Regional News

NEW DELHI / Reuters India imported 335,400 barrels per day (bpd) oil from Iran in August, the lowest level since February 2016, posting a fall of about 42 percent from a year ago, according to ship tracking data obtained from industry sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts. August imports from Iran were down 19.2 percent …

NEW DELHI / Reuters Libya’s Sharara oilfield is producing about 180,000 barrels per day (bpd), 100,000 bpd below recent levels, because of security problems, two workers at the field said. They said that a facility about 40 km west of the field was shut because of poor security, hindering the recovery of production since the field reopened after a pipeline …

KHOBAR / Reuters Saudi Aramco is expected to complete the first major unit of a new refinery in southwestern Jizan province by the end of this year but refining operations will only start a year later, industry sources said. The refinery on the Red Sea is part of a plan to revive the region by building an economic city which …

Bloomberg Cnooc Ltd. is searching for partners to develop oil prospects deep into the Gulf of Mexico as the Chinese giant extends its global reach. After bidding alone for exploration rights in Mexico’s first-ever deep-water auction in 2016, Cnooc is seeking deals known as farmouts, a common type of joint venture where a stake in an oil prospect is exchanged …

LONDON / Reuters The global oil surplus is beginning to shrink due to stronger-than-expected European and US demand growth, as well as production declines in OPEC and non-OPEC countries, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. The agency, which coordinates energy policies of industrial nations, raised its 2017 global oil demand growth estimate to 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) …

KUWAIT / Reuters Kuwait’s Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said on Wednesday that OPEC could hold an extraordinary meeting in mid-March if oil producers did not reach a decision to extend their supply cut pact when it next meets in November. “In the coming November meeting, we may not reach a decision to extend… the agreement and we could hold an …

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabian food maker Savola Group, the country’s largest food products company, said on Wednesday that it is selling a 2 percent stake in Almarai, the Gulf’s largest dairy company for 1.12 billion riyals ($307.6 million). The sale was conducted through an accelerated bookbuilding process, which will cut Savola’s stake in Almarai to 34.52 percent from 36.52 …

Bloomberg Mexico will most likely expand its oil hedge marginally for 2018 as it liberalizes gasoline prices, while the cost for the government to protect crude exports against a drastic drop in prices will be about the same as for this year, Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade said. The earthquake off Mexico’s coast last week should trigger a portion of …

BAGHDAD / Reuters Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to sell Iraq’s Majnoon oilfield and the oil ministry has started preparations to finalise its exit, according to an oil ministry letter and oil officials. A letter signed by Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi and dated Aug. 23 and directed to Shell Iraq Petroleum Development gave approval for Shell to quit Majnoon, …

Bloomberg India’s oil consumption in August shrank 6.1 percent, the most since April 2003, as floods ravaged several parts of the country curbing demand for diesel and gasoline. The world’s fastest growing oil consumer used 15.75 million tons of fuels in August, compared with 16.78 million tons a year ago, according to the oil ministry’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. …