New base 982 special 02 january 2017 energy news

Copyright © 2015 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,

or otherwise copied without the written permission of the authors. This includes internal distribution. All reasonable endeavours have been used to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this

publication. However, no warranty is given to the accuracy of its content.

NewBase 02 January 2017 - Issue No. 982 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE

UAE:Dubai's DEWA says 80% of phase 2 of solar park completed Dubai's state utility company announces progress in construction of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Dubai's state utility company has announced that more than 80 percent of the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is complete. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al

Maktoum Solar Park is the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the Independent Power Producer model (IPP).

The second phase is the first and largest of its kind in the UAE and will eventually generate 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity by April 2017.

To date, 75 percent of the 2.2 million photovoltaic panels have been installed, said Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

During the installation, no injuries were recorded, with

over 1 million safe man hours logged, it added. The project occupies 4.5 square kilometres with an investment of about AED1.2 billion. Shuaa Energy 1 is a company established by DEWA to complete the project according to UAE legislation.

DEWA is the majority shareholder at 51 percent with Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, and the Spanish industrial group TSK taking the remaining stake.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA, said: "All projects included in the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park adhere to the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to transform Dubai into a global centre for clean energy and green economy.

"The strategy sets the target to generate 5,000MW of solar power by 2030. Clean energy will generate 7 percent of Dubai’s total power output by 2020, 25 percent by 2030, and 75 percent by 2050."

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park has a planned capacity of 1,000MW by 2020 and 5,000MW by 2030, and a total investment of AED50 billion ($13.6 billion) and will eventually save approximately 6.5 million tonnes per annum in emissions




UAE: IDB Fund II takes equity stake in utility Utico Saudi Gazette

ASMA Capital owned by sovereign institutions, including Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Public Pension Agency (PPA), Ministry of Finance of Bahrain and Ministry of Finance of Brunei has signed a deal with Utico for a significant minority stake.

The deal with Utico for a stake in its water business is done through Asma Capital managed IDB Infrastructure Fund II which has entered into a binding agreement with Utico. The deal is valued overall at $147million in equity and project finance and will be completed in the first quarter 2017.

ASMA Capital is based in Bahrain and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The shareholders of ASMA Capital, who are also investors in the IDB Infrastructure Fund II, are sovereign institutions including Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Public Pension Agency (PPA), Ministry of Finance of Bahrain and Ministry of Finance of Brunei.

ASMA Capital stated that it seeks to invest further with Utico in its other projects and businesses.

Utico stated that the deal was carried out after intense multi-party due diligence and negotiations resulting in the deal signature in late 2016. Ernst & Young, Hatch USA, ILFS, GU Advisory UAE, Latham and Watkins, Trowers and Hamlins and Taylor Wessing are advisors to the deal.

Utico is making significant investments in the UAE and expanding its infrastructure assets in water, power, transmission and distribution, storage, billing and collection.

Utico hopes to do more deals in the near future and propagate its model of development globally including Saudi Arabia and in over 80 countries, including IDB member countries. Its pro-consumer and pro-government development model will be attractive to many countries as successfully proven by Utico in the UAE.

Richard Menezes, Utico’s Managing Director, said the wise leadership of the government of UAE has enabled Utico’s business model to develop and flourish resulting in this landmark investment. Its unique model of development has saved the governments billions of dirhams in capital expenditure and subsidies. The development model also improves the credit ratings of governments and government bodies with sustainable tariff systems.

Utico’s business model of enabling the governments to provide accessible potable water and power in the most economical and sustainable manner, promotes social and economic development without further burdening the governments or the consumer.

In the present lower oil price and tight budgets of many governments, Utico’s model of utilities development becomes even more relevant and sustainable.




Egypt: Eni signs concession agreements for two new exploration blocks in the Egyptian Mediterranean …. Source: Eni

Eni has signed two new concession agreements for the North El Hammad and North Ras El Esh blocks, located in the shallow waters in Egyptian Mediterranean Sea, as a result of the EGAS 2015 international bid round.

Eni is the operator of the North El Hammad block with an equity of 37.5% in participation with BP, who has a 37.5% stake, and with Total, who has 25% a stake. The block, which covers an area of 1,927 km2, is located to the west of the Abu Madi West and Baltim-Baltim South development areas, where Eni recently made the significant discoveries of Nooros, in production since August 2015 and Baltim South West.

Moreover, Eni has a 50% participation stake in the North Ras El Esh block, operated by BP with an equity of 50%. The block, which covers an area of 1,389 km2, is located southwest of the development areas of Temsah and Port Fouad.

The two new concession agreements follow the recently awarded blocks of Southwest Meleiha (in the Western Desert), Shorouk, Karawan and North Leil (in the deep water of the Egyptian Mediterranean). They strengthen Eni’s portfolio and positioning in Egypt, a country of historic and strategic importance, and further confirm the company’s commitment to pursue new exploration after the recent and important successes of Nooros, Zohr and Baltim South West, made in 2015 and in 2016.

Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, operating through its subsidiary IEOC. The company is the main producer in the country with an equity of approx. 224,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at year-end 2016.




Oman: Japanese & Omani oil expertise to tackle energy challenges Oman Onserver - Conrad Prabhu

Oman and Japan have agreed to extend the duration and scope of their ongoing bilateral cooperation to tackle, among other things, two key challenges faced by the upstream oil and gas sector: gas flaring and produced water.

The pact, initialed by the Ministry of Oil and Gas with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), effectively extends the duration of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) first signed in January 2014, by an additional three years.

Set up in 2004, JOGMEC emerged from the integration of the Japan National Oil Corporation, which had the mandate to secure a stable supply of oil and natural gas for Japan, and the Metal Mining Agency of Japan (MMAJ), whose primary remit was to secure a stable supply of nonferrous metal and mineral resources.

JOGMEC also helps resource-rich countries develop their natural wealth by providing technical expertise, training support and knowhow. “The MoU between the Ministry of Oil and Gas, Oman and JOGMEC extends for another three years the continuing technical cooperation to solve challenges in oil and gas fields and to strengthen human resources utilizing Japanese cutting-edge technologies,” Tokyo-based JOGMEC said in a statement.

Significantly, the technical cooperation between the two sides will encompass a gamut of energy related issues, most notably the challenges posed by gas flaring and produced water. Flaring reduction is a key safety and environmental priority for the Sultanate, which is keen to reduce the carbon footprint attributed to flaring. Besides, gas recovered instead of venting can be put to valuable commercial use.

Majority government-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which accounts for much of the nation’s gas output, is pursuing an ambitious flare reduction programme across its sizable Block 6 concession.

The company has plans to recover an estimated 500,000 cubic metres / day of gas by 2019 through the implementation of flaring reduction projects in its Oil South Directorate. Similar




initiatives envisaged in the Oil North Directorate will yield approximately 280,000 m3/day of recovered gas by 2025.

Even more worrisome for Oman is the problem of produced water, which is a byproduct of oil production from a number of fields in the Sultanate. On average, around nine barrels of oil-contaminated water is produced for every barrel of oil that is pumped from certain reservoirs. Disposing of this water safely and effectively imposes a significant cost on oil companies that are saddled with this problem. Further, with produced water averaging 9-10 million barrels per day in the Sultanate — one of the highest in the GCC — the environmental and economic cost needs to be urgently tackled, say experts.

Also envisaged within the scope of the extended MoU are joint technological studies designed to evaluate the potential utilisation of Japanese technologies in tackling challenges encountered by oil companies during the stages of exploration, developmental and production of oil and gas. The potential use of nano-technology and material and advanced environmental technologies will be explored as well.

The efficacy of Japanese technologies in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) will also be reviewed in helping arrest declining production from some wells as part of this cooperative arrangement.

“The extension of the MoU, we believe, will not only contribute to the advancement of Oman and Japan relations, but will also build a stronger foundation on which the activities of Japanese oil & gas companies are based,” JOGMEC added.

Oman is a key exporter of crude and LNG to Japan




Bangladesh:Petronet to build $950 mln LNG terminal in Bangladesh LNG World News Staff

India’s largest LNG importer Petronet signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation to set up an LNG regasification terminal at Kutubdia Island.

Under the MoU the two companies will also develop a pipeline to transport the regasified LNG, in a project estimated to cost US$950 million, a statement by the High Commission of India says.

The terminal, expected to be completed within four years will have a capacity to handle 7.5 million metric tons of the chilled fuel per year.

The project envisions future expansion and can be used to supply LNG through small barges and LNG trucks to users which are not connected by gas grid.

The memorandum of understanding follows reports from July that Petronet LNG has been shortlisted to build an LNG import terminal in Bangladesh initially proposed to have a capacity of 5 mtpa of LNG.




Turkmenistan halts gas exports to Iran over 1.8B$ payment row Reuters

Turkmenistan stopped gas exports to Iran on Sunday in a long-running dispute over arrears, Iran's state gas company said, days after Tehran said the issue had been temporarily resolved.

"Türkmengaz suddenly and ... in an illogical manner, contradictory to the agreement, halted gas deliveries to Iran this morning, demanding quick payment of the disputed amount," the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) aid in a statement carried by the oil ministry news website SHANA.

Türkmengaz had no immediate comment.

NIGC called on consumers to cut gas usage, but said production increases and limiting industrial use could help avoid shortages during the cold winter months.

"Output increases... and cutting consumption in power plants, industry and homes in the winter can compensate for the imports," the NIGC statement said.

Tehran said in December that Turkmenistan had threatened to stop gas exports because of arrears, which amounted to about $1.8 billion and dated back more than a decade. Iran wanted to refer the issue to arbitration.

But on Friday, Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying that Turkmenistan had reached a temporary agreement with Tehran to continue gas exports.

Iran has major natural gas fields in the south but has imported gas from Turkmenistan since 1997 for distribution in its northern provinces, especially during the winter.

In November, France's Total said it had signed a deal with Iran to further develop its part of the world's largest gas field, becoming the first western energy company to sign a major deal with Tehran since the lifting of international sanctions imposed over Iran's nuclear programme.




Federal leasing for offshore wind grows as first U.S. offshore wind farm comes online .. Source: U.S. EIA, based on Bureau of Ocean Energy Management The first commercial U.S. offshore wind farm, Block Island, is scheduled to come online in late 2016. Located three miles off the southeastern coast of Rhode Island, Block Island consists of five wind turbines that will produce 30 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The electricity will be used on Block Island, where electricity is currently supplied by diesel-powered generators. The high cost of current electricity sources on Block Island helps to reduce the economic hurdles typically associated with power from offshore wind.

The developer, Deepwater Wind, began construction on the project in July 2015 and holds two additional leases off the coasts of Rhode Island and of Massachusetts for future developments. Although the Block Island Wind Farm was constructed in state waters, these additional leases are farther from shore in federal waters.

State waters typically extend out to three nautical miles, and federal waters extend out to 200 nautical miles, forming a much larger area known as an exclusive economic zone. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that the United States has 4,200 gigawatts of potential offshore wind energy, with the majority of that potential in federal waters. Although local state agencies typically handle wind development in state waters, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages all wind development in federal waters.

BOEM awards leases through a competitive bid system. BOEM identifies areas that have wind potential, which it designates as call areas. With enough interest from commercial developers and after public comment, BOEM designates a call area with sufficient potential for wind development as a wind energy area, where it can hold a future lease sale.

BOEM held the first competitive federal offshore commercial wind lease sale in 2013 and auctioned off nearly 165,000 acres for wind energy development off the coasts of Massachusetts and of Rhode Island. Since then, BOEM has held four additional auctions for wind development in the Atlantic region. To date, it has issued 11 commercial leases in federal waters, 9 of which were




purchased through the competitive bid process. BOEM issued the other 2 leases before the first competitive lease sale. Cumulatively, since 2013 more than one million acres of land in federal waters have been leased for wind development and have generated more than $16 million in revenue from the lease sales for the federal government.

During the same period, the federal government collected more than $24 billion in revenue from offshore energy extraction activities, predominantly from oil and natural gas. This revenue includes rent, royalties per energy unit, and other fees. Because offshore wind is still in the development phase, companies are not currently paying royalties on production or other fees, but BOEM will collect future revenue from operating fees and additional lease sales. Production fees will be based on the capacity of the wind farm, its capacity factor, the average wholesale electric power price, and an operating fee rate that BOEM determines.

On December 15, BOEM will hold a lease sale for offshore New York for nearly 80,000 acres, and it plans to have another lease sale for areas of offshore North Carolina in 2017. Fourteen companies have qualified to participate in the New York lease sale. To qualify to participate, a company must demonstrate that it is financially, legally, and technically able to bid and develop on the lease. Since the first lease sale in 2013, the number of companies qualifying to participate has steadily increased, from 8 in 2013 to 14 in the latest offering. While there is no guarantee that a company holding a lease will choose to develop a wind farm, the purchase of a lease is a significant indicator of interest.

Wind speeds offshore tend to be higher and less variable compared to onshore. Additionally, offshore wind has the potential to provide power in coastal areas where demand is high and land-based renewable energy resources are limited. However, offshore wind currently has much higher costs than onshore wind, solar, or nonrenewable electricity generation options to serve loads on the U.S. mainland.




NewBase January - 2017 Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

Oil price special

coverage




NewBase Special Coverage

News Agencies News Release 02 Jan 2017

Oil and Gas Explorers Headed for IPO Are Finding Buyers Circling Bloomberg - Alex Barinka

As oil prices stabilize and confidence returns to the patch, there’s been an uptick in oil and gas companies filing to go public. With prized assets in the industry’s promised lands, not all of them make it that far.

In the past month alone, two explorers that were headed for an initial public offering have instead become prey for acquirers: Brigham Resources Midstream LLC agreed to be acquired by Diamondback Energy Inc. for a total deal value of $2.43 billion, while Gulfport Energy Corp. agreed to buy acreage from Vitruvian II Woodford LLC.

Both Brigham, which operates in the lucrative Permian Basin in Texas, and Oklahoma-based Vitruvian were preparing to file to go public as soon as this month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Another Permian explorer, Jagged Peak Energy LLC, filed for an IPO in December but is also open to selling itself, the person said, asking not to be identified as the matter isn’t public.

Whether it’s pursuing an IPO or making an acquisition, companies are taking advantage of a resurgence of investor interest in the industry as crude prices level out. After falling below $27 a barrel in February, prices are back above $50 since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in November to cut production for the first time in eight years.

Pile-In Effect

As sentiment improves, there’s been a pile-in effect to get exposure to assets in particularly oil-rich areas, especially in Texas and New Mexico.

“The Permian Basin -- that’s becoming the place where everyone wants to be,” said Rob Thummel, a portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital Advisors, which oversees $15 billion in energy assets. “You want to have part of your portfolio invested in that area because that’s been one of the best places to drill for oil in the world.”

It’s a welcome reprieve for an industry that’s been beaten down for almost two years. The stabilization of oil prices also makes it easier to value both potential M&A targets and IPO candidates, Thummel said, which should stoke more action in 2017.

Things are already starting to pick up.

The tail end of this year saw an increase in acquisitions of U.S. oil and gas, services and pipeline companies. Some 185 takeovers worth a total of $147.5 billion were announced in the second half of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Compare that to the 170 deals for only $36.58 billion in the first six months of 2016.

The fourth quarter marks the busiest in a year and a half for IPOs of oil and gas businesses as well as companies that provide services and pipelines. Don’t get excited about a boom just yet though: Overall listing activity has been so slow that just three deals raising a total of $1.26 billion was enough to claim that title. “Valuation is key. Asset location is really the key,” Thummel said. “In the industry right now, there are transformation stories.”




Hedge Funds Bet Oil Rally to Extend Into 2017 as Output Cuts Hit

Money managers’ wagers on rising West Texas Intermediate crude prices are triple what they were at the end of 2015, and are the highest since the start of the crude market crash 2 1/2 years ago.

Crude futures settled at the highest in almost 18 months on Dec. 28, with investors now eyeing the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to see who complies with agreed output cuts.

Hedge funds boosted their net-long position, or the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a decline, by 0.6 percent in the week ended Dec. 27, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. WTI increased 3.2 percent to $53.90 a barrel in the report week before settling at $53.72 in New York on Friday.

"We have a very confident positioning here," Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said Friday in a phone interview. "There’s plenty of hope that prices are supported and move higher and very little fear that compliance will be poor and prices will drop."

OPEC agreed to reduce its supplies by 1.2 million barrels a day, while 11 non-members including Russia and Kazakhstan pledged to curb output by almost 600,000 barrels.

Prices climbed this week amid signs that OPEC members will follow through with the promised cuts. Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said his country was committed to cutting output by 200,000 to 210,000 barrels a day from the beginning of next month, Kuwait’s state-run news agency KUNA reported Thursday. Venezuela will cut 95,000 barrels a day of production starting Jan. 1, the country’s oil ministry said in a statement posted Tuesday.

The net-long position in WTI rose by 1,753 futures and options to 307,909. It was the seventh week of increases, the longest stretch since March 2014.




In fuel markets, net-bullish bets on gasoline rose 17 percent to 50,091 contracts, the highest since February 2015, as futures advanced 3.7 percent in the report week. Money managers increased wagers on higher ultra low sulfur diesel prices by 22 percent to 33,541 contracts, the highest since July 2014, as futures advanced 1.8 percent.

U.S. oil companies had been using the rally to hedge their price risk for the next two years, potentially boosting output next year. Producers’ short positions, protecting against a drop in prices, decreased to 614,449 contracts. The number of bearish wagers had climbed to the highest since August 2007 in the week ended Dec. 13.

"What a difference a year makes," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said Friday in a phone interview. After doom-and-gloom sentiment closed out 2015, the market is now "probably the most optimistic we are looking going into a new year in energy in many, many years," he said.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE

Your partner in Energy Services

NewBase energy news is produced daily (Sunday to Thursday) and

sponsored by Hawk Energy Service – Dubai, UAE.




For additional free subscription emails please contact Hawk Energy

Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, Energy Consultant MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA Emarat member since 1990 ASME member since 1995 Hawk Energy member 2010

Mobile: +97150-4822502 [email protected] [email protected]

Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &

regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.

NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

NewBase JANUARY 2017 K. Al Awadi

New base 982 special 02 january 2017 energy news

Business

Transcript of New base 982 special 02 january 2017 energy news