Author: Rigs & Barge World

Agiba Petroleum Company has achieved its highest crude oil output in three years at around 32,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in December, thanks to the intensified drilling and investments from its Italian partner Eni, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). The results align with the ministry’s strategy to boost output and exploration in Egypt’s Western Desert through discoveries and advanced seismic surveys. The Iris-1XST discovery well has produced cumulatively two million barrels of oil and 4.8 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas since October 2024. Recent exploitation of the Masajid geological formation in Agiba’s latest two wells yields…

Saipem, the global engineering company, and China’s Offshore Oil Engineering Co (COOEC), have secured a $4 billion offshore engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract from QatarEnergy LNG for the COMP5 package of the North Field Production Sustainability (NFPS) Offshore Compression Complexes project. The award, with Saipem’s share valued at about $3.1 billion, covers two compression complexes to sustain long-term natural gas output from the world’s largest non-associated gas field offshore Qatar, according to a press release by Saipem. Offshore installation work will use Saipem’s Saipem 7000 heavy-lift vessel in 2029 and 2030 under the five-year contract. The North Field…

Today’s release of the Gas Market Review recognises the need for fundamental reform of the east coast gas market to ensure Australian households and industry have access to reliable and affordable gas. Australian Energy Producers Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch confirmed that gas producers support the introduction of a prospective domestic gas reservation scheme linked to new supply, but emphasised that the design and implementation needed careful consideration. “As we said from the outset of this review, a well-designed, prospective reservation policy can provide certainty for gas producers and users to invest with confidence,” she said. “However, a reservation policy alone…

OQ8, the joint venture between Omani state energy firm OQ and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), operates a 255,000 b/d refinery in Duqm that came online in 2023. The next planned step is to integrate petrochemicals units into the refinery to move further up the value chain. The partners aim to integrate facilities to process naphtha and LPG into polyethylene, ethylene glycol and polypropylene. They had hoped to draw on the expertise of Saudi petrochemicals giant Sabic for the project, signing a project development agreement with the company in 2022 to assess building a steam cracker, derivative units and a natural…

The UAE-based AMEA Power, one of the fastest-growing renewable energy companies in the region, announced it will be building a solar panel and a battery storage project in Aswan. strengthen the resilience of Egypt’s power system while advancing the country’s clean energy transition, according to an AMEA press release The project, described as Africa’s largest single-site renewable energy and battery storage facility, will be established through a partnership between AMEA Power, which owns 60%, and Japan’s Kyuden International Corporation, which will hold the reamining 40%. The  International Finance Corporation (IFC) will finance the project through a $570 million senior debt package in…

With 2025 drawing to a close, a picture is emerging of what could be a landmark year for Saudi Arabia’s oil sector. The accelerated unwinding of Opec+ voluntary production cuts has grabbed the headlines, enabling Riyadh to increase production by 1.125mn b/d between January and December, but what is arguably more notable is that Saudi oil consumption is set for a rare annual decline. Oil consumption was down 2.7% year-on-year after the first nine months of the year, the latest Jodi statistics show, to an average of 2.406mn b/d. Outside of 2020’s Covid-era lockdowns, this would be the first year-on-year…

The Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) has settled $417 million of its senior debt, reducing its remaining debt to $63 million from a peak of $2.35 billion, according to a disclosure to the Egyptian Exchange by the company, a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings. The remaining  $63 million is scheduled for payment in March 2026, which makes ERC  eligible to pay dividends to its shareholders, upon approval of its AGM. Meanwhile, ERC will continue servicing its $773 million mezzanine loan through 2030. The debt originated from project financing for the Mostorod Refinery, one of Egypt’s largest refining facilities.   Source link

Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Hassan El Khatib met with Shihab Kuran, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of US-based Power Edison, a leading renewable energy and energy storage developer, to explore cooperation in sustainable energy solutions, according to a press release by the ministry. The meeting, attended by Hossam Heiba, Chairman of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), saw El Khatib stressing Egypt’s state’s focus on localizing energy-related industries and modern technology transfer, pointing to the country’s competitive advantages that qualify it to be a regional energy hub. Furthermore, he highlighted that Egypt has invested $550 billion…

The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), the country’s state-owned utility, has initiated arbitration proceedings in London against the partners at the 13.7tcf Tamar gas field, led by operator US major Chevron, following the collapse of negotiations to update their long-term gas supply contract. The dispute centers on the price IEC pays for Tamar gas, which in turn has major implications for Israel’s electricity costs. The original gas supply agreement between IEC and Tamar was signed in 2012, a year before the field started-up, and included a price-update mechanism. Under this mechanism, once the contract reached its update stage in January 2025,…

The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, has outlined a new five-year plan for oil and gas exploration and production during a high-level meeting with leaders and representatives of international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Egypt on December 20. The plan prioritizes achieving self-sufficiency in crude oil while continuing to boost natural gas output, highlighting the government’s focus on strengthening energy security, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). The strategy also aims to limit Egypt’s import bill by channeling local production surplus to value-added industries and exports. Badawi noted that strategic…