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Kuwait Energy to get $50m World Bank loan
Kuwait Energy Company (KEC) will get a $50m loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's private sector lender to help the company support the company's recent oil discoveries in Egypt and conduct more exploration in Yemen, Reuters has reported. The financing package includes a $35m reserve-based facility and a $15m income participation facility, using a Murabaha structure that is common in Islamic finance transactions.
UAE August output unchanged
According to data from International Energy Agency, the UAE's oil output in August was unchanged from the previous month at 2.27 million barrels per day (bpd), Gulf News has reported. The country had attained 100% of its output target in July, the agency said. In 2008 the UAE's average output was 2.59 million bpd.
Iran, Venezuela tie up to build refinery in Syria
Iran's Oil Ministry has said that an Iran-Venezuela joint oil firm, VENIROGC, plans to build a refinery in Syria as its first international venture, Reuters has reported. Iran would hold a 26% stake in the project while its Latin American ally would take 33%. 'The balance will be shared by Malaysia and Syria on a 15% and 26% basis,' Mohammad-Ali Talebi, a senior official at Petropars Oil and Gas Company said.
Kuwait wins offshore exploration licence in Vietnam
Vietnam state oil monopoly, Petrovietnam, plans to award Kuwait Petroleum a licence to explore for oil and gas off the country's coast, Reuters has reported. The oil company had proposed that the government award the offshore block 51 to KPC under a production-sharing contract. KPC already has two licences for two nearby blocks 19 and 20, Petrovietnam said.
Iraq to hold workshop for second oil licensing round
Iraq's Petroleum Licensing Directorate has announced next October 18 and 19 as the dates for holding a workshop on its second oil licensing round in Istanbul, Turkey, Bloomberg has reported. Potential bidders will be briefed by government officials on field characteristics and contract terms for fields in the ten areas being tendered for development, the directorate has said.
Some oil fields likely to remain idle, says Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco CEO Khalid al-Falih has said there is little chance of pumping crude from idle fields next year as recovery in world demand is yet to begin, Bloomberg has reported. "We have the excess capacity in case it's needed but we also have the ability to sustain ourselves with production levels similar to what we see today at prices similar to what we have seen so far," he said. Global demand for oil is expected to rise 1.5% to 1.27 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency, not enough for Saudi Arabia to resume all of its idled fields.
Dragon Oil asks for ultimatum on takeover bid
Dubai-based independent oil and gas producer, Dragon Oil, will ask the Irish Takeover Panel to issue an ultimatum to the oil explorer's largest shareholder, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), to either make a bid for the company or stop its takeover attempts, the Sunday Times has reported. ENOC, which owns 52% of Dragon, said in June it was considering a bid for the remaining 48%. Talks have stalled and HSBC and Davy Corporate Finance, Dragon's advisers, want to bring the situation to a head.
Dubai firm to build Iraq power plant
The Iraqi government has awarded Dubai-based URUK Engineering an $85m contract to build a 160 megawatt power station north of Baghdad to provide electricity for 80,000 homes, the Associated Press has reported. The power plant in Taji, just outside the capital, is set to be completed in 15 months, the government said.
Turkey-Qatar plan LNG pipeline
Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz has said that Turkey and Qatar have formed teams to start work on a possible LNG pipeline across Saudi Arabia that would ship Qatari gas to Turkey, Reuters has reported. A Turkish team will travel to Qatar within one or two months, he said.
Baker Hughes bids for Saudi well project
Houston-based oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Inc. has said it is bidding for the Saudi Well Project in the south of Ghawar field and the project could be awarded from Saudi Aramco, Bloomberg has reported. The project in Saudi Arabia involves 145 wells south of the Ghawar for five years. Baker Hughes is expected to provide well engineering and well-site supervision, as well as other segments such as drill bits, fluids and pumping and stimulation.
Kuwait Petroleum offers naphtha for spot lifting
Kuwait Petroleum Co (KPC) is offering 50,000 tons of naphtha for mid-October lifting, in an indication that its aromatics plant is unlikely to start up next month as expected. 'It seems like the market is not as strong as it appears to be. I shall now reverse my bullish view,' one trader told Reuters. According to traders, the plant, which was to soak up 1.5 million tons of naphtha a year, was due to begin operations initially in April, but that was delayed to July, and later to September and now to Q4.
Oman awards power station deal
Oman's Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) has awarded technical and financial advisory contracts for the 1,000 megawatts Duqm power station, Reuters has reported. Worsely Parsons has won the OR324,638 technical advisory contract for the project, while KPMG won the financial advisory deal worth OR418,511. 'The two contracts mean that we are going ahead with Oman's first coal-fired power project at Duqum,' PAEW has said.
Aramco invites Wasea plant bids
Saudi Aramco has invited contractors to submit their bid for the construction of a fuel distribution plant in Wasea, near the kingdom's capital Riyadh, Reuters has reported. The plant is a wholesale receiving and distributing facility for oil products and would have capacity to handle 185,000 barrels per day of oil. The closing date for bids is mid-November, one contractor said. The plant should be completed by November 2011.
Saudi Electricity gets government reprieve
State-controlled Saudi Electricity has been granted an additional ten-year reprieve on paying dividends to the government, saving the utility company hundreds of millions of riyals per year, Reuters has reported. The firm, undergoing a deep restructuring to maintain profitability as it faces a 9% annual rise in power demand, has cut its workforce, tapped the bond market and launched private sector partnerships to reduce the financial burden of its expansion.
OPEC raises oil demand forecasts
OPEC has raised its global demand forecast for 2010 by 150,000 barrels a day and 2009 by 140,000 barrels a day on expectations of economic growth. The group now predicts that consumption will contract 1.8% this year to average 84.05 million barrels a day, only to expand 0.6% in 2010 to 84.56 million a day. Oil prices around $70 a barrel 'are likely to persist', OPEC's Vienna-based secretariat said in its monthly market report.
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