b/d for 2017 as a whole, while Opec puts it slightly lower at 32.67mn b/d. MEES calculates this would result in supply sh...

US Cuts Output Growth Forecasts On Harvey, Lower Prices

...mainder of 2017 is less than might have been expected as the organization had already factored in an expected hurricane-season-related dip to August and September output. The latest STEO has US crude output rebounding to 9.29mn b/d in September, the highest figure since October 2015, though Gulf of Me...

Algeria To Step On The Gas: Max Revenue For Minimal Spend Amid Opec Constraints

...ficials in Algeria said that in theory cuts to production could be shared between all the country’s oil producers (MEES, 17 February). But operational reports for the first two quarters of 2017 from Algeria’s foreign partners make no mention of official requests to limit output. Rather, the in...

Iraq: Minister Luaibi Tightens Grip On Oil Sector

...rchasing the June 2017 cargo at a $0.31/B premium to the official selling price (OSP). It then established the Lima joint venture with Litasco – trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil – in May to trade 2mn barrels per month of Basra Light (MEES, 26 May). The possibility of a new Basra Medium grade was also floated by...

Algerian Oil Bolstered By Berkine Basin Prospects

...sponsible for the only new-field crude production scheduled for 2017 (MEES, 3 February), but it is taking longer than expected to ramp up. Production start-up was completed at the end of 2016, with development activities to be completed “during 2017,” according to Eni’s 2016 Factbook, published in April (ME...

Petronas Quits Algeria As Cepsa Expands

...Whilst foreign investors in Algeria’s upstream include an unlikely assortment of Asian NOCs, one firm heading for the exits is Malaysia’s Petronas. Petronas has decided to divest its oil and gas assets in Algeria, it said in the press release accompanying its H1 2017 results, published on 25...

Algeria Shuns Foreign Debt… By Printing Money?

...endments to the Money and Credit Law intended to allow the country’s central bank, Banque d’Algerie, to provide funds to the state treasury to cover a budget deficit which ballooned to a record $33bn last year. This followed the collapse in hydrocarbons revenue, the source of some 40% of budget revenue in 2017...

Latest Oil* Output Forecasts From The EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2017 (Mn B/D)

Rosneft At Vanguard Of Russian Firms’ Mena Advances

...so included Trafigura, bought out 98% of India’s Essar Oil for $13bn. Rosneft has 49% of the company. Essar imported an average 151,000 b/d from Iran in the first seven months of 2017 according to Reuters, down 5% from the same period last year, some 42% of its total crude slate. India is Iran’s se...

Indian Crude Imports ('000 B/D): Saudi Continues To Lose Market Share To Top Supplier Iraq

...*PERCENTAGE CHANGE EXPRESSED IN PERCENTAGE POINT TERMS. SOURCE: INDIA CUSTOMS, MEES.   INDIA’S TOP 3 CRUDE SUPPLIERS ('000 B/D): IRAQ HAS DECISIVELY OVERTAKEN SAUDI FOR TOP SPOT SINCE THE START OF 2017   WORLD’S TOP 5 CRUDE IMPORTERS: SAUDI VS IRAQ ALL EX...

Egypt Fuel Oil Upgrading Plans Struggle To Keep Up With Demand

...pacity for Euro V diesel. Overall ERC output capacity will be 4.2mn t/y. Egypt’s diesel demand averaged a record 305,000 b/d in the second quarter of 2017, up from 2016’s annual record of 297,000 b/d. The country’s diesel output has meanwhile flatlined at around 140,000 b/d since 2012, leaving Egypt re...

Iraq Sparking Up Gas-Fired Capacity, Despite Fuel Supply Constraints

...gh and pipeline imports from Iran have begun. Yet the amount of new generating capacity due online means that gas supplies will remain overstretched for the foreseeable future. Iraq’s peak power load was 14.35GW in 2016; in 2017 it is expected to be 7.7% higher at 15.45GW, according to the fe...

Libyan Output Fall Grants Opec Temporary Relief

...rget last month, with official figures showing production averaged 10.91mn b/d. Disruption from Hurricane Harvey caused US crude production to fall 750,000 b/d to 8.8mn b/d for the week ending 1 September (see p12). The US is not participating in output cuts, and its production has soared in 2017. Wh...

Qatar’s Economy Proves Resilient As Embargo Enters Fourth Month

...e causing delays and additional expense, but nothing that looks likely to prompt Qatar to alter course (MEES, 7 July). Qatar’s economy is proving resilient and the IMF still sees the budget deficit easing considerably from 2016. In a 30 August statement, the IMF projected that Qatar’s 2017 de...

Kufpec Splashes The Cash in Norway But 2020 Target Remains Distant

...kes some retrospective accounting gymnastics for Kufpec to include Bongkot in its 2016 output figure. The Thai purchase was announced in January 2017 (MEES, 3 February) but has yet to complete – Kufpec’s recently-released 2016 Annual Report says the acquisition is expected to be completed by end-2017. No...

Iraq Budget Amendments Push Projected Deficit Back Above $20bn

...Iraq’s 2017 budget has been amended as a result of a 21 August ruling by the country’s Supreme Federal Court. The court was ruling on the government’s appeal against amendments to the budget made by parliament in July – underlining the fractious nature of Iraqi politics and the government’s fr...

KRG Gets Creative In Bid To Boost Investor Confidence

...G.” Booked receivables fell $32mn to $58mn during the first half of 2017. Genel meanwhile put its end-2016 KRG receivables at $253.5mn. The KRG’s hefty receivables tab and uncertainty over how it would be able to pay it off was a major disincentive to IOCs considering investing in the region. Af...

Israel Products Output Down 17% Amid Maintenance, Strike

...The operators of Israel’s two refineries say scheduled maintenance was the key reason their output fell by a combined 50,000 b/d (17%) year-on-year in the first half of 2017. But a strike in June didn’t help. A diesel unit fire last month added to the woe. The smaller of Israel’s two re...