MENA Region: Pushing Through Critical Energy Projects This Year

04/08/17 •lweb.es/f2700 •bit.ly/2oTUalv

In the Middle East North Africa region $622 billion worth of development is planned in the energy sector for the next five years. The power sector accounts for the largest share at $207 billion, with the oil and gas sector at $195 billion and $159 billion respectively. Leading the drive will be Saudi Arabia, and Iraq and Iran will play catch-up. Algeria will pump billions into its upstream sector, and much is expected from Egypt’s recent gas. Renewable-energy projects will be at the forefront of efforts to meet rising power demand in Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.

India-Gulf Cooperation Council: Delhi’s Strategic Opportunity

03/05/17 •lweb.es/f2642 •bit.ly/2nWdPAm

Ties between the Gulf and India stretch back several millennia. Until the last decade or so, the relationship was still being driven almost exclusively by economic interests: energy trade and migrant labor. Now, however, the agendas of rising powers like India and China are expanding, including in the Middle East. Specifically, India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ties will be among the most important relationships for both sides in the coming decades. The emergence of several factors is forcing New Delhi to consider the strategic aspects of those ties…

CNPC Buys Stake In Abu Dhabi’s Largest Oil Concession

lweb.es/f2652 02.19.2017

China National Petroleum Corp. bought a stake in Abu Dhabi’s largest oil concession as the Middle Eastern emirate with 6% of global crude reserves looks increasingly to Asia, its biggest market, for investment to raise output capacity. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. awarded CNPC an 8% stake in the onshore venture. “If you’re Abu Dhabi and looking for demand growth, China is the future and its demand is going to continue to grow”… “For the big buyers in Asia, the logical source of that future supply is the Gulf,” said Amereller Legal Consultants.

Gulf Cooperation Council: Diversification And Privatization

lweb.es/f2475 12.24.2016

iconThe collapse in world oil prices since mid-2014 has reinforced two imperatives for the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE: First, the need to raise revenue in order to balance state budgets; and second, the strengthened focus on the understanding that diversification away from dependence on oil is both essential and long overdue. Thus, many of the GCC governments have been discussing and attempting to promote economic reform, with a particular emphasis on the need for wide-ranging privatization.

Saudi Arabia Maintained Crude Oil Market Share in Asia in The First Half of 2015

lweb.es/f555

In the first half of 2015 Saudi Arabia exported more than half its crude exports to Asia. The Kingdom increased production and kept its export levels high enabling it to maintain its market share in the countries in question. However, long-term trends in Saudi Arabia’s domestic energy sector and competition from other oil exporting nations may result in a decline in the Kingdom’s global crude oil market share.