Bapco to take part in petro forum

MANAMA: Bapco has announced it will take part in the second GCC Petroleum Media Forum in Riyadh next week.
On the sidelines of the forum, which is held biennially, an associated exhibition will be organised in which several GCC oil companies will take part. It will also include a number of workshops delivered by petroleum media specialists as well as a number of technical sessions.

Kuwait’s power minister quits

KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Water and Electricity Minister Abdulaziz al-Ibrahim has resigned, the state news agency Kuna said, more than a month after a widespread power cut hit the Gulf state. No details were given on the reasons for the resignation, but the agency said the emir had expressed understanding for the causes behind his move.

Mubadala to explore Morocco

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum said that it had agreed with the Moroccan government to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of a large area off Morocco’s Mediterranean coast. The company, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi state-owned fund Mubadala Development Co, obtained an exclusive licence to carry out a detailed geological survey of the Mediterranee Ouest area, which comprises 3,433 sq km. Mubadala Petroleum will provide the Moroccan government with the results of the survey on completion, the company said.

Saudi crude exports up in January

DUBAI: Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia rose in January to their highest level since April last year, while volumes used by domestic refineries remained high, official data showed. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi has said oil demand was growing and expected oil prices, which hit a near six-year low in January, to stabilise. The top oil exporter shipped 7.474 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil in January this year, up from 6.934 million in December, data published by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi) showed.

India to import Iraq oil

NEW DELHI: India is set to import 8 million barrels of Iraqi oil to fill its first strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), taking advantage of cheap prices and lending some support to a market suffering from oversupply.

India’s SPR purchases could temporarily help offset the impact of an expected pause in China’s strategic stocks build and the start of spring maintenance at Asian refiners.