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IMF Lowers 2013 Mena Growth Forecasts on Oil Production, Instability

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)–The economic outlook for the Middle East has weakened this year amid expectations of lower oil production in crude-exporting countries and continuing political upheaval in Syria and Egypt, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. Oil exporters are dealing with domestic supply disruptions and lower global demand, which has led to reduced output even as political instability puts upward pressure on prices, the IMF said in a regional economic outlook. The IMF slashed its 2013 economic growth forecast for the region, which includes the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to 2.3% from a May prediction of 3%. The IMF now expects the region’s oil production to fall this year for the first time since the global financial crisis because of disruptions to output in Iraq and Libya and a “modest fall” in production in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest exporters. While growth is […]

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Iran Agrees to Give UN Monitors Broader Inspection Powers

By Jonathan Tirone – 2013-11-11T13:58:53Z Iran and United Nations atomic inspectors signed their first accord in six years, giving the monitors broader access to nuclear facilities in the Persian Gulf country. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran agreed “to implement practical measures” aiding inspections, agency director Yukiya Amano said at a Tehran briefing broadcast by Iran’s Press TV. Included in the accord is access to Iran’s largest uranium mine, said Ali Akbar Salehi , who heads the Islamic republic’s atomic program. The pact followed three days of talks in Geneva between Iran and world powers that failed to clinch a broader accord to relieve international sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iranian restrictions on its nuclear program. The IAEA’s decade-long investigation into alleged past nuclear-weapons work has underpinned international concerns about a program that has cast the specter of war and proliferation across the Middle East . Iran […]

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China's pace at oil fields frustrates Iran

TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (UPI) — Chinese energy companies aren’t moving fast enough to develop the Yadavaran and Azadegan oil fields in southern Iran, an Iranian executive said. Abdolreza Hossainnejad, managing director of Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Co., said Sunday the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known also as Sinopec, wasn’t working fast enough to meet the development criteria for Yadavaran. “We had planned to raise output from Yadavaran oil field to 85,000 barrels per day over a 59-month period but Chinese companies were willing to achieve the figure in a 74-month period,” he told the Iranian Oil Ministry’s official website Shana. China National Petroleum Corp is contracted to help develop the Azadegan complex, one of Iran’s largest oil fields. It straddles the border with Iraq. Hossainnejad said CNPC is behind schedule there but provided few details. He said drilling rigs need to be procured for the field and […]

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China’s pace at oil fields frustrates Iran

TEHRAN, Nov. 11 (UPI) — Chinese energy companies aren’t moving fast enough to develop the Yadavaran and Azadegan oil fields in southern Iran, an Iranian executive said. Abdolreza Hossainnejad, managing director of Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Co., said Sunday the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known also as Sinopec, wasn’t working fast enough to meet the development criteria for Yadavaran. “We had planned to raise output from Yadavaran oil field to 85,000 barrels per day over a 59-month period but Chinese companies were willing to achieve the figure in a 74-month period,” he told the Iranian Oil Ministry’s official website Shana. China National Petroleum Corp is contracted to help develop the Azadegan complex, one of Iran’s largest oil fields. It straddles the border with Iraq. Hossainnejad said CNPC is behind schedule there but provided few details. He said drilling rigs need to be procured for the field and […]

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Obama faces worry at home, abroad over Iran talks

AP Photo WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s hopes for a nuclear deal with Iran now depend in part on his ability to keep a lid on both hard-liners on Capitol Hill and anxious allies abroad, including Israel, the Persian Gulf states and even France. Each of the wary parties is guided in some measure by domestic political interests. But they also share concerns that Obama may want a breakthrough with Iran so badly that he would be willing to accept a deal that prematurely eases economic pressure on Iran and gives the Islamic republic space to pursue a nuclear weapon. “All of us want to see diplomacy,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told NBC News. “But we’re also concerned about an administration that seems really ready to jump into the arms of folks and potentially deal away some of the leverage we have.” Indeed, there’s little question Obama desires […]

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Baker Hughes Suspends Iraq Operations After Protest

By Michael Calia Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) said Monday it suspended operations in Iraq following a protest incident last week at a facility belonging to one of the oilfield services company’s subsidiaries. Baker Hughes said there was a significant disruption of business, but there were no injuries and the facility, near Basrah, was secured. The incident is under investigation, the company added. The company also said it issued “force majeure” notices to its customers. A force majeure clause is often included in contracts, giving companies leeway on deliveries when extraordinary incidents occur. “Baker Hughes supports the Iraqi oil industry,” Chairman and Chief Executive Martin Craighead said. “And the safety and welfare of our employees are our top priorities.” Mr. Craighead said the company hopes to resolve the issue in a “timely manner” and resume operations in Iraq when it’s safe to do so. Baker Hughes last month said its […]

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Iraq keeps eye on Kurd-jihadist battle in Syria

A Syrian Kurdish policeman patrols the border between Syria and Iraq, on October 14, 2013 Baghdad (AFP) – As the latest jihadist-Kurdish military showdown eases in northeast Syria, Baghdad is keeping a close watch on a battle which threatens even greater instability in Iraq. Kurdish forces and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have for weeks fought over territory, with the Kurds taking over a key border point late last month. But with the likelihood of more fighting to follow, Baghdad is worried of jihadists securing a wider corridor between eastern Syria and western Iraq. “This border point is significant for both Al-Qaeda, and the (Syrian) Kurds,” said Ali al-Haidari, a Baghdad-based security analyst. “At the same time, it threatens the Iraqi government’s security as well.” “For Al-Qaeda, it is a border point through which they smuggle explosives, fighters and suicide bombers.” Iraq and Syria share a 600-kilometre (375-mile) border, and jihadists and […]

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Abu Dhabi oil expansion backed by $52 bil in committed investment: execs

Abu Dhabi (Platts)–12Nov2013/215 am EST/715 GMT Executives of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and affiliated operating partnerships have disclosed about $52 billion of investment commitments intended to achieve a government target of raising Abu Dhabi’s oil production capacity to 3.5 million b/d by 2017, even as the emirate undergoes what promises to be a major shift in its concession structure. The investment total includes major contracts already awarded in the past two to three years. But the bulk of the spending is planned for the next three years, as the UAE’s major oil producing emirate intensifies its push to lift output capacity from its current level of, at most, 2.9 million b/d, mostly from aging fields with high depletion rates. ADNOC Deputy Director of Strategy and Coordination, Omar al-Suwaidi, told delegates attending the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in the UAE capital Monday that its […]

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Libya calls people to liberate oil sector

TRIPOLI, Libya, Nov. 11 (UPI) — Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan called on the people to work to “liberate” oil and natural gas facilities crippled by strikes and insurgency. “Women, children, men and even old people should support the government and go to the oil ports and terminals to liberate them from the criminals and protect their only sustenance,” he was quoted by the Libya Herald as saying Sunday. Libya has struggled to return to a pre-civil war oil production level in excess of 1 million barrels per day. Rival groups in the east of the country announced early November they declared independence for the region known as Cyrenaica, which hosts some of Libya’s key oil terminals. Labor strikes have shut down processing facilities in the west of the country. The Libyan newspaper reported Zeidan gave strikers a 10-day deadline to end their protests. He said the situation may […]

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Libya Expects Tanker to Load Crude at Hariga Oil Port Tomorrow

A tanker is expected to dock and load crude from a Libyan oil export terminal that has been shut for much of the past two months, according to a state company official and ship tracking data. The vessel will pick up at least 600,000 barrels of crude from the country’s eastern port of Hariga tomorrow, for shipment to a European destination, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for the state-run National Oil Corp. said today by phone from Tripoli, without elaborating on the tanker’s name or its charterer. Shiptracking data on Bloomberg show that the British Falcon is headed to Hariga, after being moored at another Libyan port, Zawiya, from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9. Libyan oil output was 250,000 barrels a day yesterday Elharari said. That’s a fraction of the 1.6 million produced prior to the country’s civil war. The nation, holder of Africa ’s biggest oil reserves, is losing […]

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