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Major power outage hits Sharjah
A power outage in the UAE emirate of Sharjah left up to 90% of the city without power for hours on Monday evening, reported Khaleej Times. The Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority blamed the disruptions, which occurred from 3-7:30pm, on cable maintenance work. Industrial areas in the emirate have been experiencing power outages for the last 28 days with economists estimating Sharjah is losing between Dhs5-7 million a day.
UAE delays nuclear reactor contract award
The UAE has delayed the awarding of its $41bn nuclear power station contract, originally due to take place this week, with all three groups of bidders still in the running, The National has reported. 'What happened ultimately was some of the bids were so close in some areas, we decided to proceed with all three,' a senior government official was quoted as saying. 'It will mean a slightly longer period of negotiations.'
Iraq to hold energy conference
Iraq's Electricity Ministry has said that a conference will be held in for international power companies on September 26 to explain and discuss its plans for urgently needed electricity projects up to 2012, Reuters has reported. The conference aims to identify selected sites according to the ministry's plans to build new capacity and giving an overview of 2010 power stations that will be tendered. The one-day conference will be held in Arbil, capital of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region.
Kuwait inks $2.5bn deal with GE, Hyundai
The Kuwait government has signed a $2.5bn deal with General Electric and Hyundai Heavy Industries to build and operate the Subbiya power plant in the north of the country, state news agency reported. The plant will produce 2,000 megawatts, or 20% of the country's current power output, Kuwait's Minister of Electricity and Water Badr al-Shuraian was quoted as saying by KUNA. 'The contract includes importing and assembly of six gas turbines that will produce 1,320 megawatts in addition to six steam turbines generating 700 megawatts,' al-Shuraian added.
Jordan to sign nuclear cooperation pact with Canada
Jordan Nuclear Regulatory Commission will sign an agreement with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in the field of nuclear administrative procedures, the Jordan Times has reported. Under the agreement, the two sides will exchange information and expertise in the fields of nuclear energy administration and nuclear safety. The agreement also aims to boost Jordanian cadres' capabilities in monitoring and controlling the peaceful use of nuclear energy as well protecting the environment from radiation sources.
Kuwait to invest $17bn in utilities projects
Kuwait is planning to build eleven power and seven water projects by 2017 at a cost of KD5bn ($17.4bn), Meed has reported. The new facilities would add 14,260MW of power generation capacity and 506 million gallons a day of desalination capacity , which would more than double the country's existing capacity of 12,779MW of power and 432 million gallons a day of desalinated water.
Aramco, Sumitomo ink Manifa comms deal
Aramco has awarded Japan's Sumitomo Corporation a contract for a major communications package for the Manifa Crude Increment Project, the Saudi Gazette has reported. Under the agreement, Sumitomo, with support from local Saudi companies, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the systems including Communication Systems, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems/Remote Terminal Units and Facilities. Manifa Arabian Heavy Oil Filed Project is expected to build facilities to produce Arabian Heavy crude oil and associated gas.
ITS 2008 turnover up 47%
ITS Group, a supplier of oilfield equipment and services to the global offshore oil and gas industry, has reported a 47% increase in its turnover to $143.6m for the year ended 31 December 2008. The increase in turnover has resulted in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, before one-off costs, increasing by 50% to $47.2m. Capital expenditure for the future had continued in 2008, with a further $62.4m invested in plant and equipment across all service lines, ITS has said.
Iraqi Kurdistan begins $20m water system
Iraq's Kurdistan Authority for Strategic Studies and Scientific Research has launched work on the first stage of building a $20m integrated system for water management in the region, Aswat al-Iraq news agency has reported. The project, which would take 10-to-15 years to complete, will be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Water Resources in the region and the German universities of Freiburg and Gottingen.
Tractebel inks Jordan deal
Jordan has signed a $12m agreement with Belgium-based Tractebel Engineering as part of the kingdom's plan to build its first nuclear plant and reduce reliance on oil imports, Bloomberg has reported. Under the agreement, Tractebel will first carry out a two-year survey to determine whether the planned location, about 25 kilometres south of the Red Sea port of Aqaba, is suitable for 'the environment'. Jordan plans to complete the first 1,000-megawatt reactor in five to six years and may construct a second depending on costs.
Jordan moves ahead with IPP project
Jordan's National Electric Power Company (Nepco) has invited 13 prequalified consultants to bid for a consultancy contract on a new independent power project (IPP), MEED has reported. The firms are Fichtner and Lahmeyer International, both German; Belgium's Tractebel Engineering; UK law firm Denton Wilde Sapte; PricewaterhouseCoopers, also of the UK; Kema of the Netherlands; and Ireland's ESB International. Six US firms are also invited to bid. Nepco is building the 400-500MW plant on a build, own, operate basis.
Oil prices 'determined by economy'
Said Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi has said that economic growth will determine the direction of oil prices over the next few months, not stockpile levels, Bloomberg has reported. 'Oil today is a commodity. As long as economic growth is there, the price is going to go up,' he has said.
Opec: Keep quotas
Opec's production-monitoring committee has recommended maintaining existing output quotas and improving compliance, Bloomberg has reported. The 11 Opec members bound by quotas are currently complying with about 68% of their promised cutbacks, Kuwait's oil minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Abdullah al-Sabah has said, adding that '75% would be fine.'
Al Toukhi inks Ozdil JV
Saudi Arabia-based Al-Toukhi Company for Industry, Trading & Contracting, and Turkey-based Ozdil Energy, Contracting, Trade, and Industry, have signed an agreement to form a 50-50 joint venture to construct overhead transmission line projects in the Saudi Arabia, Arab News has reported. The new JV aims to implement contracts for Extra High Voltage (EHV) transmission line projects in the kingdom, which has a list of such projects with 3,355 km expected to be tendered by 2014.
Qatargas starts new LNG unit
QatarGas has started a 7.8 million-tonne-year LNG production unit, its third this year, Bloomberg has reported. Unit 5, which is a venture between state-owned Qatar Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Total, would increase the country's annual LNG output capacity to 54 million tonnes or about 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas, the company said.
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