Middle East News

HOUSTON — Halliburton has signed a contract with Shell Iraq Petroleum Development to provide drilling services for sustained production at Shell’s Majnoon oil field in Southern Iraq. Under the contract, Halliburton will mobilize three rigs to drill development wells and carry out workover activities over the next two years. “We are pleased to be awarded this work and the opportunity ...

MONTREAL — SNC-Lavalin Fayez Engineering (SLFE), an engineering consultancy partnership between SNC-Lavalin and Dr. Zuhair Fayez, has been awarded a five-year extension to its existing General Engineering Services Plus (GES+) contract with Saudi Aramco, with three one-year options to extend. Under the contract, SNC-Lavalin will be invited to bid on front-end engineering, detailed engineering and project management services to support ...

BAGHDAD (Bloomberg) — Iraq has reduced its oil production by 160,000 bpd and will comply with cuts it agreed to make under an OPEC output deal, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said, even as ship loading data suggested that exports are set to increase next month. OPEC’s second-biggest producer is poised to ship 3.64 MMbopd in February from its ports in ...

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia is staying in the battle for market share by continuing to pump the type of oil that’s similar to rival U.S. and African supply, while fulfilling its promise to cut output by focusing curbs on other varieties. The nation plans to idle some fields producing the Arab Medium and Arab Heavy grades to meet its ...

TEHRAN, Jan. 04 (Shana) — Managing Director of the Philippine National Oil Company Pedro A. Aquino has said Iran is the land of opportunities, voicing his company’s keenness to join petroleum projects in Iran. Speaking in Tehran, the Philippine official said his company seeks investments in oil-rich regions in west Asia, saying Iranian petroleum experts are at a top level ...

DOHA, Qatar (Bloomberg) — Energy companies in the Middle East reduced their borrowing by 26% in 2016 as an increase in oil prices late in the year provided revenue needed for exploration and production. Bonds and loans issued by energy producers in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council declined 26 percent to $17.5 billion from a record $23.7 billion in 2015, ...

TEHRAN, Jan. 02 (Shana) — Iran says all its petrochemical facilities are operating and they have been faced with no shortages in feedstock supply despite Turkmenistan’s abrupt cutting of gas flow to northern Iranian provinces. Ali Mohammad Bossaqzadeh, director of production control at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), reacting to Turkmenistan’s Sunday move to halt gas flow to Iran, said ...

TEHRAN, Jan. 01 (Shana) — Turkmenistan has cut its gas supplies to Iran in an unexpected move one day after the two neighboring countries announced they had reached an agreement to continue their gas cooperation for at least 5 years. Reacting to the move by the national gas company of Turkmenistan, Turkmengaz, the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) issued a ...

A record number of rigs are drilling for oil and gas on the Arabian peninsula even as drilling in the rest of the world tumbles in response to low prices. There were almost 290 rigs active in Saudi Arabia and the neighboring states of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman in March, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. ...

BP and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) have signed a framework agreement to explore possible joint opportunities for investment and cooperation in future oil, gas, trading and petrochemicals ventures. Signed by BP CEO Bob Dudley and KPC CEO Nizar Mohammad Al-Adsani, the agreement paves the way for both companies to jointly invest and cooperate in oil and gas projects in Kuwait ...