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

Saturday, 22 August 2015

Petroceltic: A review of Worldview's concerns

Brian O'Cathain, CEO of Petroceltic Over the last year, Worldview has been very public about its dissatisfaction with Petroceltic's performance and has openly criticised the board of the company. Earlier this year, it tried to remove Brian O'Cathain as CEO and replace the board with two of its own directors. Worldview believe the assets are not being managed properly and that the Ain Tsila development in Algeria could be brought onstream at a...

Thursday, 18 June 2015

Why Kenyan crude will be exported and not domestically refined

Mombasa refinerySource: http://mygov.go.ke/national-treasury-sets-aside-funds-to-buy-essar-stake-in-refinery/ Kenya currently has no crude oil production and relies solely on imports to feed the domestic refinery in Mombasa. Aside from feedstock for the refinery, there is no other demand for crude oil in Kenya. In 2012, domestic consumption of refined products was 73mbbl/d – this was satisfied by 20mbbl/d of domestic production from the...

Wednesday, 17 June 2015

Colombia calling: Petroamerica acquires PetroNova

Cartagena, Colombia Source: http://www.backtrackers.nl/colombia/ The Colombian E&P landscape is characterised by a few IOCs with 100mmbbl+ of reserves (e.g. Repsol, Chevron, Occidental) and a large number of independent E&Ps. The smaller end of the scale is dominated by many small players with more than 25 companies with less than 2.5mmboe of reserves...

Thursday, 11 June 2015

The Apache Egypt treasure map

Source: Houston Geological Society, HGS Apache is a significant acreage holder onshore Egypt with an extensive infrastructure network which allows new discoveries to be brought onstream quickly and at relatively low cost. Its acreage can be broadly split into four areas, the most significant of these is the Western Desert Gas area which underpins the portfolio’s gas reserves and is a key supplier of gas to the domestic market. Source: OGInsights  The...

Thursday, 4 June 2015

Apache exits LNG business through sale to Woodside

Source: OGInsights On 15 December 2014, Apache announced the sale of its interests in the Wheatstone and Kitimat LNG projects to Woodside for USD2.75bn. The move was widely anticipated with Apache announcing in its Q2 2014 results its intention to completely exit LNG; this message was reinforced in the company’s Q3 results on 7 November 2014....

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Lundin stops funding Africa Oil

Africa Oil’s history dates back to 1983, when it was founded as Canmex Minerals with funding from the Lundin family. The company was officially renamed to Africa Oil in June 2009 to reflect its strategic and geographic focus. Since 2009, the company went through a series of acquisitions to consolidate its position in Kenya and Ethiopia...

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Vetra: A Colombian story

Vetra Energia is a private Colombian based E&P with a sole focus on Colombia. Its main asset is a 69.5% operated interest in the Sur Oriente block; Petroamerica is the partner on the block with 30.5% WI which it acquired through the merger with Suroco in 2014. Vetra Energia also has a 100% WI in the La Punta block and a 60% operated interest in VMM2 (40% Canacol) which contains the Mono Araña field. In July 2013, Vetra Energia was acquired...