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Iran’s oil ministry has announced it is issuing 29 new licences for the exploration and development of gas and oil fields, in a move apparently designed to wrest control of the industry away from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). With an undecided election just around the corner, the establishment is keen to strengthen its grip on an industry which has historically been used by interest groups seeking political power. 


French major Total has signed an agreement with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to take a 30% interest in the concession for the offshore Al-Shaheen oil field. The deal is for 25 years, starting from 14 July 2017. The remaining 70% of the concession will be held by QP. Total will take over from Denmark’s Maersk Oil, which has held the contract until now. Maersk warned investors last year that it was in danger of losing out, after QP decided to invite other companies to bid for the contract.

Positive developments in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region of Iraq are feeding into bullish statements from MOL Group. The Hungarian company’s annual report for 2014, approved at its April annual meeting, showed that a rise in output in H2 2014 delivered 98m boe/d average production in calendar 2014, exceeding original targets. MOL reported 555m boe of 2P reserves at end-2014, with an organic reserves replacement ratio of 103%. MOL has sought to mitigate production decline and maximise cash-flow generation in the matured Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, while building a diversified portfolio in the KRG region, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Pakistan and the North Sea.

The cabinet has approved a licence for the Saudi Arabian Company for Industrial Investments, which has a capital of SR2bn ($533m) and is a joint venture between the finance ministry’s Public Investment Fund, state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic). In a statement on state news agency SPA on 24 March, the cabinet said the company’s goals were to exploit basic products and invest them in manufacturing and supporting industries; to invest in strategic economic sectors with the aim of developing manufacturing industries in all industrial sectors.

It was already clear ahead of the 13-14 May US-Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit that Gulf leaders were not going to come away with the written accord they desired, assuring them of US protection against an Iranian threat they fear will intensify if world powers go ahead and sign a nuclear deal with Tehran. A US official briefing journalists after an 8 May preparatory meeting of foreign ministers in Paris said the Gulf states had been told “weeks ago” that a formal treaty was not possible, and that, “whether they were disappointed or not”, it was something they had taken on board.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has signed a number of large supply deals with customers in Asia, after announcing plans for a substantial rise in liquified natural gas (LNG) production. On 3 October, QP signed two five-year sales agreement to supply Japan’s Marubeni Corporation with 1.2 million metric tons of naphtha a year, starting from this month. The deal was announced in Tokyo, during a visit by QP chief executive Saad Bin Sherida Al-Kaabi. They are the largest and longest-running such deals between the two companies, which have been trading naptha since 1986.

The latest round has encouraged optimists and confounded those who predicted another flop. If IOCs are able to meet their commitments, Iraq will emerge as the number two OPEC exporter

A Japanese joint venture (JV) made up of Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has won a tender to build and run a power plant and a water desalination plant near Doha, as Qatar moves ahead with a $3.15bn Independent Power and Water Project (IWPP) it hopes will cover forecast demand from 2017. The facility, to be commissioned in stages between 2017 and 2018, will be the biggest power and water facility in Qatar

The contract for Oman’s much-delayed National Rail Project has been pushed back again to 5 October, according to news reports.

Saudi Arabia has been keen to stress that it will make up for any shortfall in world oil markets. While he did not directly mention Iran, oil minister Ali Al Naimi told a London conference on 30 January that “any future shortages will be handled”.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been questioning current and former Airbus Group employees in connection with possible corruption at GPT Special Project Management (GPT), a subsidiary of Airbus, in relation to its Saudi contracts. Airbus, previously known as EADS, said in a statement to media that it “understands that four former and current employees were recently interviewed – along with MoD [British Ministry of Defence] officials – as part of a wide-ranging SFO investigation into subsidiary GPT”.

France’s Technip has been awarded a contract for project managing consultancy services for the engineering, procurement and construction phase of the Kerbala refinery. The company completed the front-end engineering design in 2010. Technip described the award as “significant”, implying between E50m ($66m) and E100m. The company has won a series of contracts in the region over the past year, including in Dubai and Kuwait.

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 61 countries turned up to the 8-12 November Dubai Airshow, which reflected in its global status to show off some 150 aircraft on the tarmac, from agile drones made by Abu Dhabi-based Adcom Systems all the way up to lumbering Airbus A380s decked out in the liveries of Dubai’s Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. So far, so normal: what was unusual was the lack of big new orders. Abu Dhabi-based national UAE airline Etihad Airways exercised options for two Boeing 777 freighters, but that was part of an order for 199 planes announced in 2013.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani formally inaugurated Qatar’s second largest power plant on 25 March, The 2.5GW Umm Al-Houl combined cycle gas turbine plant and desalination unit has been built at Al-Wakrah, 15km south of Doha; it will account for close to a quarter of the country’s total installed power generating capacity and provide up to 136m gallons/day of water.

Kuwait and Iraq have signed two memorandums of understanding related to oil fields on their shared border, and the possibility of Kuwait importing natural gas from Iraq. Kuwait’s state news agency Kuna said on 30 march that Kuwait Petroleum Company had held talks with Iraqi officials over two days, leading to the agreements. Kuwait is exploring various sources of much-needed gas, including imports from Iran.