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Saudi extends Jizan bid deadline
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has extended a deadline for bids to build a crude oil refinery with capacity of up to 400,000 barrels per day to November 7, Reuters has reported, citing an industry source. The tender for the Jizan plant has been delayed several times, but the latest extension would not affect the ministry's plans to award the contract as scheduled, the source said. The refinery will be the first Saudi oil refinery to be 100% privately owned.
Petromin blending plant set for mid-2010
Petromin Corporation has announced its new SR100m blending plant, which will go on stream in the second quarter of 2010, Arab News has reported. The plant at Saudi Aramco Industrial Zone in Jeddah is designed to produce 250,000 tons of lubrication oils annually. The factory will produce all types of oil for the industrial sector, and is set to be completed in the second quarter of 2010.
Saudi fuel oil sells at lower discount in Nov lift
Middle East trader FAL Oil has paid a lower discount of $6-$7 (Dh22-Dh25.7) per tonne, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, for Saudi Aramco's 80,000 tonnes of 380-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for early November lifting from Jubail, Reuters has reported. This is lower than the discount of $2-$3 per tonne that Vitol paid for an earlier parcel loading on October 30-31. The cargo will be loading on November 2, after Aramco exported three Jubail cargoes for October lifting.
Hanwha to carry out Samra plant expansion
Jordan's Samra Electric Power Generation Company has signed an agreement with Korean energy firm Hanwha Engineer and Construction to install two gas-fire units each of 142.9MW capacity, the Jordan Times has reported. The units, at a value of JD138m, will be financed by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the company said. The new units will make the Samra power plant the largest electricity generator in the kingdom.
Oman oil revenue down 36%
According to data from Oman's Ministry of National Economy, the Sultanate's net oil revenues in the first eight months of 2009 have dropped 36.3% on weakened oil prices, Reuters has reported. Oman sold its oil at an average price of $50.18 per barrel in January to August, down 49.9% from the same period last year, the data showed. However, the non-OPEC GCC country had increased total expenditure to OR4.3bn in the first eight months of 2009, up 1.7% compared to the same period last year, according to the data.
IEA: Oil price justifies investment
The International Energy Agency has voiced concerns of a possible price spike if insufficient investment is made in bringing on new sources of oil to keep pace with demand, Reuters has reported. 'Oil prices of $78 are high enough for almost every single drop of oil we have in the world to invest, if they were to stay at these levels, if producers were to believe that the prices will stay at these levels,' IEA's chief economist, Fatih Birol told the news service.
Taqa to invest in $1.2bn gas project
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) said it is teaming up with a group of partners to invest 800 million euros ($1.2bn) to develop a gas storage project in the Netherlands. Taqa will fund the project along with Energie Beheer Nederland, Dyas and Petro-Canada, while Russia's Gazprom will provide cushion gas for injection into the depleted field in return for working capacity and an interest in technical ownership of the facility, it said in a statement today. Construction of the facility north of Amsterdam will start once all permits have been granted, which Taqa expected to receive in 2010.
Zadco set to award $4bn in contracts
Abu Dhabi-based oil and natural gas exploration and production firm, Zakum Development Co (Zadco) plans to award around $4bn worth of engineering, procurement and construction contracts over the next 18 months, Gulf News has reported. The company's mandate is to develop the Upper Zakum field on behalf of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and for the benefit of the shareholders in the joint venture, Adnoc, ExxonMobil, and Japan Oil Development Company.
Ras Azzour cost estimate cut by 20-25%
Fuhaid bin Fahd al-Sharif, head of Saudi Arabia's giant power and water desalination project, Ras Azzour, has said that the kingdom expects the project's cost to be 20%-25% below initial estimates as the price of materials has fallen and the project description has changed, Reuters has reported. The power and water plant, which was originally expected to cost $6bn to build, will produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity.
Saudi Electricity inks $1.8bn power deal
Saudi Electricity said today it has signed a contract with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction and Arabian Bemco Contracting for a $1.84bn power project. The scope of the project involves transforming a gas-powered plant into a combined-cycle facility and adding 1,241 megawatts of power to a plant in al-Qurayyah when operations start in 2013, the Riyadh-based utility said in a statement.
UAE power project secures $2.15bn financing
Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority has secured a $2.15bn long-term financing deal for the Shuweihat 2 water and power project, Reuters has reported. The 22-year financing for the project from a consortium of 15 regional and international banks is the biggest financing deal in the region this year. Shuweihat 2, Abu Dhabi's eighth independent water and power project, is estimated to cost Dhs10bn ($2.72bn). ADWEA owns 60% of the project while France's GDF Suez and Japan's Marubeni own 20% each.
Kuwait refinery project may be relaunched
Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, Kuwait's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, has said that plans for the country's fourth oil refinery may be re-launched, after cancelling a tender to build it earlier this year following parliamentary opposition, Reuters has reported. The project could be realized after legal and regulatory reviews, he added.
Oil prices rise above $79
Oil prices climbed above $79 a barrel to a 2009 high on Monday in Asia, reported AP. Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 52 cents to $79.05 a barrel but later fell back and was up 24 cents at $78.77 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 95 cents to settle at $78.53 on Friday.
Iraq to launch second auction for contracts
Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi, deputy director of Iraq's Petroleum and Licensing Directorate, has announced that Iraq will hold a second auction of contracts to develop some its prized oilfields on December 11-12, Reuters has reported. Contract terms for the second round would be similar to those in the first, he said. Iraq had lowered taxes on fields offered in the first round to get oil firms back to the table to renegotiate.
Shell cuts gas flaring in Iraq
Royal Dutch Shell has said it has reduced gas flaring at oil fields in southern Iraq by 15-20%, Reuters has reported. 'We've already stopped more than 100 million square cubic feet per day of flaring,' Mounir Bouaziz, VP of Shell gas and power, told the news service.
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