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...

Saudi Targets Major Gas Gains, But LNG Imports Loom

...s the startup of the Wasit gas plant in mid-2016. Wasit has capacity to process 2bn cfd raw gas from the offshore Arabiyah and Hasbah fields, and produce 1.5bn cfd sales gas. 2017 will likewise secure gains as Saudi Arabia will benefit from a full year of the plant’s operations. SAUDI ARABIA GAS PR...

China Demand Boost For LNG Sellers: But Will It Last?

...ijing’s coal-to-gas switching policy. With demand far outstripping volumes under long-term contracts, Chinese buyers have turned to flexible short-term volumes, including from the world’s top LNG producer Qatar which shipped 5.65mn tons in the first ten months of 2017, up 67% year-on-year. China’s ov...

World’s #2 Lng Importer: With Another Record Month In Oct Will China Overtake Korea?

...KOREA HAS LONG BEEN THE WORLD’S #2 LNG IMPORTER. IT TOOK 33.5MN TONS IN 2016, SECOND ONLY TO JAPAN’S 83.3MN T. KOREA IMPORTS ARE UP 16% AT 30.2MN T FOR THE FIRST 10 MONTHS OF 2017… (MN T)   BUT THAT’S NOTHING COMPARED TO THE 48% LEAP IN CHINESE IMPORTS. THESE HAD NEVER TOPPED TH...

Qatar Maxes Condensate Splitters, Hits Fresh Products Records

...ich 349,000b/d refined, 401,000b/d exported)               SOURCE: QATAR PETROLEUM, ASIA PACIFIC ENERGY CONSULTING, MEES. JAPANESE IMPORTS OF QATARI CONDENSATE SLUMP FURTHER IN 2017 ('000 B/D) SOURCE: METI, MEES. NAPHTHA, JET-KERO, DIESEL FROM RAS LAFFAN 2 DRIVE QA...

LNG Prices Leap On Record Chinese Buying

...•  Prices for Asian spot LNG imports have jumped to around $9/mn BTU for December arrival cargoes. December is the peak month for winter (and thus annual) buying. •  China is the key demand driver. Already for the first nine months of 2017, imports at 25.63mn tons, were up by a whopping 43...

Egypt: Last LNG Tender?

...ypt. Oil minister Tarek El Molla says that Egypt will reach natural gas self-sufficiency by mid-2018 once Italian firm Eni’s 24 tcf Zohr gas field ramps up after its December 2017 start-up (MEES, 3 November). Egypt began importing LNG in April 2015 when gas output was 4.40bn cfd and has imported ar...

Iraq Boosts Export Capacity, Eyes Alternative Routes

...346mn b/d, up about 100,000 b/d from September (see p7). Southern exports have averaged 3.264mn b/d for the first 10 months of 2017 with output cut from January as part of the Opec agreement. October figures also saw a three-year high for export revenues at $5.455bn. The new SPM brings Iraq’s total ex...

Iraq Export Revenues Soar

...2016 to 160,000 b/d in 2017, reversing a four-year trend of increasing crude burns to satiate domestic demand. Reducing flaring rates and gas imports from Iran account for the improvements. But, whilst export volumes have edged higher in recent months, the bulk of the gain in revenues has come fr...

Kuwait Urges Gulf Unity as Qatar Exports Rise Despite Embargo

...hrain and Egypt to isolate Qatar in order to force it to accede to their demands. Qatar’s export revenues totaled $16.5bn in Q3, the highest quarterly figure since Q4 2015. Full-year 2017 revenues are on track to hit $65bn, up 13% on 2016. However, this would still be more than $10bn less than in 20...

China 3Q17 LNG Imports (Mn Tons): Qatar On Course To Post 3-Year High In 2017 But Still Less Than Half Of Australia

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

...llective purchases by Japan, South Korea, China, India and Taiwan are up 13.1% or 14.7mn tons year-on-year to 126.7mn tons for January-August 2017 (see chart). This puts volumes on track to smash 2016’s record 175.1mn tons (MEES, 10 March), which in turn accounted for fully two-thirds of the 263.6mn tons of...

Korea LNGImports: Volumes Leap 20% For Jan-Sep 2017 With Australia The Key Beneficiary

...*INCLUDES RE-IMPORTS. SOURCE: KOREA CUSTOMS SERVICE, MEES CALCULATIONS.   KOREA’S TOP FIVE LNG SUPPLIERS (MN TONS): QATAR STILL THE UNDISPUTED MARKET LEADER FOR JAN-SEP 2017 BUT AUSTRALIA CLOSING IN...

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

...ole. Whilst this is only $1.6/B higher than the $51.4/B MEES factored in to its previous analysis (MEES, 25 August), the change is enough to slash the country’s expected 2017 trade deficit from $11bn to $8.6bn – and this despite MEES trimming 1bcm from its 2017 gas export forecast (see table). Of co...

Qatar Boosts Revenue

...gust’s $51.9/B, September ought to prove profitable for Qatar. MEES estimates that Qatar hydrocarbon revenues are on track to come in at around $54bn in 2017. This would be a 15% increase on last year, although still less than half of 2013’s $120bn. If the recent oil price gains are sustained over the re...

LNG Prices Edge Up, No Sign Of Hit To Qatar Revenues

...nsuming partners.” Korea has this year overtaken Japan as Qatar’s top customer: Japan took 12.12mn tons for 2016, versus 11.88mn t for Korea. For the first seven months of 2017 Korea took 7.12mn t versus 6.25mn t for Japan. Number three India took 10.64mn t for 2016 and 4.83mn t for the first half of 2017...

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...

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

...esent a positive picture, at least compared to the disaster years of 2015 and 2016, when the country notched up trade deficits of $17.0bn and $17.8bn respectively, the two highest figures on record (MEES, 20 January). The first half of 2017 saw a trade deficit of ‘only’ $4.85bn, less than half the H1 2016 fi...

Mauritania: 15 Tcf Tortue FLNG Targets 2021 Start Up

...ars. In addition to being the largest discovery of 2017 in creating a second LNG hub in the region, the Yakaar results further de-risk the key play elements of the basin… Subsequent wells in our drilling program [have] a similar geologic setting,” Mr Inglis says. But with “~75% of undrilled pr...