Energy

Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund may buy BP assets

The Kuwait Investment Authority, that country's sovereign wealth fund, is content with its stake in BP, which is currently at 1.75 per cent of the British oil giant. The fund would consider adding to its BP position if market conditions are favorable, Kuwait's oil minister said. Kuwait could be a buyer of BP assets, according to press reports. BP, Europe's largest oil company by production volume, is looking to sell US$30 billion in assets over the next 18 months to raise cash for costs related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Kuwait Investment Authority said it did not receive a request from BP to up its stake in the company. Press reports in Kuwait said outgoing BP CEO Tony Hayward asked the fund to up its BP investment to 3 per cent to help the oil giant fend off a takeover attempt.

Dana Petroleum discovers new oil field in Gulf of Suez

Dana Petroleum, an oil and gas, exploration and production company, has discovered a new oil field, in the North Zeit Bay production sharing contract area onshore in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The Fin-1X well was drilled to a depth of 10,038 ft, some 3 km from the Lorcan oil discovery announced in June 2010. A preliminary development plan has been submitted to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) for agreement. Dana estimates that these two discoveries so far in this production sharing contract (PSC) area have proven up initial reserves of 10 to 12 million barrels of oil with the potential for considerable upside beyond these initial proved volumes. Further drilling is planned, the company added.

Oman: Oil used at refineries and petrochemicals declines

The quantity of oil used at Oman Oil Refineries and Petrochemicals Company (OORPC) declined by 21.6 per cent to 11,775,800 barrels during the first five months of 2010, as compared to 15,013,500 barrels during the same period in 2009. Statistics bulletin issued by the National Economy Ministry pointed out that products included super and regular car petrol. Super petrol production declined by 4.9 per cent to 1,604,600 barrels by the end of May 2010, as compared to 1,687,100 barrels during the same period in 2009. Production of regular petrol declined by 42.5 per cent to 641,000 barrels during the first five months in 2010, as compared to 1,113,800 barrels by the end of May in 2009.

BP and Apache ink US$7bn deals in US, Canada and Egypt

BP announced that it has entered into several agreements to sell upstream assets in the United States, Canada and Egypt to Apache Corporation. The deals, together worth a total of US$7 billion, comprise BP's Permian Basin assets in Texas and south-east New Mexico, US; its Western Canadian upstream gas assets; and the Western Desert business concessions and East Badr El-din exploration concession in Egypt. The decision to make these divestments follows the announcement made by BP last month that it was increasing its target for divestments to US$10 billion. The proceeds of the sales will be used by BP to increase the cash available to the group. BP Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg, said: "Over the last two months the Board has considered BP's options for generating the cash necessary to meet the obligations likely to arise from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP has an extremely strong asset base which is diversified geographically as well as by asset class. The Board believes that there are opportunities to divest assets which are strategically more valuable to other parties than they are to BP..."

IPIC eyes refinery projects worth US$20bn

Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) is studying plans for five refineries worldwide with a total investment of US$20 billion, according to a report. IPIC is eyeing refinery projects in United Arab Emirates' Fujairah, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan and Jordan, either alone or with partners, London-based MEED magazine said. The plans include a potential investment in Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co, which is looking at a $2 billion revamp of its refinery in Al Zarqa area, the magazine said, citing sources close to the company.

Two oilfields in western Karbala listed within next license round

The oil ministry, within its next oil licensing round, has listed two oilfields in western Karbala, Ain al-Tamr mayor said in early August. “The ministry listed the two oilfields of Naft al-Khadiera, which were discovered in 1991, in Ain al-Tamr district, within the next licensing round to be invested by global companies specialized in oil industry," Mahfouz al-Tamimi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Karbala is 110 km southwest of Baghdad.

Kuwait Oil Co awards Petrofac US$430m contract

Kuwait Oil Company said it has awarded Petrofac Ltd a KD123.3 million (US$430.8m) contract to inject mixed effluent and seawater into 69 wells in northern Kuwait. The state-owned firm said the project in Sabriyah and Rawdatain oil fields was needed to reach a production target of one million barrels a day by 2015 from Kuwait' northern oil fields.

KPC to invest US$9bn in Indonesia

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) will invest US$8-9 billion in a new 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery on Indonesia's Java Island, Indonesian Industry Minister MS Hidayat said. The move would help cut fuel shipments into Asia's biggest gasoline and diesel importer, where delapidated refineries do not meet demand in Southeast Asia's biggest economy and where no new refinery has been built since 1995. However no timeframe was given for the Kuwaiti project, and previous plans to build new refineries have failed. Hidayat said KPC and Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina will sign an MOU at the end of this month for a refinery in Balongan in western Java. "A joint venture will be formed within six months," he said. "The crude oil will be supplied from KPC at a discount price."

Iraq losing oil revenue due to Kurdistan non-production

Iraq is currently losing oil revenues of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) because Kurdistan is no producing oil, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Oil Ministry said. "Kurdistan will not affect the Iraqi budget by stopping oil production, but the country is losing additional revenues that can be used in the rebuilding processes," Asim Jihad told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the total amount of losses can be evaluated by multiplying the average daily price of 100,000 barrels of oil by the number of days when Kurdistan did not export oil.

Saudi Aramco awards contracts for Yanbu refinery

State oil firm Saudi Aramco has signed multibillion dollar contracts to build a new refinery at Yanbu on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, industry sources said in late July. South Korea's Daelim Industrial won two contracts to build a gasoline unit and a hydrocracker. South Korea's SK Engineering won a contract to build a crude unit. Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas won a contract to build coking unit. India's Punj Lloyd also won a deal to build some offsite infrastructure and pipelines while Egypt's Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) would build a tank farm, the sources said.

South Korea depends on Middle East oil up to 83.9pct

South Korea's dependence on Middle Eastern crude edged up 0.5 per cent to 83.9 per cent in the first five months of 2010 from the same period last year, according to latest data released by the state-run Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC). Overall South Korea's crude oil imports in the January-May period shrank 2.3 per cent year-on-year to 353.8 million barrels, or 2.34 million barrels per day (bpd), due to the fall in production caused by a slowdown in the demand for petroleum products, the KNOC said. "Imports from the Middle East fell 1.7 per cent year-on-year in the reporting period," the KNOC said, adding that shipments from Asia and Africa also dropped 3.1 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively. In May alone, the nation imported 76.1 million barrels (2.45 million bpd). South Korea, with its heavy industrial base, is the world's fifth-biggest oil importer. Last year, Kuwait was ranked third in the South Korean market behind Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

BP to invest US$9bn in oil and gas exploration in Egypt

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif met on July 19th, 2010 with Tony Hayward, Head of BP who was on a visit Cairo. Hayward briefed Nazif on an agreement signed earlier in the day between BP and Ministry of Petroleum to pump in US$8.8 billion (LE50bn) in exploring for oil and natural gas over the coming five years. Minister Fahmi attended the meeting. Nazif has proposed extension of cooperation between the two sides. Also, an agreement was signed between Egypt and British Petroleum (BP) and Germany’s RWI with investments up to US$9 billion for off-shore drilling for oil and gas targeting the production of 900 million cubic feet of gas and 10,000 barrels of condensates per day as of 2014 in addition to 5 trillion cubic feet of gas in reserves, said Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi on July 19th, 2010. Egypt's natural gas needs for the development plan is a national security issue, Fahmi added.