Oil major Chevron is said to be considering whether to make 1,000 staff members who work in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait redundant. According to the Wall Street Journal, a dispute between the countries has halted all work on oil fields for several months. The company has already reduced the number of petroleum-development rigs in the neutral zone.
Platts, the commodities price-reporting agency, may decide soon after Oct. 30 to make changes to the formula of the benchmark for much of the Middle Eastern crude sold to Asia as it seeks to stay competitive with China planning to introduce its own contract. The agency is considering adding two crudes to the three grades it uses in calculating the Dubai oil benchmark, which determines prices for almost 30 million barrels a day in exports to Asia, said Dave Ernsberger, its global editorial director for oil. Platts seeks to ensure liquidity amid rising demand from Asia, especially China, which plans to introduce a futures contract this year.
MOL Group's Brian Glover said the company does not see any "great future" for itself in Central Africa as it eyes further success in the Middle East. In the second part of Energy Voice's week-long series looking at the Hungarian company's operations, the exploration and business development senior vice president spoke about ongoing operations. MOL has had a 40% working interest in the Ngosso Block in Cameroon since 2007.
Saudi Arabia is delaying payments to government contractors as the slump in oil prices pushes the country into a deficit for the first time since 2009, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Companies working on infrastructure projects have been waiting six months or more for payments as the government seeks to preserve cash, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Delays have increased this year and the government has also been seeking to cut prices on contracts, the people said.
Russian nuclear organisation Rosatom is in final talks toward a contract to build four reactors in Egypt as it pushes to expand across the Middle East, one of the world’s most attractive markets for atomic power
McDermott International has been awarded a brownfield project by Qatar Petroleum for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of four wellhead jackets. The company said the installation of two jackets in the Bul0Hanine field offshore Doha has been scheduled to be completed by December next year.
Aberdeen-based Rigfit Offshore (UK), the specialist accommodation outfitting arm of Global Energy Group can now press ahead and expand into the Middle East as a result of taking over Seven Seas International. The deal to acquire manufacturing facilities in Dubai and Bahrain for an undisclosed sum significantly enhances the Rigfit offering and adds to its existing operations in Sharjah, UAE. Moreover, it fits precisely with Global Energy’s strategy of creating a family of hubs around the world to drive internationalisation of the Scottish group.
Aberdeen-based Rigfit Offshore (UK), the specialist accommodation outfitting arm of Global Energy Group can now press ahead and expand into the Middle East as a result of taking over Seven Seas International.
Exova has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of a new managing director for its Middle East, Asia and Asia Pacific region (MEAAP). Matt Davies joined the company two years ago as finance director with more than 17 years experience working in global companies. His promotion will see him take the position over from Hicham Abdallah who played a critical role in returning the region to growth.
Sparrows Group has won a five-year deal with Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) in the Middle East. The successful re-tender came through the company’s local partner Abu Dhabi Oilfield Services. The company will provide operations and maintenance support to all cranes and lifting equipment aboard offshore platforms and the Al Hyleh Barge in the UAE and Zirku Islands.
Stirling Group announced another key change for its Aberdeen-based UK business yesterday. It is just over a month since the Middle East company, which delivers health, safety and environmental services to the global oil and gas industry, rebranded its Altor Risk Group subsidiary. Alan McIntyre has been appointed to head up emergency response and crisis management consultancy services in the UK, which includes the running of the £250,000 incident management centre (IMC) in Aberdeen.
The oil price was near its lowest in more than a decade, cash reserves were being depleted, emerging markets were in turmoil and Saudi Arabia was beginning to panic. “It was a very scary moment,” said Khalid Alsweilem, former head of investment at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, the country’s central bank. “And luckily at that point, oil prices started going up. Not by design, by good luck.” That was 1998, and now Saudi Arabia’s fortunes threaten to turn again. This time, luck might not be enough as the government tries to protect the wealth of a nation whose economy has swelled by five times since then. The bastion of conservative Sunni Islam also is paying for an expanding role in regional conflicts in the face of a resurgent Iran and Islamic State extremists who have bombed Saudi mosques.
Oil service company Global SCS has undertaken further expansion.
Upstream oil and gas deal activity in June saw a $4.3billion decrease in comparison with the previous month. Research and consulting firm GlobalData said work, including capital markets and mergers and acqusitions, totalled $19.3billion from 125 transactions in June, while in May the total was $23.6billion across 119 deals. Analysts said Europe, the Middle East and Africa led the global acquisitions market in terms of value last month with a 39% regional share totalling $4billion.
Weatherford said it plans to increase the number of headcount reductions within the company to 11,000. The number is up from the previous estimate of 10,000 and is expected to come from support staff within the US. The move has been made in response to what Weatherford sees as a weakening market in North America.
Iraq’s self-ruling Kurds are threatening to bypass the country’s central government and sell oil produced in the neighboring Kirkuk region in a dispute over revenue from crude sales by OPEC’s second-largest producer.
Aberdeen energy service firm Xodus Group has struck a deal worth £380,000 for work on the Zirku oil and gas processing facilities in the Persian Gulf. The contract was awarded by Abu Dhabi-based oil major Zakum Development Company (Zadco) and builds on several orders Xodus notched up in the Middle East so far this year. The new agreement will see Xodus lay on services aimed at preventing vibration induced failures on Zirku-Island-based installations over a 24-week period.
Scotland-based energy firms will expect the Middle East to become vital to their operations in terms of market share over the next few years, according to a professional services firm. KPMG surveyed more than 30 senior executives from oilfield services and energy-focused technology businesses at a seminar in Aberdeen last week which highlighted business opportunities and risks in the region. The Middle East represents an enormous market for UK-based businesses in the industry with opportunities spanning oil and gas, power generation and renewables.
The US will become one of the world’s largest oil exporters if domestic production continues to surge and policy makers lift a four-decade ban that keeps most crude from leaving the country, a government-sponsored study shows. America would be capable of sending as much as 2.4 million barrels a day overseas in 2025 if federal policy makers were to eliminate restrictions on most crude exports, an analysis by Turner, Mason & Co. for the Energy Information Administration shows. That would make the US the fourth-largest oil exporter, behind Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, based on 2013 EIA data. The report assumes domestic output rises by 7.2 million barrels a day from 2013.
A Gulf Keystone Petroleum non-executive chairman is set to retire from the board of directors. Simon Murray will step down, with Andrew Simon, senior independent director assuming the role on an interim basis. A search process for a new non-executive chairman will now begin.
Petrotechnics has appointed two new members to its Middle East business development team. Suhas Jadhal has been appointed as Petrotechnics’ new Middle East business consultant. Mr Jadhal has an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering and MBA in Construction Management and Research, and brings with him extensive experience in implementing enterprise solutions such as SAP and Primavera to major refineries in the Middle East and North Africa. He will provide hands-on customer support from Petrotechnics Abu Dhabi office, working closely with clients to achieve operational excellence through the deployment of Proscient.
KDM Marine International have appointed a regional manager for their work in the eastern hemisphere. The company, which is part of the James Fisher Group, has appointed Faisel Chaudry as their new regional manager for the eastern hemisphere. Faisel, who has more than eight years' experience in the oil and gas and offshore renewables industries, is tasked with growing the market-leading company's presence in regions like the Middle East, India, North Africa and Asia Pacific.
Iran says it could add a million barrels to daily oil production shortly after a deal to lift sanctions is reached, reclaiming the position of OPEC’s second-largest supplier. While the timing of such a move would be at least months away because the sanctions would be rolled back slowly, industry observers largely agree that the capacity is there. Yet going further than that and adding a second million barrels -- as the government has said it plans to do -- will prove a much bigger challenge.
Egypt aims to pay its $3.1 billion debt to international oil and gas companies a year later than previously indicated, according to the Egyptian oil ministry. The ministry said: "All current operational payments hae been made on time and are on track to repay any remaining arrears before mid-2016." It is expected that the debt will be repaid by the middle of 2016, a year ahead of the previously indicated mid-2015.
More than 100 young students have already joined a new graduate programme set up by Total. As part of the Total Young Graduate Programme, which was founded in April 2014, young graduates from more than 40 countries in Africa and the Middle East will be given the opportunity to discover working life through hands-on experience over an 18-month period.