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BP is planning to hive off its operations at the 1.5m b/d Rumaila oil field into a new stand-alone company jointly owned by its partner China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), in a move which seems to mimics the UK major’s recently announced venture in Angola with Italy’s Eni.

The news that a discreet, but politically well-connected, Saudi company might partner with Schlumberger to develop the Akkas gas field in Iraq’s Western Desert could be a boost to Baghdad’s plans to substantially increase its gas supply, while also firming up the recent rapprochement with Riyadh.

Saudi minister of state and National Security Advisor Dr Musaid Bin Mohammed Al-Aiban sat in on a 2017 meeting with then premier Haidar Al-Abadi and was present again at last November’s meeting between Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS).

Crude trading at over $70/bbl speaks well for the Opec+ group’s cohesion, enforced by Saudi Arabia and its allies, with quota arrangements well assured until end-July at least. But myriad challenges remain, in the short term led by the prospects of a revived Iran nuclear deal – which would require a carefully calibrated response as sanctions on crude sales are lifted – and in the longer term (but no longer the distant future) the challenge of energy transition.

GSN Risk Grade – Abu Dhabi A↓1, Dubai A↓2 Overview Politics: At the top of each emirate are the rulers’ courts and their crown princes. In practice, only the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai make unilateral decisions and issue emiri decrees; most of the smaller emirates use legislation crafted at federal level. Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah all have executive councils (Dubai’s is relatively informal).

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)’s upstream contracting subsidiary Petropars on 17 May announced it would develop the offshore Farzad-B gas field, which straddles the maritime border with Saudi Arabia. As well as its geopolitical significance and filip for Iranian claims to be able to go it alone, the deal was widely reported as putting an end to Indian state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)’s long-held hopes of landing the contract.

Just when international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were getting used to receiving funds again, giving comfort to shareholders, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has changed its payment terms without consulting partners – who would like to discuss the issue. Oslo Stock Exchange-listed DNO, London-listed Genel Energy and Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), and TSX Venture Exchange and Nasdaq First North Growth Market-listed ShaMaran Petroleum Corporation were among those who, on 13 May, reported receiving a letter from the KRG proposing amended terms as of the March 2021 production invoice.

Oman could revive plans to import Iranian gas via a subsea pipeline, provided the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal is reinstated, oil and gas minister Mohammed Al-Rumhy told S&P Global Platts on 17 May.

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.

The UAE’s non-oil economy contracted by 6.2% in 2019, its first fall since 2011, as the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil prices hit activity, according to Ministry of Economy data. Overall GDP fell by 6.1%. Among the worst-affected sectors, hotels and restaurants contracted by 24% due to the lockdowns and a lack of tourists.

After ExxonMobil last month confirmed one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets, that it was pulling out of the West Qurna-1 (WQ-1) field – the US supermajor intends to exit its 32.7% operator stake by end-June – oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail said the government was considering buying its stake via state-owned Basra Oil Company (BOC).

Finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan on 24 April said the kingdom could make huge savings by replacing liquid fuel with gas and renewables in domestic consumption. The displacement of liquids, “would represent savings for the government of about SR800bn [$213.3bn] over the next ten years which can be utilised for investment,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

Not one to be forged by bad news from West Qurna, oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail told a 3 May press conference that Iraq and  international partners were seeking to invest some $15bn in projects to boost gas output to 4 bcf/d and produce up to 16GW of electricity.

Iraq came second and Iran third, after Russia, among the world’s largest flarers of gas from oil production in 2020, according to the World Bank Group’s new Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) annual report.

Nogaholding was set up in August 2007 and acts as a sovereign wealth fund for Bahrain’s investments in the oil, gas and petrochemicals sectors. It is wholly-owned by the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga), which acts as the Ministry of Oil and Gas.