Iranian Oil Exports Hit Pre-Sanctions Levels As European Share Grows

...indled from 185,000 b/d in 2011 to a low-point of 104,000 b/d in 2014 and then stayed relatively flat at 111,000 b/d in 2015. 2016 saw a noticeable 24% gain to 138,000 b/d, but latest data to November implies volumes soared 75% to around 240,000 b/d in 2017. This would put Turkey as the fourth largest bu...

Qatar Sidesteps Trade Embargo With 20% Export Revenue Gain In 2017

...ar’s gains, with hydrocarbon exports amounting to 84% of total sales – the highest figure since 2014’s 87% when oil prices averaged almost $100/B. Hydrocarbon revenues rose 21% year-on-year thanks to a combination of rising oil prices and the start of commercial operations at the 146,000 b/d Ras La...

Japan Big Winner As Saudi Arabia Cuts Crude Exports

...uth Korea’s thirst for crude increased last year to 2.984mn b/d from 2.880mn b/d in 2016, while it too has diversified its suppliers. The Saudi share of total Korean imports fell to 28.9% last year, almost five percentage points less than 2014 (MEES, 12 January). Japan is the only market where Sa...

Suez Canal Boosted By Oil Trade Records

...•  2017 was a standout year for the Suez Canal, with record oil shipments both northbound and southbound. Revenues, at $5.276bn, were second only to the record $5.465bn hit in 2014. •  Northbound oil shipments – essentially those from Gulf countries to Europe and the Americas – remain mo...

Key Middle East Producers Ease Off Drilling Going Into 2018

...ngpin Saudi Arabia has seen both drilling and production ease off going into 2018. Its latest oil rig count of 58 is at the lowest level since February 2014 and down 32% from the record figure of 85 hit in April 2015.  This fall has been somewhat offset by an increase in drilling for gas, with the nu...

China LNG Buying At Record Levels, Prices At 3-Year High

...ns seen in 2013 and 2014. •  Each of the top three importers stepped up buying in December, with a continuing period of sub-zero temperatures across much of Korea and Japan combining with the record Chinese buying. •  Spot prices rose to $11.20/mn BTU in late December and early January, ac...

Algeria: Could 2018 See An End To Deficits?

...nths of 2017, the first time this has happened for any two-month period since 2014. Algerian gas exports have rebounded strongly since September as domestic demand has eased whilst the country has looked to maximize gas output (MEES, 15 September). The start-up of new gas fields – output from the Re...

Qatar Maxes Condensate Splitters, Hits Fresh Products Records

...en the largest buyer of Qatari condensate. But after rising above 200,000 b/d in Q1 2014, imports fell to just over 125,000 b/d the following quarter and have been below 100,000 b/d since late-2014 (see chart). Much of this fall in shipments to Japan was caused by the neighboring UAE stepping up its im...

Iraq Boosts Export Capacity, Eyes Alternative Routes

...peline. The Iraqi section of Baghdad’s 1.6mn b/d Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline was damaged by IS in 2014 and requires extensive work to become operational (MEES, 13 October). As a result, Iraq is eyeing up alternative routes to offer improved flexibility and alternative outlets when adverse weather closes Ba...

Iraq Export Revenues Soar

...Baghdad has received a much-needed boost from the rebound in Brent to over $60/B. The Iraqi government took in $5.45bn in crude export revenues in October, the highest level since October 2014, when oil prices were only just beginning their slump from $100/B. Revenues crashed with the pr...

Kuwait Urges Gulf Unity as Qatar Exports Rise Despite Embargo

...August to 739,000 b/d it was still the second highest figure on record. Exports of key products are booming, with naphtha exports on track to average 150,000 b/d (see chart 3). This enabled Qatar to realize $1.2bn from products sales in Q3, the highest revenue figure since Q3 2014. CRUDE RE...

Asian LNG Buying Up 13% In 2017, Chinese Imports Soar 44%

...the largest since spot prices crashed with those of oil in Q3 2014 (the price of term cargoes did fall sharply but not until the first half of 2015 given the oil price linkage in long-term LNG contracts comes with a delay of around six months). WINTER REBOUND Though, long term, prices are se...

Mideast Drilling Stays Firm, Recovery Elsewhere Will Have To Wait

...illing at near-record levels in 2017, in stark contrast to the global trend of upstream underinvestment. The rig count for GCC countries was a collective 288 in September, just 17 off the all-time high of 305 set last October, and up 26% since the start of 2014 despite low oil prices and stretched bu...

Algeria: Prices Up, Volumes Down, Projects Delayed

...16 2015 2014 Export Revenue 23.51 +4.10 +21.1 19...

Egypt Outlines Suez Downstream Plan, Canal Expansion Begins To Pay Off

...re the highest income since the $482mn earned in October 2015, although still 8% short of the record $510mn revenues of August 2014. The earnings rally is largely attributable to increased crude and products volumes transiting the canal. Northwards products volumes in particular are being boosted by...

Turkey 1H17 Gas Imports (Bcm): Iran On Track To Top Record 2014 Supplies But Still Less Than 1/3 Russian Volumes

Algeria On Track For $11bn Deficit Despite Gas Export Boost

...e fall particularly marked in Q2 (see chart).  Revenues from number four customer the USA were up 22% in H1 2017. The US took 76,000 b/d of Algerian crude in Jan-May 2017, higher than any annual average since 2012 (though Q4 2016 saw 132,000 b/d). Volumes dwindled to near zero in 2014 and 2015 as...

Saudi Crude Exports At 33-Month Low As Refineries, Power Plants Take More Crude

...arply, to just 6.89mn b/d in June, their lowest level since September 2014, as refineries process just below record levels and direct crude burning in power plants rises seasonally (see charts and p8 for full data). The decline in Saudi crude exports is giving Iraq and Russia in particular a chance to...

Suez Canal Revenues Show Signs Of Recovery In 2017

...e October 2015 downing of a Russian charter jet over the Sinai peninsula (see chart). The fall in Suez Canal revenues has been more modest: 2016 revenues were down 3% on 2015 and 9% on 2014’s record takings (MEES, 20 January). Flows through the canal are seasonal, with Q3 typically the high po...

Qatar: Oil & Gas Revenues Edge Up But Hit By Ratings Downgrade

...phtha exports surged to a record high in Q1, while Jet-Kero exports hit their highest level since Q2 2014 and Qatar exported diesel for the first time since January 2015. All this happened despite major problems at the 140,000 b/d capacity Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant which saw operator Shell run it at...