2003
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Syria Banias refinery restarts
Syria's Banias refinery has restarted after a two week delay which resulted in the sale of additional crude cargoes, reported Reuters. The 130,000 bpd refinery was due to come back on stream in November after a scheduled six-week maintenance shutdown.
IPE Brent falls, US stocks data
IPE Brent crude oil futures fell on Tuesday as the market waited for today's news on US oil inventories. Prices briefly touched a low of USD28.65. A Reuters poll of analysts suggests that US crude stocks are expected to have fallen as imports declined for a second week in a row.
1.7m bpd H1 Iraqi exports
Iraq has finalised crude oil contracts totalling 1.7m bpd of Basra Light for the first half of 2004, rolling over its existing customer base and taking on one new lifter, reported Reuters. A senior official said that some of Baghdad's best-performing customers had been awarded higher volumes for next year.
Oman invites Haweel bids
Petroleum Development Oman has called for bids to develop the Haweel Cluster oil field located in the south of the country which has nine reservoirs with significant exploration potential. PDO hopes to produce 10,000 bpd from the field.
IEA warns stocks very low
Head of the International Energy Agency Claude Mandil said commercial stocks of oil were still too low and that the market would have trouble coping with severe weather or unrest in producing countries. He told reporters in Tokyo that low inventory levels were keeping prices, high making customers reluctant to restock.
Iraq pipeline still too insecure
Iraq's northern oil export pipeline is still too insecure to restart, officials told Reuters. The pipeline from Iraq to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey has been closed since the Iraq war and hit by sabotage. At present all oil exports are from the southern Basra oil terminal.
Iran hikes reserves by 36pc
Iran has raised its estimated oil reserves by 36 per cent to 130.8bn barrels, according to an Oil Minstry document cited by Bloomberg. Analysts noted that Iran had made a few big discoveries in recent years and that older fields had been reappraised. But this new estimate is at odds with the BP figure of 89.7bn in its latest statistical review.
Adco, 1.4m bpd by 2006
The Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations plans to boost production capacity to 1.4m bpd by 2006 by developing new oil fields, officials told Gulf News. Present production from five fields is 1.1m bpd. The North East Bab field is under development and will supply 110,000 bpd by mid-2006.
KSA gas deals, no interest
BP has no plans to bid for gas projects in Saudi Arabia, officials told Bloomberg, and ExxonMobil is unlikely to bid after the cancellation of a previous deal five months ago. Norwegian state giant Statoil said it had not decided yet whether to bid for the three gas mega projects Saudi Arabia plans to auction next January, replacing the abandoned USD25bn Saudi Gas Initiative.
More Saudi gas mega-deals in Jan
Saudi Arabia is set to auction three further gas exploration areas in late January. Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi said that USD2bn deal with Shell and Total signed at the weekend was just the start of a series of investment projects designed to further develop the nation's precious natural gas resources.
Shell, USD2bn Saudi Arabian gas JV
Shell has announced the signing of an upstream project agreement to explore for natural gas in Saudi Arabia and develop any commercial finds. Shell holds 40 per cent of the consortium, and is partnered by Saudi Aramco and Total which each hold 30 per cent. The consortium's exploration activities will be the first upstream operations in which international energy companies participate in Saudi Arabia since the 1970s.
IEA revises demand outlook
The International Energy Agency has upped its demand growth forecast for 2003 by 170,000 bpd or 1.7 per cent to 1.28m bpd. China is the main force behind the larger than expected growth in global oil demand which is helping to underpin high oil prices, said the IEA.
Syria, Petro-Canada deal
Syria has inked a contract with Petro-Canada for exclusive oil exploration rights in Deir EzZour, 460km north east of Damascus. The initial 48-month contract involves seismic studies and drilling two wells. This deal came after the US Senate passed a sanctions bill which will prevent US companies working in Syria.
USD4bn Saudi refinery for FDI
Saudi Arabia is pushing on with plans to attract up to USD4bn from private and foreign investors for the expansion of the Rabigh refinery, reported the Saudi Press Agency. Saudi Aramco wants to transform the Red Sea refinery into a giant petrochemicals plant by late 2008.
Saudi boosts Gulf exports
Saudi Arabia increased crude oil exports from Gulf terminals by 500,000 bpd during October, reported Petrologistics. The increase followed a sharp rise in oil prices after Opec's September agreement to cut output. But analysts are waiting for Red Sea port data before finalising the figures.
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