New base 788 special 16 februaury 2016

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NewBase 16 February 2016 - Issue No. 787 Edited & Produced by: Khaled Al Awadi

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UAE Minister of State Sultan Al Jaber has been appointed director general of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

The National - Ali Haider / EPA

Sultan Al Jaber has been appointed the director general of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. A statement yesterday by the General Secretariat of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Council said that the UAE Minister of State had been appointed to the role by Ruler’s decree.

Dr Al Jaber is also the chairman of the renewable energy firm Masdar and chief executive of energy at Mubadala. According to its website, Adnoc is “one of the world’s leading oil companies, producing over 2.7 million barrels of oil a day”.

Abdullah Nasser Al Suwaidi had been Adnoc’s director general since 2011, according to Bloomberg, and has overseen the renewal of the emirate’s biggest onshore oil concessions last year.

The UAE is planning to increase total crude output capacity to 3.5 million barrels per day by 2017-18, from 3 million bpd now, with Adnoc investing billions of dollars in onshore and offshore fields despite the fall in oil prices. Adnoc is also developing natural gas assets to meet domestic energy demand.

According to Mubadala, Dr Al Jaber “has been responsible for developing and advocating the UAE’s position on energy, environment, water and international climate change negotiation as the UAE’s Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change since 2010”.




Kuwait Petroleum to upgrade its refineries in $10b expansion project Bloomberg + NewbASE

Kuwait National Petroleum Co is seeking $10 billion (Dh36.73 billion) in financing from local and international banks to upgrade two refineries to produce cleaner burning fuel.

Local banks are due to agree to lend $3 billion next month under favourable terms to Kuwait, according to Ahmad Al Jemaz, a deputy chief executive officer at the state oil refiner. The rest of the $10 billion needed will be sought from international lenders, including from South Korean banks, he said.

“We have seen a good response to our request for loans to finance the project,” Al Jemaz told reporters in Dubai on Monday. The loans will be for Kuwait’s Clean Fuels Project to upgrade the Mina Abdullah and Mina Al Ahmadi refineries. The project, set to be completed by 2019, will produce diesel and jet fuel for domestic use and export. The Mina Abdullah refinery’s capacity will be increased to 454,000 barrels a day from 270,000 barrels a day and the Mina Al Ahmadi plant’s capacity will be decreased to 350,000 barrels a day from 466,000 as one of its main crude processing units is retired, Al Jemaz said.

Kuwait is also planning a $30 billion refinery to produce 615,000 barrels a day, a petrochemical plant and a liquefied natural gas receiving terminal at Al Zour on the Arabian Gulf coast. Financing options include selling shares to the public in the petrochemical unit and joint ventures, Al Jemaz said .




Morocco: Sound Energy preparing to drill first Tendrara well, onshore Morocco.. Source: Schlumberger

Sound Energy has announced that ground works have commenced on site at the Company's Tendrara licence area and that all contracts have now been awarded for the first well. The Company has confirmed that civil works on site at Tendrara have now commenced. This includes the upgrading of local infrastructure which will be followed by the preparation of the camp and the two well pad areas.

Further to the Field Management Agreement ('FMA') entered into withSchlumberger in relation to Tendrara, as announced by the Company on 29 December 2015, the Company has also confirmed that all contracts associated with the drilling of the first appraisal well at Tendrara have now been awarded. The contracts awarded include a binding rig contract with Saipem for a National 110 UE (1500 HP) traditional rig. The rig is currently being prepared for mobilisation from Mauritania, which is expected to begin later this month.

Under the FMA Schlumberger has agreed to fund 80% of the capital expenditure of the first Tendrara appraisal well, with Sound Energy only being required to fund 20%. The first well, located some 2.4Km North East of the previously successfully drilled TE5 well, is expected to cost approx. £9.2 million (100%).




France: FUTUREN obtains permission to build its largest wind farm in France Source: FUTUREN

FUTUREN has obtained permission to install 11 new wind turbines on Les Monts wind farm, located in the Aube French department. Following a first tranche of 4 wind turbines authorized in 2013, this expansion will bring the total capacity of the two tranches to about 48 MW.

FUTUREN actively pursues its developm ent. In France, the Group now holds 4 wind projects which already received all necessary authorizations and are free of any third-party claim, for a total capacity of 87 MW:

• the 18 MW Chemin Perré wind project is currently under construction in the Aube department. Its commissioning is planned for the second half of 2016;

• the first tranche of the 13 MW Les Monts wind project, also located in the Aube department, will be under construction in the coming weeks, for a commissioning expected at the end of 2016;

• the construction of the 21 MW Courant-Nachamps wind project should start between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 in the Charente-Maritime department, for a commissioning expected in early 2018; and

• the full authorization for the second tranche of Les Monts project, for a capacity of c. 35 MW.

Operating 732 MW of wind power for own account and on behalf of third parties, FUTUREN holds 197 MW of projects having obtained all authorizations needed for their installation and operation, distributed mainly in France and Morocco.

Commenting on this news, Fady Khallouf, Chief Executive Officer of FUTUREN, said:

'This new authorization fully reflects our growth momentum. Since the success of our financial restructuring in late 2014, we have significantly accelerated our development. In just one year's time, we commissioned a 21 MW wind farm, launched the construction of an 18 MW wind farm and now we obtain a permit for 35 additional MW.

All our efforts are concentrated on increasing our installed capacity. Over the coming twelve months, we plan to launch construction works for two new projects with a combined capacity of 34 MW. We handle growth at constant structure cost. Thus each new commissioning of wind farm increases our profitability. We are on track to reach our target to double our installed capacity for own account in France and Morocco in the short-term.'




India: Greka Drilling Secures Contract from Essar for West Bengal's Raniganj Block.. by Greka Drilling Ltd.|Press Release

Greka Drilling Limited, the largest independent and specialized unconventional oil & gas driller in Asia, announced Monday a new contract to provide drilling services to Essar Oil Limited (Essar) on the Raniganj East Block in West Beng al, India.

Essar had previously engaged Greka Drilling in late 2013 to provide drilling services on Raniganj East and this contract was concluded in 2015 with a total of 16 wells being drilled.

Under the new contract, once mobilized, Greka Drilling will provide two of its high quality semi-automated GD75 rigs, that are already situated within country, to drill vertical and directional wells on a day-rate basis (rather than other current contracts where the Company is paid on a meters drilled basis) for the development of Essar’s Raniganj East coal bed methane block. The contract is for a period of one year and has an estimated value of around $8 million.

The commencement of drilling operations remains subject to the completion of pre-mobilization requirements which are currently expected to be complete by end of this quarter. Essar is a leading producer of coal bed methane in India whose Government has recently reiterated its commitment to developing the country’s domestic natural gas resources as a clean fuel.

Randeep S. Grewal, Chairman of Greka Drilling, commented:

"The decision by Essar to re-contract Greka Drilling for the Raniganj East project is affirmation of the quality of our technologically advanced GD75 rigs and experienced crews in India. While we still expect relatively limited activity in 1H 2016, we welcome the prospect of new drilling for Essar and further drilling for Green Dragon Gas during the course of the year.

In China, 17 LiFaBriC wells remain to be drilled from last year’s order for Green Dragon Gas, although the timing of drilling will depend on customer mobilization instructions. We continue to be optimistic about the prospects for the unconventional gas industry in India and elsewhere and our long-term role in developing this vital domestic major resource as we concurrently continue to do in China.”




NewBase 16 February 2016 Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

US crude jumps as big producers set for Doha meet Reuters + NewBase

U.S. oil prices jumped back above $30 a barrel on Tuesday as news of a rare private meeting of top officials from the world's biggest oil producers spurred speculation of an eventual deal to tackle a deep supply glut.

U.S. crude rose as much as $1.26, or 4.3 percent, to $30.70 per barrel by 2334 GMT as the market reopened following a shortened holiday session, building on Friday's more than 12 percent surge. U.S. crude had been trading at around $29.76 prior to the news.

London Brent crude for April delivery settled 3 cents higher at $33.39 on Monday and had risen above $34 a barrel after the news before trading hours ended.

The world's top two oil exporters, Saudi Arabia and Russia, will hold talks together with their counterparts from Venezuela and Qatar in Doha on Tuesday, sources told Reuters.

Oil prices have fallen to their lowest in more than a decade over the past year due to booming U.S. supplies and a decision by OPEC to ramp up exports which was aimed at driving higher-cost producers out of the market.

Saudi Arabia has said it would cut output only if non-OPEC producers agreed to join it. Russia, the world's top producer, has long refused to cooperate, saying its industry was competitive at any price and it was technically challenging for Moscow to reduce production.

Oil price special

coverage




Saudi, Russian Oil Ministers Plan Talks in Doha Tuesday Bloomberg - Wael Mahdi

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister plans to meet with his Russian counterpart in Doha on Tuesday to discuss the oil market, according to a person familiar with the talks. Ali al-Naimi, the most senior oil official of the world’s biggest crude exporter, will speak with Russia’s Alexander Novak in the Qatari capital, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The

person didn’t say what the agenda of the meeting will be, which will also be attended by the kingdom’s fellow OPEC member Venezuela. The energy ministries of Russia and Saudi Arabia declined to comment. Saudi Arabia has insisted that it won’t reduce production to tackle the global oil glut unless major producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries co-operate. While Novak has said he could consider output cuts if other producers joined in, Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of the country’s largest oil company Rosneft OJSC, said last week he would defend traditional markets and expressed doubts over coordinated action.

Still, oil’s deepening slide this year to below $30 a barrel has put increased financial strain on oil-dependent economies and there’s been growing speculation that there may be an opportunity to discuss a deal between the world’s two largest exporters.

“The back channel talks, which Qatar is brokering, had been in place for a while,” said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. “These are still very early days and nothing concrete has been agreed, but there is a growing sense that countries could be more flexible, although Riyadh would insist that everyone else contribute to the cut.”

Brent oil in London rose as much as 4 percent to $34.72 a barrel on Tuesday and was trading at $34.43 at 9:08 a.m. in Hong Kong.

OPEC and non-members have intermittently held discussions since November 2014, when the organization first signaled it was unwilling to cut production alone to support prices. Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and Mexico assembled in Vienna that month without reaching any deal. A tour of oil capitals from Moscow to Riyadh earlier this month by Venezuelan Energy Minister Eulogio Del Pino failed to produce an accord.

Nonetheless, the slightest signs of an accord have roiled oil markets. West Texas Intermediate futures rallied 12 percent on Feb. 12, the biggest surge since 2009, after the United Arab Emirates reiterated OPEC’s long-held position that the group is prepared to engage with non-members.

Tomorrow’s closed-door meeting, planned in secret and hosted by Qatar’s oil minister, echoes the petro-diplomacy of the late 1999s. Then OPEC countries used diplomatic back channels with the help of Mexico to orchestrate a series of secret meetings from Miami to Amsterdam, which resulted in several production cuts.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry and the media offices at PDVSA and Venezuela’s Oil Ministry didn’t immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.







NewBase Special Coverage

News Agencies News Release 16 February 2016

Russia's Reward for Doing a Deal With OPEC Overshadowed by Risks Bloomberg - Dina Khrennikova

Neither a recession nor a collapse in revenue has yet been enough to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that it’s time to join with OPEC in cutting oil output to boost prices. His reasons may be pragmatic rather than political.

As Russia’s oil minister meets his Saudi Arabian counterpart in Doha on Tuesday, the world’s second-largest crude producer faces numerous obstacles in cooperating on such a deal even if Putin decides it’s in the national interest. Reducing the flow of crude might damage Russia’s fields and pipelines, require expensive new storage tanks or simply take too long.

So far Russia’s top oil official have offered mixed signals. Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said he could consider reductions if other producers joined in. Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of the country’s largest oil company Rosneft OJSC and a close Putin ally, said last week in London that coordination would be difficult because no major producer seems willing to pare output.

“The history of relations with OPEC suggests that Russian companies are not keen to cut production,” James Henderson, an oil and gas industry analyst at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said by phone. “There are certain practical difficulties, and the companies would rather somebody else did that, and they could benefit once the price goes up.”




Oil surged the most in seven years on Feb. 12 after United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said producers are ready to work together and won’t make cuts unless there’s complete cooperation, according to a Sky News Arabia report. Brent crude, the international benchmark, remains about 70 percent below its 2014 peak, trading for $34.62 a barrel at 11:45 a.m. Singapore time on Tuesday. Russia’s economy contracted by 3.7 percent in 2015 and may shrink by 0.8 percent this year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Frozen Pipelines

In Siberia, Russia’s main oil province, winter temperatures can go below minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit). That’s a challenge for anyone thinking of turning off the taps.

The oil and gas that flows from wells always contains water, so once pumping stops, pipes may freeze, Mikhail Pshenitsyn, who has worked for more than 10 years in the Russian oil industry, said by e-mail. The problem goes away in summer, but there’s still the risk of a long-term reduction in output because a halted reservoir can become polluted with salts and residues, he said.

Production from a shut-in well might never be restored in full, Maxim Nechaev, director for Russia at consulting firm IHS Inc., said by phone.

Russia could reduce exports to global markets without cutting production simply by putting more crude into long-term storage. Trouble is, the country has too few facilities.

The bulk of onshore storage capacity in Russia is owned by pipeline company AK Transneft OAO and already in full use to ensure steady flows to refineries and ports, Vladimir Feigin, head of the Moscow-based Institute for Energy and Finance, said by phone. More Storage




Building the massive new reservoirs required to store a significant proportion of production for an extended period would cost billions of dollars and couldn’t be done quickly, he said.

While crude can be stored in vessels moored just offshore, Russia has "only seven tankers -- four products and three crude -- in floating storage,” Antonia Mitsana, marketing manager at London-based Drewry Maritime Advisors, said by e-mail. Their total capacity is just over 643,000 metric tons, according to Drewry, or about 0.1 percent of the nation’s production last year.

Chartering foreign vessels to store significantly more oil would be expensive. Freight rates are up in the short-term tanker market and ships in limited supply, Mitsana said. Raising Taxes

Russia’s government is seeking ways to increase revenues from the energy industry, which generates more than 40 percent of the national budget. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov suggested cutting the price threshold for oil exempt from production taxes to $7.50 a barrel from $15, according to a report from RIA Novosti, a domestic news agency.

Russian ran a budget deficit of 2.6 percent in 2015, its highest in five years. The measure could raise revenue by as much as 1.08 trillion rubles ($13 billion) if implemented at an average oil price of $30, according to estimates by Alexander Kornilov, an oil and gas analyst at Aton investment bank. That would help fill government coffers and could encourage companies to limit output at older wells with higher operating costs.

Yet changing the tax regime is a slower process than the “emergency” response Venezuela is seeking.

“Usually such big tax changes would come into force from January of the next year" if they were included in the annual draft budget due in October, Sergei Likhachev, associate director for tax practice at Moscow-based law firm Goltsblat BLP, said by phone.

After his meetings in Moscow and Tehran, Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino said six nations were ready to meet and discuss output cuts. The probability of such an agreement including Russia remains distant. “Last year, things didn’t move beyond talks,” said IHS’s Nechaev. “I am sure the same is going to happen this year.”




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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, Energy Consultant MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA Emarat member since 1990 ASME member since 1995 Hawk Energy member 2010

Mobile: +97150-4822502 [email protected] [email protected]

Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &

regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.

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NewBase 16 February 2016 K. Al Awadi







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New base 788 special 16 februaury 2016