New base 699 special 04 october 2015

Copyright © 2015 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,

or otherwise copied without the written permission of the authors. This includes internal distribution. All reasonable endeavours have been used to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this

publication. However, no warranty is given to the accuracy of its content.

NewBase 04 October 2015 - Issue No. 699 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE

UAE: ADNOC Distribution bags ‘Brand of the Year’ Distinction at World Branding Awards 2015 in Service Stations Award Category

WAM ( images by NewBase )

ADNOC Distribution was honoured with the ‘Brand of the Year’ distinction at the World Branding Awards 2015 in the National Award category for service stations sector. The title validates the brand’s excellen ce in the distribution and marketing of petroleum products and allied services within the UAE.

Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri, Chief Executive Officer at ADNOC Distribution, received the award at a special ceremony hosted at the Kensington Palace State Apartments in London.

The World Branding Awards is given away by the World Branding Forum, a registered non-profit organisation. The awards, which recognise the achievements of some of the world’s best brands, includes two major tiers – the Global Awards and the National Awards. While the Global Awards honour international brands, the National Awards are conferred to brands that are household names in their countries of origin.

Commenting on the win, Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri said, "At ADNOC Distribution, we continue to reinforce our brand position through our strict commitment to providing quality products and services based on our customer focused strategy. We also effectively support sustainable economic and community development in line with vision of our wise leadership in the UAE. This approach has helped ADNOC Distribution maintain its leading status in the local market as a responsible and key contributor to the nation’s economy."

Al Dhaheri added, "We work relentlessly to ensure employee well-being, preservation of the environment and conformance to the highest standards of health and safety in our day-to-day operations. Today, we are glad to achieve this honour from the World Branding Forum. Such distinctions inspire us to continue retaining the trust of our loyal customers, while keeping our competitive edge in the industry."




Kuwait to seek private role in $36bn projects Reuters + NewBase

Kuwait will invite private investors, including foreigners, to take part over the next two years in nine infrastructure projects worth about $36bn, under a new law designed to facilitate such deals, an official has said.

The country has huge construction plans, ranging from power stations and sewage and waste treatment facilities to railway and metro systems. But the plunge in oil prices since last year has slashed its revenues.

So rather than assuming the full cost of construction, the government wants increasingly to use public-private partnerships (PPPs), in which private investors take stakes in projects, bear part of the risk and share profits from operating them.

“This has become an inevitable necessity because it reduces the burden on the state budget in light of falling oil prices,” Adel Mohammad al-Roumi, the president of the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects, which will oversee PPPs, said in an interview.

In the past, Kuwait has completed only one PPP deal. Projects have been delayed or cancelled because of red tape,

uncertainty over legal terms and political tensions between the cabinet and parliament, which have hindered planning.

But a new PPP law which took effect this year may help to break the logjam, partly by making it easier for investors to raise money. While it was hard for banks to obtain security for loans under the old rules, the new law allows a range of assets to be used as collateral, including the developer’s shares.

“The new PPP law and its implementation regulations are a positive step for Kuwaiti PPPs and resolve a number of challenges that were present under the previous regime,” global law firm Ashurst, which has advised on projects in the country, said in a report.

Successful PPP projects in Kuwait could spur such deals in other Gulf Arab states, which also want to save money in an era of low oil prices. Dubai published a new PPP law last month.

Kuwait’s new law provides for creation of joint stock companies to handle projects, with Kuwaiti citizens owning 50% of such firms, the government 6% to 24% and foreign investors the remainder.




Al-Roumi said his authority would in the next few months invite expressions of interest from investors in seven projects costing about $10bn. Among them, bids are expected within about four months for a $1.3bn to 1.7bn electricity generation and water desalination project at al-Zour, with the winners likely to be announced next March, he said.

About 70% to 80% of funding for these projects would come from banks, which authorities hope will stimulate the local banking system. The rest would be provided by investors in the joint stock companies.

In the longer term, PPPs will be used for two much bigger projects, al-Roumi said. Kuwait aims to start building a $6bn railway in 2016, having it ready to connect to a planned regional network in

2018. It also plans a $20bn project to construct an urban metro system.

The government hopes PPPs will reduce the delays and cost overruns which have plagued past projects. Private investors will not get major payments until projects are operating, creating an incentive to complete construction on time and within budget.

Success in Kuwait’s PPP drive is not assured. Bureaucracy and politics may continue to slow projects. Nevertheless, Ashurst said the new law could make Kuwait considerably more attractive for foreign investors.

“The new PPP law includes provisions for foreign investors to compete on a more level playing field with Kuwaiti

companies,” Ashurst’s report said, adding that the new rules amounted to an easing of restrictions on foreign ownership of project companies.




Saudi to keep up energy spending despite oil drop Reuters +NewBase

Saudi Arabia is continuing with its investments in the oil and gas industry as well as solar energy despite the current drop in oil prices, the kingdom’s oil minister was quoted as saying yesterday. Ali al-Naimi was speaking at the G20 Energy Ministers’ meeting in Istanbul, according to state news agency SPA.

“Since the 1970s this industry has been experiencing sharp fluctuations in prices — up and down — which have impacted investments in the field of oil and energy, and its continuity,” Naimi said.

“This volatile situation is not in the interest of the producing and consuming countries, and the G20 countries can contribute to the stability of the market.”

Oil fell on 1st Oct., reversing earlier gains after US non-farm payrolls data came in weaker than expected which clouded the demand outlook from the world’s largest oil consumer. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year because of excess supply, although analysts see signs that Opec’s strategy of allowing prices to fall to put a squeeze on growth in high-cost production areas is having some impact.

International oil companies have significantly lowered spending this year due to persistently low oil prices, cutting budgets and thousands of jobs. Global oil investments this year are expected to drop by 20% marking their biggest decline in history, Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, said yesterday.

Naimi said Saudi Arabia’s investments should continue

in exploration, production, refining as well as other alternative sources such as solar energy, SPA reported. The world needs clean, continuous and available energy now and for future generations, he said.

Naimi met with his US, Russian and Indonesian counterparts in Istanbul, where they discussed bilateral relations in the field of petroleum and protecting the environment, SPA reported.




Saudi petrochemical sector growth prospects excellent; set to stay ahead of the pack . Saudi Gazette

Saudi Arabia is leveraging low oil prices to accelerate development of its downstream petrochemical derivatives sector, and will add over 30 million tonnes of production capacity by 2020, raising production to 126 million tonnes from 2014 levels of 94.6 million tonnes, the latest edition of The Oil & Gas Year (TOGY) revealed. Capital expenditure in the petrochemical sector as well is set to further expand, it noted. Diversifying its existing ethylene and methanol petrochemical portfolio into more complex, distinctive products, including specialty chemicals and engineering thermoplastics, Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Secretary General, said “going downstream is a logical long-term strategy for Saudi Arabia.”

In an exclusive interview with TOGY for The Oil & Gas Year, Saudi Arabia 2015, he noted that “the country took a wise and fair step in encouraging private investment in the petrochemical sector as it turns its inexpensive petroleum production into a diversified value chain and high value added products.” Saudi Arabia will soon dominate Middle Eastern competition in the development of value-added petrochemical exports by 2020 despite strong regional and international competition, the report added. With more industries in Saudi

Arabia’s Eastern Province than in the rest of the GCC combined, KSA’s push into petrochemicals derivatives will also strengthen the local downstream industry and increase opportunities for technology transfer partnerships, value-added services as well as support national professional employment goals, particularly for women in the workforce. Targeting both local and international markets for growth, the industry’s future is undoubtedly bright. Global chemicals demand is expected to double by 2030 and the Kingdom has privileged access to gateway markets in as Asia and Africa within 3,000 kilometers of its borders. These gateways will provide access to the world’s population growth centers in coming decades. Moreover, KSA is planning to reverse the GCC’s dependence on petrochemical imports, valued at $23.1 billion in 2013. Al-Sadoun further said “Saudi Aramco has demonstrated full commitment to the national agenda in developing the mega projects of PetroRabigh and Sadara.




It will enable the production of new products which will stimulate a new set of downstream industries in the Kingdom.” These include conversion industries that rely on petrochemicals, plastics and fertilizers. The petrochemicals sector is the largest non-oil sector in KSA with standing investments of $63.5 billion, including an expected $50 billion in capital expenditure by 2020 across three major petrochemical projects and two expansions. The Sadara chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II and PetroRabigh are two such keystone projects. A $20 billion joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the Dow Chemical Company, Sadara alone is the world’s largest chemical complex to ever be constructed in a single phase, with 26 world-scale manufacturing plants. Adding 330,000 metric tonnes of output and positioning Saudi Aramco as a global top 10 chemical producer by 2020, Sadara will change how the petrochemical business is conducted in Saudi Arabia and will be the first chemical producer in the Gulf to use naphtha as a liquid feedstock. “Petrochemicals are already the largest non-oil export from Saudi Arabia. The development of clusters and the diversification of petrochemicals derivatives strengthen the local downstream industry and increase opportunities,” Mutlaq H. Al-Morished, CEO of Tasnee told TOGY. To sustain its growth trajectory, the petrochemical industry needs to invest to improve its performance and global competitiveness in manufacturing, supply chain management, marketing, sourcing and services. As a consequence, TOGY is expecting a more active M&A market in the coming 12 months as companies consolidate their market share and pursue technology acquisitions. “It certainly looks like a great year for a focus on Saudi Arabia’s petrochemicals industry. It is estimated that it will be responsible for a total production of more than 115 million tonnes at the end of 2016,” said Annie Michailidou, Country Director, TOGY. — SG




GCC petrochem industry contributes 31% to total manufacturing GDP in ’14

With revenues reaching almost $88 billion in 2014, the petrochemicals industry contributed to 31% of the GCC’s total manufacturing GDP, according to the latest industry report by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA).

Petrochemical production in the GCC rose by 8.3 percent in 2014, making the GCC the second-highest growth region in the world.

However, the slumping oil prices and the economic slowdown in China have had a direct negative impact on petrochemicals prices, with revenues declining from $89.4 billion in 2013, according to the GCC Petrochemicals and Chemicals Facts and Figures 2014, which will be released at the 10th Annual GPCA Forum in November 2015.

“The health of the global economy since the decline in oil prices and the slowdown of the Chinese economy combined with the possibility of a nuclear deal with Iran, contributed to weak petrochemicals prices and created a difficult near-term outlook for the global petrochemicals and chemicals sector,” said Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA.

“Given that the GCC petrochemicals producers are not price-setters, it means that Arabian Gulf producers need to be more agile, collaborative and innovative to succeed.”

“Looking ahead, the long term scenario is more positive. The industry is forecasted to grow at 6% per annum over the next five years, with the region producing over 190 million tons of petrochemicals annually by 2020,” he added.

“The drive into higher value products, such as specialty and performance chemicals, is gaining momentum and is expected to act as a catalyst for an even stronger growth of the GCC petrochemical industry in the years to come.”

As the region’s largest petrochemical producer, Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing portfolio comprised 63% of the region’s chemical portfolio and earned $68.3 billion, followed by Qatar’s revenues of almost $8 billion. The GCC’s total chemical capacity for 2014 exceeded 136.2 million tons.

The strong sector attracted considerable GCC nationals into its workforce in 2014, with a nationalization rate of 67% among GPCA member companies.

The GPCA’s Facts and Figures report is an annual publication will be released at the GPCA’s Annual Forum on November 17, 2015. Currently in its fourth edition, the report provides information on wide-ranging subjects for the region’s chemicals industry including product capacity, employment and trade.

“With the industry being such a substantial part of the GCC’s GDP, we feel it is essential to open the door to encourage informed, thoughtful discussions and debate on the key issues that revolve around it,” Dr. Al-Sadoun further said.

“The GPCA’s Facts and Figures report, and the annual forum, are platforms through which we educate and engage, as well as demonstrating the achievements of the petrochemicals industry and anticipating its future.” Now in its 10th edition, the GPCA annual forum will be held on Nov. 17-19, 2015 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.




US: SolarCity produces super efficient solar panel Financial Times- Anna Nicolaou

A company backed by billionaire Elon Musk on Friday said it will produce the world's most efficient solar panel.

The new panel by SolarCity, the biggest US home solar power installer, will convert sunlight into electricity at a 22.04 per cent rate, topping the 21.5 per cent made by rival SunPower, the company said. The industry average stands around 16 to 17 per cent.

SolarCity, which was conceived by Mr Musk and his cousin Lyndon Rive while on their way to the Burning Man festival in 2004, started out installing and supporting solar systems for homes, businesses and schools.

But last year, with the acquisition of start-up Silevo, the company expanded into making the panels as well, claiming it would build more efficient systems to cut the costs of its products. "At the time, people

probably thought: 'wow, that's stupid'," said Mr Musk of his foray into solar panel production. "I kind of like counterintuitive moves." SolarCity is betting on solar power becoming more widely popular, after the costs of solar panels have dropped dramatically in the past few years amid a boost in Chinese production.

The average cost of a solar electric system has dropped 50 per cent since the start of 2010, the Obama administration said in August when announcing plans to support solar, wind and renewable energy projects. Nearly 600,000 US homes have solar panels, according to GTM research.

Mr Rive said that as costs continue to fall he expects solar power will become the dominant source of energy by 2040, and the higher power output from each of its new panels will cut costs even further, by 15 to 20 cents per watt.

"When done right, high efficiency and low cost end up being the same thing," said Mr Musk. "There's limited space on rooftops, so you want to generate as much energy as you can from that given space, to compete with natural gas or coal." SolarCity last year announced plans to build one of the world's largest solar panel plants in upstate New York, bucking the trend of solar manufacturing being dominated by Asia.

Mr Musk said he wants to dispel beliefs that solar energy is not a viable replacement for fossil fuels. "For a long time with Tesla [the electric cars manufacturer], they said we couldn't make it. By acting first . . . this helps shift big players in the industry in the right direction." Speaking at a SolarCity event in New York, Mr Musk also touched on his ambitions to colonise Mars by sending a fusion bomb to create "two tiny pulsing suns" to warm the planet. "A lot of people don't appreciate that our sun is a giant fusion explosion."

Elon Musk, Chairman of SolarCity and CEO of

Tesla Motors, speaks at SolarCityÕs Inside

Energy Summit in Manhattan, New York

October 2, 2015.




NewBase 04 October - 2015 Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

Oil fall 1 percent as U.S. data soft, storm threat recedes Reuters + NewBase

Oil prices fell around 1 percent on Friday, heading for a weekly decline, as weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data weighed on the energy demand outlook and Hurricane Joaquin veered away from oil installations in the U.S. East Coast.

The dollar's drop limited losses in oil. The currency fell on concerns that the U.S. economy may still be too weak to allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this year. Oil and most other commodities are traded in dollars and a weaker greenback makes those raw materials more affordable to users of the euro and other currencies.

Brent, the global oil benchmark, was down 62 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $47.07 a barrel by 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT).

U.S. crude was off 60 cents, or also about 1.3 percent, at $44.14. Both Brent and U.S. crude were down about 3 percent on the week.

U.S. employers slammed the brakes on hiring over the last two months and wages fell in September. U.S. factories were feeling the global chill and shed 9,000 jobs in September after losing 18,000 in August, according to the Labor Department's survey of employers.

Oil price special

coverage




The weaker U.S. data "just took a rate hike off the table for this year and heightens fear of a global slowdown," said Chris Jarvis, energy analyst at Caprock Risk Management in Frederick, Maryland.

Hurricane Joaquin pounded the Bahamas for a second day with powerful winds and waves, but was not expected to be a major threat to the U.S. East Coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

The U.S. East Coast is home to the New Jersey coast and New York Harbor, where several oil refineries, pipelines and other energy infrastructure are located.

Traders and investors will be looking out at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) for the weekly reading on the U.S. oil rig count to gauge how domestic crude production was faring.

The data, issued by industry firm Baker Hughes, showed last week that U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a fourth week in a row, although the drop of four rigs was also the smallest since the declines began.




Oil Bulls Lose Faith in Recovery as Russia Adds to Global Glut Bloomberg - Mark Shenk

Hedge funds trimmed bullish oil bets for the first time in six weeks, losing faith in a swift recovery as Russia boosted output to the highest since the Soviet Union collapsed.

Speculators reduced their net-long position in West Texas Intermediate crude by 9.1 percent in the week ended Sept. 29, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Longs dropped from a 12-week high while shorts increased.

U.S. crude output is down 514,000 barrels a day from a four-decade high reached in June, Energy Information Administration data show. The number of rigs targeting oil in the U.S. dropped to a five year low, Baker Hughes Inc. said Oct. 2. WTI traded in the tightest range since June last

month as China’s slowing economy and the highest Russian output in two decades signaled the global glut will linger.

"The U.S. producers are the only ones doing their part to reduce the global glut,"

John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund, said by phone. "Other countries, such as Russia, are pumping at full tilt. The cutbacks by shale producers here aren’t going to have much impact, especially given the slowing global economy."

WTI decreased 1.3 percent in the report week to $45.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It settled at $45.54 Friday. Ample Supply .

U.S. crude stockpiles, already about 100 million barrels above the five-year average, may swell further. Stockpiles have climbed during October in eight of the last 10 years as refiners slow operations to perform seasonal maintenance.

Russian oil output rose to a post-Soviet record last month as producers took advantage

of the weak ruble to push ahead with drilling. The nation’s production of crude and condensate climbed to 10.74 million barrels a day, 1 percent more than a year earlier and topping a record set in June, according to data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. China has failed to reverse an economic slowdown with five interest-rate reductions since November. The country’s growth will slow to 6.8 percent this year, below the government’s goal of




7 percent, according to the median of economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg. China is the biggest crude-consuming nation after the U.S.

Investors pulled $393 million in September from United States Oil Fund, the largest U.S. exchange-traded product that tracks crude futures, the biggest withdrawal since April.

"There’s been nothing to bring the retail investor in to put money in commodity funds," Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $128 billion of assets, said by phone. "The managed money has been positive about the market but things look grim. We’re at a tough time for oil on a seasonal basis as well." Other Markets

In other markets, net bullish bets on Nymex gasoline increased 3.8 percent to 17,239. Futures declined 3.8 percent in the period covered by the CFTC report to $1.3632 a gallon. Net bearish wagers on U.S. ultra low sulfur diesel rose by 11 percent to 31,263. Diesel futures slipped 2.2 percent to $1.4976 a gallon.

To investor Jim Rogers, oil holding near $45 a barrel in the face of bearish news is a sign that prices are poised to recover.

“When there’s bad news and something doesn’t decline, it usually means it’s at a bottom and will be turning,” Rogers, who correctly predicted a commodities rally in 1999, said in an interview in Singapore on Thursday.




NewBase Special Coverage

News Agencies News Release 04 Oct.. 2015

Global oil market to remain bearish Syed Rashid Husain ( images by NewBaser)

LOOKING into crude future is often a professionally hazardous undertaking. Yet - despite the pitfalls - at this stage, the medium- to long-term crude outlook appears least rosy. And there are reasons for it! New frontiers are emerging - all around - while traditional crude resources continue to produce at elevated levels.

And in the meantime, local consumption growth is getting moderate too. Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two major crude producers, continue to pump at elevated levels. Russian output is already at record post Soviet level, climbing to 10.74 million bpd, one percent more than a year earlier and topping a record set in June.

Soviet-era production peaked at 11.48 million barrels a day in 1987, according to BP Plc. Crude exports rose 3.4 percent from the previous year to 5.27 million barrels a day, according the available data. This was five percent more than the previous month. Deutsche Bank estimates that Russian output this year will average around 10.6 million bpd. That is above the 10.58 million bpd the country produced last year. And this is despite the fact that Russia concedes that market is soft. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov conceded last week oil prices won’t recover as quickly as after the 2008-09 financial crisis. His ministry sees oil averaging at $50 a barrel in 2016 and $52 in 2017.




Yet, Moscow continues to underline that due to geology and harsh climate, Russian companies can’t adjust oil output as easily as in other producing nations. Also, the depreciation of the ruble makes it relatively cheaper to produce oil in Russia, helping to preserve oil company margins. The increase comes while OPEC seems resolute about defending market share rather than cutting production amid a global output glut. And currently there are no indications that OPEC may change its course in the immediate future. And the strategy seems working too. Recent reports indicated Saudi Arabia, the OPEC kingpin, was slowly regaining market share. Saudi figures to July show its crude exports have been above 7 million bpd in every month of 2015 except May. This was in sharp contrast to seven months of 2014 when its exports were below 7 million bpd. In 2012 and 2013, Saudi crude exports exceeded that level every month.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the IEA too point out that Saudi exports to major consumers in Asia and Europe were touching multi-year highs in the first half of the year. Exports year-to-date to the US have risen, but remain under pressure. A Reuters analysis of Saudi production and export data too underlines that Saudi crude exports have amounted to around 8.1 percent of the global market since November 2014, after falling to 7.9 percent in 2014. "Based on their own reported crude export numbers for first-half 2015, the Saudis do appear to have reclaimed some of the market share they lost during 2014," David Fyfe, a former senior IEA official, now working for Gunvor, was quoted as saying. And Saudi Arabia shows no sign of changing course. Minister Ali Al-Naimi too have been underlining in recent months that the strategy was working. Speaking at the G20 Energy Ministers' meeting in Istanbul last weekend, Minister Naimi underlined that Saudi Arabia was continuing with investments in exploration, production, refining




as well as other alternative sources such as solar energy. The world needs clean, continuous and available energy now and for future generations, he added. On the other hand, Iran is also striving to increase its output. Tehran is planning to increase crude output by 2 million bpd from about 50 energy projects slated for investors at a conference to be held in Tehran soon, National Iranian Oil Co. Managing Director Roknoddin Javadi was quoted as saying. Iran is inviting foreign investors to actively develop its energy industry once sanctions are eased, hopefully in 2016, Javadi told Reuters on Thursday. In November, Iran plans to announce its new oil contracts, which would be a major improvement not only on the so-called buy-back contracts but also on the contracts rival and neighbor Iraq offered to oil majors during 2000s. "Our priority is developing the joint oilfields with neighboring countries," Javadi said. Iran will need $30 billion of investment over five years to boost oil production, starting with about 350,000 barrels of new output next year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a recent report. The supplies could keep pressure on oil prices and delay the market’s return to balance, Henry Tarr, a Goldman analyst, said in the report. Javadi too agreed: “The global oil market will stay bearish in the short to medium term.” And although China has always been an interesting shale prospect, yet its specific geology made many pundits assert that for Beijing to exploit its shale resources would be difficult than in the US. But all that seems changing now. In a just released report, 'Shale gas development in China aided by government investment and decreasing well cost' EIA analyst, Fauzi Aloulou underlines: According to MLR, Sinopec and PetroChina are on schedule to reach 0.6 Bcf/d of shale gas production by the end of 2015. Although still a small fraction of China's overall production, estimated at 13.0 Bcf/d in 2014, increasing shale gas output could eventually help to meet growing demand for natural gas in China and to limit growth in the country's natural gas imports. And while all this is happening, the global economic outlook is also not too healthy - impacting the crude markets - rather adversely. Economies of the EU reportedly contracted 0.1 percent from the previous month. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the 19 countries that use the euro was 11 percent. An early September report from the International Monetary Fund said global economic growth "remains moderate and uneven." The World Bank, in a report on Russia, said the low price of crude oil, coupled with sanctions imposed in response to the Kremlin's stance on Ukraine, is hobbling the nation's economy which depends heavily on oil revenues. Demand outlook thus remains murky too. And the recently inducted IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol too conceded in Vienna, where he flew in last week specifically to pay a courtesy visit on OPEC Secretary General El-Badr, recognized that 'the next few quarters we will rather see a low price (crude) environment as there is a lot of supply out there.' Let's be candid. Fatih is very much on target.




BP executives visit Iran seeking return after sanctions end Bloomberg

BP officials met with Iranian oil executives late last month in Tehran as the British company seeks to return to the country once sanctions are lifted.

“BP has met with oil industry officials in Iran recently,” a company spokesman said in an e-mail. “The details of those discussions are confidential. We have said for some time that we would be interested in reviewing opportunities in Iran once sanctions permit it.”

Although BP wasn’t part of a business group that travelled to Tehran with UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond in August when he opened the British embassy, chief executive officer Bob Dudley said in June the company would be “very much” interested in investing in Iran when sanctions are lifted. The company is “fully in compliance” with sanctions until then, the spokesman said.

Oil producers including BP, which has worked in the Middle East since its inception as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co in 1908, are interested in Iran because it holds the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and biggest gas deposits, according to the company’s data.

Iran earlier this year came to an agreement with the US and other world powers to curb its nuclear program in exchange for an end to economic sanctions.

Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, plans to sign a deal on exploration and production with Iran following changes in the Gulf nation’s tax laws, the company’s billionaire CEO Vagit Alekperov said on Friday. Lukoil stopped work in Iran as a minority partner in a project called Anaran in 2010 due to sanctions.

Eni, Italy’s largest oil producer, is interested in returning to Iran once sanctions end as long as it can first recover investments made in the country, CEO Claudio Descalzi said on July 30.

Iran plans to increase crude output by 2mn bpd and natural gas production by about 7bn standard cubic feet from about 50 energy projects that will be offered to investors at a conference in Tehran next month, National Iranian Oil Co Managing Director Roknoddin Javadi said in Berlin on Thursday.

Iran plans to increase crude output by 2mn bpd from about 50 energy projects slated for investors at a conference in Tehran next month, National Iranian Oil Co managing director Roknoddin Javadi said.

The package will also aim to boost natural gas production by 7bn standard cubic feet, Javadi said at a conference in Berlin. Oil production is now about 2.8mn bpd, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Iran has the world’s largest gas reserves and the fourth largest oil reserves, according to BP figures.

Iran will need $30bn of investment over five years to boost oil production, starting with about 350,000 barrels of new output next year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc said in a report Thursday. The supplies could keep pressure on oil prices and delay the market’s return to balance, Henry Tarr, a Goldman analyst, said in the report. “The global oil market will stay bearish in the short to medium term,” Javadi told the Berlin conference.




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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, Energy Consultant MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA Emarat member since 1990 ASME member since 1995 Hawk Energy member 2010

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Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &

regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.

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Transcript of New base 699 special 04 october 2015