New base special 29 september 2014

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NewBase 29 September 2014 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
More than 30 short-listed for Zayed Future Energy Prize
http://www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com/en/
More than 30 finalists have been shortlisted for this year’s Zayed Future Energy Prize. The
selection committee met in Abu Dhabi for two days to discuss and evaluate 59 entries in five
categories: large corporation; small and medium-sized enterprise; non-profit organisation; lifetime
achievement; and global high schools.
The finalists for the large-corporation category, including Ikea and Panasonic, were chosen for
their use and production of energy-efficient products.
Special consideration was also given to their ability to integrate renewable energy sources into
their production lines through the use of efficient energy storage systems and solar energy
generation.
For the non-profit organisation category, Electriciens sans Frontieres, Liter of Light, Practical
Action, SolarAid and World Resources Institute were short-listed for their work in creating
accessible off-grid solar infrastructure for poor families.
Fourteen schools from around the world that have included environmental education into their
curriculum are finalists in the global high schools category.
The committee also identified five finalists for the lifetime achievement category. The winners will
be announced at the awards ceremony on January 19 as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability
Week.

Gulf electricity-sharing grid set for expansion
By Reuters + NewBase
A unified Gulf Arab electricity grid created to share capacity in emergencies is set for expansion
by 2019 with an estimated investment of up to $420 million due to rising consumption, an official
of the overseeing authority said on Sunday.
The grid has been working since 2009 with trading touching the equivalent of 800,000 mega watts
(MW) hour of energy annually, Ahmed al-Ebrahim, chief operating officer of the Dammam-based
Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) said.
"In around five years in 2019 we will need to expand the grid as consumption is increasing around
six to ten per cent a year," he told reporters.
"We have started initial studies for it and we hope to start the project soon. The study will be
complete in around two years."
The cost of expansion could be about 20 or 30 percent of initial cost, he said. That works out at up
to $420 million.
The current total capacity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grid is up to 1200 MW, the
maximum power that can be transferred to any country at any time.
The grid was built at a cost of $1.4 billion shared by the six states based on the benefits they
would accrue from it.

GCC member states -- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman --
are all part of the grid.
Each state maintains a minimal reserve level in the grid to support one another in times of
emergencies.
The usage has varied from state to state depending on their needs, but the biggest was when a
state faced a deficit of 3000 MW, he said, declining to name the country.
"More than 1,100 emergency situations have been faced in the past five years in which there
would have been power cuts if it weren't for the grid," said al-Ebrahim.
Electricity demand in the Gulf states peaks in the summer months of June-August, while there is
surplus power during the rest of the year which can be exported outside the region.
The interconnection will also enable the six Gulf states to establish an energy trading market and
in the long-term link with Europe, he said.

Experts urge greater GCC industry partnership and regulatory alignment
Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman has said the GCC financial system’s inherent strength
has allowed regional economies to consistently rise above challenges. He was addressing
conferences organised by Doha Bank in Dubai and Abu Dhabi recently.
International panel of resource persons during Doha Bank’s forum held in Dubai.
Seetharaman said, “The GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) financial markets have demonstrated enormous
stability and resilience bouncing back admirably from the global economic downturn of 2009. Even as the
world at large undergoes a geopolitical churning, economies in the region continue to post consistent growth
led by the visionary leadership in countries such as the UAE and Qatar.”
The need to plug the gap between the banking industry and the trading and manufacturing sector,
particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), was discussed by Mohamed Ali al-Kamali,
director, Export Markets at Dubai Exports during his presentation on “Trade Trends in the GCC.”
When asked for his views on the impact that Dubai’s winning bid for the Expo 2020, al-Kamali said, “I
would prefer to stay away from predictions, but I guess one can reasonably expect the emirate to grow at
around 15% leading up to 2020.” Claiming that the UAE is leading the region when it comes to
diversification away from oil, Kimberly Tara, Group CEO of global investment group FourWinds, said
manufacturing is now the third largest industry in the UAE in terms of number of people employed.
“From a manufacturing perspective, there are numerous factors driving the UAE’s growth such as the many
free zone facilities, the superb logistics infrastructure, low operational costs, easy access to investment, as
well as the ease of importing raw materials,” Tara said. Suresh Nair, head of the Litigation & Dispute
Resolution Department at Singapore-based Straits Law, gave an overview of the legal risks and
complexities that often underlie global trade transactions.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s Julien Huston, director for Global Institutions (Mena), Global Markets, noted
that changes in exchange rates could have a considerable impact on an organisation’s operations and
profitability.“The challenge facing companies today is to find a way to lock in the profit without putting
their business at risk,” Huston said.
Speaking on the role of supply chain in today’s complex industrial environment, Hariharan
Laxminarayanan, head buyer at Emal, said, “Many manufacturing companies get caught up in the process of
cost reduction to the extent that their attention is shifted away from what ought to be their main goal – value
generation.”

Head of gas exporters group undeterred by US shale
By Alexander Cornwell, Gulf News + NewBase
Fujairah: The head of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a group of 12 gas producing
nations, does not believe that the United States shale gas will have a significant impact on market
supply.
“The shale revolution is confined to the United
States,” Seyed Mohammad Hussain Adeli, GECF
Secretary General, told reporters in Fujairah last
week.
The United States has trimmed its reliance on Qatar, which holds the world’s third largest gas
reserves. Qatari gas exports to the US were just 7,320 million cubic feet (mcf) last year,
significantly lower than the 90,972 mcf exported in 2011, according to data from the US Energy
Information Agency.
Asked if Qatar, one of the GECF members, would be likely to lower its production output in a bid
to prop up prices as US shale is sold to new markets, Adeli said “No, I don’t think so” insisting
there will still be demand Qatari gas in the market.
Qatar has dropped its prices as US demand on energy imports decreases. In 2011, Qatar sold its
liquefied gas (LNG) to the US for $5.82 (Dh21.35) per thousand cubic feet, last year it sold for
$3.45.
Adeli instead shifted focus to Iran, which has been holding negotiations with the United States,
Russia, China, United Kingdom, France and Germany since last year to remove sanctions on the
Islamic nation’s economy.
Adeli, who was speaking at the Gulf Intelligence Markets Forum, said that the lifting of sanctions
on Iran would be a “game changer” for gas markets. Iran has the second largest gas reserves in
the world; however, it is unclear if sanctions will be lifted.
About GECF : The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is a gathering of the world’s
leading gas producers and was set up as international governmental organization with the
objective to increase the level of coordination and strengthen the
collaboration among Member countries. GECF also seeks to build
a mechanism for a more meaningful dialogue between gas
producers and gas consumers for the sake of stability and security
of supply and demand in global natural gas markets.
In accordance with the GECF Statute, the organization is aiming
to support the sovereign rights of its Members over their natural
gas resources and their abilities to develop, preserve and use
such resources for the benefit of their peoples, through the exchange of experience, views,
information and coordination in gas-related matters .
The Member countries of the Forum are: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran,
Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Kazakhstan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Norway and Oman have the status of Observer Members.

U.A.E. renews pledge to back renewable energy
WAM + Khaleej Times
The U.A.E. has reiterated its support for renewable energy initiatives, enhancing energy efficiency
and voluntary actions to mitigate climate change at the United Nations Climate Summit in New
York. The summit was part of the UN
General Assembly meetings, which were
attended by a U.A.E. delegation led by
Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. The summit, organised by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was aimed
to build political momentum towards a new
global climate change agreement, which is
to be negotiated by December 2015. Over
120 heads of state and governments
attended this week's summit, and
announced new measures and partnerships
to combat the global climate change
challenge. The summit follows the Abu
Dhabi Ascent, which was held in May this year. The Abu Dhabi Ascent was critical in shaping and
scaling up the initiatives and commitments that were announced during the summit.
Delivering a speech at the summit, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and
Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change, said, "By hosting the Abu Dhabi Ascent, the
U.A.E. played a crucial role in shaping the initiatives and voluntary actions that were announced
this week at the Climate Summit. These announcements are a clear indication of the growing
commitment world leaders are making to address the global climate change challenge.”
The U.A.E. emphasised its extensive development assistance programme for renewable energy,
which in the last 12 months has mobilised grants and low-interest loans to support fellow
developing countries' deployment efforts.
"Today, we are restating our belief that renewable energy and enhanced efficiency are the climate
solution that all nations can get behind. Renewable energy is now the most efficient source of
power for many developing countries and offers tremendous socio-economic opportunities,”
added Dr Sultan Al Jaber.
Through Masdar, the U.A.E. has made major investments across renewable energy projects, and
is currently producing nearly 1GW of capacity both domestically and internationally. The world's
largest two greenhouse gas emitters — the USA and China — also pledged action to mitigate
their emissions.
In his address, US President Barack Obama said that climate change was moving faster than
efforts to address it, and the US and China had a responsibility to lead other nations.
"Today world leaders agreed that climate change is a defining issue of our time and that bold
action is needed to reduce emissions and build resilience; and that they would lead this effort,”
Ban Ki-moon said. "Together, we must capitalise on the momentum from this summit,” Dr Sultan
Al Jaber said and added, "going forward, the U.A.E. will continue to help develop, launch and
implement practical, action-oriented initiatives that will make a tangible impact to mitigating climate
change and to the advancement of renewable energy.” – Khaleej Times -

Iraqi Kurds ship 13.7m barrels of oil since May; earn $1.3bn
Reuters + NewBase
Iraqi Kurdistan has shipped a total of nineteen tankers carrying 13.7 million barrels of crude oil
since May via a pipeline to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a Turkish energy official
told Reuters.
"The flow of Kurdish oil continues without any
issues. The 20th tanker will be loaded in the
coming days," the official said, adding that the
storage tanks in Ceyhan currently held 445,000
barrels of oil.
Turkey's state-run lender Halkbank, where buyers
of the Kurdish oil make their payments to, holds
$400 million for the sold oil, Turkish Energy
Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters.
"This is a business in which so far $1.3 billion
worth of revenues have been made," Yildiz added.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) began
exporting oil in May via its independent pipeline,
linking up with the existing Iraq-Turkey pipeline on
the Turkish side of the border.
Baghdad strongly rejects the KRG's independent
oil exports through Turkey and has launched a
series of legal cases to try to halt the sales.
The Kurds argue they hold the right to sell oil
under Iraq's constitution
Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline

Total to review options for French refineries
Reuters + Newbase
Total, Europe’s biggest oil refiner, is giving itself until the spring of 2015 to review its options for
the French refining sector, which could include capacity cuts but no site closures, union sources
told Reuters.
Total’s European refining margins
have dropped to near four-year lows
this year, as the sector struggles to
compete with more efficient plants in
the Middle East, overcapacities in
Europe and a decline in gasoline and
diesel consumption.
The French group held a works
council meeting on its refining
strategy last week, where head of
refining Patrick Pouyanne replied to a
list of 25 questions presented by
unions on the future of the industry in
France. Following the closure of its Dunkirk plant in 2010, Total promised not to shut any more
plants in France for the following five years. In August this year, CEO Christophe de Margerie said
he did not plan to shut any refinery completely but might reduce capacity.
“Announcements will be made in the spring, around March-April, at the end of de Margerie’s five-
year promise,” a union source said. “They haven’t ruled out the closure of some units, but confirm
no plant will be closed completely.” Pouyanne said a plan to merge the La Mede refinery near
Marseille with the neighbouring Lavera plant belonging to Petrochina and Ineos had failed, two
union sources said, due in part to the large investments needed to upgrade the site.
The group nonetheless announced it was working on plans to convert the site, including the
construction of a biodiesel making unit and a scrubber, which filters some pollutants, to make the
site compatible with environmental legislation by 2018.
“I’m ready to invest the equivalent of three years of losses to make the site sustainable,”
Pouyanne told unions, according to the two separate accounts made to Reuters. La Mede was
losing about €100mn ($127mn) a year, which would mean upgrades of about €300mn, the union
sources said.
Management also said the group wouldn’t make any redundancies at La Mede, with possible job
reductions being achieved via early retirement, according to unions. Pouyanne will visit the site on
September 29. A motion to bring in an outside expert to quiz management, supported by the
hardline CGT union, failed to get a majority of votes at the council meeting, two union sources
said, highlighting how little appetite there is for a confrontation after the failed, two-week strike on
wages of last December.
“We won’t call for a strike until the announcements in the spring, it wouldn’t make sense to go on
strike for several months before Total is ready to say what it wants to do,” a union source told
Reuters.
An overview shows Total's Gonfreville refinery in Normandy, France.

Egypt to invest $14.5bn in petrochemicals, refining
Reuters + NewBase
Egypt plans to invest $14.5bn in developing its refining and petrochemicals sectors over the next five years,
its oil minister said, as part of efforts to overcome an energy crisis that has led to near-daily power cuts and
hit company profits. It is also considering floating stakes in some state-owned oil companies on the
Egyptian stock exchange.
Sherif Ismail said in an interview that Egypt was trying to boost its output of refined oil products by 5-10
percent each year, hoping to reduce its dependence on costly imports. “Total investments that will be
implemented over the next five years will be around $14.5bn and include $12.5bn in the refining sector and
$1.9 billion in the ETHYDCO project,” Ismail said, referring to a new complex that will produce ethylene
and other petrochemicals.
Egypt has struggled to curb its swelling budget deficit whilst meeting soaring energy demands, resulting in
daily electricity cuts around the country of 86 million people. Lines at petrol stations and a shortage of gas
that transformed Egypt from net gas exporter to net importer in recent years at huge cost to the state.
The government also took the politically sensitive step of introducing deep cuts to energy subsidies in July,
which should help curb the deficit but have resulted in price rises of up to 78 percent on fuel and electricity.
Ismail said Egypt was hoping to produce 5.4 billion cubic feet per day of gas and 695,000 barrels per day
(bpd) of oil and condensates in the current 2014-15 financial year, and to import about 6.5 million tonnes of
gas and petroleum products annually.
Most of the planned investments will be implemented by state-owned companies and be self-financed or
part-financed by local banks, he said. The oil ministry was also working with local investment banks to look
at the potential for offering stakes in state oil companies on the Egyptian stock exchange as part of an effort
to overhaul them and improve their finances, Ismail said.
He declined to give the names of the companies or of the banks involved but said the ministry could begin
with about five companies, with the first being listed in 2015. Among the largest projects in progress is
ETHYDCO, which is set to produce 460,000 tonnes a year of ethylene and 400,000 tonnes of polyethylene
when it comes online at the end of 2015.
The complex in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast will be the largest producer of ethylene and
polyethylene in Egypt and will save the country more than $500m a year that it currently spends on
imports. Ethylene and polyethylene are used in the production of plastics and chemicals. Egypt is also
expanding the Midor refinery, boosting its capacity from 100,000 bpd to 160,000 bpd with the additional
output expected to come online at the end of 2017, Ismail said.

Oil prices at 2-year lows likely to stay weak
Saudi Gazette + NewBase

The price of crude oil has fallen to its lowest level in over two years, in line with current economic
conditions. Oil prices have been trending down since mid-June this year, when Brent crude was
priced at around $115, to around $95 per barrel today. It will be nearly a month that Brent crude is
trading below $100 per barrel.
Prices hovered around the $110 level for half a decade following the global financial crisis. In that
period, the barrel of Brent oil traded below $100 only for a few days in two short periods of time in
2012 and 2013. The recent dip reflects an adjustment in the misbalances in the oil market rather
than a reduction in geopolitical risks, Asiya Investments said in its latest weekly analysis.
Compared to the start of the year, global oil supplies have increased considerably, and the glut of
oil has driven crude oil prices down.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), global supply of crude oil and liquid
fuel reached all-time highs of 92.6 million barrels per day in August. Stable oil producers, such as
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members (and more specifically Kuwait and the UAE) have
contributed to that output rise. Kuwait increased crude output from 2.8 million barrels per day at
the start of the year to 2.9 million in September, while signaling that it may rise to 3.0 million
barrels per day next month. UAE's oil production also rose this year from 2.7 to 2.9 million barrels
per day. In contrast, market leader Saudi Arabia cut its production this month by close to 5
percent, the largest reduction in two years, trying to support prices.
But a key differential factor in this period in that volatile producers in Africa and the Middle East
experienced a spike in production. Nigeria and Angola accounted for nearly 60 percent of the
increase in oil output last month, and despite a surge in violence in Iraq and Libya, oil production
rose in those two highly unstable countries too. Saudi Arabia's cut was not large enough to
increase prices, and further reductions are unlikely given the high level of spending of the country.
Stockpiles also increased in the US. Given the volatile and uncertain nature of Africa and the
Middle East, a gradual sustained increase in supply is unlikely in those regions.

Shell and PetroChina move on Australia Arrow Bowen Gas Project
The international oil company (IOC) Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and the national oil company China
National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC or PetroChina) have decided to move on their Australian 50/50
joint venture Arrow Energy Penty Ltd (Arrow) Bowen Gas Project (BGP) to the next phase in making the
decision to proceed with the front end engineering and design (FEED)
With the Bowen Gas Project, Shell and CNPC are willing to develop the coal bed methane of the Bowen
Basin in the northeast of Australia. Well known
for its coal production in Central Queensland,
the Bowen Basin maintains 52 world-ranked
mines of black coal. Since 2004, the Bowen
Basin holds one of the largest associated coal
bed methane (CBM), or coal seam gas (CSG)
field in production with the Moranbah Gas
Project.
In the Bowen Basin, Arrow owns exploration
licences covering 11,000 square kilometers.
Because of this experience accumulated in a
decade from the Bowen Basin, Shell and
PetroChina are keen to develop the blocks
adjacent to Moranbah under the name of the
Bowen Gas Project. In 2012, Arrow submitted
its application for the Environment Impact
Statement (EIS) to the Queensland State and the
Australia Federal Government. In September
2014, Arrow received the State formal approval
clearing the way for Shell and PetroChina to
move on the Bowen Gas Project FEED stage.
This Bowen Gas Project FEED contract should
be completed in the next twelve months while
Arrow finalizes all pending approvals. In the
meantime Shell and PetroChina will continue to evaluate the opportunity to develop their own liquefied
natural gas (LNG) export terminal or to prefer selling their gas to one of the LNG plants in construction on
the Curtis Island.
When Shell took over Arrow in August 2010, it decided to put on hold the Arrow LNG project in front of
the costs and lead time uncertainty observed in Australia with all major projects. From the Bowen Gas
Project to the LNG plants located on the Curtis Island, the CSG will be transported through the
Arrow operated Bowen Pipeline in project.
In the process selected by Shell and PetroChina, the gas will be pumped together with the water trapped
together in the coal seams. This mixture will then be separated and treated before export through the Bowen
Gas Pipeline. According to the terms of the contract, the FEED will also include the engineering and
procurement for the early work on the Bowen Gas Project to be developed in phases. Over the next 40
years, Shell and PetroChina are planning to deploy more than 4,000 gas wells covering approximately 8,000
square kilometers. In the first phase, Shell and PetroChina have planned to install approximately 600
production wells between end 2015 and 2017.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Your partner in Energy Services
Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MSc. & BSc. Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
ASME member since 1995
Emarat member since 1990
Mobile : +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 24 yearsKhaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 24 yearsKhaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 24 yearsKhaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 24 years of experience in theof experience in theof experience in theof experience in the Oil & Gas sector. CurrentlyOil & Gas sector. CurrentlyOil & Gas sector. CurrentlyOil & Gas sector. Currently
workingworkingworkingworking as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntaryas Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntaryas Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntaryas Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary
Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spenEnergy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spenEnergy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spenEnergy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spentttt
as the Gas Operations Manaas the Gas Operations Manaas the Gas Operations Manaas the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations .ger in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations .ger in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations .ger in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations .
Through the years , he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructingThrough the years , he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructingThrough the years , he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructingThrough the years , he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &of gas pipelines, gas metering &of gas pipelines, gas metering &of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the enginregulating stations and in the enginregulating stations and in the enginregulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation ,eering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation ,eering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation ,eering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation ,
operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many ofoperation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many ofoperation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many ofoperation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of
the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE anthe Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE anthe Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE anthe Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE andddd Energy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satelliteEnergy program broadcasted internationally , via GCC leading satellite
Channels .Channels .Channels .Channels .
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase 29 September 2014 K. Al Awadi

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