Page 13 - MEOG Week 45

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Aramco signs 2020 crude oil supply deals
Saudi Aramco signed crude oil sales agreements for 2020 with five Chinese customers, increasing total volume by 151,000 barrels per day compared to their 2019 supply contracts.
These new sales agreements further solidify the Company’s position as China’s top crude supplier.
These five new agreements were signed separately on the sideline of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE), the largest trade fair held under the patronage of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Commenting on the newly signed agreements, Ahmed Al-Subaey, Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Supply Planning, said, “The new agreements signed at CIIE reflect Chinese customers’ continued faith in Saudi Aramco’s supply stability and operational excellence. Likewise, the new agreements demonstrate our continued commitment to the world’s fastest-growing oil market.”
This is the second consecutive year that Saudi Aramco has attended CIIE. Last year, the Company signed a number of crude oil sales agreements with Chinese customers
that helped to propel Chinese crude oil sales in 2019 to new levels. These agreements reflect Saudi Aramco’s efforts to strengthen its position in China and support the country’s growth in refining and petrochemicals, as well as overall energy security.
aramCo
BP, Total, Shell, Vitol take
stakes in Abu Dhabi oil
bourse
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, total SA and Vitol Group are among partners in a new exchange to trade Abu Dhabi’s flagship oil grade in what could become a new price benchmark for a fifth of the world’s crude.
Intercontinental Exchange chairman Jeffrey Sprecher confirmed the partnerships, speaking on Monday to reporters in Abu Dhabi. Other partners in the exchange
are Petrochina Co, Inpex Corp. and JXtG Holdings of Japan, Ptt of Thailand, and South Korea-based GS Caltex Corp, he said.
Although oil producers across the Gulf pump about a fifth of the world’s oil, they have never had a region-wide, exchange- traded crude benchmark. ADNOC wants the Murban futures contract to become a benchmark for crude from the Middle East, the world’s biggest oil exporting region.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. will join major international oil companies, traders and customers as founding partners in a platform operated by ICE for the trading
of futures contracts in Abu Dhabi’s flagship Murban crude, ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber said in a speech earlier Monday. Murban futures will allow buyers to hedge in the
open market, he said. Murban crude futures are likely to begin trading around June, and are set to be the benchmark for other Abu Dhabi grades, Al Jaber said in an interview after ICE’s announcement. ICE will be a majority shareholder in the Abu Dhabi futures
exchange, he said. Murban is ADNOC’s most plentiful grade, at about 1.7 million barrels a day, and accounts for more than half of the crude pumped in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi holds most of the oil in the UAE, the third-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Abu Dhabi won’t be the first regional producer to offer futures contracts for its crude. Oman and the neighboring UAE emirate of Dubai joined with CME Group in 2007 to start the Dubai Mercantile Exchange to trade Omani crude futures. Oman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia are the only producers in the Gulf to price off the contract; most of the others base their monthly crude pricing on the Dubai and Oman crude price assessments by S&P Global Inc.’s Platts.
There is room for more than one benchmark in the region, and the Oman and Murban markers could act as reference points for different crude grades and qualities, Al Jaber said. Murban is lighter and sweeter, while Oman is heavier and more sour, he said. Murban is lighter and contains less sulfur than most Middle Eastern crudes, making it easier to refine. It generally fetches higher prices
on global markets and is similar in quality
to Brent crude, the global benchmark. Brent crude futures are traded on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange.
GuLF business
Oman’s oil and gas sector
allocated investments of
$10bln-$15bln
Oman’s oil and gas sector has been allocated investments of between $10 billion and $15 billion over the next three years, Emirates’ News agency (WAM) cited its oil and gas minister as saying on Monday.
These will be “mostly concentrated in the petrochemical industries, in addition to the presence of many investments for foreign companies in the energy sector”, Minister Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhy said.
The minister, who is attending an energy conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, also affirmed Oman’s commitment to the OPEC+ agreement. He said an oil price of $60 per barrel is suitable for Oman and good for its economy, WAM reported.
ZaWya
Iraq exports declining along
with Suezmax market share
Iraq’s Oil Ministry confirmed recently that
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