Issue 45

Oil & Gas

• Baghdad Caught in North-South Pincer As Basra Oil Heartland Seeks Autonomy
• BP Inks Kirkuk Deal
• Egypt Touts Block Awards But IOC Debts Mount
• Libya: No End In Sight To Instability
• Libya: IOCs Look To The Exits As Instability Hits Their Bottom Line
• Iran Targets Oman As Future Gas Export Hub
• Jordan LNG, Storage Plans

Transportation

• Iraq-’Aqaba Crude Export Pipeline Advances
• Qatargas Inks $7bn UK LNG Deal With Centrica

Refining & Petrochemicals

• Libya Refineries Ploy Highlights Domestic Political Blight
• Iran’s Readies Ilam HDPE Plant

Power & Water

• Algeria Completes 1.2GW Plant, Building 11.2GW New Capacity
• RAK Plans Solar And Water Bids, Eyes Coal

OPEC

• OPEC Output Edges Up On Partial Recovery in Libya, Iraq

Geopolitical Risk

• GCC States Wary Over US-Iranian Relations
• US Signals Acceptance Of Egyptian Military Rule

Corporate

• Analysis: Oxy Mideast Pullback Spurred By Risk-Averse US Investors
• TAQA Turns A Profit

Economics & Finance

• Iran: Official Inflation 40%, Real Rate May Be Double
• Syria: 2014 Budget

Op-Ed & Documents

• Towards An Efficient LNG Market In The Asia-Pacific

Selected Data

• Benchmark Crude Prices ($/B)
• World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ Rankings, 2014*: MENA And Selected Other Countries