30-31 January: Middle East and North Africa Energy, London
6-7 February: E & P Information and Data Management, London
6-8 February: PowerGen Middle East, Doha
13-15 February: Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition, Kuwait
14-15 February: 9th Annual Trade and Export Finance Conference, Dubai
27-29 February: Offshore Arabia, Dubai
March (date to be confirmed): Middle East Alternative Investment Summit (location to be confirmed)
3-5 March: Saudi Safety and Security, Saudi Arabia
5-8 March: Middle East Investment Summit, Dubai
5-8 March: Hedge Funds World Middle East, Dubai
6-7 March: Saudi Downstream, Saudi Arabia
5-8 March: Middle East Investment Summit, Dubai
20-21 March : 3rd Annual Middle East Securities Forum, Abu Dhabi
25-27 March: Gulf Environment Forum, Saudi Arabia
25-27 March: Saudi Innovation, Diversification & Investment, Saudi Arabia
24-25 April: Middle East Real Estate Summit, Abu Dhabi
9-10 May: SMI's LNG 2012, London
13-15 May: WEPower, Saudi Arabia
18-20 June: Iraq Petroleum, London
Briefings & Reports
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Need an expert briefing to support an investment decision?
GSN’s team of experienced analysts are often called on by governments and their agencies, financial institutions, and energy companies to comment on developments in the Gulf region. Our analysts are available for private briefings (either by telephone or in person) and can produce tailored reports and research on a range of topics and issues. For more information contact Mark Ford. Email:mark@cbi-publishing.com
Politics, succession & risk in Saudi Arabia report
Politics, succession and risk in Saudi Arabia is a GSN special report, published in January 2010. The new report analyses Saudi policy on issues including succession, domestic and regional politics, defence, energy and financial trends, and features extensively researched biographical entries on 1,200 Al-Sauds from the ruling family’s main branch, together with profiles of leading cadet branch businessmen, and a range of maps and graphics.
Read more about the report
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Need an expert briefing to support an investment decision?
GSN’s team of experienced analysts are often called on by governments and their agencies, financial institutions, and energy companies to comment on developments in the Gulf region. Our analysts are available for private briefings (either by telephone or in person) and can produce tailored reports and research on a range of topics and issues. For more information contact Mark Ford. Email:mark@cbi-publishing.com
Free email alerts of GSN's latest coverage
Keep track of the energy sector decisions that affect your business by signing up for email Issue Alerts. You'll receive an email update when each issue is published, including excerpts of articles and links to full articles and other resources on our website. Sign up for eMail Issue Alerts
Issue 914 - 9 December 2011
QATAR
Qatar funds Libyan oil field security
Libyan militias financed by Qatar are providing security at the country’s eastern oil fields, according to official documents published on Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC)’s website. more
Gas exploration talks with ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, the largest US natural gas producer, is in talks with Qatar Petroleum (QP) about possible deep gas exploration projects. more
Centrica and QP sign MoU
UK utility firm Centrica has signed an agreement with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to explore joint investment opportunities. more
Shell signs $6.5bn deal
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Royal Dutch Shell has signed a $6.5bn deal with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to develop a petrochemicals complex at Ras Laffan Industrial City. more
Japan LNG deal
Qatargas has signed a tripartite sales and purchase agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japanese firms Chubu Electric Power and Shizuoka Gas Company. more
UAE
ExxonMobil calls for new terms
ExxonMobil chief executive Rex Tillerson said the concession structure for foreign partners on Abu Dhabi’s main onshore oilfields needs to be altered when the current agreement expires in 2014. more
Nuclear agreement
Abu Dhabi has agreed a framework for the short- and medium-term planning for technical co-operation between the UAE and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). more
YEMEN
DNO output drops
Output slipped for Norway’s DNO International in Yemen during October, as three wells were temporarily shut after the failure of electric submersible pumps on Block 53. more
Issue 913 – 25 November 2011
IRAQ
ExxonMobil throws down the gauntlet in Iraq
ExxonMobil’s surprise deal with Iraq’s Kurds promises to radically reshape big oil’s relationship with Baghdad and Erbil, while plunging the US supermajor headfirst into the politically sensitive disputed territories between the KRG and federal government in Baghdad more
Advantage Erbil: ExxonMobil deal springs from new Iraqi tensions
ExxonMobil’s audacious six-block deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has plunged a dagger into the already uneasy peace between Arabs and Kurds, giving an immediate public relations boost to the headline-chasing KRG natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami and pouring further misery onto Baghdad’s embattled deputy prime minister for energy affairs Hussein Al-Shahristani. more
Issue 912 - 11 November 2011
Shareholder revolts fail to derail RAK-P/DNO deal
The merger of Norway’s DNO International and Ras Al-Khaimah’s RAK Petroleum (RAK-P) remains on course despite a pair of shareholder rebellions apparently motivated by commercial and personal interests. RAK-P has been trying to strengthen its asset base in the region in preparation for a possible international initial public offering more
BAHRAIN
Ex-Alba chief held, former oil minister fingered in Bahrain’s Dahdaleh bribery scandal
The arrest of a UK-based metals magnate for his alleged role in a scam to defraud Bahrain’s industrial flagship Alba of hundreds of millions of dollars provides another window onto the severe governance shortfalls apparent in some major corporates’ business practices
more
QATAR
Upstream deals evade QPI
Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) has been rapidly expanding its international investment portfolio for several years, but despite signing a number of co-operation deals and closing many downstream deals, only one concrete upstream project has come to fruition. more
IRAN
How do you solve a problem like Iran?
It was hardly a surprise when the International Atomic Energy Agency said there was evidence that Iran was close to acquiring nuclear weapons, with the clandestine procurement of equipment and design information required to make them. more
IAEA report adds another weapon to anti-Iran arsenal
In the wake of the revelation of a plot to kill Saudi ambassador to Washington Adel Al-Jubeir, blamed on the Iranian Quds Force, there has been a marked escalation of rhetoric against Tehran, which reached fever-pitch ahead of the release of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s report on 8 November. more
IRAQ
Iraq still far from oil law compromise
Iraqi and Kurdish regional officials have renewed efforts to work out a compromise on a federal hydrocarbons law by the end of the year. But the differences between the official government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are so deep that common ground will be hard to find. more
Issue 910 – 14 October 2011
REGION
Gulf states unprepared for Iranian nuclear calamity
The activation of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in September, followed by the publication of excerpts from an allegedly leaked document questioning its safety, have increased fears of a large scale calamity in the Gulf. Some of these fears may be exaggerated, but a catalogue of questionable engineering, rumours of operational problems and Iran’s refusal to share information with its neighbours have fed concerns more
IRAQI KURDISTAN
KRG tidies up third party participation in oil contracts
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s publication of production-sharing contracts (PSCs) and relevant amendments for all 42 of its licence areas is an important challenge to its critics in Baghdad. The federal Ministry of Oil had previously criticised the Kurdish Natural Resources Ministry for only revealing the terms of a few contracts. This was part of the wider justification for withholding federal recognition of these contracts (GSN 909/1). more
Issue 909 - 30 September 2011
IRAQI KURDISTAN
KRG opens contracts to scrutiny
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has defied Baghdad and surprised analysts by publishing every production-sharing contract (PSC) it has signed since 2004. The cache of 172 documents covering 42 agreements includes amendments and additions. Erbil has long resisted pressure to open its PSCs to scrutiny, but appears to have done so now to try to gain a tactical advantage in the dispute over the new hydrocarbons law. more
Issue 908 - 16 September 2011
Allegations of trickery over hydrocarbons law heralds new Erbil-Baghdad stalemate
Rival drafts of a new hydrocarbons law are at the heart of a dispute between Erbil and Baghdad after Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called a meeting to discusss proposals when most Kurdish members were absent more
Vallares plays down Kurdistan political risk
The new management of Turkey’s Genel Enerji, which is the subject of a high-profile reverse takeover by the multi-billion dollar investment vehicle Vallares, downplayed its exposure to Kurdistan political risk in a 7 September analyst presentation. more
Gulf Keystone to sell stake in Akri-Bijeel
Gulf Keystone Petroleum has said it will seek a buyer for its 20% stake in the Akri-Bijeel Block in Kurdistan. more
Glencore, Vitol, join energy auction; fees are revised
Six oil companies were added to the list of pre-qualified bidders in the upcoming auction for licences for oil and gas exploration rights in the country. more
Iraq attempts to deal with Iran border issues
There are a number of difficulties still to overcome, but the neighbours finally appear to have made progress in efforts to settle long-running border disputes and assign landmarks more
Issue 907 - 2 September 2011
Syrian crude exports, products imports at risk as EU sanctions threat gathers momentum
Consensus has built behind the EU’s threat to embargo Syrian state oil companies, crude exports and products imports in an effort to seriously squeeze the Assad regime more
IRAQI KURDISTAN
Gulf Keystone denies sale
AIM-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum has denied recent media speculation that it is being sold. The company said in a statement on its website on 30 August that “it remains committed to creating value for shareholders, via the continuing 2011/12 drilling programme on its world-class assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq”. more
Issue 906 - 5 August 2011
Big new entrants into Iraqi Kurdistan prompt re-evaluation of political risk
The risks previously associated with doing business in Kurdistan – offending the federal government and discoveries being shut in by Baghdad’s refusal to recognise PSCs – has sparked significant new interest from large IOCs more
A piece of Africa in the Middle East
The new entrants to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area reflect the comfort felt by many Africa-focused international oil companies operating in the Kurdish environment, a feature not replicated elsewhere in the Middle East. more
Issue 905 - 22 July 2011
DNO and RAK plan merger of Mena assets
The proposed merger of the regional assets of Norway’s DNO and Ras Al-Khaimah’s RAK Petroleum will create a focused upstream exploration company combining aggressive expansion with increased local expertise
The strategic rationale behind the merger of DNO International and RAK Petroleum is to create an enlarged company that will be easier to list on the London Stock Exchange. more
IRAQ
Shell overcomes opposition to sign delayed gas deal
The initialling of Shell’s gas joint venture with South Gas Company (SGC), more than two-and-a-half years after the heads of agreement between Shell and the Iraqi authorities were signed, effectively ends the long-running political battle against the project. more
Energy legislation faces delays
The Iraqi government is committed to driving through a much-delayed package of four energy laws to put the sector on a firm footing. But it still faces entrenched opposition from a number of quarters. Momentum created by the ongoing series of licensing rounds, the fourth of which is in preparation, plus recent developments such as the approval of Shell’s controversial gas deal, suggest that Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s administration is able to get its own way. more
Issue 904 - 8 July 2011
Trend of LNG imports points to supply crunch in several Gulf monarchies
A growing trend for Gulf states to import liquefied natural gas from Pacific Rim and other sources underlines a hard truth: within a short period, many of the GCC’s fast-growing, high rent economies may no longer be defined as energy exporters and within the coming decade will be energy-dependent polities with all that implies for their fiscal and external balances
Increased exports and new discoveries strengthen Kurdish energy play
The long prophesied Kurdistan oil exploration boom is warming up as companies announce fresh discoveries and additional reserves, while Baghdad shows signs of weakening in its determination not to recognise production sharing contracts from the region
Aramco-Dow petrochemicals project: the ‘beast’ limbers up for huge export credit financing
Project finance is soon to be sought for the huge chemicals and plastics complex to be built at Jubail by Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemicals. Its eventual financing will provide another signal that markets are back after the credit crunch
Saudi Arabia dominates regional PF market, but Abu Dhabi is thinking big
Saudi Arabia was overwhelmingly the dominant player in the Middle East project finance market last year, accounting for about $20bn – or 70% – of the total raised in the Gulf Co-operation Council region and Egypt in 2010.
After infuriating MPs and the clerical elite by installing himself as oil minister following the 12 May dismissal of Massoud Mirkazemi, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bowed to pressure by appointing ally Mohammed Aliabadi as caretaker minister in early June.
