Regional News

VIENNA / WAM The 2017 OPEC World Oil Outlook (WOO) has been launched at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, with expectations that total primary energy demand is set to increase by 35 percent in the period to 2040. First published in 2007, the WOO offers a thorough review and assessment of the medium- and long-term prospects to 2040 for the …

BASRA / Reuters Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to exit the Majnoon oilfield and hand over its operation to the state-run Basra Oil Co. by the end of June 2018, two oil officials close to the deal said on Wednesday. A letter signed by Iraqi oil minister Jabar Luaibi, dated August 23 and seen by Reuters, gave appr- …

Bloomberg Chevron Corp. is planning a significant drilling program in the Duvernay shale formation, marking a vote of confidence in Canada’s energy industry in a year when it joined other majors in selling assets there. The initial development in the East Kaybob section of the formation will encompass about 55,000 acres (22,000 hectares), the San Ramon, California-based company said. Chevron …

BEIJING / Reuters China has raised its 2018 crude oil import quota for “non-state trade,” generally meaning independent refiners, by 55 percent over 2017, raising the clout of the independents in the global market after a setback this year. The move took market participants by surprise after Beijing cut the quotas to independents for 2017. The annual quota setting, announced …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp.’s deal in January for a swath of Permian Basin drilling real estate came with a sweetener for the sellers. The heirs of oil tycoon Perry Bass will get $1 billion in cash by 2032 — if drilling goes well for Exxon. That payout would be on top of the $5.6 billion in Exxon shares the Bass …

Bloomberg An obscure gasoline additive could lead to a windfall of more than $6 billion for struggling US oil refiners. There’s just one hurdle: the Internal Revenue Service. Fuel makers are examining whether their occasional use of butane — a liquefied petroleum gas — qualifies for a big tax credit under a now-expired law that was intended to promote the …

Bloomberg Helium resources discovered in Tanzania last year may be almost twice as large as first thought, helping address possible future shortages of the gas used in medical scanners and nuclear energy when production begins, possibly as early as 2020, the exploration company said. Researchers working with Lisbon-based Helium One Ltd. calculated the Rukwa gas field in southwestern Tanzania could …

Bloomberg Saudi energy services com- pany Arkad, which is building a nationwide pipeline netw- ork for oil giant Saudi Aramco, will expand outside the kingdom in a venture with ABB Ltd. that opens the doors to business in North Africa and the Gulf region. Arkad signed a deal to acquire a majority stake in a new joint venture with ABB’s …

HASSI RMEL / Reuters Algeria’s state energy firm Sonatrach on Monday started $2 billion of new investments into the Hassi Rmel gas field to keep production stable at the country’s biggest gas field. “The objective is to maintain the 190 million cubic metre output for the next 10 years,” Chief Executive Abdelmoumene Ould Kaddour told reporters at the site. Hassi …

KHOBAR / Reuters State-controlled utility Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) reported a 6.8 percent increase in third-quarter net profit on Monday due to falling costs as the company improves efficiency. SEC made a profit of 5.26 billion riyals ($1.40 billion) in the three months to Sept 30, according to a bourse statement, up from 4.92 billion riyals a year earlier. The …