An excellent week for Arab markets, with all 12 Shuaa indices seeing a rise. The best performer was Egypt, which continues to attract considerable overseas investment. Shuaa Capital’s Head of Research, Walid Shihabi, expects upwards trends to continue next week, driven by the same macro factors.
Iraq: The Iraqi transport ministry plans to build a $3bn rail network and two principal passenger stations around Baghdad, Reuters has reported. The new line will connect all the railway lines heading to the provinces and the neighbouring countries and it will solve all the congestion which the railway network suffers from inside Baghdad. The network is planned to have a capacity of 23 million passengers per year and 46 million tonnes of freight per year. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) today announced that its affiliate ExxonMobil Iraq Limited signed an agreement with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to redevelop and expand the West Qurna-1 field in southern Iraq. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: The Iraqi parliament has approved a 2010 budget that sets federal spending at ID84.7 trillion dinars and a deficit of ID22.9 trillion dinars, Reuters has reported. Lawmakers said the budget sets an expected oil price of $62.5 per barrel and puts expected average oil exports at 2.15 million barrels per day in 2010. According to Ali Hussain Balou, head of parliament’s oil and gas committee, the parliament also included a clause setting aside $1 for each barrel of oil produced for oil-producing provinces to use in investment projects. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: A final contract has been signed by Iraq’s oil ministry and China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), Total (TOTF.PA) of France and Malaysian state firm Petronas to develop the Halfaya oilfield, Reuters has reported. The group will be paid a remuneration fee of $1.40 per barrel and will have to pay Iraq a non-recoverable signature bonus of $150m. The Halfaya oilfield, in southern Iraq, has estimated reserves of 4.1 billion barrels of oil. CNPC and its partners have pledged to boost output at Halfaya to 535,000 bpd from a current level of 3,100 bpd. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: Siemens Healthcare has won its biggest single order contract in the Middle East with the signing of a $69m contract to supply diagnostics imaging equipment to all Iraqi government hospitals. The products, which include magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography equipment, mobile x-rays and mammography systems, help to increase diagnostic confidence, allowing for earlier detection of diseases. [AMEInfo.com]
Saudi Aramco and French oil giant, Total have secured $6bn in bank loans to finance the construction of the $12bn Jubail Export Refinery in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, Bloomberg has reported, citing two bankers involved in the transaction. Last June, the two oil companies said the 400,000 barrels-a-day refinery will be fully operational by the second half of 2013. Saudi Aramco and Total each plan to retain 37.5% of the refinery, with 25% to be sold in an initial public offering, the companies said.
Falah Alamri, head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation has said the supergiant Rumaila oilfield will begin producing an extra 100,000 barrels per day by the beginning of July, Reuters has reported. Oil major British Petroleum and China’s CNPC had signed a 20-year development contract last year for the field, which has 17 billion barrels of estimated crude reserves.
The bidding deadline for a solids handling unit at the Yanbu refinery has been extended by Saudi Aramco and ConocoPhillips to March 22, from February 28, Reuters has reported. Aramco and Conoco are expected to award all contracts for their 400,000 barrels per day joint venture in May.
Iraq’s oil minister has said he expects the country to become the world’s top oil producer within six to seven years, Reuters has reported. “We can’t find a reason to prevent Iraqi production becoming higher than any other Opec state or even states outside Opec,” Hussain al-Shahristani said. Unlike Opec’s 11 other members, Baghdad is not currently subject to the output targets the group uses to set supply levels. Iraq expects capacity to eventually reach up to 12 million bpd.
The Iraqi oil ministry will today sign the final contract over West al-Qarna-2 oilfield with Russia’s Lukoil and Norway’s Statoil, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “The two companies pledged to up production to a peak of 1.8 million barrels per day at a rate of $1.15 per barrel of additional produced barrel,” oil ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad said. Located in southern Iraq, Qarna-2 has a huge reserve estimated to reach 13 billion barrels.
The British Business Group (BBG) is one of the longest established organisations of its kind in the UAE. Mark Beer, Chairman & CEO, BBG, talks to Phil Blizzard about the groups activities, which range from forging strong business links between Dubai and the United Kingdom, to networking and social activities.
Iraq: Falah Alamri, head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation has said the supergiant Rumaila oilfield will begin producing an extra 100,000 barrels per day by the beginning of July, Reuters has reported. Oil major British Petroleum and China’s CNPC had signed a 20-year development contract last year for the field, which has 17 billion barrels of estimated crude reserves. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: Iraq’s oil minister has said he expects the country to become the world’s top oil producer within six to seven years, Reuters has reported. “We can’t find a reason to prevent Iraqi production becoming higher than any other Opec state or even states outside Opec,” Hussain al-Shahristani said. Unlike Opec’s 11 other members, Baghdad is not currently subject to the output targets the group uses to set supply levels. Iraq expects capacity to eventually reach up to 12 million bpd. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: The Iraqi oil ministry will today sign the final contract over West al-Qarna-2 oilfield with Russia’s Lukoil and Norway’s Statoil, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “The two companies pledged to up production to a peak of 1.8 million barrels per day at a rate of $1.15 per barrel of additional produced barrel,” oil ministry spokesman, Assem Jihad said. Located in southern Iraq, Qarna-2 has a huge reserve estimated to reach 13 billion barrels. [AMEInfo.com]
The natural resources minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan has said the region is ready to export oil at a rate of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) through neighbouring Turkey, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “Oil exportation from Kurdistan will start as soon as a new Iraqi government is formed,” Ashti Horami was quoted as saying. Exports could rise to 500,000bpd by the end of the year Horami said.
Qatar has expressed interest in developing gas fields on Yamal, a Russian peninsula near the Arctic Ocean with enough gas in the ground to satisfy world demand for five years, Reuters has reported. State-run Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said that it had discussed the “high potential” for deals with state oil firm Qatar Petroleum in LNG, as well as pipeline gas supplies to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. “The Qatari side expressed interest in projects to develop complex deposits on the Yamal peninsula, including the Yamal-LNG project,” Gazprom said in a statement.
Salem Shaheen, CEO of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co has said that Saudi Aramco and Total expect to raise $8bn in debt financing for the joint refinery and petrochemical project in the “coming months,” Bloomberg has reported. The 400,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Jubail on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast will cost more than $12bn, he said, noting that this, including financing expenses, will also be funded by Saudi Arabia which will contribute more than $1bn to the project, and by the partners’ equity.
The Iraqi oil ministry has said the country has made $4.23bn in revenues from exporting 57.9 million barrels of crude oil last February at the price of $73 a barrel, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. A total of 45.2 million barrels have been exported from Basra oilfields and 12.7 million barrels from Kirkuk, the ministry said.
Abu Dhabi Co for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) has awarded UAE-based National Petroleum Construction (NPCC) a $560m contract to develop the first phase of the new Qusahwira Field located south east of the UAE capital, Wam has reported. The project includes construction of a new central degassing station, remote degassing station, oil gathering system, production supporting systems and the main oil line to Asab Field. The Qusawhira phase 1 calls for adding 30,000 BOPD sustainable by 2013 to achieve ADCO’s target of the 1.8 MMBOPD.
Prepaid cards offer a secure alternative to cash for both corporate customers and consumers. Phil Blizzard talks to Scott Salmon, Head of Global Market Development, Prepaid Products, Visa about the dynamics driving their growth.
With buyers from right across the Middle East Sunseeker luxury yachts are seeing significant growth in this region, according to Francesco Pitea, GM, Sunseeker Middle East LLC in this interview with Phil Blizzard at the Dubai International Boat Show. He also says that the sale of the large yachts had not been affected by the economic slow and this show signals a new era of growth.
Iraq: Sami al-Araji, the head of Iraq’s National Investment Commission has said that one million housing units will be constructed by the commission across the country, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “The cabinet decided to double the number of housing units to one million after 100 specialized foreign companies had expressed their willingness to invest in the (housing) sector,” al-Araji was quoted as saying. Iraq needs two million housing units, according to a five-year plan drawn up by the investment commission for the years 2010-2014. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: The natural resources minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan has said the region is ready to export oil at a rate of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) through neighbouring Turkey, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “Oil exportation from Kurdistan will start as soon as a new Iraqi government is formed,” Ashti Horami was quoted as saying. Exports could rise to 500,000bpd by the end of the year Horami said. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: German carrier, Lufthansa has said that it will resume flights to Iraq on April 25. The new route will offer four weekly flights to Erbil in Northern Iraq from Frankfurt. Lufthansa will operate the four-and-a-half hour flight with an Airbus A319 with 132 seats in Business and Economy Class. The airline said it is preparing to resume flights this summer to the Iraqi capital Baghdad. [AMEInfo.com]
