Oman: Gas Production to Surpass Oil by 2023
Oman’s gas production levels are set to surpass oil by 2023 thanks to an impressive surge in the development of gas fields in the sultanate, according to Rystad Energy, the independent energy research and consulting firm headquartered in Norway.“Gas is on the rise in the Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, and this transition is very timely. Oil output declines over the last two years may indicate a point of no return for Omani oil…
Middle East Oil & Gas Shipping Routes are at Risk
Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was suspending oil shipments through the Red Sea after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two crude tankers, underscoring risks caused by the conflict in the world's top oil exporting region.Iran, in its row with the United States over sanctions, has also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the other major strategic shipping route for oil from the region and the main route for Iranian crude exports.Below are facts about region's shipping routes:Bab al-MandebAny move to block the Bab al-Mandeb…
Saudi Arabia Carries on Drilling Despite Oil Slump: Kemp
Saudi Arabia is one of the very few countries which has increased its drilling for new oil and gas wells since prices began to slump in the middle of 2014. The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas around the world has fallen from a peak of 1,382 in July 2014 to just 920 in October 2016. The international rig count excludes North America, which has also experienced a slump in drilling, as well as onshore China, Russia and the Caspian region. However, the number of rigs operating in Saudi Arabia has climbed from 105 to 126 over the same period…
Shell, Vitol Boost UAE Storage to Handle Iraqi Crude
Royal Dutch Shell and trading house Vitol are stepping up their operations in the port of Fujairah to store Iraqi crude as production from the OPEC member rises, industry sources said. Iraq is OPEC's second largest producer after Saudi Arabia and its output has almost doubled since the start of the decade at 4.7 million barrels per day (bpd). With a target of 5.5-6 million bpd by 2020, Iraq wants to be exempt from the cartel's bid to boost oil prices with production cuts to reduce a global surplus.
Fire Near Yemeni Oil Facility Kills Worker
A fire that broke out at a domestic gas storage facility in Yemen's Marib province on Thursday killed a worker and seriously injured four others, according to state media and a local official. Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze caused by an electrical fault which broke out close to Safer, an oil industry compound in Marib province about 150 km (95 miles) east of the capital Sanaa, said state news agency, Saba, citing a Yemeni official. Saudi-led coalition forces fighting…
Al Qaeda Still Reaping Oil Profits in Yemen
Al Qaeda may have been pushed out of the enclave it carved out in Yemen as the country descended into civil war, but the militants are still entrenched in other parts of the country's south, reaping profits from smuggled fuel. Scores of militants were killed in a Gulf Arab-backed offensive on Al Qaeda's de facto capital of Mukalla, Yemen's third largest seaport, but hundreds fled to neighbouring Shabwa province and beyond. A month later, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)…
Yemeni Forces Seize Main Oil Terminal From al Qaeda
Yemeni government forces and their Emirati allies took back control of the country's largest oil export terminal from al Qaeda on Monday, security officials said, a day after routing the militants from their nearby stronghold. The lightning advance is a major shift in strategy for the Saudi-led coalition forces, which for over a year have focused their firepower on the Iran-allied Houthis who had seized the capital Sanaa and driven the government into exile. The civil war has killed more than 6…
Kemp: Arabia Sees Record O&G Drilling as Rest of World Slumps
A record number of rigs are drilling for oil and gas on the Arabian peninsula even as drilling in the rest of the world tumbles in response to low prices. There were almost 290 rigs active in Saudi Arabia and the neighbouring states of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman in March, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The rig count has increased by 50 since oil prices started to fall in mid-2014 and has almost doubled over the last five years (http://tmsnrt.rs/1TQYcXj).
Yemen War Intensifies Regional Tension
Saudi-led air strikes targeting Iranian-allied Houthi forces intensified in Yemen on Tuesday, residents said, an escalation of a nine-month-old war that follows a rise in tensions between the kingdom and arch foe Tehran. After weeks of a relative lull, large air strikes targeted military positions linked to Yemen's ascendant Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the port city of Hodaida and the disputed southwestern city of Taiz. Heavy shelling resumed on battle fronts which had been largely static during a truce which began on Dec. 15 in tandem with United Nations-backed peace talks.
Flynn Refrigeration to Supply EDC Jackup Rigs
Liverpool City Region (UK) maritime firm Flynn Refrigeration has struck a deal to supply refrigeration and air conditioning products to jackup rigs operated the Egyptian Drilling Company (EDC). The Birkenhead firm is an official supplier to some of the air conditioning and refrigeration industry's biggest manufacturers including Bitzer, Bock, Grasso, Gram, Copeland and Danfoss. The deal has already generated work supplying two EDC jack-up rigs including the new-build Setty, currently located in Gabon West Africa, and the Al-Qaher I based in the Red Sea, Egypt.
Yemen Suffers Power Vacuum After Leaders Quit
Small protests in Sanaa denouncing Houthis; United States expresses concern over Hadi's resignation. SANAA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Yemen drifted deeper into political limbo on Friday after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned in exasperation at a Houthi rebel takeover of the country, a move that appeared to catch the Iran-backed group off balance. Hadi, a former general, blamed the Houthis' control of the capital Sanaa for impeding his attempt to steer Yemen toward stability after years of secessionist and tribal unrest, deepening poverty and U.S. drone strikes on Islamist militants.
Yemen Fuel Prices Cut Under Deal Between Gov't, Rebels
Yemen has cut fuel prices by around 15 percent, the state oil company said on Wednesday, rowing back on price rises that were introduced in July and triggered unrest led by Shi'ite Houthi tribesmen and armed clashes in the capital Sanaa. The move came after an agreement brokered by U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar was signed earlier this week to end the fighting, which killed at least 200 people and saw Houthi tribesmen seize key government institutions in Sanaa. The state-owned Yemen oil company said the price of petrol and diesel had been reduced to 150 riyals ($0.69) per liter…
Kemp: Producers Look Away from Middle East
Following four decades of war, sanctions, nationalisation and unrest, oil and gas producers are gradually adjusting to rely less on the Middle East. The countries around the Persian Gulf and on the Arabian Peninsula still contain the greatest concentration of giant and super-giant fields anywhere in the world and have some of the most attractive oil and gas geology. But the increasingly hostile political environment above ground has forced oil and gas companies to hunt for new reserves in other parts of the world where the geology is tougher but political conditions are much easier.
Mortars Land in Saudi Arabia near Iraq
Mortar attack near Arar caused no casualties; Iraq militants have seized land near border. Attack follows raid in south of country by al Qaeda. Three mortar bombs landed inside Saudi Arabia on Monday close to its northern border with Iraq, where Islamist militants have grabbed land in a lightning advance, officials said. The mortars caused no casualties but will stoke security fears in Saudi Arabia, which is also facing militants on its southern border with Yemen, where at least 10 people died in an al Qaeda raid into the kingdom on Friday and Saturday.
Six Skiffs Pursue Oil Tanker
GAC advised mariners in its daily alert that on or about 1:23 p.m. UTC, March 26 the Master of an oil tanker reported being pursued by six skiffs in position 13.16.00 N - 042.57.00 E, BAM of the in the Bab El Mandeb between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. Skiffs had an undetermined number of personnel onboard but came within 1.8 NM, GAC reported. Procedures IAW BMP4 were conducted. GAC recommends that vessels within the vicinity of this alert operate with a heightened level of security and report any suspicious activity to MSCHOA, UKMTO or MARLO.
