2003
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Iraq, new state oil firm planned
Iraq is establish a new state oil company to operate its oil sector on commercial lines, former Oil Ministry chief and now advisor Thamir Al Ghadban told Reuters. The sector was more efficient when the Iraq National Oil Company ran it, he said. The INOC was dissolved by Saddam Hussein in 1987.
Shell set to sign Saudi gas deal
This Saturday Shell will sign its USD2bn landmark Empty Quarter gas deal in Riyadh, after final approval from the Saudi Cabinet on Monday. This gives Shell and partners Total the first oil rights to be assigned to a Western company since the 1970s. Shell holds a 40 per cent stake, while Total and Saudi Aramco have 30 per cent each.
Saudi maintains December cuts
Saudi Arabia has signalled to its key European and Asian customers that it will maintain December crude supplies at November levels. These unchanged supply allocations were widely anticipated after Saudi administered big cutbacks in November to meet Opec's 900,000 bpd output cut.
Bahrain USD685m project
Bahrain has announced a USD685m low-sulphur diesel project to be launched next year and completed in 2007. Oil Ministry officials said that further projects worth USD2bn would be initiated covering refinery and petrochemical industries, according to The Bahrain Tribune.
Iraqi Oil Minister to tour Gulf
Iraq's Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al Uloum is to tour Gulf nations later this week to discuss a range of topics, reported agencies. His talks will include the Iraq-Saudi pipeline, Iran's offer to swap crude, gas and power and Opec's output policy for early 2004.
Oman adds to gas drilling
Petroleum Development Oman is set to complete five major wells by the end of next year in a bid to boost gas production. But officials told Gulf News that the outcome of the drilling was anyone's guess. With oil production in decline in the Sultanate, gas is becoming more important to sustain energy revenues.
Alwaleed lambasts Saudi Aramco
Legendary investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has criticised Saudi Aramco and the Oil Minister for the failure of the USD25bn Saudi Gas Initiative in remarks published by the Arab press. He said the cancellation of the SGI earlier this year was a farce and would scare off other foreign investors. Don't forget the thousands of jobs for our youth, he added.
Iraq faces winter fuel shortages
Despite having the second richest energy reserves on earth, Iraqis face a cold winter because stocks of kerosene are too low. A report from the UN Joint Logistics Centre said there is barely half the required 500m litres required for the winter. Officials told Gulf News this supply position was unlikely to improve.
Statoil denies Total, Iran deal
Norwegian oil giant Statoil has denied a weekend report from Tehran that it is linking up with Total to bid for a contract to operate a major field in southwest Iran, reported AFP. A spokesman said Statoil was only interested in winning projects in its own right.
Qapco profits up 14pc
Qatar Petroleum has posted a 14 per cent rise in profit to USD144m for the first nine months of 2003, and expects final year profits to be USD190-206m. The news came at a function for staff last week. Qapco expects to reach 50 per cent Qatarisation by 2005.
Opec overshoots own pricing
International Energy Agency boss Claude Mandil has accused Opec of not sticking to its own pricing policy. He noted that prices tended to move in a USD25-30 price band rather than the stated USD22-28 per barrel range, and said inventories were at historic lows and needed to be rebuilt.
Egypt reports biggest gas find
Egyptian National Gas Holding has said that the recently discovered Apache field in the Western desert is the country's biggest. Chairman of the state owned company Mohammed Tawila said the field, located in the Khalda concessions is the biggest find of gas condensates.
Iraq raises export target
Iraq has raised its export target for the end of March by more than 10 per cent as capacity is coming back on stream quicker than expected, reported Bloomberg. Last month Iraq exported 1.2m bpd which local shipping experts say will reach 2m bpd within five months, compared with previous official estimates of 1.8m bpd.
Russia, not Iraq, worries Gulf oil
Oil industry experts gathering in Abu Dhabi last week concluded that Russia was a bigger threat to the stability of world oil prices than Iraq at the moment, reported Gulf News. One executive said Russian output could reach 12m bpd, and its aim was to grab a bigger market share.
New Iraq SOMO boss, internal change
The new boss at Iraq's SOMO told Reuters he will stick with the state oil marketer's sales policy but intends to shake things up internally. Veteran Iraqi oil official Shamkhi Faraj pledged to uphold the game plan of former State Oil Marketing Organisation chief Mohammed al-Jibouri that favoured selling crude directly to multinational oil companies.
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