Author: Rigs & Barge World

On 28 April, the US Treasury alerted financial institutions of the risk of secondary sanctions when dealing with Chinese independent refiners known as teapots that have been sanctioned for buying Iranian crude oil. The alert followed last week’s sanctioning of Hengli Petrochemicals, one of China’s largest independent refiners, as well as the designation of dozens of tankers, companies and individuals involved in the clandestine trade. The Treasury warned US and foreign financial institutions that they “should carefully review any transactions involving China-based teapot refineries…given the heightened risk that transactions with these refineries could involve Iranian-origin oil.” It warned that IRGC-affiliated…

Venezuela’s crude oil exports rose by 14% month-on-month to around 1.23 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) in April, marking the highest level recorded in more than seven years, according to shipping data and documents from state-owned PDVSA reported by Reuters. The increase was supported by stronger crude and refined product shipments to key markets, including the US, India, and Europe. A total of 66 tankers departed Venezuelan ports during the month, compared with 61 vessels in March, which carried about 1.08 mmbbld/d of crude and refined products. The April figure represents the highest monthly export volume since late 2018, before the…

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inspected  Egypt’s offshore drilling rig Al‑Qaher‑2, which carried out operations for the Denise West‑1 exploratory well in the Eni‑bp Temsah concession in the Mediterranean. The operation resulted in a promising natural gas discovery, with reserves estimated at around 2 trillion cubic feet of gas, in addition to approximately 130 million barrels of condensate. Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, who accompanied Madbouly in the visit,  affirmed that the new Denis discovery represents one of the important outcomes of the Ministry’s program to settle dues owed to foreign partners and to implement new incentives aimed…

Gas flows through the 8bcm/y (775mn cfd)-capacity Greenstream pipeline linking Libya and Italy resumed on 27 April following two weeks of scheduled maintenance. Operator Mellitah Oil and Gas, a joint venture between NOC and Italy’s Eni, confirmed the resumption of flows. The pipeline was shut for 13 days for a “complete overhaul” of offshore ‘Area D’ (previously Block NC-41), and work on key infrastructure, including the offshore Sabratha platform and the onshore Mellitah industrial complex. (CONTINUED – 712 WORDS) Read this article for free Gain access to over 60-years of energy analysis and news Delve into the details backed by…

The government has raised natural gas supply prices for the industrial sector, setting a minimum selling price of no less than $6.50 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for energy-intensive industries. The measure was enacted under Decree No. 1306 of 2026 issued by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and published in the Egyptian official gazette El‑Waqai’ el‑Misriyya. Accordingly, the cement industry will now be charged $14 per MMBtu, while the price for iron and steel, non-nitrogen fertilizers, and petrochemical industries has been set at $7.75 per MMBtu. All other industrial activities will be charged a rate of $6.75 per MMBtu. The…

The Egyptian Sustainable Aviation Fuel Company (ESAF), a subsidiary of the Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM), has signed a technology license agreement with US Honeywell to deploy its Ecofining technology in Egypt’s first project to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This follows a previous agreement signed in December between ESAF and Honeywell for the establishment of the project in Alexandria. Ecofining is a technology that turns non‑petroleum organic materials into renewable fuels, mainly sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel. The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions from aviation by around 400,000 tons annually (t/y), maximizing the use of…

Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh has benefitted from the market disruption caused by the Middle East conflict, and achieved its first quarterly profit since 2Q 2022 last quarter. The integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex’s location on the Red Sea, 160km south of Yanbu, means that operations have not been disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Petro Rabigh is a joint venture of Saudi Aramco (60%) and Japanese downstream company Sumitomo Chemical (15%), with 25% listed on the Tadawul exchange. The partners completed a major restructuring of the venture last year in which Aramco acquired 22.5% from Sumitomo as…

Dana Gas, the Middle East’s largest private natural gas firm, has received a final $20m payment from Egypt, fully clearing all outstanding arrears, according to the company’s statement. “We are very encouraged by our progress in Egypt, both operationally and in collections. Importantly, this payment completes the settlement of Dana Gas Egypt’s overdue receivables and brings our receivables position to a full up-to-date status. It is a further demonstration of the Egyptian government’s constructive cooperation and continued commitment to supporting investment in the country’s energy sector,” Richard Hall, Chief Executive Officer, said. The settlement of Dana Gas Egypt’s overdue receivables…

Saudi Arabia’s power demand continues to grow rapidly, driven by strong non-oil GDP growth. Despite disruption caused by the Middle East conflict, the authorities are pressing ahead with projects to expand and strengthen the kingdom’s power sector. Recent weeks have seen a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed for a new 2.3GW gas-fired power plant and a tender launched for 12GWh of battery energy storage capacity (BESS). Saudi Energy (SE: formerly the SEC) operates the national grid, through which around 97% of electricity is distributed. Power sold through the SE grid rose by 8% in 2025 to a record 349.16TWh (see…

Tunisia’s renewable energy ambitions are gaining momentum with the commissioning of a 50MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant and the launch of a new tender for 200MW of solar power last month. On 16 April, Norway’s Scatec announced the start of commercial operations at the 50MW (60MWp) Tozeur solar PV power plant in central Tunisia (see map), effective 4 March. (CONTINUED – 790 WORDS) Read this article for free Gain access to over 60-years of energy analysis and news Delve into the details backed by data Exclusive information from high-level officials Assess future risks and opportunities Source link