Middle East Economic Survey

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has invited…

Editorial Team — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:45:31 +0000

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has invited international banks to bid for the opening of branches in Libya in partnership with local banks, state news agency JANA announced on 16 February. A CBL statement said: “Expressions of interest should be sent to CBL by 30 March. Two licenses will be issued to foreign banks, which would have an ownership of 49% in the new banks with full management control, and the remaining 51% will be owned by domestic investors.”

Egyptian state gas firm EGAS has awarded three offshore…

Editorial Team — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:45:08 +0000

Egyptian state gas firm EGAS has awarded three offshore exploration and production licenses to international firms, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmy announced on 16 February. The three Mediterranean Sea blocks were awarded as follows: the 281 sq km North Gamasa block to BG; the 1,604 sq km North Damietta block to BP, Petronas and Shell; and the 2,516 sq km East al-Borolos block to Total and Enel.

Austria’s OMV announced on 16 February a gas/condensate…

Editorial Team — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:44:46 +0000

Austria’s OMV announced on 16 February a gas/condensate discovery in Southern Tunisia. A company statement said the Fella-1 well in the Jenein Sud block flowed gas at a rate of 2,700 b/d of oil equivalent as well as 400 b/d of condensate. OMV said this is the fifth successive discovery in this area in the last four years and underpins the significant potential of the block. Further exploration and appraisal activities in the concession are under way with a view to field development.

Moody’s said on 16 February that its outlook for Kuwaiti banks…

Editorial Team — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:44:23 +0000

Moody’s said on 16 February that its outlook for Kuwaiti banks remains negative, because Kuwait’s economy relies heavily on the performance of its oil sector. In the latest Banking System Outlook on Kuwait report, lead analyst Stathis Kyriakides says: “The state-owned oil industry is cash-rich and does not require external funding, which means that banks’ lending activities in recent years have been limited to only a few growth areas, namely personal lending (with around one-third of personal credit used for securities), real estate and construction, non-bank financial institutions and, to a lesser extent, trade.”

Benchmark crude oil prices rose by around 4%…

Editorial Team — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:43:57 +0000

Benchmark crude oil prices rose by around 4% on 16 February as investors responded to a faltering dollar by buying commodities. WTI crude settled $2.88/B higher at $77.01/B while Brent crude settled $3.17/B higher at $75.68/B. Dubai crude settled at $74.99/B on the ICE exchange, while earlier in the day Oman crude settled at $73.02/B on the DME exchange. The OPEC Basket crude price for 16 February was $73.06/B, an increase of $1.34/B on the day.

Moody’s announced on 15 February…

Editorial Team — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:29:13 +0000

Moody’s announced on 15 February that it has upgraded Saudi Arabia’s foreign and local currency government ratings to Aa3 from A1 and the country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits to Aa3 from A1. “The upgrade was prompted by the continued strong state of government finances,” an agency statement said, “which have largely withstood oil price volatility and the global economic crisis. A return in the budget to a moderate surplus – from an estimated small deficit in 2009 – will restore the Kingdom’s debt trajectory back on its former improving trend, even with continued large-scale infrastructure spending.” Later in the day Moody’s announced that it has today upgraded the foreign currency deposit ratings of three Saudi banks – Samba Financial Group, Banque Saudi Fransi and Saudi British Bank – to Aa3 from A1 (positive).

Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) is to review…

Editorial Team — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:28:50 +0000

Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) is to review a stalled project to build a 615,000 b/d capacity refinery, state news agency KUNA reported on 15 February. The report cited KPC Chief Executive Sa’d al-Shuwaib as saying that the SPC would soon review plans for the proposed $15bn al-Zour refinery as well as a proposal to boost clean fuels production. The refinery was among a numbed of projects postponed by Kuwait due to a long-running dispute between the Kuwaiti parliament and the government. KUNA also quoted KOC chairman and managing director Sami al-Rushaid as saying that the company intended to push ahead with a program to increase Kuwaiti production capacity for non-associated gas to 1bn cfd by 2015.

Max Petroleum announced on 15 February…

Editorial Team — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:28:27 +0000

London-based oil and gas exploration and development company Max Petroleum announced on 15 February that its BOR-1 exploration well on the Borkyldakty prospect in Kazakhstan’s Block E has reached a total measured depth of 1,755ms having cut 38ms of net oil pay over five Triassic sandstone reservoirs. A statement quoted Max Petroleum President and CFO Michael B Young as saying: “We are encouraged by the log results on Borkyldakty, the first of 12 post-salt exploration prospects we plan to drill over the next 15-18 months. By using a workover rig to complete BOR-1, we will be able to continue with our exploratory drilling program while evaluating the well. Production test results will be released to the market as soon as they are available.”

Crude oil prices slid further on 15 February…

Editorial Team — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:27:57 +0000

Crude oil prices slid further on 15 February in quiet trading because of the US holiday, as concerns over the Greek economy kept investors cautious. WTI crude settled $0.25/B lower at $73.88/B in electronic trading, while in London Brent settled $0.39/B lower at $72.51/B. On the ICE exchange Dubai settled $0.82/B lower at $71.82/B, while earlier in the day Oman settled on the DME exchange at $72.21/B.

Benchmark crude oil prices fell on 12 February…

Editorial Team — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:13:17 +0000

Benchmark crude oil prices fell on 12 February after four days of increases, as a result of weekly US petroleum data showing a rise in crude inventories and a move by the Chinese government to tighten credit conditions. WTI fell by $1.15/B to settle at $74.13/B, while Brent declined by $1.22/B to settle at $72.90/B. Dubai crude settled on the ICE exchange at $72.64/B, while earlier in the day Oman crude settled on the DME exchange at $72.97/B. The OPEC Basket price for 12 February was $71.55/B.