Egypt plans to restore gas production at its gas fields to normal by the summer of 2025
Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, said that Egypt hopes to resume normal production in its natural gas fields before next summer. He also indicated that the government was moving to settle arrears it owes to production companies. Madbouly said at a press conference that the government's arrears had caused a drop in production, but he did not specify how much it owed or when the money might be paid back. In March…
Qatar to Leave OPEC
Qatar said on Monday it was quitting OPEC from January to focus on its gas ambitions, taking a swipe at the group's de facto leader Saudi Arabia and marring efforts to show unity before this week's meeting of exporters to tackle an oil price slide.Doha, one of OPEC's smallest oil producers but the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, is embroiled in a protracted diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia…
No More 'Free' Saudi Money for Egypt
Saudi Arabia's financial support for strategic ally Egypt will no longer involve "free money" and will increasingly take the form of loans that provide returns to help it grapple with low oil prices, a Saudi businessman familiar with the matter said. "This is a change in strategy. Return on investment is important to Saudi Arabia as it diversifies sources of revenue," the businessman told Reuters on Friday during what has been described as a "historic" visit to Cairo by Saudi King Salman.
Militants Attack Government Forces near Iraq's Baiji Refinery
Islamic State militants attacked government forces and their Shi'ite militia allies on Saturday, killing 11 near the city of Baiji as part of the battle for control of Iraq's biggest refinery, army and police sources said. Four suicide bombers in vehicles packed with explosives hit security forces and the local headquarters of the Shi'ite militias in the area of al-Hijjaj, 10 km (6 miles) to the south of Baiji town, near the refinery, sources at the nearby Tikrit security operations command said.
BP Inks $12 Bln Energy Deal in Egypt
British oil company BP (BP.L) finalised on Saturday a $12 billion deal with Egypt to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates in the West Nile Delta. The supply deal, signed at an international investment conference in the Sharm El-Sheikh resort, will help Egypt as it tackles its worst energy crisis in decades. Rising energy consumption and decreasing production have…
Iraqi Government Forces Close to Baiji Refinery
Iraqi government forces got within a kilometre (half a mile) of the country's biggest refinery on Friday, the closest they have come to breaking an Islamic State siege of the facility in months of fighting, two army officers and a witness said. Fighting raged in a village between the complex and the nearby town of Baiji, near a deserted area believed to contain roadside bombs planted by the militants that have been preventing an advance, they said.
Iraqis Advance in Bid to Retake Refinery
Iraq's biggest refinery under siege since June; new push against Islamic State aims to cut supply lines. Offensive coincides with peshmerga deployment to Kobani. Iraqi security forces said they advanced to within 2 km (1.2 mile) of the city of Baiji on Wednesday in a new offensive to retake the country's biggest oil refinery that has been besieged since June by Islamic State militants. Backed by Shi'ite militias and army helicopters…
Egypt Awards Oil & Gas Exploration Blocks
Egypt has signed oil and gas exploration deals worth $187 million with several Western companies and a Tunisian firm, the petroleum ministry said on Friday. The agreements cover seven exploration areas. Germany's RWE won two exploration blocks in the Gulf of Suez, while Tunisia's HBSI, Canada's TransGlobe and Italy's Edison secured five blocks in Egypt's western desert. In December, Egypt's General Petroleum Corporation…
US Strikes Islamic State Artillery to Protect Kurds
U.S. warplanes struck Iraq on Friday for the first time since American troops pulled out in 2011, attacking Islamist fighters advancing towards the Kurdish region after President Barack Obama said Washington must act to prevent "genocide". The fighters had advanced to within a half hour's drive of Arbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish region and a hub for U.S. oil companies. A Pentagon spokesman said two F/A-18 aircraft…
Car bombs in Iraq's Kirkuk Kill Nine
Two car bombs killed nine people in the Kurdish-held Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk on Thursday, police and medical sources said. The explosions near a Shi'ite mosque holding displaced people came after an offensive launched by Islamic State fighters which has routed Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and caused tens of thousands of people to flee. By Michael Georgy
Islamic State Takes Control of Oil Field & Dam in Iraq
Fighters of the Islamic State militia took control Sunday of the largest dam in Iraq, a reservoir of oil and three cities after breaking the biggest defeat the Kurdish forces since they began operations in the region in June. Capturing the Mosul dam after just 24 hours' offense could give the Sunni militiamen ability to flood the big cities, as part of its campaign to topple the Shiite government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Kurdistan Says Crude Cargo Near Texas Legally Sold
A $100 million cargo of crude oil in a tanker near Texas was legally shipped and sold by Kurdistan, lawyers for the autonomous region in Iraq told a U.S. court in a letter seen on Thursday, saying Baghdad has no right to the barrels. They also told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that it has no jurisdiction over Kurdish affairs. Baghdad, in a lawsuit filed with the court earlier this week…
Iraq's Kurds Have Right to Sell Oil While Squeezed by Baghdad
Iraq's Kurdish region has the right to keep selling oil as long as the Baghdad government keeps cutting its budget, the head of the Kurdish parliament's energy committee said on Tuesday, as an oil cargo off Texas was set to be seized at Baghdad's request. "The KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) has the right to sell oil if Baghdad continues to cut KRG's budget, disrupt the livelihood of its people and impose an embargo," Sherko Jawdat told Reuters. U.S.
Egypt's Presidential Frontrunner Sisi Cautious On Energy Subsidies
Former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to win a presidential election this month, said in a television interview broadcast on Tuesday that costly energy subsidies could not be lifted quickly. "The subsidies can't be removed suddenly ... People will not tolerate that," Sisi told CBC and ONTV. Heavy spending on energy subsidies has taken a toll on the economy. But raising energy prices could trigger protests.
