Page 7 - MEOG Week 27
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MEOG                                             P o L i C y                                          MEOG


       UAE merges energy, infrastructure ministries






        Uae              THE UAE has merged its energy and infrastruc-  unit Masdar since 2006.
                         ture ministries into a single ministry, its govern-  Under Al-Jaber, ADNOC has launched
                         ment announced on July 5, as part of a broader  majors new upstream and downstream invest-
                         restructuring programme. The new ministry  ment  programmes  and  has  taken  steps  to
                         will be led by the UAE’s current energy minister,  increase foreign investment. it has also listed its
                         Suhail la-Mazrouei.                  fuel retail business, ADNOC Distribution.
                           Commenting on the move, UAE Prime Min-  Al-Jaber was also a  key  figure  behind
                         ister Sheikh Mohammed bin rashid said the  ADNOC’s recent sale of a 49% stake in its gas
                         reform would create a more agile government  pipeline system to a group of international
                         that is “faster in decision-making, and more up  investors for more than $10bn. Cited as the big-
                         to date with changes.”               gest energy deal of 2020, the deal saw US’ Global
                           The UAE has also set up a new ministry  infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Asset
                         for industry and advanced technologies, to be  Management, Singapore’s sovereign wealth
                         headed by Sultan al-Jaber, the head of national  fund GiC, Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension
                         oil company ADNOC. But the government has  Plan Board, South Korea’s NH investment &
                         not said whether the appointment will affect his  Securities and italian pipeline operator Snam,
                         current role.                        gain access to 983 km of pipelines that deliver
                           Al-Jaber also became the UAE’s Minister  gas from ADNOC’s fields to its customers in the
                         of States and a member of its Council of Min-  UAE.
                         isters in March 2013. He then took the helm   ADNOC also spun off its oil pipeline network
                         of ADNOC in February 2016. His other roles  last year, passing a 40% stake to US investors
                         include CEO of Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy  Blackrock and KKr for $4bn.™





       Iran: US has failed to stop our oil exports





        iran             THE US failed to stop the sale of oil by iran   iranian President Hassan rouhani previously
                         through sanctions, despite the intention to make  said that US sanctions would have a weaker
                         the sale of “black gold” for the islamic republic  effect with Tehran less dependent on oil.
                         “zero,” iran’s Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has   The government developed measures to
                         said in a statement on July 5.       exempt from dependence on fuel exports by
                           Despite the rhetoric, iran’s sales have dropped  pushing products and petrochemical exports,
                         in recent months as buyers, fearing US sanctions,  which have a better return on investment.
                         have opted to either cut iranian crude imports or   But, iran did not abandon attempts to find
                         find third-party companies to ship it with hefty  alternative ways for oil exports, including
                         discounts.                           bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, via ports on the
                           “Oil, being iran’s major source of income,  edge of the indian Ocean.
                         was under severe sanctions. Under previous   Tehran is building a pipeline from the Goura
                         sanctions, the sales ceiling for iran was set at  oil terminal to the Bandar Jask, which will allow
                         one million barrels of oil, then we sold up to 900  iran to transport up to 1mn barrels of oil per day,
                         thousand barrels of oil. Now they (the US) stated  bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
                         that iran’s oil sales should be zero, which, fortu-  The project is planned to be completed at the
                         nately, they were not able to do, “ Jahangiri said.  beginning of 2021.™




















       Week 27   08•July•2020                   www. NEWSBASE .com                                              P7
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