OPEC, Russia and the war on Ukraine

The war in Ukraine, which has unleashed fears of an energy supply crunch and pushed oil prices to record highs, has brought back to the forefront the conversation about the need for new investments in oil and gas for the foreseeable future. That’s in stark contrast to calls almost a year ago by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to forgo investment in fossil fuels in the race to a net-zero emissions world….

Saudi Arabia’s Oil Price War

Saudi Arabia declared a price war against Russia in early March to prove a point: that it can offer an unprecedented supply of 12.3 million barrels per day, way above the record 11 million b/d it reached in November 2018, and expand its market share at the expense of Moscow. As the coronavirus pandemic brings the world to a standstill, the question is how long it can sustain this war….

Pumping Up Exports

ConocoPhilips today became the first lifter to load Iraqi crude from the newly opened SPM (single point mooring) in the Mideast Gulf. The new loading facility is now officially open, offering up to 500,000 b/d of export capacity on top of the 1.8 million b/d available at Basrah Oil Terminal and Khor al-Amaya Terminal. That’s more than enough to absorb the idle production capacity currently available in southern Iraq. The…

BR 4: The New Incentives

Companies prequalified to bid for one of 12 blocks in Iraq’s upcoming fourth licensing round have since last week been poring over the adjusted terms introduced by Iraq’s oil ministry to the second version of the draft “exploration, development and production service contract” or EDPSC. The new terms offer incentives to companies based on comments and observations they provided to the petroleum contracting and licensing department. It took longer than…