Search results

RAK Petroleum (RAK-P) has farmed into the Hammamet exploration permit offshore Tunisia. Canada’s Storm Ventures International (SVI) was awarded the block in June 2005. It now holds a 35% operated interest, down from 65%, and has conducted 2D and 3D seismic. Australia’s Cooper Energy holds the remaining 35%.

State giant Saudi Aramco has been awarded the contract to build and finance a planned $10bn oil refinery at the Red Sea port of Jizan in the underdeveloped Jizan province on the Yemen border.

The thaw in Baghdad-Erbil relations since the beginning of this year has continued with encouraging statements from both federal oil minister Hussain Al-Shahristani and Kurdistan Regional Government natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami.

Company explores finance options for Shaikan, but acknowledges risks of exploring in frontier area

Yemen plans to boost oil output by up to 10% to more than 300,000 b/d this year and is in talks with firms including China’s Sinopec to upgrade its Aden refinery

Qatar ‘bet the farm’ on LNG but, more than a decade later, its determination has paid off

Qatar is interested in buying minority stakes in state oil company Petrobras and in a major financial institution, Banco do Brasil

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

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

Omani ministers have been talking up the relationship with Iran, whose importance was underlined by the visit to Tehran this summer of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Saeed. As well as acting as a mediator between the embattled Islamic Republic and its critics, notably the United States and United Kingdom, Oman has a number of national interests in developing ties with Iran, including in the energy sector.

After hard bargaining, the Iraqi government can now tell voters that oil output could be more than doubled within seven years. Below, GSN highlights the spate of recent major deals

The security outlook is worrying and the political future remains cloudy with less than ten weeks to organise a general election, but some things appear to be going right for Iraq at last. Three major oil field service contracts hold out the prospect of financial stability, while MoO and leading IOCs have found common ground after years of failure, raising optimism about the second round of licensing

The UAE's civil nuclear programme is notionally a federal affair, but it is being driven forward with some gusto by Abu Dhabi, confirming its position as the dominant driver of federal energy policy.

The prospect of major oil discoveries appears to have ended questions raised when Gulf Keystone announced that Etamic had become its partner, although there remains little information about the deal

Dublin Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange-listed Dragon Oil has agreed to a full takeover by its majority shareholder