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Shell Exploration and Production Oman signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement (EPSA) with the Ministry of Oil and Gas (MoO&G) on 10 October. The deal covers 7,500km2 Block 55 in the Al-Wusta region of south-eastern Oman; it includes a seismic acquisition programme. Oman Shell will be the operator, with a 100% working interest.

With probably only a few weeks left before the start of a general election campaign, authority is draining away from the Iraqi administration, which still has a great deal of business to do, including the election law, recently vetoed by vice-president Tariq Al-Hashemi

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s claim to have won a legal battle in the United States confirming its right to market and sell its own crude oil internationally is not supported by a close reading of the rulings handed down by courts in Southern Texas in mid-October. In fact, the US judges decided that they did not have the right to rule either on the specific matter of the single cargo of crude that the KRG tried to import into Galveston last year, or on the more general principle that would apply to further sales of crude. After 15 months of dispute, Erbil is back to square one.

Crude exports reached a record 3m b/d in H1 June, as output has risen. Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov confirmed in mid-June that the giant West Qurna-2 oilfield development is now producing at its first-phase peak of 450,000 b/d, and State Organisation for the Marketing of Oil (SOMO)’s decision to split its export flows into the new Basra Heavy and traditional Basra Light crudes was judged a success by operators. Total output has been running at an average 3.6m b/d, a post-1979 record, despite recent blockages at the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) is preparing a vast spend, running to more $400bn in the decade to 2027, against the backdrop of heightened speculation about its future role, as the kingdom makes preparations for its expected world record stock market listing, as well as a post-hydrocarbon world.Company officials have taken to publicly musing about the threat of a world without dependency on fossil fuels and ‘disrupted’ by new technologies.

Dubai’s Emirates airline set a new record on the first day of the Dubai Airshow with the announcement it was placing orders worth an estimated $99bn. Emirates will purchase 250 Boeing 777Xs (comprising 35 Boeing 777-8Xs and 115 Boeing 777-9Xs), plus 50 purchase rights, an order valued at $76bn – making it the single largest aircraft order by value in the history of US commercial aviation. In a separate deal worth $23bn, Emirates, which is chaired by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum (uncle of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum), ordered 50 Airbus A380 aircraft.

Adnoc awarded the first onshore block from its recent competitive bidding round, Onshore Block 3, to US-based Occidental Petroleum. The block covers an area of 5,782km2 in the Al-Dhafra region.

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.

Gulfis have played a role in developing Sudan’s upstream oil industry, and the comings and goings of regional investors continues. Last March saw the entry of Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, which bought a 3% stake in the Chinese-led Petrodar Operating Company from Dubai-based Al-Thani Investments, which has recently been selling off some of its Africa interests.

Chevron builds Qatar sustainable energy centre; Indago boosted by insurance settlement

For such a young sector, Iraqi Kurdistan’s energy industry has given rise to an astonishingly high number of court cases. Some relate to arguments over payments owed to those who felt they helped oil companies into the region (Excalibur v Texas Keystone (GSN 954/1), Decapolis v Mangesh Energy (GSN 958/9), Galbraith and Abdulhak v DNO (GSN 887/10)). Another is a dispute over stakes in a licence area (Range Energy Resources v New Age Al Zarooni 2). And others relate to contractual disputes – over contractual rights, assets, or agreements to build infrastructure (Dana Gas v KRG (GSN 957/11) and Crescent Petroleum v RWE).

Qatar Airways continues to put a brave face on its difficulties, despite being severally hampered by the GCC-3 and Egypt shutting off their airspace to its flights. The airline continues to open up new routes in an effort to maintain passenger traffic through its expensive new hub, Hamad International airport. The most recent additions to its network include Penang in Malaysia and St Petersburg in Russia, but it has also increased frequencies to other destinations in Europe.

Comments in early July by King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz that oil production must be halted to leave resources for the next generation has provoked concern across the sector. Some analysts said initial translations of the speech, delivered to Saudis studying in the US,

Tehran has announced a natural gas discovery in southern Iran, local media reported on 9 October. The Eram field, located 200km from Shiraz in Fars province, is said to hold 19 trillion cubic feet of gas, of which 13tcf is recoverable. The field is also believed to hold 385m bbls of oil. National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) director of development and engineering affairs Reza Dehqan said the reserves could be worth as much as $40bn to Iran.

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is seeking to extend the massive Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) concession by a year to January 2015, to give it more time to get its terms in order for bidders. Adnoc’s recommendation is with the Supreme Petroleum Council, which will make the final decision. Industry press have been speculating on the reasons for the delay. One suggestion is that ongoing negotiations with ExxonMobil over a separate offshore concession, the Upper Zakum field, may be a factor, with Adnoc wishing to see what terms Exxon secures before putting Adco to tender.