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]
Iraq: Iraq’s crude oil exports has gone up by 7% in February, from 1.93 million barrels per day in January to just over 2 million bpd in February, MEED has reported, citing data from the State Oil Marketing Organisation (Somo). Meanwhile, the Iraqi ministry and US’ ExxonMobil and its partner UK/Dutch Shell have negotiated a lower baseline production level for the West Qurna-1 field. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: The government of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region has decided to suspend foreign investment in the education sector, in an effort to tackle low standards of teaching in the semi-autonomous province, Meed has reported. “We need to sort ourselves out and put our house in order first,” Dlawer Ala’Aldeen, minister for higher education said. The ministry had turned away institutions from the US and Europe, including the US’ Harvard University and a consortium of French universities interested in opening a law school in Kurdistan. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: TigerSwan announced today it has been awarded the contract for Personal Security Detail Services in support of the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) in Iraq. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: Within its efforts towards offering all that is unique and comprehensive to its prepaid customers, and in line with its plans to expand its customer base, Asiacell – the largest private Iraqi company and the first and only mobile telecommunications company to provide coverage for all of Iraq – announced the launch of a new promotion offered for the first time in Iraq that provides 100% bonus credit to customers purchasing a new prepaid line and those recharging it during the promotion period. [AMEInfo.com]
Iraq: Dhiya Jaafar, the head of Iraq’s South Oil Co, has said that talks between Iraq and a Japanese group led by Nippon Oil Corp to develop the Nassiriya oilfield have reached a ‘dead end’, Reuters has reported. ‘Talks with the Nippon group have reached a dead end, and we will start developing the field through national efforts,’ he said. Nippon and its partners, oil explorer Inpex Corp and plant engineering firm JGC Corp, had been negotiating the deal since the first half of last year. [AMEInfo.com]
Sir Anthony Evans, Chief Justice, Dubai International Financial Centre Courts talks to Phil Blizzard on the workings of their judiciary the types of cases they litigate and the importance of arbitration in economic recovery.
Abu Dhabi-based National Drilling Co (NDC) has awarded Dubai-based Maritime Industrial Services Co (MIS) a $55.4m contract for the refurbishment of jack-up drilling rig NDC Al Bzoom. The contract will cover the Rig Integrity Assurance Programme as its base scope for the modification and refurbishment work on the rig. Upon completion, the rig will be used to drill oil wells in Abu Dhabi’s offshore fields.
Saudi Aramco has approached the major banks in the kingdom to raise $4bn to help finance its planned $9.6bn Jubail oil refinery project, Meed has reported. International banks are expected to provide about $1.9bn for the 400,000-barrel-a-day plant, with further $1.7bn guarantees by international export credit agencies, and a $1bn sukuk is also due to be issued. Jubail was originally scheduled to come on line in March 2013, but the start date has since been delayed to late 2013.
Construction of Hydrogen Power Abu Dhabi (HPAD), a joint venture between UAE-based Masdar and British Petroleum, will be delayed until the second quarter of the year, as partners have been unable to complete offtake and financing agreements, Meed has reported, citing sources close to the matter. Once completed, the world’s largest hydrogen power plant will break down natural gas supplied by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen will be used to generate 400MW of power. HPAD also plans to sell the carbon dioxide back to Adnoc for injection into its oilfields, as part of a wider carbon capture and storage scheme.
Saudi Aramco has raised official selling prices for all crude grades, except heavy, for customers in the USA for April and lowered prices on all grades to Europe and most for Asia, Bloomberg has reported. The company increased the formula price of its Arab Light crude to the US the most, raising it by 15 cents a barrel, or 20%, to a 60 cent discount off the benchmark Argus Sour Crude Index, the company said in a statement. It boosted the premium for Extra Light crude to 95 cents above the benchmark, also a 15 cent change.
