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Taqa CEO steps down
Peter Barker-Homek, the outgoing chief executive of Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) has said that he decided to step down after his vision for the state-backed oil producer diverged from that of its board, Reuters has reported. 'We discussed the future direction of the firm, my future direction I'd like to take it and we decided that it would be best for me to step down at this time. It was my choice,' he said. Carl Sheldon, Taqa's general counsel and deputy general manager will take over the role.
Opec Iraq targets 'years away'
Opec secretary general Abdullah al-Badri has said that the group is unlikely to confer an oil output target on Iraq for several years, to allow its industry to recover from decades of sanctions, war and neglect, Reuters has reported. Iraq, which desperately needs investment to boost output and repair infrastructure, is exempt from the group's production target system, he said.
BP Rumaila deal approved
Iraq's cabinet has approved a contract with British Petroleum (BP) and China's CNPC to develop the super-giant Rumaila field, Reuters has reported. The contract is the first major new oilfield deal signed since the 2003 US invasion. BP and CNPC were the only successful bidders in the first round at the end of June. Rumaila is the workhorse of Iraq's oil industry, with capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd), with reserves estimated at 16.998 billion barrels.
Yemen begins LNG production
Yemen has begun the production of liquified natural gas (LNG) at its liquefaction plant October 15, 2009, Reuters has reported. The plant started production with the first train with total production capacity reaching 6.7 millions tons of LNG per year (Mt/y). Yemen LNG has several shareholders including Total with 39.62% interest, state-owned company Yemen Gas Company with 16.73%, Hunt Oil Company with 17.22%, SK Energy with 9.55%, Korea Gas Corporation with 6%, Hyundai Corporation with 5.88%, and GASSP1 (5%).
Dana Gas, Crescent Oil plan Anbar gas city
UAE-based Dana Gas and Crescent Oil plan to build a gas city in Iraq's western province of Anbar that they hope would draw $60bn in investment, Reuters has reported. The plan would use gas that Baghdad had previously identified for possible export to the Nabucco pipeline or for export to Syria in order to feed power generation plants as well as petrochemical and fertilizer factories, the province governor said. The gas could come from the province's Akkas gas field, which Dana and Crescent are also keen to develop with the central Oil Ministry, the governor noted.
Oman Oil buys Reliance stake
Oman Oil Company (OOC) has said that it has bought 30% stake in block 18 and a 25% share in block 41 which are run by India-based Reliance Industries in the Gulf of Oman, Reuters has reported. Reliance, which operates the world's largest refining complex, has said it has agreed to the deal in order to share costs.
World Bank loan for Egypt power plant
Egypt's Minister of Electricity Hassan Younes has said the country will receive an EGP3.4bn ($620m) loan from the World Bank to fund its North Giza power plant project, Reuters has reported. Egypt aims to more than triple its installed power capacity by 2027 by adding 58,000 MW at a cost of about $100bn to $120bn, he said. The plant is set to come onstream during the first quarter of 2013.
Iraq postpones second oil bidding round
Iraq's oil ministry has delayed its second oil and gas field bidding round until next January, Bloomberg has reported. Forty-five companies are qualified to bid in the auction for work on ten oilfields, originally scheduled for mid- December, the ministry said. Iraq seeks to boost its production capacity eventually to between 10 million and 12 million barrels a day through the second bidding round.
Taqa eyes BG's power assets
State-controlled energy producer Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) has expressed interest in buying BG Group Plc's power generation unit if its assets were brought to market, Bloomberg has reported. The energy firm plans to spend some $1bn on acquisitions in the next 12 months, TAQA's CEO Peter Barker-Homek said.
Dana Gas finds two new fields in Egypt
UAE-based Dana Gas said it has discovered two fields in Egypt with 86 billion cubic feet of gas reserves. The Faraskur-1 discovery, which may add as much as 73 billion cubic feet to the company's Egyptian reserves, is located in the West El Manzala concession. The upper zone in El Manzala's Marzouk-2 well, in the Abu Madi formation, has estimated reserves of 13.4 billion cubic feet.
Oil climbs to near $74
Oil prices rose for a fourth day to near $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia on speculation that the dollar will weaken further. Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 52 cents at $73.79 by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Cost of Jubail refinery to hit $12bn
Saudi Aramco and France's Total are expected to pay more than $12bn to build the Jubail oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, Reuters has reported. 'The EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) cost is $9.6bn and on top of that there are other costs... owners' costs, in our case, cost of financing, which is about 25% more, that works out to around $12bn plus," Daniel Lacombe, the Jubail Refinery's project director said.
West Delta Electricity receives $183m loan
The Arab African International Bank has said that Egypt's state-owned West Delta Electricity Company has raised EGP1bn ($183m) in a syndicated loan to cover a finance gap at its Abu Qir power project, Reuters has reported. The power company has been building a power station for two years at Abu Qir, east of the northern coastal city of Alexandria.
Aramco to award drilling work in Ghawar
Saudi Aramco is set to award an integrated $500m drilling contract in South Ghawar by mid-November, in a bid to cut costs, Reuters has reported. Baker Hughes, Sinopec, Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Weatherford are bidding for the job, the news service reported, citing sources at oil service firms. The five-year turnkey project will allow services providers to fully manage the drilling operations, including rigs.
Oman daily production tops 800,000
Nasser al-Jashmi, Oman's undersecretary for oil and gas has said that the Sultanate has reached its target of producing 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in September, and was expected to exceed that by the end of 2009, Reuters has reported. Oman's oil output peaked at 956,000 bpd in 2001 and since then it has been fighting to arrest declining production from depleted fields. The average daily production in September was 835,000 barrels per day, according to Nasser al-Jashmi, the state undersecretary for oil and gas.
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