Author: Rigs & Barge World

Egypt has exported 150,000 cubic meters of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Idku liquefication plant to Turkey, on board the LNG ENDURANCE tanker operated by France’s TotalEnergies, according to a statement by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR). The shipment follows another carrying of 155,000 cubic meters of LNG that left the Idku plant for Italy last week. That gas was transported onboard the New NATURE tanker, which is operated by Shell International. The Idku liquefaction plant, located on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast near Alexandria, has a combined annual capacity of 7.2 million tons (m/t) of LNG. The facility…

Khor Mor is the largest producing non-associated gas field in all of Iraq, providing sales gas to power plants across the Kurdistan Region. Its status was further cemented this week with the 15 October completion of the KM250 expansion project boosting capacity by 50% to 750mn cfd. The gas field is operated by the UAE-based Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas on behalf of the Pearl Petroleum consortium. The expansion project was first agreed on in 2019 as the first part of a $700mn two-phase project, with a target completion date of 2021. Development was then held up by the unforeseeable…

Meleiha Base, located  in the Western Desert, hosted a two-day technical workshop where field engineers from various operators in the region came together to exchange experiences, discuss operational challenges, and explore ways to enhance efficiency and safety. This workshop, held on October 6th and 7th, was the third and final in a series of technical sessions organized as part of the Egypt Oil & Gas Group’s 11th Convention, scheduled for December 1st. The series was held in collaboration with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). The workshops were designed to strengthen professional ties and foster cooperation among companies operating in…

The first quarterly gas output in three years is a welcome development for Cairo, but it is still waiting for signs of a sustained rebound that will lift production back to levels achieved early last year, let alone in 2021. Recent months have seen fluctuations but little evidence that any gains will be long-lived. Preliminary data for September obtained by MEES show output rebounding to a six-month high of 4.24bn cfd after hovering at just below 4.20bn cfd in July and August. This resulted in a modest 1% quarter-on-quarter increase to average 4.20bn cfd for Q3, the first quarterly rise…

ExxonMobil is looking at the Mena region as a potential growth area, with a number of countries in the region sitting on under-utilized resources. Whether it be Egypt, Libya, Algeria or Iraq, Exxon is looking at whether it can use its scale and technological knowhow to unlock new value. Some of these opportunities may ultimately not pan out, but the region is back in focus for the US giant. Despite their vast resource bases, a number of Mena producers have struggled to attract foreign investment in recent years, with some even suffering an exodus of IOCs amid concerns over the…

bp confirmed a significant gas condensate discovery at the Volans-1X exploration well in Namibia’s Orange Basin, marking the company’s eleventh exploration success this year. The well, drilled in Petroleum Exploration License 85 (PEL85), strengthens bp’s growing exploration record for 2025. The Volans-1X well was drilled by the Deepsea Mira semi-submersible rig to a total depth of 4,497.5 meters, penetrating the Upper Cretaceous target. PEL85 is operated by Rhino Resources (42.5%), with partners Azule Energy (42.5%), the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) (10%), and Korres Investments (5%). bp holds a 50% interest in Azule Energy, its joint venture (JV) with…

Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Company (SIDPEC) raised its issued and paid-in capital from EGP 1.814 billion to EGP 2.268 billion, almost a 25 per cent hike, according to the decision taken by its extraordinary general assembly meeting on October 20. The capital increase will be carried out through the issuance of 226.8 million new shares, each with a nominal value of EGP 2. As part of the capital restructuring, the board also approved the distribution of one bonus share for every four shares held.  The capital increase follows a period of strong performance for the company. SIDPEC reported profits of EGP…

Industry officials were in alignment during the Energy Intelligence Forum in London this week. Oil markets are softening amid seasonal oversupply and prices will likely fall further in the coming weeks and months, but the seeds of a new bull market have already been sown and balances will tighten from the second half of next year onwards. It could be argued that representatives from major IOCs and trading firms are ‘talking their book,’ in putting forward such a position, but it is a position supported by market fundamentals. Oil prices have slid further this week, but Brent remains above $60/B…

Egypt and Cyprus signed two commercial agreements for transporting natural gas from the Cypriot Cronos field to Egypt on the sidelines of the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Conference and Exhibition (EMC 2025) held in Limassol, Cyprus on 20-21 October. The first is a tariff agreement between Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Italian Eni and French TotalEnergies. The second is a handling, processing, and transportation agreement between the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and IEOC (subsidiary of Eni in Egypt), Eni in Cyprus, and TotalEnergies. The two deals set out the operational and commercial frameworks governing the transportation,…

As Algeria seeks to strengthen its role as an energy supplier to international markets while meeting domestic demand, the country’s investment drive has caught the attention of Gulf investors. Algerian state firms have signed new deals with Saudi and Omani partners in the past two weeks. Algeria has substantial oil and gas resources, but an unattractive business environment has for many years deterred players. The government has sought to address that and passed a new oil law in 2019 that has been welcomed by foreign firms (MEES, 15 November 2019). Now Algeria is ready to put the reforms to the…