New base 562 special 17 march 2015

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NewBase 17 March 2015 - Issue No. 562 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Sohar Refinery expansion to be completed by end of 2016
Oman Times + NewBase
Sohar Refinery expansion will be completed by the end of 2016, while 280-km-long Muscat-Sohar
product pipeline and Liwa Plastics
Industries Complex will be commissioned
by 2017 and 2018, respectively, said a
senior official of the Oman Oil Refineries
and Petroleum Industries Company
(Orpic).
These are the three main new projects of
Orpic, with capital expenditure running into
billions of Omani rials. "In 2013, we started
the Sohar Refinery Improvement Project,
which was in response to the need to
enhance refining capacity and carry out
environmental improvement," said Musab Al Mahruqi, chief executive officer of Orpic, while
addressing the Oman Refining and Petrochemical Conference (and exhibition) here on Monday.
The conference and exhibition, which is being held between March 16 and 18, at the Oman
International Exhibition Centre was organised by Omanexpo, in association with World Refining
Association.
Al Mahruqi said with the commissioning of the Sohar Refinery Improvement Project, Orpic would
be able to reduce the import of naphtha from 70 per cent to 25 per cent. Product range will
increase substantially, while for the company will be able to produce bitumen for the first time in
Oman. Bitumen is in demand due to transport infrastructure projects.
The project will also provide 300 permanent direct jobs, besides offering business opportunity for
2,400 Omani contractors during the lifetime of the project. Further, the project will help to generate
900 indirect jobs.
Regarding the $3.6 billion Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC), he said it would support the
development of a vibrant downstream plastics industry in Oman. "It will bring new business
opportunities for the Sultanate in the fast growing plastics industry."
He said the LPIC has six components, which include a steam cracker unit, polymer units, a
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) extraction unit and an NGL pipeline from Fahud to Sohar. It will enable
Oman to produce polyethylene for the first time. "The project is on schedule and will be
commissioned in 2018."

The company's profit and revenue will double with the commissioning of these two projects.
"Oman will have six of the seven building blocks of petrochemicals, paving the way for future
downstream developments."
The Orpic chief also said that the 280-km-long Muscat-Sohar multi-product (for transporting
refined products) pipeline is due for commissioning in 2017. It will have an intermediate
distribution facility in Jiffin and a new storage facility at the Muscat International Airport for aviation
fuel. "It will eliminate the need to truck refined products, which will reduce the number of fuel
tankers (by 70 per cent) and also lower the cost."

Saudia: KBR Bags Aramco’s Project Management Services Contract
KBR + NewBase
KBR has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco to provide project management services for
its offshore programme. Under the terms of this six-year contract, KBR will provide project
management and engineering services for existing and new offshore facilities to maintain and
increase crude production levels to meet Aramco’s maximum sustained capability for production
under the company’s capital programme.
The value of the contract has not been revealed. KBR’s Saudi joint venture company, KBR-
AMCDE, will undertake all in-kingdom work scopes while KBR’s Houston and London operations
centres will execute all out-of-kingdom scopes. Additionally, KBR-AMCDE will develop an in-
kingdom centre of engineering excellence to develop and train Saudi engineers, said a statement.
“This is a significant milestone in our relationship with Saudi Aramco in the offshore arena and
complements our existing work in the kingdom on the Jazan PMC and GES+ contracts,” said
Stuart Bradie, KBR president and CEO. “We look forward to helping Saudi Aramco achieve its
goal to develop an in-kingdom centre of offshore engineering excellence and to maintain their
production of oil and gas.”
KBR has had a strong presence in the Middle East for decades, working on several major
petrochemical projects in Saudi Arabia, including providing Saudi Aramco with front end
engineering and design and project management services for the Jazan Refinery, the Yanbu
Refinery and the Shaybah NGL programme.
Expected revenue from the contract will be included in the first quarter of 2015 backlog for KBR’s
Engineering and Construction segment, it said.

Morocco: Circle Oil's KAB-1bis well in the Sebou Permit onshore Morocco
disappoints. Source: Circle Oil
AIM-listed Circle Oil, the Middle East and North Africa focused oil and gas exploration,
development and production company, has provided the following information on the drilling of
the KAB-1biswell in the Sebou Permit, onshore Morocco.
The well, located downthrown to the north-west/south-east trending N'zala Fault in the north-
western area of the Sebou 3D survey, spudded on 4 February 2015. The 2010 KAB-1 well had
encountered gas shows in the target Miocene Guebbas sands, but problematic swelling clays
created borehole instability and the well could not be logged or tested.
KAB-1bis had the same target sands and was drilled with an adapted mud system to minimise
drilling problems in a slightly more updip location. The primary target Guebbas sands were
absent down to a TD of 1,410 metres MD and it was decided to plug and abandon the well. This
result indicates that the gas shows encountered in the Guebbas sands in the KAB-1 well were of
a very limited extent.
The rig has been released to complete and test the SAH-W1 well on the western area of the
Sebou Permit. The SAH-W1 well encountered three gas bearing Guebbas sands, but could not
be completed as a non-standard 4.5 inch liner was needed. It is planned to produce the three
zones sequentially from the bottom up, where the highest pressure is present.
Commenting on the results of the KAB-1bis well Steve Jenkins, Chairman, said:
'Although the result of the KAB-1bis well is disappointing, the well was targeting a smaller
incremental accumulation. We look forward to the results of testing of the SAH-W1 well and
continuation of the drilling campaign on the Sebou and Lalla Mimouna Nord Blocks.'

African Petroleum announces upgraded prospective resources
in Senegal and The Gambia. Source: African Petroleum
African Petroleum, an independent oiland gas exploration company operating ten licences in
five countries offshore West Africa, has announced an update to its prospective oil resources at
its 90% owned and operated Senegal Offshore Sud Profond and Rufisque Offshore Profond
licence blocks in Senegal and its 100% owned and operated A1and A4 offshore blocks in The
Gambia.
The Company
engaged the
independent
petroleum
consultant, ERC
Equipoise (ERCE)
to prepare an
updated
assessment of
prospective oil
resources
attributable to the
Company's
Gambian Licences,
and an initial
assesment of the
Senegal Licences.
The ERCE Letter of prospective resources includes 11 prospects and has taken into account
third party drilling campaigns in adjacent acreage during 2014, particularly the two oil discoveries
made by Cairn Energy (operator) in Senegal licence Deep Sangomar Offshore in October 2014
(FAN-1 discovery) and November 2014 (SNE-1 discovery).
The ERCE Letter estimates the net prospective oil resources relating to the Senegal Licences
and Gambian Licences are as follows:
The two
discoveries
made by Cairn
Energy at SNE-
1 and FAN-1 in
Senegal have
had a positive
impact on the
chance of
success for
prospects within African Petroleum's portfolio. The ERCE Letter, in conjunction with the April
2014 CPR and ERCE Audit published in January 2015, independently assesses African
Petroleum's net unrisked mean prospective oil resources at 11,614MMstb.

Norway: Total spuds Shango exploration well 25/6-5S in N.Sea
Source: Faroe Petroleum + NewBase
JV partner Faroe Petroleum has announced the spudding of the Total-operated Shango
exploration well 25/6-5S (Faroe 20%) in the Norwegian North Sea. The Shango Prospect in
Licence PL 627(named Skirne East by the operator Total E&P Norge) is located in the
Norwegian North Sea on the northern part of the Utsira High approximately 5 kilometres from the
producing Skirne field, which is also operated by Total. Shango is a structural prospect where the
primary target is the Middle Jurassic Hugin formation reservoir, which has proved to be of
excellent quality in the neighbouring Skirne field.
Shango is located on the
spill-route from the Skirne
field which is producing
above expectations and has
been interpreted to be filled
to spill. A fast-track subsea
development to the Skirne
field is planned if the
prospect is found to contain
a similar gas and
condensate hydrocarbon
type as found in Skirne.
Skirne has been developed
as a tie-back to the Statoil-
operated Heimdal platform
approximately 24 kilometres
to the west.
The Shango exploration
well, located in
approximately 120 metres
of water, is being operated
by Total (40%) using the
Leif Eriksson drilling rig with
partners Centrica
Resources Norge AS (20%) and Det norske oljeselskap AS (20%). Results from the well will be
announced when drilling operations are complete.
Graham Stewart, Chief Executive of Faroe Petroleum commented:
"I am very pleased to announce the commencement of our 2015 exploration drilling programme,
with the high impact Shango well. During the coming months we expect to start drilling the first of
two follow-up wells at the significant Pil discovery (Faroe 25%) on the Blink and Boomerang
prospects, and to spud the Bister prospect to follow up on our recent significant Snilehorn
discovery located close to the producing Njord field infrastructure.
"Our Norwegian position is now one of the most significant of any UK independent E&P company
and, despite challenging market conditions, the Company is set for another year of growth in
2015, with an exciting four well drilling programme of low cost, high impact exploration wells, fully
funded from our production cash flow."
UK: Keeping North Sea assets afloat doesn’t add up

Reuters + NewBase
Britain’s North Sea oil and gas operators are mounting an impressive lobbying campaign to win
tax concessions and other government help ahead of the final budget of this parliament on March 18.
In an editorial, the Financial Times newspaper endorsed the idea of “a new deal to keep North
Sea oil flowing”. The newspaper wants the complex system of tax allowances to be simplified,
rates cut, and more risk-sharing between exploration companies and taxpayers.
It also wants the government to find ways to defer the decommissioning of old platforms, pipeline
systems and other infrastructure — originally built to exploit giant fields such as Forties and Brent,
discovered in the 1970s and 1980s — which are now key to the profitable exploitation of smaller
finds made in recent years.
The newspaper insists this would not be a return to a 1970s-style industrial policy, when
government subsidised dying industries such as shipbuilding that were more rationally conducted
overseas. It is a perfectly sensible way of maximising the value of the UK’s endowment of oil
reserves and also preserving the country’s energy security. It would also be a way to keep existing
infrastructure up and running as old wells expire’.

A more cynical observer might conclude that it is exactly a return to industrial policy. And the more
apt comparison is not with shipbuilding but the coal industry, which was allowed to wither in the
1980s and 1990s when it could not compete with the surge of cheap North Sea gas.
The North Sea has already produced
42 billion barrels of oil and gas, but
could have as much as 24 billion
barrels left, according to FT columnist
Nick Butler. For North Sea operators
and their supporters, the remaining
reserves provide a compelling
economic reason to keep producing
to avoid leaving value locked in the
ground.
The reserves represent tens of
billions of dollars in profits, wages and
tax revenues that would be lost if the
North Sea fields are abandoned
prematurely.
North Sea reserves have a strong political dimension because most operators and service
companies are based in Scotland, where separatist sentiment remains strong despite the rejection
of independence in last year’s referendum.
The economic reality is more complicated. The notional value of the oil and gas that would remain
locked in the ground is not a convincing reason why it should be developed. In a market-based
economy, resources are developed only if they can be extracted profitably.
And there are many instances where resources have been left in the ground or abandoned
because it was no longer possible to exploit them profitably.
The distinction between exhaustion and profitability was central to the year-long dispute between
the National Union Mineworkers (NUM) and the Conservative government led by Margaret
Thatcher, the defining moment in Britain’s modern economic history.
In the early 1980s, Britain’s state-owned coal company wanted to close mines that were no longer
profitable while the NUM resolved “to re-affirm the union’s opposition to all pit closures other than
on grounds of exhaustion”.
Ironically, coal’s nemesis came from the giant gas fields found in the North Sea between the
1950s and 1970s, which threatened coal’s dominance in power generation. Once the
government’s support for coal was removed after the strike was broken, construction of coal-fired
power plants ended and power producers raced to build cheaper gas-fired facilities to capitalise
on the cheaper fuel.
By the end of the 1990s, nearly all of Britain’s pits had closed, although there were still billions of
tonnes of coal left underground. Twenty years later, Britain’s gas supplies are dwindling, and the
country increasingly relies on imported gas from overseas, raising concerns about “energy
security”.

If energy security had been the clinching argument, the government would have intervened to
keep more pits open. Instead, Britain chose a market-based approach. There is no reason why
North Sea oil and gas producers should be treated any differently.
Britain’s oil and gas producers are among the victims of the North American shale revolution and
the price war between Opec and the US shale industry. Like Canada’s oil sands industry, which is
also suffering, the North Sea is a relatively expensive source of oil and gas.
In recent years, its prospects have depended on oil and gas remaining scarce and prices
remaining high. The North Sea must compete for investment with other oil and gas plays around
the world. Before the shale revolution North Sea oil and gas appeared marginally profitable.
But with oil prices now around $60 per barrel and widely expected to remain well below $100 for
the next few years, the North Sea is no longer an attractive investment proposition.
UK operators tend to blame their problems on the tax regime, which they claim is more punitive
and complicated than in other parts of the world. While there is some truth in this argument, the
tax regime’s complexity is the legacy of government efforts to clamp down on previous tax
avoidance.
In any event, the UK North Sea’s problems run much deeper than tax. Offshore platforms in a
notoriously stormy area are a more expensive way to produce oil and gas than onshore shale
plays in the United States.
Recent discoveries can only be profitable if they can utilise the existing infrastructure. The
problem is that the infrastructure isn’t free and it isn’t public property: it belongs to existing
operators, most of them major oil and gas companies, who have a legal obligation to
decommission it. If the infrastructure’s life is to be extended and decommissioning is to be
deferred, money will have to be found for routine maintenance as well as capital upgrades. In a
world where oil and gas were thought to be running out and prices were expected to keep on
rising, it might have made sense to extend the useful life of the North Sea infrastructure. In a world
of $60 oil, the economics are much more challenging.

China to be major player on energy markets for next 20 years, BP says
The National + NewBase
China will continue to be the dominant force in energy demand growth over the next couple of
decades, said Mark Finley, BP’s head of global energy markets. But one of the most profound
predictions in BP’s latest global outlook programme launched last month, which Mr Finley was
presenting to top Abu Dhabi government officials yesterday, is the changing pattern of energy
demand in China over the next 20 years.
He said that while it was important to be humble about the accuracy of the company’s widely
watched annual forecasts, there is one area that they generally get right – predicting demand
patterns in the major economies.
China’s economic transformation – and the energy demand growth that went with it – has been
one of the dominant global stories since the turn of the century and has already shifted the
balance of energy power, and Arabian Gulf producers have been competing fiercely for a share of
that market.
BP forecasts that China’s oil imports will more than double from 6 million barrels per day in 2013
to 13 million bpd by 2035. By then, China will have surpassed the US as the largest single
consumer of oil in the world as the latter’s oil demand continues to decline, and its dependence on
oil imports will have increased from 60 per cent to 75 per cent.
“But we expect significant changes in the pace and form of economic growth and development in
China,” Mr Finley said. China made international commitments several years ago to reduce its
energy intensity and carbon intensity – the measure of how much energy it consumes and CO2 it
emits per unit of GDP, respectively – and despite widespread scepticism at the time it has
delivered on both.

Mr Finley said these trends would continue while China moves its economic activity away from
energy-intensive export industries and more towards delivery of domestic-focused goods and
services. But Mr Finley noted that the Middle East itself was “one of the foremost growth centres
for oil demand … and this may present some strategic challenges in the future as well”.
The balancing act for Gulf producers is to stay competitive in a market that is moving more
towards natural gas, where the competition – even with a slower growing China – will be almost
entirely focused on Asian countries, and where it is also shifting downstream, towards refined
products and petrochemicals.
One of the implications of the US shale oil revolution – together with the country’s declining
domestic demand – is that it will be looking to compete more on international markets to sell its
refined oil products, a trend already under way.
GCC countries also have been shifting resources downstream, so that future international
competition will be more for petrol, jet fuel and other such markets, rather than purely for crude
buyers.
Just as important is that the Gulf producers hold on to their strategic swing producer role, in which
spare capacity (primarily in Saudi Arabia) has kept stability in the world oil markets. Mr Finley
noted that the rate of disruption to the world oil market is at its highest level since the early 1990s,
when the first Iraq war coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Fortunately, countries such as the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have invested over the years in
having a robust oil sector and spare capacity,” Mr Finley said. “If the GCC sectors hadn’t invested
then the world would be in recession right now, even with US shale production, because these
massive supply disruptions would have resulted in sharply higher oil prices.”

Oil Price Drop Special Coverage
Today Oil above $54, comes off 6-week low
Reuters + NewBase
Brent crude rose above $54 a barrel on Tuesday, recovering some of the previous session's
losses when it dropped to a six-week low, although concerns over a worsening global supply glut
kept a lid on gains.
US crude, or West Texas Intermediate (WTI), stretched its drop into a sixth session and hovered
just above a six-year low, keeping its discount to Brent prices close to $10, a trend that analysts
say could deepen.
"We expect WTI to remain under pressure as inventories swell further as the seasonal
maintenance period begins. We expect this to remain the case in the short term," ANZ analysts
said in a note on Tuesday.
May Brent crude rose 20 cents to $54.14 a barrel as of 0300 GMT. The April contract, which
expired in the previous session, closed down $1.23 after hitting $52.50 earlier in the day, its
lowest since Feb. 2.
US crude fell 6 cents to $43.82 a barrel, after settling down 96 cents a day ago when it tumbled to
$42.85, its lowest since March 2009. The spread between the two benchmarks had widened to
$10.15 on Monday.

"There is a lot of trade on it. Traders would be quite happy to see the spread go out to $15-20,"
said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney's Ayers Alliance. "We have reached a
real bifocal point for the market. We either enter a more bearish mood with a new low or it turns
around and becomes a bit bullish," he said.
Traders are now waiting for data on US crude inventories for price direction. A Reuters poll
showed a likely build in stocks for a tenth week to a new record high. The poll was released
ahead of weekly reports from industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) and from the
US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration.
Worries that a nuclear deal could end sanctions against Iran, allowing Tehran to send more of its
oil into the market, also dragged on oil markets. The United States and Iran inched toward a
landmark nuclear agreement that would result in the removal of sanctions against Tehran,
although differences remained. Iran has said it will boost oil exports once the sanctions are lifted.
Oil price back at six-year low as US production seen filling tanks
The National + Bloomberg + NewBase
Oil extended its collapse to the lowest intraday price since March 2009 on speculation that record
US supply may start to strain the country’s storage capacity.
Crude tanks in the US may fill up as drilling-rig cuts fail to slow production this year, the
International Energy Agency predicted. Speculators have cut bullish bets on oil to the lowest level
in more than two years while short wagers rise to a record, US Commodity Futures Trading
Commission data show. Futures
lost as much as 2.8 per cent to
$43.57 a barrel in New York on
Monday, falling for a fifth day.
Oil is extending a fourth weekly
slump after government data
showed US output and stockpiles
expanded to the highest levels in
more than three decades,
exacerbating a glut that drove
prices almost 50 per cent lower
last year. The market hasn’t
bottomed yet because of the surplus, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said on
Bloomberg Television.
“We’ve got this ongoing increase in inventory with no cut in production, despite the drop in the
number of shale-oil rigs,” Ric Spooner, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by
phone. “We’re seeing downside momentum now develop in the market.”
West Texas Intermediate for April delivery was down 49 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $44.35 a barrel
in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2.16pm. Singapore time. The
contract fell $2.21 to $44.84 on Friday, capping a 9.6 per cent loss for the week, the most since
December. The volume of all futures traded was about 74 per cent more than the 100-day
average. Prices have decreased 17 per cent this year.

Brent for April settlement, which expires today, slid as much as $1.34, or 2.5 per cent, to $53.33 a
barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude
traded at a premium of $9.90 to WTI. The more active Brent contract for May was 31 cents lower
at $54.70.
US oil production will expand this year by about 750,000 barrels a day to 12.56 million a day, the
IEA said in a report on Friday. That’s up from an estimate of 12.41 million in last month’s report.
The Paris-based agency, an adviser to developed economies, boosted its projection for North
American output including natural gas liquids and condensate in the fourth quarter of 2014 by
300,000 barrels a day.
“The trend is still weak and there will still be downward pressure from the market’s oversupply,”
said Takashi Hayashida, the chief executive officer of Elements Capital, a Tokyo-based hedge
fund that focuses on energy and commodities.
Crude stockpiles in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose to 448.9 million barrels through
March 6, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s the highest level in weekly
records dating back to August 1982. The nation pumped 9.37 million a day, the most since
January 1983.
Rigs targeting oil in the US shrank by 56 to 866 last week, the fewest since March 2011, said
Baker Hughes. Companies have idled 709 machines since the start of December, a 45 per cent
decline, according to the services company.
Low oil prices are hurting all producers including Saudi Arabia, which “has never been in a price
war with anybody,” according to Ibrahim Al-Muhanna, an adviser to Saudi oil minister Ali Al-Naimi.
Prices have stabilised at about $60 a barrel based on fundamental market forces, he said at a
conference in Doha, Qatar.
Saudi Arabia led Opec in resisting calls to cut output at a meeting in November. The 12-member
group, which supplies about 40 per cent of the world’s oil, is scheduled to gather on June 5.
Hedge funds and other money managers reduced their net-long position on WTI by 2.5 per cent in
the seven days ended March 10, according to the CFTC.
OPEC Says Low Oil Prices May Hit US Output By Late 2015
By Reuters + NewBase
U.S. oil output could start to take a hit by late 2015 due to low prices, OPEC said on Monday,
suggesting the exporter group will have to wait beyond its next meeting in June to see if its
strategy to defend market share will dent the shale oil boom.
The halving of oil prices since June 2014 has prompted spending cuts by oil companies and a
drop in U.S. drilling, raising expectations of slowing output in countries outside the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
But in a monthly report, OPEC left its forecast for non-OPEC supply this year unchanged and
said output of U.S. “tight” oil, also known as shale, might only start to be curbed towards the
end of the year.
“Tight crude producers are aware that typical oil wells in shale plays decline 60 percent
annually, and that losses can only be recouped by drilling new wells,” OPEC said. “As drilling

subsides due to high costs and a potentially sustained low oil price, a drop in production can
be expected to follow, possibly by late 2015.”
Oil’s collapse from $115 a barrel in 2014 gained impetus after OPEC refused to cut output at
a November meeting, seeking to slow higher-cost production in the United States and
elsewhere that had been eroding its market share. OPEC holds its next meeting in June and
comments from officials so far suggest it will not adjust policy as it waits for the strategy to
take effect.
For now, OPEC forecast no further rise in demand for its crude in 2015, trimming the forecast
slightly to 29.19 million bpd, and left unchanged its estimate of global growth in oil demand
this year. In last month’s report, OPEC had sharply increased the 2015 forecast of demand
for its oil due to a lower outlook for non-OPEC supply.
OPEC’s report confirmed other estimates suggesting its production declined in February and
projected a slightly smaller global supply surplus in 2015, without output cuts by OPEC or
other producers.
With OPEC pumping 30.02 million bpd in February, according to secondary sources cited in
the report, OPEC indicates there will be a supply surplus of 830,000 bpd in 2015 and 2 million
bpd in the first half – less than in January.
Saudi Arabia, which led OPEC’s no-cut strategy, reported a small, 40,000-bpd dip in February
output to 9.64 million bpd.
Saudi Oil Adviser Says Strengthening Demand Will Lift Prices
Bloomberg + NewBase
Global crude consumption is strengthening, and prices will stiffen as demand matches supply, a
senior adviser to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said.
Prices have stopped falling at about $60 a barrel as expanding demand
helps contain the global glut, Ibrahim Al-Muhanna said at a conference in
Doha, Qatar. It’s too early to say if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, which kept output unchanged in November, will alter policy
when it gathers again on June 5, he said.
“I am confident that demand is and will be stronger,” said Al-Muhanna,
adviser to Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi. “Supply will remain healthy, and
the price will firm up.”
OPEC’s refusal to cut production amid the surge in U.S. shale output fed a
surplus that contributed to a drop of almost half in prices last year. Cheaper crude benefits energy
importers and is easing inflation expectations worldwide, even as it leaves Persian Gulf producers
such as Saudi Arabia with less revenue to disburse among fast-growing populations. China, India
and Vietnam are taking advantage of lower prices to boost strategic reserves and refinery
stockpiles, according to the International Energy Agency.

Crude dropped 61 percent from June to January after OPEC signaled it would leave shale
producers and other suppliers to bear the brunt of the glut. OPEC pumps about 40 percent of the
world’s oil, and Saudi Arabia is its biggest producer.
Greenspan’s View
Brent crude, a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, fell 46 cents to $54.21 a barrel on
the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 8:05 a.m. local time. U.S. crude inventories
may start to stretch the country’s storage capacity, the IEA said in a report on Friday. Prices
haven’t hit bottom yet as U.S. supply will continue rising, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
Greenspan said.
“Europe may be an exception, but the overall global picture remains positive,” Al-Muhanna said.
“Day after day, thousands of people enter the middle class and will further increase demand for
energy.” Oil gained 8 percent in London in the past two months as U.S. drillers idled rigs in
response to the biggest plunge in prices since 2008. Low oil prices hurt all producers, including his
country and Russia, Al-Muhanna said. “Saudi Arabia has never been in a price war with anybody.”
Oil markets should be in balance by the third quarter, when demand may even exceed supply,
Paul Horsnell, the global head of commodities research at Standard Chartered Plc, said at the
Doha conference. U.S. shale production can’t increase at current prices, and Horsnell sees
reason to be optimistic about supply, he said.
Growth in U.S. output, currently rising by 1.2 million barrels day, will slow by the end of this year to
500,000-700,000 barrels a day, Ed Morse, Citigroup Inc.’s head of commodities research, said at
the conference. The slower rate of increase in U.S. production could last for a decade, Morse
said.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Your partner in Energy Services
NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and
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For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy
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 17 March 2015 K. Al Awadi

New base 562 special 17 march 2015

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New base 562 special 17 march 2015