Author: Rigs & Barge World

Egypt is planning to establish a green ammonia production project in Ras Banas, with initial investments estimated at $5 billion, according to a Cabinet statement. The investments are expected to rise to $10 billion upon reaching full production capacity, as part of Egypt’s strategy to advance sustainable development and expand reliance on renewable energy. The project will be developed by a consortium comprising Egypt’s E-Finance for Investments, Poland’s Hynfra, and Egypt’s Coxswains. It aims to localize green hydrogen derivatives industries and strengthen Egypt’s position as a regional and global hub for clean energy production. The facility is projected to produce…

Saudi Aramco is to exit its Pengerang Refinery & Petrochemical Corporation (PRefChem) joint venture with Malayia’s Petronas, bringing the curtain down on its role in a troubled project. Withdrawing from the venture, which consists of a 300,000 b/d refinery and a 1.2mn t/y steam cracker at Johor, Malaysia, is a setback for Aramco’s plans to expand its liquids-to-chemicals (LTC) capacity to futureproof its operations. In a 25 May announcement, Aramco said it agreed to transfer its 50% stakes in the refining and petrochemicals entities to Petronas, subject to closing conditions. “The transaction was concluded on mutually agreed terms, reflecting the…

The industries that once aggressively encouraged employees to adopt AI agents to boost productivity are now facing a sobering reality: the operational costs of these agents have ballooned far beyond initial projections, proving unsustainable even for the largest tech corporations such as Uber, Microsoft, and NVIDIA.Of course, there is no going back—and no desire to reverse the progress AI has made; these organizations are, however, shifting from an era of unchecked experimentation to one of rigorous fiscal discipline as reality starts reverberating across the corridors of power—at last.Before events spiral out of control, companies are now moving to exert strict…

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has delivered a severe blow to Qatar’s economy, with oil and gas exports reduced to a trickle. The deficit nearly doubled to $2.8bn in Q1 and will widen again in Q2, but Doha can still draw on its considerable reserves. Qatar released its Q1 fiscal results on 26 May, providing a first glimpse into the economic impact of the Middle East conflict. With the disruption covering only one month of the quarter, the figures are likely to understate the damage. Yet the deficit still nearly doubled from $1.5bn in Q4 to $2.8bn (see…

Oil prices in last week of May, 2026Oil prices continue to fluctuate in direct response to President Trump’s statements on Truth Social, creating a pattern of volatility since the current conflict began on February 28, 2026. When the President suggests potential breakthroughs in negotiations with Iran, prices tend to drop, even if Tehran subsequently dismisses the claims. Conversely, threats of escalation consistently drive prices higher. Critics argue these communications are strategically timed to influence both oil markets and broader stock market rallies.A recent example occurred last Friday, when the President claimed to be entering the Situation Room to finalize an agreement…

Israel’s NewMed Energy (45.34%) and Ratio Energies (15%), junior partners at the 22.4tcf Leviathan gas field, announced on 20 May that they had signed a long-term gas supply agreement with local power producer Dalia Energies. Unlike all previous deals for Leviathan gas, the agreement does not include field operator Chevron (39.66%). The agreement marks the first independently marketed gas sales deal from an Israeli gas field and is estimated to be worth $6.7bn. Deliveries under the 20-year contract are due to start in January 2030. (CONTINUED – 944 WORDS) Read this article for free Gain access to over 60-years of…

Eni has made its largest gas discovery in Egypt’s Western Desert in 15 years following successful drilling of the South Bostan-1X well. The well encountered multiple sandstone and limestone reservoirs with a combined net pay thickness of around 400 feet, with preliminary estimates indicating resources of 330bcf of gas and 10mn barrels of condensate and crude, according to the Agiba joint operating company of Eni and state firm EGPC. Although Eni’s primary Egyptian operations are in the offshore Mediterranean region, it retains a significant footprint in the Western Desert through Agiba. (CONTINUED – 215 WORDS) Read this article for free…

Abdulla bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar’s former oil minister affectionately known as the “godfather of LNG,” died on 27 May from complications arising from a double lung transplant he had undergone more than a decade ago. A former deputy prime minister, Mr Attiyah had stepped back from the political limelight in 2015 after more than 20 years of service (MEES, 20 March 2015), during which he oversaw the emirate’s transformation into one of the wealthiest nations on earth. When he assumed the role of minister in 1992, Qatar’s economy was in crisis. Oil prices had fallen below $10/barrel, and the country’s…

Recent Internal communications reveal that major tech companies are being forced to deal with massive bills as they turn to AI agents for coding and efficiency.Take Microsoft, for example. Employees increasingly turned to advanced AI models for every possible task. The catch? These AI agents charge based on the number of tokens used for a specific job. When scaled across a massive organization, the costs quickly multiply. To curb these spiraling expenses, Microsoft has urged its developers to rely more heavily on its own in-house tools like GitHub Copilot rather than external models. Unchecked reliance on these models has, in some…

Japanese engineering firm Chiyoda will restart work on QatarEnergy’s 32mn t/y North Field East (NFE) LNG expansion project. Work was halted as a result of the insecurity around the Iran War which included an 18 March attack on existing LNG trains at Ras Laffan (MEES, 20 March). But employees are returning to Qatar to work on site under added safety precautions, according to Japan-based weekly Nikkei Asia. Chiyoda and France’s Technip Energies were awarded the EPC contract back in 2021 under the Chiyoda Technip Joint Venture (MEES, 12 February 2021). Since then, the commissioning of the first trains at the…