Energy

Abu Dhabi: Powering the future

As Abu Dhabi's leadership visited Washington to solidify US support for their nuclear power plans, government officials in the emirate delayed the tendering of the project in order to give bidders more time. Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan travelled to the American capital to meet with senior US officials, including President Barack Obama and the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. The UAE needs the green light from the US in order to use American companies and technology in its plans to build a series of nuclear power reactors. Following positive feedback from Washington, the "123 agreement", named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, is expected to pass through Congress around mid-October, unless the unlikely event of Congressional action blocks it.

UAE delays US$41bn nuclear plants contract

The UAE has delayed awarding a US$41 billion contract to build nuclear power plants saying that the decision between the three rival bidders was too close to call, an Abu Dhabi daily said. "What happened ultimately was some of the bids were so close in some areas, we decided to proceed with all three," a senior government official said. "It will mean a slightly longer period of negotiations. "A French group led by Areva, Electricite de France, GDF Suez and Total is competing against a Japanese-American alliance of Hitachi and General Electric, and a Korean-American consortium comprising Korea Electric Power, Samsung, Hyundai and US firm Westinghouse. The Arab world's second-largest economy, the United Arab Emirates is seeking to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons for power generation and to boost its image as an environmentally friendly country.

Agility wins RasGas logistics deal

Agility said it has won a multi-million dollar logistics contract from RasGas, a premier liquefied natural gas (LNG) enterprise based in Qatar. RasGas, owned by Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil RasGas, operates production facilities to treat, liquefy and export LNG to countries across Asia, Europe and US. The key contract involves global freight forwarding, transportation and customs clearance for a period of four years, both locally and around the world, said a top Agility official. Elias Monem, Agility CEO Mena, said: 'Qatar is crucially important to the growth of Agility in the region and this deal represents an important milestone in our company's six-year history locally.'

GCC N-power plant will take 10 years

The GCC will take another 10 years or more to realize its dream for a common nuclear power plant. “Implementation of nuclear power plant is a long and arduous task. If GCC is strictly adhering to all the mandatory practices and aggressively push for it, it will have a common power plant by 2022 at the earliest”, an international expert commented. Speaking on the sidelines of a three-day workshop on developing a regional nuclear training centre for capacity building in research in Doha in September, Ait Abderrahim Hamad, Director, Institute for Nuclear Power System, Belgium said the region would take at least three years to pave the road for nuclear technology. The implementation process would take another five years for the member-countries to master the technology before the launch of the power plant, he said.

BP interested in China refinery

Oil giant BP PLC is interested in teaming up with Kuwait in a planned US$9 billion joint venture refinery project in southern China, a senior Kuwaiti official said. Hussein Ismail, President of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum International, said that "preliminary talks" with the British oil giant have begun, and that BP was evaluating the 300,000 barrel per day facility's site in southern China's Guangdong province. KPI, a subsidiary of the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp., will co-own the plant with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. Kuwait will retain a 30 per cent stake while the Chinese refinery, also known as Sinopec, will hold a 50 per cent interest.

Mega liquefied natural gas facility starts up in Qatar

Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil Corp announced the completion and start-up of Qatargas 2 Train 5, one of the largest operating liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities in the world. This follows the start-up of the Qatargas 2 Train 4 in 2Q 2009. Each is designed with the capacity to produce 7.8 million tons/y, about 50 per cent larger than any other global liquefaction facility currently operating outside of Qatar. Qatargas 2 links natural gas production, liquefaction, shipping and re-gasification infrastructure together into a single fully integrated LNG development and supply initiative. In addition to Trains 4 and 5, the Qatargas 2 joint venture encompasses a fleet of world-class Q-Max and Q-Flex carriers and the newly commissioned South Hook Terminal in Milford Haven, Wales. When combined, these technology breakthroughs are enabling more efficient production and transportation of natural gas and will allow the companies to provide more natural gas to markets throughout the world.

UAE's ADNOC awards US$218m rig deal to CNPC unit

The UAE's state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded Chinese firm Baoji Oilfield Machinery Co. a US$218 million contract to supply onshore oil rigs, ADNOC's drilling unit said. Baoji is a subsidiary of China's largest oil producer, the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC). The contract, awarded after tender, was for rigs that would cost around 800 million dirhams (US$217.8 million), the National Drilling Company said in a statement. ADNOC pumps most of the oil produced by the UAE, the world's third-largest oil exporter. The UAE plans to boost its crude capacity to around 3.5 million barrels per day in 2018 from around 2.8 million bpd now.

Qatar - world's biggest LNG exporter

Qatar in March 2007 became the world's biggest exporter of LNG, with a nominal capacity of 31.7 million tons/year and actual potential of 32.5 million t/y. The first country in the world to have launched two major LNG ventures at the same time and now in the biggest single complex in the world, Qatar will become a source for up to 83 million t/y of LNG out of six mega-trains and eight smaller units to be on stream before end-2010. Its two pioneering sets of JVs involve some of the most prominent firms in the world and will have their nominal capacity of 77.1 million t/y reach a potential of more than 83 million t/y by 2013/14 - equal to more than 2 million b/d of crude oil. By then, Qatar's total production of crude oil, LNG and other gas liquids will be equivalent to 5.5 million b/d.

NAPESCO wins US$103m Kuwait Oil Co contract

Kuwaiti National Petroleum Services Co has won a KD29.5 million (US$103 million/EUR 70.8 million) contract to provide drilling related services to state-run Kuwait Oil Company, NAPESCO said in a statement to the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). The contract is valid for a period of four years, with a one-year extension option. NAPESCO, established in 1993, offers a range of services to the Middle East oil and gas industry. The company's oilfield services include cementing, casing hardware, coiled tubing, industrial cleaning and other activities related to well drilling.