Algeria, Total sign deal
ALGIERS: Algerian state energy company Sonatrach said it had signed a deal with French Total to set up a major petrochemical facility in Algeria. Sonatrach has commissioned Total to do a feasibility study, it said in a statement. It gave no details on the scale of the investment or its production capacity, but said it will be of a "world-class standard". Opec member Algeria has been looking to increase foreign investment in its energy sector after several years of stagnant oil and gas production, especially as the government wants to offset the impact of a sharp fall in global oil prices.
Qatargas starts up Laffan 2
DUBAI: Qatargas, the world’s largest LNG producer, said it has started commercial operations at the Laffan Refinery 2 condensate splitter, according to a statement. The refinery, prior to its expansion, had a capacity of 146,000 barrels per day (bpd). Laffan 2 will add an additional 146,000, bringing its total capacity to 292,000 bpd. The shareholders of the Laffan Refinery are Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Total, Idemitsu, Cosmo, Mitsui and Marubeni, the statement said.
Libya oil output rises
TRIPOLI: Libya’s oil production stood at 622,000 barrels a day (bpd), up slightly from levels recorded before an armed faction agreed to lift a two-year blockade on major western pipelines on December 14, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said. Before the agreeement, Libya’s output stood at about 600,000 bpd, having doubled since September. The NOC said it could add a further 175,000 bpd to production within a month, and 270,000 bpd within three months, after the pipelines from the Sharara and El Feel fields were reopened.
Sadara to start maintenance
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Sadara Basic Services, fully owned by Sadara Chemical Co, said it would start planned maintenance of a mixed-feed cracker at its parent company’s petrochemical complex in Jubail. The shutdown of the facility is expected to last six weeks, with the company’s three polyethylene trains also shut during the period as Sadara completes improvements to their reliability and scheduled maintenance, it said in a bourse statement. An evaluation of the financial impact of the shutdowns will be released in the company’s first quarter 2017 financial statements, it said.
Aramco stake sale denied
DUBAI: Major Saudi Arabian newspaper Al Eqtisadiah retracted a report that said state oil giant Saudi Aramco planned to sell 49 per cent of its shares over the next 10 years. The report was "completely wrong and far from reality" and not based on a verified source, the newspaper said, apologising for the mistake. The company aims to sell some of its shares in 2018 in what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering.
Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said in October a flotation of up to 5 per cent was being considered.
