New base 1015 special 29 march 2017 energy news

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NewBase 29 March 2017 - Issue No. 1015 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE fuel prices set to fall 4% in April for first time in 2017
Latest data from the Ministry of Energy reveal price declines on all fuel types from April 1
Fuel prices for April have reduced in the UAE for the first time this year, according to latest data
from the Ministry of Energy.
Starting April 1, prices per litre will be set at AED1.95 for Super 98, which is down from AED2.03
the previous month, while Special 95 will be set at AED1.84, down from AED1.92 and E Plus-91
will be set at AED1.77, down from AED1.85.
The price of diesel has also been reduced to AED1.95 per litre from AED2.02, the ministry added.
The UAE removed subsidy on petrol and diesel prices from August 2015. This comes after prices
rose in February and March.
In March, motorists paid Dh2.03 a litre for Super 98, Dh1.92 for Special 95 and Dh1.85 for E Plus.
Diesel cost Dh2.02. In February, motorists paid Dh2 for Super 98, Dh1.89 for Special 95 and
Dh1.82 for E Plus. Diesel cost Dh2 a litre.
And in January, Super 98 was at Dh1.91 per litre, Special 95 at Dh1.80 and E Plus at Dh1.73.
Diesel was Dh1.94.
While the fuel price increases contributed to consumer price inflation in the first part of this year,
they are largely driven by increases in crude oil prices – which in other ways strengthen the
country’s economy.
A barrel of Brent crude was trading at US$50.91 today. The price began the year at $56.82 but
had been down at $46.38 before the multilateral deal late last year to cut output.
Fuel prices are set by a Ministry of Energy-led committee using "benchmark prices" that have not
been publicly specified.

Qatar sees Brexit as chance to supply UK more gas ( LNG )
By Reuters
Qatar sees Britain's exit from the European Union as an opportunity to boost supplies of liquefied
natural gas to the world's fifth-largest economy and is open to investing in British energy assets,
Qatar's energy minister said.
The Gulf state has 40 billion pounds ($50 billion) of investments in Britain and delivers 90 percent
of Britain's imports of liquefied natural gas.
Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of LNG, pledged 5 billion pounds of investment in Britain on
Monday in a show of support as Prime Minister Theresa May begins the formal process of
negotiating a divorce settlement with the EU.
"The UK will have a new era post-Brexit ... The negotiations will start among Europeans and
nobody is extremely clear about where the negotiations will lead to," energy minister Mohammed
bin Saleh al-Sada said in an interview late on Monday.
"However, we can sense the possibility of the UK's manufacturing power going higher, and with
that the need for energy. For that, Qatar will always be there to supply the energy required.
Certainly we can contribute to the UK's need."

Britain started receiving LNG from Qatar in 2008 via ships that dock at South Hook in Kent, one of
Europe's largest LNG terminals, which is owned by Qatar.
Qatar faces rising competition in Asia from other LNG producers as new projects in the United
States and Australia come online in the next few years, and Doha has said it will focus on
expanding contracts in Europe.
"Europe is an important market. The UK is a very important market," Sada said.
When global oversupply of gas peaks in the next two to three years, a possible rise in demand for
energy in Europe and Britain could present an opportunity for Qatar, he added.
Doha has made billions of dollars securing long-term contracts with Asian consumers such as
Japan and has the world's largest fleet of LNG carriers.
Like other Gulf economies, Qatar is trying to restructure its economy to rely less on hydrocarbons,
and Sada said Britain could contribute. "They can also help us in our endeavour of diversifying the
economy - we can complement each other."
Sada said Qatar supported a free-trade agreement with Britain that the six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council, which also includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, hopes to
draw up ahead of Brexit to ensure preferential arrangements.
"Qatar is supporting that. That would be excellent. Qatar will do its best to further this agreement."
The head of Qatar Petroleum has said Qatar plans to increase its investments in upstream energy
assets overseas. It has been exploring for gas in Cyprus and looking at assets in Mozambique,
sources told Reuters last year.
Asked whether Qatar would consider investing in British energy assets, Sada said: "Although I
cannot mention projects by name, Qatar is fully open-minded about considering projects as long
as they are economically viable."

Kuwait:Petrofac awarded US$1.3 billion EPC project in Kuwait
PetrolFac
Petrofac has been awarded a contract for Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) gathering centre
project, GC 32, located in the Burgan oil field, south east of Kuwait.
The lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project, valued at approximately
US$1.3 billion, is the first sour gathering centre to be developed in the field and will process crude
oil and associated gas recovered from the Arifjan, Marat, Minagish Oolite and Burgan Wara high
Hydrogen Sulphide fields.
Work will begin shortly and is scheduled to be completed in mid 2020. The scope of work for GC
32 includes greenfield activities with tie-in works to existing brownfield infrastructure, and will have
the capacity to produce around 120,000 barrels of oil per day together with associated water, gas
and condensate.
Marwan Chedid, Group Chief Operating Officer, said:
'Kuwait is one of our core markets in the Middle East and we have been executing projects in the
country since the early 1980’s. We are proud to continue our association with KOC and look
forward to working closely with them to deliver the project.'

UAE: Dolphin Energy invites bids for new UAE gas pipeline
https://www.meed.com/sectors/oil-and-gas/gas/dolphin-energy-invites-bids-for-new-uae-gas-pipeline/5013784.article?blocktitle=News-2&contentID=24320
Local Dolphin Energy has invited companies to bid on a project to connect its natural gas pipeline
network to the UAE emirates of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah.
Dolphin Energy’s main pipeline was commissioned in 2007 and imports gas to Abu Dhabi from
Qatar and distributes the fuel to other areas including Dubai, Al-Ain and Fujairah.
The new pipeline project will connect to an existing pipeline in Al-Ain and run for 70 kilometres
through the emirate of Sharjah to a Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) connection point.
Dolphin Energy has asked companies to bid for the engineering, procurement and construction
(EPC) tender for the project by 13 April.
Companies prequalified to bid for the contract are thought to include:
Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC; Athens-based)
· Dodsal (UAE)
· Larsen & Toubro (India)
· Punj Lloyd (India)
· Saipem (Italy)
In 2014, Dolphin Energy awarded the front-end engineering & design (feed) study for the project
to Austria’s ILF Consulting Engineers and invited companies to prequalify for the EPC contract.
However, the EPC tender was delayed by two years.
The original Dolphin export pipeline, connecting Qatar’s North Field with Taweelah in Abu Dhabi,
was completed in 2007.
Proposed Pipeline
Sajaa

The company is transferring about 2.3 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d), which is distributed via three
Dolphin-owned pipelines to Fujairah, Al-Ain and across the border into Oman.
According to DEL (PR 05/10/2016) , Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Dolphin Energy Limited (Dolphin)
entered into a new long term gas sale and purchase
agreement (SPA), under which QP will deliver additional
quantities of gas to Dolphin for export to the UAE through the
existing 48-inch subsea pipeline. The ceremony was also
attended by HE Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber UAE Minister of
State and CEO of ADNOC group.
The agreement was reached and signed in the framework of
the brotherly relations and cooperation between the State of
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and in line with the goals
set by the wise leaderships of both countries to expand areas of cooperation and pursue of
mutually beneficial opportunities between them in all fields, especially in the field of energy.
The SPA was signed today in Doha by Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, President and CEO of QP and
Mr. Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Managing Director of Dolphin.
Mr. Saad Al-Kaabi, QP President and CEO described the agreement as another important
achievement for the first cross-border gas pipeline project in the Middle East demonstrating
Qatar’s continued commitment to regional energy cooperation. Mr. Al-Kaabi said: “This agreement
reinforces confidence in Qatar as a reliable regional and international supplier of gas as a clean
energy source.” Mr. Al-Kaabi also stressed QP’s commitment to meeting the UAE’s rising demand
for gas. He added
“QP’s support of the flagship Dolphin Gas Project has been instrumental in meeting the gas
requirements of our brothers in the United Arab Emirates, and this new agreement is another
strong testament to our commitment in this regard.” Mr. Al-Kaabi concluded.
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Ahmed Al Sayegh, Dolphin Managing Director, said: “These
developments help support the UAE’s development and transition to a low carbon economy and
demonstrate our continued commitment to enhance energy security for the UAE by offering a
source of reliable, clean energy for power generation.
The success of the Dolphin Gas Project is, in part, driven by our ability to meet the needs of our
customers. As their requirements have changed, so we have responded accordingly and worked
closely with our strategic partner, QP, to make this possible. This agreement also illustrates the
strong bond we share with our brothers in Qatar and I would like to take this opportunity to thank
QP whose continuous support has helped create a new chapter in our successful history. This is a
proud day for us all.”
The Supply of the additional gas quantities under this new agreement will be allocated to SEWA
and RAKGAS LLC using the existing UAE Eastern Gas Distribution Network.
Dolphin started gas supply to the UAE in July 2007 and in February 2008, achieved full throughput
of 2 billion standard cubic feet per day. Last year, the company upgraded its compression facilities
and installed three new export gas compressors at its gas processing plant in Ras Laffan to match
its export gas pipeline’s supply capacity of 3.2 billion standard cubic feet per day.
Dolphin Energy is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Development Company,
US-based Occidental Petroleum and France’s Total.

Oman: Canada’s APEX sets sights on Block 36 prospects
Oman Observer - Conrad Prabhu in Business
Canada-based upstream energy firm Allied Petroleum Exploration Inc (APEX), whose 100 per
cent interest in Block 36 in southwest Oman was endorsed by Royal Decree 15/2017 issued last
week, says it has its sights on two promising prospects with a combined reserves potential of over
300 million barrels.
f The Royal Decree issued on March 19,
2017, ratifies the decision of the local
subsidiary of Norwegian oil and gas firm
DNO Oman AS to withdraw from Block 36
in which it had a 75 per cent interest.
DNO had acquired the 75 per cent
interest in a farm-out concluded by APEX
in September 2013. As a result of DNO’s
withdrawal from the Block, APEX now
regains 100 per cent interest and
operatorship of the Block.
According to Alberta-based APEX, the
work carried out in conjunction with its
farm-out partner over the past four years
has “dramatically de-risked the block, and
identified the areas where chance of
exploration success is highest”.
“APEX currently plans to acquire high-
resolution seismic over two of the larger
prospects (with combined reserves of over 300 million barrels) and prepare for the drilling of the
next exploration wells,” the Canadian firm stated on its website.
APEX was awarded the sprawling 18,500 sq km concession, situated along the Sultanate’s
borders with Saudi Arabia and Yemen, in September 2011. A pair of deep wells drilled previously
on the relatively underexplored concession had hydrocarbon shows with over 40 metres of
Silurian – one of the main source rocks that generated oil for giant fields elsewhere in the Gulf
region.
During the period of the farm-out, reprocessed and newly acquired seismic yielded a number of
prospects and numerous exploration leads, said APEX, noting that the reserve size of the
prospects and leads ranges from 50 to 250 million barrels. Also as part of its obligations, DNO
drilled the first exploration well under the farm-out. Hayah-1, drilled in May 2016, targeted an
undrilled portion of the Block, reaching a depth of 3,010 metres.
At the time of its withdrawal from the Block, both DNO and APEX had invested a total of around
$31 million in exploration activities, the latter noted.
“Based on the important geological insights provided by the Hayah well, APEX has developed a
new and promising structural model of the prospectivity of the Block, firming up the potential of
certain of the leads and identifying several promising new plays,” it added.
A private Canadian company engaged in the exploration, acquisition and development of oil and
natural gas reserves, APEX is also actively pursuing further exploration and development
opportunities elsewhere in Oman and the wider region.

Singapore: Self-driving trucks are coming to Singapore's ports
This article is published in collaboration with Quartz.
Singapore’s shipping ports are already among the busiest and most efficient in the world. Now
the city-state is exploring a new way to make them run even better: convoys of driverless trucks
operating between terminals. The idea is that a lead truck will be driven by a human, with the
follower vehicles being automated.
This week, authorities signed agreements with two truck makers with strong track records in
self-driving technology— Sweden’s Scania and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho—to work on the project. In
the first phase, lasting about a year and starting this month, each company will design, develop,
and test a truck platooning system in their respective countries. In the second, one company will
be chosen for local trials on a 10 km (6.2 miles) stretch of Singapore’s West Coast Highway,
hauling cargo between the Brani and Pasir Panjang terminals.
Image: Morgan Stanley
With the transport ministry and port authority teaming up on the project, Singapore
authorities made the request for proposals back in October 2015. They noted at the time:
Autonomous truck platooning technology, which comprises one human-driven truck with one or
more driverless trucks following behind, will help alleviate the shortage of manpower in the
trucking industry and raise productivity with more cargo transported per driver. By shifting more
haulage activities to off-peak hours, this can also help improve traffic flow during peak periods.

The companies will also work to “fully automate the processes for precise docking and
undocking of cargo,” according to the agencies.
For the human drivers selected for the project, it will mean gaining valuable experience in a
promising new area. Not many drivers are well versed in leading a series of automated trucks
down a highway. Others, of course, will view the project with trepidation, fearing what it might
mean for the future of truck-driving as a profession.
There’s little surprise in Singapore showing a strong interest in the idea. The tightly controlled city-
state has long been a leader in creating highly managed driving environments. In 1998 it became
the first country to manage traffic via electronic road pricing, and last August it was the first to
offer self-driving taxis, beating Uber to the punch.

NewBase 29 March 2017 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil rises on Libyan supply disruptions, likely OPEC output cut
extension..Reuters + NewBase
Oil prices on Wednesday extended gains from the previous session, lifted by supply disruptions in
Libya and expectations that an OPEC-led output reduction will be extended into the second half of
the year.
Prices for front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, had risen 14 cents
from their last close to $51.47 per barrel by 0127 GMT. In the United States, West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 20 cents at $48.57 a barrel.
Both crude benchmarks rose by more than 1 percent the previous day.
Oil production from the western Libyan fields of Sharara and Wafa has been blocked by armed
protesters, reducing output by 252,000 barrels per day (bpd), a source at the National Oil
Corporation (NOC) told Reuters late on Tuesday.
"That (Libya), along with the Iranian oil minister saying there is likely to be an extension to the
production cut deal helped crude oil rally overnight," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at
futures brokerage AxiTrader.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), along with some other producers
including Russia, have agreed to cut production by almost 1.8 million bpd during the first half of
the year in order to rein in a global fuel supply overhang and prop up prices.
But as markets remain bloated halfway into the cuts, there is a broad expectation that the supply
cuts will be extended into the second half of the year.
Oil price special
coverage

Despite the rising consensus of extended cuts, the OPEC-led strategy to re-balance oil markets is
not without controversy.
As OPEC and especially Saudi Arabia cut their production, other producers not participating in the
cuts have been quick to fill the supply gap and gain market share.
In the United States in particular, shale oil drillers have seized the opportunity to ramp up output
and exports.
As a result, China became the third biggest overseas destination for U.S. crude oil in 2016,
according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), up from ninth position the
previous year.
"In 2016, U.S. crude oil exports averaged 520,000 bpd, 12 percent above the 2015 level, despite a
year-over-year decline in domestic crude oil production," the EIA said.
With U.S. oil production rising sharply again this year, traders expect American exports to surge
further in 2017.
The production drop in Libya, which was pumping 700,000 barrels a day before the pipeline halt,
is at least temporarily easing concern that rising U.S. supply is countering the effect of curbs by
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. U.S. industry data on Tuesday
was said to show crude inventories climbed, while a government report Wednesday is forecast to
show stockpiles expanded. Six OPEC nations have joined with non-member Oman to voice
support for prolonging their cutspast June.
“The market has become quite accustomed to volatility when it comes to Libya and their
production coming and going,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney.
“There are a number of headwinds to oil prices, including rising U.S. output and stockpiles.”

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release 29 March 2017
$50 Oil Price Is The Market's Magic Number
By Liam Denning
Round numbers enjoy an enduring and somewhat mystifying popularity in markets. A few years
ago, the oil market had a very round and pleasing one in the form of $100. These days, it makes
do with $50.
Even this diminished level has a talismanic potency. On Monday, Wood Mackenzie, an energy
consultancy, announced that oil companies rushed to add hedges on their production in the last
three months of 2016 at a faster pace than the previous four quarters, based on its analysis of 33
large producers.
The trigger: oil's jump above $50 a barrel after OPEC and several other countries announced
supply cuts at the end of November. You can see what they mean in this chart showing how
producers' short positions in Nymex crude oil futures -- a proxy for how much future production
E&P companies are selling -- have been changing over time:
Hedgehogs
The OPEC supply cut pushed oil above $50 a barrel for three months, leading E&P companies to
lock in hedges on their future output
Still, 50 isn't some magic number. Leaving aside that we all know the real magic number is
actually three, the true significance of $50 oil only becomes apparent when you consider numbers
on either side of it; namely $40 and $60.

Despite the big strides in productivity made by shale drillers, $50 isn't a comfortable price level for
them. Take five large domestic producers: Concho Resources Inc., Continental Resources Inc.,
Energen Corp., EOG Resources Inc. and Pioneer Natural Resources Co. Collectively, they
produced 1.24 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016, with 55 percent being crude oil.
Their realized price for that crude -- which differs from the headline Nymex number -- was a little
less than $40 a barrel before any hedging impact, data from their 10-K filings show. Once you
factor in the natural gas and liquids making up the other 45 percent of their output, their overall
realized price per barrel of oil equivalent was just $27 and change -- lower even than in 2009 just
after the financial crisis.
Bump the realized price for crude oil up to $50, and, all else equal, their realized price overall rises
to a little less than $33 -- better, but still only about half of what they got in 2014 before the crash
took hold. Indeed, you would have to put the crude price up to about $65 before their overall
realized price for 2016 nudges back above $40 (again, all else equal).
However, we can all agree that $50 is waaaaay better than $40. And hedging is about managing
risk rather than taking a firm view on some price level being the 'right' one. So when E&P
companies took their chance to add hedges after the OPEC meeting, what they were doing was
making sure they lived to fight another day.
This is especially important in an industry whose spending habits make it reliant on selling new
shares and tapping the bond market to make its cash flow math add up.
Investors and bankers are more persuadable when the oil price begins with a "5" or more, rather
than less. It's worth pointing out that while the average yield on energy junk bonds had stayed flat
around the 7.5 percent mark in the two months leading up to OPEC's meeting in late November, it
dropped by more than a percentage point in the two weeks following.
In the past week, oil futures for 2018 have dripped back below $50 a barrel, making it less
appealing to hedge next year's production. This, in turn, could cause the ramp-up in shale drilling
activity seen in recent months peter out, meaning the recovery in U.S. oil production softens later
in 2017.
The Day After
The average oil futures price for 2018 has dipped back below $50 a barrel
This is a critical number to watch. Andy McConn, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, reckons the real

magic number for 2018 is more like $55 or $65 a barrel. At that level, he says, many larger E&P
companies could fund growth of 5 or 10 percent from their own cash flow.
All of which helps explain why the big event of the weekend, the meeting of the committee
monitoring the supply cuts announced by OPEC and its partner countries, was a bit of a non-
event. Oil sold off on Monday due to the lack of a clear signal that the cuts would be extended
past June.
But OPEC's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, couldn't really let that meeting have any clearer
outcome. OPEC's production surged in the run-up to November's agreement, after Saudi Arabia in
September signaled its willingness to support prices. Promising a continuation of cuts now, rather
than waiting until May's formal meeting, would simply be a signal for Saudi Arabia's partners to
slack off on compliance -- as well as, of course, give shale producers more of a chance to hedge.
Better to keep everyone at least a little uncertain about what happens next.
As I wrote here, I doubt Saudi Arabia's ability to manage expectations this finely. Partly, that's
because of the need to prime the market for the upcoming IPO of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Saudi
Aramco, which appeared to move a step closer with news that the country is slashing the
company's tax rate. But it is also because the magic range between despair and euphoria for oil
producers of roughly $40 to $60 has become so tight.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as 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 spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering 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 of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase March 2017 K. Al Awadi

New base 1015 special 29 march 2017 energy news

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