Page 11 - MEOG Week 39

MEOG PrICes MEOG
Date
WTI (US$)
ICE Brent (US$)
DME Oman (US$)
OPEC Basket (US$)
24 September
57.29
63.10
62.70
63.93
25 September
56.49
62.39
62.26
62.35
26 September
56.41
62.74
62.54
62.31
27 September
55.91
61.91
62.10
62.51
30 September
54.07
60.78
58.65
--
PoLICy
KDP leader, Greek
diplomats discuss Erbil-
Athens ties
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani met on Sunday with Greek Ambassador to Iraq Leonidas Kontovounesios and discussed the latest political developments in the region.
Kontovounesios was accompanied by the Consul-General of the Hellenic Republic to Erbil, Efthymios Costopoulos. The meeting took place in Erbil.
According to a statement from Barzani’s office, the two sides discussed a range of topics including bilateral Erbil-Athens ties, the political situation in Iraq, and the fight against the so-called Islamic State.
Barzani and Kontovounesios reviewed Erbil-Bagdad relations, which have seen progress recently amid ongoing disputes over oil production and the national budget.
The two sides also stressed the need
to develop bilateral relations between the people of the Kurdistan Region and Greece and discussed the situation of the Kurdish community in Greece, according to Barzani’s office.
The Greek ambassador praised the role of the Peshmerga forces in the fight against terrorism, the statement added.
Athens upgraded its representative office in the Kurdistan Region in late 2018, with the stated aim of strengthening bilateral relations
neWs In BrIeF
with the autonomous Kurdish region.
“I am very proud to open the consulate
and be the first Consul-General of Greece in Erbil. This was the decision that was taken because we believe our relations with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are very important,” Costopoulos told Kurdistan 24 in early February.
The Consul-General has since met with senior Kurdish leaders and officials several times.
kUrdIstan 24
oIL
Expanded East-West
Pipeline will provide limited
protection for Saudi
Expanding the East-West Pipeline’s crude
oil capacity to 6.5 mmbbl per day will provide Saudi Arabia with an infrastructural improvement, but it will not help the country to completely stave off risks associated with the Strait of Hormuz’s closure or limited accessibility, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData.
Alessandro Bacci, Oil and gas analyst at GlobalData, said, “A capacity expansion to
the East-West Pipeline will provide more flexibility in exporting oil for Saudi Arabia but is not a risk-free solution, for example, in scenarios where the Strait of Hormuz is closed or partially blocked.”
“Increased Saudi oil exports from the
Red Sea would come at a higher cost for the country, as most of its oil production occurs on the Persian Gulf and is exported to Asia. In addition, oil tankers would have to pass the Bab El Mandeb Strait – another politically dangerous point,” he added.
Iran, Kuwait, qatar, and Bahrain export all of their output through the Strait of Hormuz. Apart from Saudi Arabia, only the UAE and Iraq have the infrastructure, albeit limited, capable of bypassing the strait, the firm stated. Moreover, as a result of the geopolitical events of the last three decades, Iraq, OPEC’s second- largest oil producer, has fewer exporting routes than it had in the past.
“Unless Persian Gulf exporting countries build many export pipelines capable of bypassing the strait, there is little prospect of full protection against the Strait of Hormuz’s risks. This is true also for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as more than a quarter of the world’s LNG transits through the strait. In the end, options to remedy the closure of or limited accessibility to the Strait of Hormuz are minimal for both oil and LNG trading activity,” he added.
“However, as limiting or closing the Strait of Hormuz’s accessibility would not provide benefits to any of the involved countries, Iran’s threats are a brinkmanship exercise intended to obtain a wider negotiating leverage. As Iran relies on the strait to export its oil (although its oil exports are now heavily restricted by the sanctions) and as the country would not be able to militarily close the strait on a long- term basis, it appears that Iran’s behaviour in relation to the Strait of Hormuz is a way to gain leverage in future negotiations aimed to
Week 39 01•October•2019
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P11