Author: Rigs & Barge World

Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline is proving its value as a Hormuz-bypass mechanism, enabling the company to continue exporting substantial volumes of crude oil and refined products during what CEO Amin Nasser describes as “by far the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced.” The pipeline supplies crude oil to the Red Sea export terminals at Yanbu, which can then be exported without transiting Hormuz. Speaking to media on 10 March, Mr Nasser hailed the flexibility that Aramco’s investment in this contingency route has provided it with. Prior to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has…

The Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries Company (ENPPI) signed contracts worth $1.34 billion in 2025, with nearly 97% of these deals coming from overseas projects, said Chairman Khaled Ibrahim during the general assembly meeting convened to approve the company’s fiscal year (FY) results in 2025. He explained that ENPPI carried out several major projects, including a pipeline project for ADNOC Onshore stretching nearly 500 kilometers, supporting the efficiency of the energy transportation system and enhancing operational safety. One of the most significant contracts was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to execute a liquefied natural gas (LNG) treatment…

Geography has become Oman’s greatest asset in the past week. Its roughly 2,000km of mainland coastline lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian missile and drone attacks across the Gulf have effectively halted commercial shipping. Oman has not experienced the same frequency or severity of strikes seen in other GCC states. However, two drones crashed in Sohar on 13 March killing two expatriate workers, and a 11 March drone strike on oil storage facilities at the southern port of Salalah rattled the country’s sense of security. Port authorities temporarily suspended loadings at the Mina al Fahal export terminal in…

Australia’s Macquarie Group has withdrawn from a planned bid for a stake in Kuwait’s oil pipeline network, a deal valued at approximately $7 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. As reported by Reuters, the Australian firm’s exit comes as heightened geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on investor sentiment across the Gulf region. The company informed Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) of its decision to exit the process, citing uncertainty stemming from the ongoing Iran war and its impact on regional stability. The development highlights growing caution among international investors as the conflict disrupts energy markets, particularly following the effective…

The Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company (PETROJET) secured local and international contracts with a total value of EGP121 in Egypt and international markets in 2025, compared to  EGP 112 billion in 2024, Chairman Waleed Lotfy told the company’s general assembly meeting. Lotfy said the company continued to strengthen its position as a global contractor for project execution despite global and regional challenges, geopolitical volatility, and exceptional conditions affecting the contracting industry. During the meeting, Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, commended  PETROJET’s role in the connection and operation of regasification vessels, which helped secure gas supplies for all…

Updated resource estimates for the Chevron-operated Aphrodite gas field offshore Cyprus show a modest 4% increase in the best-case contingent (2C) volumes to 3.7tcf and a reclassification of part of the resource base. The revision reflects progress on the project’s development concept, junior partner NewMed Energy said in a statement on 9 March. According to the latest resource assessment, contingent gas resources at Aphrodite have increased by around 5% in the low estimate (1C), 4% in the best estimate (2C) and 4% in the high estimate (3C) compared with the previous evaluation released in September 2023 (MEES, 8 September 2023).…

Norway’s Equinor and its partners Vaar Energi and Petoro have announced a new oil discovery in the Norwegian sector of the Arctic Barents Sea, Reuters reported, citing the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. The discovery is located around 16 Kilometers (km) from the Johan Castberg field, one of Norway’s key offshore developments in the region. Preliminary estimates indicate the discovery holds between 14 million and 24 million barrels (mmbbl) of recoverable oil, the regulator said. The discovery is expected to support ongoing exploration efforts in the Barents Sea, an area seen as a key frontier for Norway’s future oil and gas production.…

Renergy Group has expressed interest in setting up a $1 billion hyperscale green data center in the El Tor area, Sinai Governorate. The facility will be integrated into the group’s broader $17 billion hybrid renewables project, according to a statement by the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade. This came during a meeting between Mohamed Farid Saleh, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade and  Robert Falk, CEO of Renergy Group Consortium, to discuss developments in the hybrid renewables project. Combining green hydrogen, solar power, and energy storage batteries, as well as a hyperscale green data center, the project is  Egypt’s…

Ever since the regional conflict erupted on 28 February, the Iranian military has made a clear and concerted effort to attack the Port of Fujairah. Whether this is due to its proximity to US naval assets or to punish the UAE economically, the toll is being felt. The first major scare occurred on 3 March when a downed Iranian drone fell between two tanks at Mena Terminal causing a brief fire, but no disruption to operations. Later that evening, a direct strike hit JSW Terminal – acquired in 2023 by Indian firm JSW Infrastructures – causing a major fire at…

The IEA is coordinating the largest ever emergency oil stock release to shield markets from the impact of the historic supply shock generated by the US-Israeli strikes against Iran. Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the start of the war on 28 February instantly removed around 15mn b/d of oil from global markets, plunging the world into an energy crisis. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser this week warned of “catastrophic consequences” from a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that “the oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in…