Saudi Arabia - joining the dots

A series of blog entries exploring Saudi Arabia's role in the oil markets with a brief look at the history of the royal family and politics that dictate and influence the Kingdom's oil policy

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Obama Administration to bypass Congress on deal with Iran?

Obama Administration reported plan to bypass Congress on a deal with Iran Administration’s plan to suspend economic sanctions against Iran without a vote in Congress …Administration says Congress will have final say in whether to permanently lift sanctions Permanent sanctions would only be lifted if Tehran demonstrates compliance with restrictions on its nuclear programme …and Iran must make sufficient progress in conceding its...

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Sangomar Deep - Senegal's first offshore discovery

On 7 October 2014, Cairn Energy and its partners announced that a significant oil discovery had been made in the FAN-1 exploration well in the Sangomar Deep block, Senegal's first offshore discovery 29m net pay Gross oil interval of >500m No OWC encountered Distinct oil types recovered 28-41 API This was followed by a second discovery in the SNE-1 well, announced on 10 November 2014 36m net pay Gross oil interval of 95m with gas...

Monday, 1 September 2014

Gunvor to expand into spot LNG trading as supply increases

Bloomberg Gunvor Group, the world’s fourth-biggest oil trader, plans to expand into short-term buying and selling of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as global supply rises, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The Cyprus-based trading house will charter vessels for spot agreements and sell cargoes in Asia and the Atlantic basin, tapping into supply from Nigeria, Australia and Southeast Asia, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plan is confidential. Seth Pietras, a spokesman for Gunvor in Geneva, declined to comment...

Monday, 25 August 2014

Waha resumes production - a brief history of the Waha fields

Comprises a number of concessions located in the Sirte Basin in eastern Libya Four main fields are: Waha, Gialo, Dahra and Defa Originally issued to Oasis Oil Company (consortium of Conoco, MRO and Amerada Hess) In 1986, US sanctions required all US companies to withdraw Concessions were held in escrow NOC established 100% subsidiary, the Waha Oil Company, to operate the fields until 2005 when the US companies re-entered In 2009, list of 24 fields...

Sunday, 17 August 2014

Notes on Yemen - Summary

Summary Oil production dominated by 2 blocks: Masila (Bloack 14) Licence expired in 2011 Operations taken over by newly formed government op co May impact production levels and future development Marib-Jawf (Block 18) Production peaked in 2002 at 160mbopd Absent further discoveries, reserves will be depleted over next decade A number of licences are due to expire in coming years, if not renewed, could exacerbate declining reserves problem Small...

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Yemen - Key Companies and Licensing

Key companiesTotal is largest resource holder due to interest in Yemen LNGPartners are: Hunt Oil and SK EnergyOccidental is most significant IOC not in Yemen LNGAcreage, reserves and production reduced following expiry of Masila block in 2011Its East Shabwa (Block 10) is due to expire in 2015 - extension unlikely to be grantedNexen was also a key player in Yemen until expiry of Masila block (Block 14)Low capex in 2013 reflects maturity as an oil...

Friday, 15 August 2014

Apache divesting international assets? A hard one!

On 31 July 2014, Apache announced its Q2 2014 resultsApache said it was looking to exit its Canadian LNG positions and was considering options around its international assetsThis comes amidst Jana Partners, a hedge fund which recently picked up c.USD1bn of shares in Apache, wrote to investors arguing that Apache should focus its efforts on the North American onshoreReasoning behind this is that over the last few years, a number of North American...