oil – European Affairs Magazine

Nigeria lucky again as OPEC extends oil output cut by 9 months

26 Maggio 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Nigeria stands to continue to benefit from an improved oil revenue as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided on Thursday in Vienna to extend cuts in oil output by nine months to March 2018 to further battle a global glut of crude. OPEC’s cuts have helped to push oil back above $50 a barrel this year, giving a fiscal boost to producers, many of whom rely heavily on energy revenues. Oil’s earlier price decline, which started in 2014, forced Russia and Saudi Arabia to tighten their belts and led to unrest in some producing countries, including Venezuela and Nigeria. In December, OPEC agreed its first production cuts in a decade and the first joint cuts with non-OPEC, led by Russia in 15 years. The two sides decided to remove about 1.8 million barrels per day from the market in the first half of 2017, equal to 2 per cent of global production. Despite the output cut, OPEC kept exports fairly stable in the first half of 2017 as its members sold oil from stocks.

Saudi Arabia has started a process of recruitment due to the elaboration of oil

30 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Due to the elaboration of oil, Saudi Arabia has started a process of recruitment, which involves people coming from all closer and neighboring countries. At first, this recruitment process was supported by the necessity of finding experts and people, who wanted to work on the refining and extracting oil. Problems between recruiter and workers were rare, but once the system of recruitment got illegal and an illecite, it began to appear more problems, because recruiters tried to get more profits through this activity of recruitment, without giving them any guarantees. At first people tried to run away from these jobs, in order to find other better-paid. In the past, who got a recruiter visa went to States, where it was sure to find workers and recruited them. The government, nowadays, has made this process more complicated, establishing the institution of Selection Committees, which are able to find workers on the basis of their qualification and education.

Iran ranks as No.2 oil supplier to South Korea 1st time for a quarter

26 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

South Korea’s March imports from Iran more than doubled from a year ago to a record of 18.54 million barrels, or 597,935 barrels per day (bpd), data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC). For the JanuaryMarch period of 2017, Iran seized the No.2 spot with shipments of 46.73 million barrels, also more than double from the same period last year and the highest on record for a quarter. In the first quarter of 2016, Iran was South Korea’s fifth-biggest oil supplier behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar, according to KNOC data. This year’s surge in Iranian crude supply came after Tehran was exempted from production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to clear a global glut. Iran’s jump to the No.2 spot is also due to solid condensate demand from South Korean refiners such as SK Energy and Hyundai Oilbank. Saudi Arabia held onto its spot as South Korea’s top oil supplier for both March and the full quarter. Shipments from Saudi Arabia rose 10.8 percent in March from a year ago to nearly 26 million barrels, or 838,387 bpd, from 23.46 million barrels last year. In the first quarter, the world’s top oil exporter shipped 77.12 million barrels of crude to South Korea, up 4.4 percent from about 74 million barrels in the same period of 2016, according to the data. Overall, South Korea’s March imports increased 11.7 percent from a year ago to 95.9 million barrels, or 3.09 million bpd, the data showed. The world’s fifth-largest crude importer brought in 278.18 million barrels of crude in the first three months of 2017, up 4.9 percent from 265.3 million barrels last year.

The export of Azerbaijani non-oil products increased by 32.5 percent in January-March 2017

13 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The export of Azerbaijani non-oil products increased by 32.5 percent in January-March 2017 compared to January-March 2016, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Sahil Babayev said. He made remarks at the 4th International Caspian Energy Forum-2017 being held in Baku Apr. 12.”One of the main goals of the economic policy pursued by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is to diversify the economy, increase export potential and export of the non-oil products”, Babayev added.

Iraq keen to reach agreement with Iran on joint oil fields

3 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar Allaibi said on Sunday his country plans to reach an agreement with Iran on exploitation of the joint oil fields. He made the remarks during his speech at the Iraq Energy Forum 2017. The official said Baghdad is in serious talks with Tehran on joint use of oil fields in the two country’s borders. He called for improvement of relations with neighboring countries to diversify the country’s oil and gas revenues.

Siala in first Libyan official visit to Poland since revolution

2 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The situation in Libyan together with the potential return of the Polish embassy and of Polish oil, construction and other companies were among the main subjects of discussion in talks in Warsaw on Thusday and Friday between the Presidency Council’s foreign affairs minister and the Polish government. It was the first time since the revolution in 2011 that a Libyan official went in Poland. Warsaw has recalled its willingness to see the Libyan stability soon, for the Libyan people but also to increase their bilateral relation.

Taiwan increases KBT crude imports from Iraqi Kurdistan after OPEC cuts

28 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Taiwan is increasing oil imports from Iraqi Kurdistan as local refiners take advantage of an open arbitrage to buy high-sulphur crude that can replace supplies cut by OPEC. State-owned CPC Corp bought 1 million barrels of Kurdish KBT crude for the first time in the second quarter, and Formosa Petrochemical Corp has resumed purchases of this grade after a near nine-month break, company officials said.

Decision on extension of global oil output cut deal postponed to May

28 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Most participants of the meeting of ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers, which took place in Kuwait City on Sunday, supported the extension of an agreement on oil output cut by six months but the final decision will be taken in May and will depend on the situation on the market. The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) includes ministers of three OPEC member states – Venezuela, Kuwait and Algeria – and two countries that not part of the cartel, namely Russia and Oman.

Lower oil prices, sabotage reduce revenue shared by federal, states, local govt by N36 billions

23 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Nigeria’s distributable government revenues fell to N429.127 billion naira in February from N465.19 billion in January due to lower oil prices (which fell from $49.57 to $44.74 per barrel durign February). The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation declared ina statement that the fall was determinated by the sabotage of the nation’s oil pipelines by Niger Delta militants. Infact the pruduction of the oil diminished in that period beacuse of the leakages in the pipelines. Nigeria is an OPEC member, had been hit by the fall in global crude prices since mid 2014 and last year entered in its first recession. Militants have carried out attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta energy hub for a year, cutting oil production, they want the oil hub to share the country’s energy.

How Emirati air power turned Haftar's Libyan oil ports disaster to victory?

22 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The turnaround in the Oil Crescent has created some doubts across international community. Indeed, it sounds strange that LNA has lost against BDB and has retaken all the Oil Crescent few days after. “But how did an air force, reduced to five old MiGs and a few helicopters, manage this feat only 10 days after losing the territory? How could a fleet of old-as-hell aircraft have been able to hold such a pace without requiring heavy maintenance which would have taken warplanes out of operation?”. One solution could be the sustain from United Arab State or Egypt or both.