Iraq cuts OSPs to Asia, US
LONDON: Iraq has cut the official selling price (OSP) to Asia and the US in January for its main crude oil export grade, Basrah light, but raised the OSP slightly to Europe, the state oil marketing company said. The move follows a sharp reduction to Saudi Arabia’s crude oil OSPs to Asia and the US, in what many analysts and traders have said suggests countries are competing to hold on to market share in an oversupplied market.
Libya oil at 800,000 bpd
ALGIERS: Libya’s oil production is currently at 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) though its El Sharara oilfield is still closed because of a pipeline blockade, an official at the state oil company NOC said. Last week, NOC’s most recent data showed production, including refined products, stood at 755,000 bpd. Libya produced 1.6 million bpd before the 2011 revolt against Muammar Gaddafi.
Orpic puts out fire at unit
SINGAPORE: Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) said it has put out a fire that broke out at one of its refining units.
The fire occurred at one of the naphtha treatment units at its Mina Al Fahal refinery in Muscat, the company said in a statement on its website.
Saudi to keep supply steady
TOKYO: Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, will keep supplies at full contracted volumes for Asian term buyers in January, industry sources said, the latest sign the kingdom is holding firm against falling prices caused by oversupply. Coming less than a week after Saudi Arabia slashed January prices to Asia and within two weeks of blocking an Opec output cut, the kingdom is maintaining pressure on non-Opec producers to cut production.
Algeria eyes bigger share
ALGIERS: Algeria is looking for greater share of the Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) market as the North African gas exporter diversifies its customers to offset declining demand in Europe, a senior official at state energy firm Sonatrach said.
Opec member Algeria supplies around a fifth of Europe’s gas needs, most of it going to southern European Union countries such as Italy. But it has struggled to revive stagnating energy production over the last few years. “The best opportunities are now in Asia,” Ahmed Mazighi, planning director at Sonatrach, told Reuters on the sidelines of a North Africa oil and gas conference in Algiers.
Turkey eyes Algeria deal
ISTANBUL: Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Turkey was in talks on purchasing oil products and crude oil from Algeria. Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul with his Algerian counterpart, Yildiz said Turkey’s annual purchases of 4 to 4.4 billion cubic metre (bcm) liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Algeria under a 10-year deal will be concentrated in the months of January and February.
