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The outgoing Council of Ministers has approved the establishment of Basra Gas Company, which will implement Royal Dutch Shell’s controversial project to gather, process and market flared gas from a quartet of the country’s largest oil fields. The news gives new hope to a project

An adviser to Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki has said that ExxonMobil, BP and Italy’s Eni plan to invest $100bn to upgrade three oilfields in southern Iraq.

The London Court of International Arbitration’s award of damages to former US diplomat Peter Galbraith and a Yemeni partner comes at a sensitive time in Erbil-Baghdad relations.

So far in 2015, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already made several trips to the Gulf. The first was to Riyadh in January, when he took time out from a trip around the Horn of Africa to attend King Abdullah’s funeral. He was back in the kingdom in early March for a meeting with King Salman. Then, in early April, he went to Tehran for talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and, at the end of the month, visited Kuwait City to meet Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al- Sabah and other senior figures.

In a Special Report on Qatar, GSN reviews Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad’s first year in office, which has been – as widely expected – a period of continuity and consolidation, not change. In this special report, GSN reviews Tamim’s first year, considering the economy, domestic and foreign politics, the energy sector, the non-oil sector, infrastructure development, international investment, and the young emir’s ‘vision’ for his country. It finds that, while Sheikh Tamim’s promises to streamline bureaucracy, to maintain an independent foreign policy, and to consolidate economic growth do all seem to be making (slow) progress, there is still much that is unknown about the new emir.

On 9 June, Maliki visited Erbil for the first time since November 2010, a visit followed, on 7 July, by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani visiting Baghdad. There were no breakthrough announcements following their meetings, though they have been seen as an acknowledgment that the two leaders need each other more than they have been prepared to admit.

Arabtec Holding, an iconic name in Dubai’s construction industry, is to file for liquidation following a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting on 30 September. The company was responsible for landmarks such as the Burj Khalifa and Louvre Abu Dhabi. However, it lost Dh848.7m ($231m) last year and warned that its ability to continue as a going concern was at risk.

Media outlets reported a Greek-owned, Malta-flagged Aframax tanker was damaged off the coast of Hisn Al-Nushaymah (Ras Al-Nushayma) Terminal in Shebwa on 3 October. Satellite images of the area near Ain Ba Mabad from 4-6 October showed a significant oil trail following the leak as the vessel traveled past Bir Ali. Sources familiar with the incident told GSN that two cannister-type devices had hit the vessel while it was loading crude oil offshore.

The first unit of the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi’s Al-Dhafra region reached its full power generating capacity of 1.4GW of electricity, as part of its power ascension testing phase, the government said on 7 December. 

Qatar Petroleum (QP) on 1 March signed a $2bn-plus engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) lump sum contract with Samsung C&T Corporation for the expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and loading facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City, needed to support the huge North Field East (NFE) project. Signed by minister of state for energy affairs and QP president and chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi and Samsung C&T chief executive Oh Se-chul, it is the second major onshore EPC contract award for the NFE project, following QP’s award for the construction of four LNG mega-trains and associated facilities to the Chiyoda Technip joint venture.

Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Tethys Oil announced its production was 328,209 bbls in February (before government take) from onshore Blocks 3 and 4, corresponding to 11,722 b/d. The blocks are held by CC Energy Development (CCED Oman – 50%), Tethys Oil Block 3&4 (30%) and operator Mitsui E&P Middle East (20%).

Sweden’s Maha Energy said it would invest $20m in Block 70, a 639km2 concession relinquished by Petroleum Development Oman from its Block 6 licence – which is now owned by new state holding company Energy Development Oman.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has signed an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell to become a partner in two offshore exploration blocks in Namibia. QP will hold a 45% participating interest in the PEL 39 exploration licence for Block 2913A and Block 2914B, alongside operator Shell (45%) and National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor – 10%­).

A consortium led by local renewable energy (RE) champion Acwa Power has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Company, to take output from the 1.5GW Sudair Solar PV plant in Sudair Industrial City. The project involves an investment of some SR3.4bn ($907m) and comes with significant backing from the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Petroleum has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to buy a 22.2% stake in the offshore Tamar field in Israel from Delek Drilling for $1.1bn. The deal was announced on 26 April by the Israeli company and includes Delek’s 22% stake in the Dalit gas lease.