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Oil exports from Iraq's southern Basra terminals climbed to 888,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Saturday after bad weather reduced exports on Friday, a shipping source said.

'High winds around Basra ports are still preventing ships from docking,' said the source, who asked not to be named.

Winds cut crude exports to 480,000 bpd on Friday from an average of 1.728 million bpd at the offshore export terminals on Thursday. Exports from Basra, Iraq's main oil hub, tend to fluctuate because of weather or technical problems.-Reuters

An explosion hit a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel on Sunday, witnesses and state television reported.     

The pipeline, which also supplies gas to Jordan, has come under attack at least 12 times since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011.     

The latest blast took place in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of al-Arish. Gas pumping was stopped after the explosion.     

Residents in al-Arish told Reuters they could see flames from their town. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene, witnesses said.       

Security in Sinai loosened after Mubarak's fall as the police presence thinned out across Egypt.      

Egypt's 20-year gas deal with Israel, signed in the Mubarak era, is unpopular with some Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not paying enough for the gas.     

Previous explosions have sometimes led to weeks-long shutdowns along the pipeline, run by Egypt's gas transport company Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS.     

Egypt said in November it would tighten security measures along the pipeline by installing alarm devices and recruiting security patrols from Bedouin tribesmen in the area.      

Sinai has long been a restive area, where Bedouins complain of government neglect. It hosts several Red Sea resorts with five-star hotels, but Bedouins say they do not see the benefits.

Egypt doubled the gas price for Jordan in October. Jordan said on Monday it would raise electricity prices as of February to cover the rising burden of imported fuel costs after loss of regular Egyptian gas supplies. – Reuters

Cross currents of fragile oil demand in the West and robust demand in the East, the role played by Opec in maintaining and checking market imbalances are some of the topics that will be discussed at an upcoming summit in Bahrain.

The 20th Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference (MPGC) will be held from May 6 to 8.

It will be held under the patronage of Energy Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

MPGC 2012, which is the longest running annual oil conference in the Middle East, returns to Bahrain to be hosted and sponsored by Noga and Bapco.

Themed “Middle East Oil and Gas: The Known Unknowns and the Unknown Unknowns”, MPGC 2012 will also provide a global perspective on the oil markets, developments in conventional and non-conventional oil production, the role of international oil corporations in Iraq, prospects for tight and sour gas, as well as challenges in accessing new investment opportunities in Middle East gas and the emergence of shale gas.

By bringing key players and decision makers from national oil corporations, regional companies and governments together, MPGC focuses on evolving political, economic, commercial and policy trends in the Middle East and World Markets.

This year’s conference will be officially inaugurated by Dr Mirza.

The opening will also feature keynote address by Saudi Aramco Products Trading president and chief executive officer (CEO) Said Al Hadrami, addressing the first ever marketing interface in the history of Saudi Aramco.

Also making presentations will be Mubadala Oil and Gas CEO Maurizio La Noce, Vitol Group of Companies president and CEO Ian Taylor, Atlantic Basin and greater Middle East of Shell International LNG Supply general manager Mehdi Chennoufi, Total general affairs Middle East vice-president Xavier Preel, UOP president and CEO Dr Rajeev Gautam and industry chief economists Christof Ruehl of BP and Dr Edgard Habib of Chevron.

“The oil markets in 2012 are facing tough challenges,” FACTS Global Energy chairman Dr Fereidun Fesharaki said.

“Oil demand growth is subdued, non-Opec output growth gas escalated whilst refining margins have tightened.

“But geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are high. Economic forces put downward pressure and geopolitical forces put upward pressure on oil prices.

“Meanwhile LNG markets remain firm, buoyed by Japan import requirements and delays in Australian supplies. These interesting dynamics of the global oil and gas markets will be the highlight of our discussions at MPGC.”

Held in conjunction with MPGC, the Annual Middle East Petroleum and Gas Week (MEOW), first launched in 1997, as an integrated umbrella of activities is an established platform for both knowledge sharing and networking for senior executives, policy makers, industry specialists and professional advisers.

“Bapco is very pleased to be able to host and sponsor MPGC once again,” chief executive Gordon Smith said.

“Oil and gas sector is still the main contributor to the national economy of the Gulf region and this conference will discuss new challenges and opportunities in this vital sector.

“Bapco is committed to the kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030 and the conference will serve as the perfect platform for promoting our vision to provide major investments in the country.

“Our support of the event reinforces our commitment to further develop the Middle East oil and gas industry.”

MEOW 2012 will bring together five optional conferences, executive briefings, courses and technical workshops, running back to back in one location in one week.

Covering the global oil and gas markets, upstream, downstream and refining industries, and niche petroleum products, in turn every year, attendees and companies have the flexibility to choose and attend any one or more of these events, individually or in a group. MEOW 2012 events will be held from May 5 to 10. – TradeArabia News Service

The Penspen Group, an independent group of companies providing professional services to the oil and gas industry, has Ibrahim Washash as its new regional manager of Integrity Services in the Middle East.

Based in Abu Dhabi, Washash will spearhead  Penspen’s initiative to enhance its integrity services profile across the region. Penspen is currently providing integrity services throughout UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Iraq from its principal Middle East office in Abu Dhabi.

Washash joins Penspen from Wood Group Integrity Management where he ran their specialist facilities integrity management consultancy for both green and brown fields.

Washash is a chartered engineer, a professional member of the Institute of Corrosion, a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and a NACE Certified coating inspector.

Penspen’s Director of Integrity, Nigel Curson said: “Penspen is world-renowned for Integrity Services and is strategically focussed on the Middle East and Caspian Region. Ibrahim’s technical experience, combined with his thirty years experience in the region, will enable us to capitalise on our experience and maximise the effectiveness of our client response.”

Washash said: “Penspen has an excellent reputation in Integrity services and I am very excited to be joining the group. The Abu Dhabi and Doha teams already have outstanding experience in pipeline Integrity and I am looking forward to helping them build on that, as well as enabling them to branch out into facilities integrity.“

Dalina Merican, general manager, UAE, said: “Ibrahim has outstanding credentials, and is a superb fit for this very important position. Although Penspen has an established presence in the Middle East, we have expanded at such a rate that the addition of someone like Ibrahim has become essential to further support our business growth.”

“His technical,  commercial and leadership experience as well as his expertise in the Corrosion and Integrity industry will suit and benefit Penspen very well in its drive to provide its Middle East clients with the outstanding consultancy,” Merican concluded. – TradeArabia News Service

GE Energy will showcase a wide range of advanced technologies at the 2012 Power-Gen Middle East conference under the banner ‘Cleaner, Flexible, More Efficient’.

The event which will begin tomorrow in Qatar will run till February 8 and will be held under the patronage of Dr Mohamed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, said a statement.

It will take place at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, the theme of which is ‘Challenging Power Solutions in Challenging Times’, highlighting the importance of achieving growth in the region.

“Achieving energy efficiency is key to driving sustainable development,” said Joseph Anis, president and CEO, GE Energy, Middle East.

Technology highlights include the new FlexEfficiency 50 combined cycle power plant that integrates renewables with natural gas to produce cleaner, more affordable and reliable power; power plant lifecycle solutions that empower customers to make efficient use of scarce resources and enable them to achieve increased operational efficiency, the statement said.

Also being launched at the show is GE’s newest innovation the GE TS1000 coalescer, a gas turbine filtration product that delivers improved plant performance and lower maintenance costs to customers in the Middle East operating power generation facilities in harsh environments. – TradeArabia News Service

Iran has given a one-month ultimatum to an Indian consortium over the development of a gas field whose delay by India has been attributed to western pressure, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.

Tension between Iran and the West rose last month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Iran in a bid to curb its nuclear programme.

“Iran has given a one-month ultimatum to India over its decision on participating in the development of Farzad-B gas field,” Fars quoted an unnamed oil official as saying.

“Possibly foreign pressures played a role in influencing  Indian’s delays to develop the field,” he said.

Iran said the field’s in-place gas reserves have been estimated at 21.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf), of which 12.5 tcf are recoverable.

The report said Iran was in talks with India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited for about three years.

In October 2010, Iran said it would soon sign a $5 billion contract with a foreign company to develop its offshore Farzad-B gas field, without naming the company.

India’s (ONGC) has exclusive exploration rights for the offshore Farsi block, of which the Farzad-B gas field is a part.

The EU’s ban on Iranian oil came after US President Barack Obama signed new sanctions into law on New Year’s Eve that would block any institution dealing with Iran’s central bank from the US financial system.

The measures are aimed at shutting off the second-biggest Opec oil exporters’ sales of crude.

However, India which relies on Iran for about 12 percent of its oil needs or around 350,000-400,000 barrels per day (bpd), said it would not cut its oil imports from Iran.

If fully implemented, the measures will make it impossible for countries to buy Iranian oil.

Iran sits on the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves, but the development of its energy sector has been slowed by the international sanctions.

Many foreign companies have been forced to pull out of the Islamic state’s energy sector due to the fear of sanctions.

Iran has previously excluded some foreign oil and gas companies, accusing them of dragging their feet over its projects. – Reuters

Bahrain Energy Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza will patronise the 'First International Conference and Exhibition on Best Practices in Pipeline Operations and Integrity Management' to be held in the Kingdom from March 19 to 21.

The event, at Gulf Convention Centre, Gulf Hotel, is being organised by Tiratsoo Technical and Clarion Technical Conferences, with collaboration from Global Webb Energy Consultants and in co-ordination with the National Oil and Gas Authority.

The event is being sponsored by numerous companies in the region and industry, notably by Elite Platinum Sponsor – Saudi Aramco.

The conference will be opened by Dr Mirza, in the presence of senior representatives and professionals from local, regional and global enterprises serving the energy industry.

The event will bring together a significant number of engineers and experts in pipeline operations and major operators and suppliers.

The conference will present technical reviews from regional and international corporations from Bahrain, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, UK and US, as well as several other countries from around the world.

It will also be attended by delegates from leading national oil companies in the region. A number of researchers and specialists in the discipline will also participate and exchange information and experiences in all aspects of pipeline operations and engineering to gain practical skills and transfer knowledge.

The participants will discuss several issues related to the industry, notably the status of current and future oil and gas pipelines projects in the region.

The design and construction of pipelines on land and in sea, leakage control, concepts of safe pipeline operation, economics of pipeline transportation of oil and gas and environmental protection measures are just a sample of the topics that will be covered during the event.

It will provide participants with a great opportunity to meet petroleum industry professionals and technology experts in pipeline installation and transportation of hydrocarbons.

Dr Mirza said the conference signified an important event for the energy industries worldwide, and notably for the region, home of the world's largest oil and gas reserves.

'The kingdom is proud to host this international conference, the first on this theme to be held in Bahrain, which aims to discuss vital issues facing the industry both from the technical and strategic viewpoints.'

'This gathering provided an opportunity for the participants to learn about the challenges facing the industry and the technical innovations and solutions addressing these challenges.'

'The event will also provide excellent networking opportunities to foster business relationships with a number of leading professionals.'

'The gathering will also allow participants to explore further opportunities for education, enhanced communication and business development.'

'They will be able to examine best practices in pipeline operations under one roof and get the opportunity to discuss issues that affect the global energy industry and the transfer of hydrocarbons through pipelines,' he said and added the exhibitions held on the sidelines of the conference will showcase latest developments in the field.

Technical sessions will be conducted throughout the three days and will comprise numerous working papers covering various topics under consideration, of which 50 will be scientific papers.

Seven technical seminars will also be held during the event and these are designed to promote the exchange of experiences between participants and exhibitors.

Dr Mirza stressed that the country's energy sector was working towards attracting similar international events to Bahrain given the large number of international energy companies that have a presence in the region.

He praised the dynamic stance of Bahrain in hosting such pioneering events, expressing his gratitude and appreciation to the wise leadership of the country for their enthusiasm and support to attract international conferences to Bahrain.

He said the choice of Bahrain as the venue for the conference and exhibition reflects the organiser's and the participants' confidence in the kingdom as the preferred location to hold such events in the Middle East.-TradeArabia News Service

Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy management, has launched an ‘out-of-the-box’ data centre solution that can be installed and commissioned within four weeks of order.

Preconfigured and pre-tested, the data centre comes complete with racks, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), cooling and Schneider Electric’s latest innovation – Struxureware management software.

Available in four sizes, the data solutions deliver a maximum IT load of 32kW, 64kW, 80kW and 96kW respectively.

Delivered from stock, the turnkey solution approach guarantees availability of more than 99.999 per cent and a power usage effectiveness (PUE) better than 1.5, resulting in annual energy savings of 20 per cent over conventional piecemeal approaches.

Each system uses Schneider Electric’s patented Hot Aisle Containment system and can support up to 8kW of IT load in each rack at 4U, 8U, 10U and 12U rack sizes.

A matching cooling solution based on Schneider Electric’s award-winning InRow dynamic DX system ensures maximum efficiency, while continuous power is provided by Schneider Electric’s robust Symmetra innovative modular UPS system.

“Based on the feedback of customers, we have engineered a solution that delivers a best-in-class data centre, with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) as well as highest availability and efficiency,” said Olivier Delepine, vice-president for the UAE and Gulf countries, APC by Schneider Electric.

“Furthermore, by maintaining a stock inventory in our local warehouse, we are able to deliver the fastest time-to-value of any of our competitors,” he added.

Configured with inbuilt (N+1) redundancy and assembled from the highest reliability components the data centre solution comes with remote monitoring and a four-hour response. – TradeArabia News Service

Eurocooler, a leading French company specialised in cooling radiators for the power transformer industry, will present its innovations at the Middle East Electricity (MEE) 2012 exhibition in Dubai.

MEE 2012 will run from February 7 to 9 at Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Eurocooler’s specific know-how is based on a highly developed technical expertise such as stamping metal cutting, welding and surface treatment, a statement said.

Eurocooler proposes different products depending on user’s needs, such as header type radiator: central / offset / cut section / swan neck.

Furthermore, the company is able to fulfill the cooling of a complete range of transformers from 100 KVA to 1500 MVA of power, the statement said.

As all the radiators are dilatable, they can accept variations of volume of oil generated by differences of temperature, thereby no conservative is needed, according to the statement. – TradeArabia News Service

Siemens has won a major order worth more than $1 billion for combined cycle power plant in Saudi Arabia. With an installed capacity of 4 gigawatts (GW) IPP Qurayyah will be one of the world’s largest CCPPs.

Siemens will supply key components for the plant, which will supply enough electrical energy to meet approximately one tenth of the country’s current power demand for its 28 million inhabitants.

Commissioning of the total of six blocks is scheduled for 2014.

The project consortium is led by the Saudi company ACWA Power with Samsung C&T and Mena fund as further members. Siemens received the order from Samsung C&T which also acts as EPC contractor.

In addition, a long-term service and maintenance agreement for the power plant was signed with Hajr Project Company (owned by SEC, ACWA, Samsung C&T). The order value for Siemens is over $1 billion. The plant, which will be commissioned in 2014, will be operated by Hajr as an Independent Power Producer (IPP).

“For the Qurayyah power plant in Saudi Arabia we’re supplying advanced combined cycle equipment from our global manufacturing network,” said Roland Fischer, CEO of the Fossil Power Generation Division of Siemens Energy. The company will supply the components from its recently inaugurated US gas turbine production plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, and also from its manufacturing plants in Berlin and Muelheim, Germany.

Siemens’ scope of supply encompasses a total of 12 SGT6-5000F gas turbines, 18 generators of the SGEN6-1000A series and six SST6-4000 steam turbines together with the associated electrical systems.

Siemens Energy will also provide the long-term maintenance for the major equipment in the IPP Qurayyah power plant. With its portfolio of customizable and proven energy service solutions, Siemens’ full-scope maintenance and service contract will help to ensure the long-term reliability and optimum performance of the plant, as well as provide predictable maintenance costs.

Saudi Arabia is an attractive power generation market. The country not only has the world’s largest oil reserves but also the fourth-largest natural gas deposits. In this decade it is anticipated that Saudi Arabia’s population will increase from 28 to 40 million. To meet the estimated annual rise in power demand of eight percent the installed power generation capacity will have to double within 10 years. The country’s fast-growing power demand is being increasingly met with the aid of advanced, high-efficiency combined cycle power plants.

Despite the hot climate Qurayyah IPP will have a net efficiency of 52 percent and be 14 percentage points better than typical steam power plants in Saudi Arabia. It will be one of the most efficient plants in the country, said a statement.

Only about a year ago, Siemens received an order from Saudi Arabia for the supply of key components for the 2400-megawatt Ras Al-Khair (formerly called Ras Az Zawr) combined cycle plant. The value of that order for Siemens was also over $1 billion. After the Ras Al-Khair, Shuaibah IWPP, Jeddah III, Ghazlan and Al Khobar projects, Qurayyah will be the sixth large-scale power plant built by Siemens in Saudi Arabia.

The company will also supply four gas turbines to Saudi Arabia for the Hail Extension II and Al Qurayat Expansion II projects. Last year, Siemens announced plans to invest several hundred million dollars to build a production and service centre for gas turbines in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. With the new manufacturing and service centre, Siemens is committed to gradually create jobs for highly skilled local and international employees at the new factory, it said. – TradeArabia News Service