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Iran to spend $700m for developing Jask region
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said the country was building a $1.8b oil pipeline project from Goreh to Jask Port
of which $700m alone would be spent for developing the port.
Addressing a ceremony to sign several contracts between the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) and local firms for building electro-pumps for
the purposes of the project on Monday, Mr. Zangeneh said the project would transform the region as various oil storage facilities, export jetties, wave breakers and single buoy mooring systems would be built in Jask.
He further added that two refineries as well as petrochemical facilities were also planned to be build in the region afterwards.
The official also called for domestic manufacturing of revolving machinery including turbines, compressors, pumps, electro-engines, etc. as the county spent a fortune for importing such equipment. shana
ComPanies
ADNOC selects ICE for its Murban crude oil futures
State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has chosen the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to launch a regional oil benchmark based on its Murban crude grade by next year, three sources familiar with the matter said.
The move is part of a broader transformation strategy by ADNOC as it seeks
to emulate the success of rival oil majors and bolster its regional influence.
Two sources said ADNOC may launch a new Murban futures contract as early as February 2020.
“ADNOC has taken its decision. It chose ICE and plans to start trading Murban in February next year,” one of the sources said.
Reuters reported in July that ADNOC was in talks over the Murban benchmark plan with a number of exchanges, including ICE and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), as part of the company’s plans to overhaul its trading operations.
The Murban contract will create an alternative benchmark to the most commonly used Middle East standard, the Dubai/Oman benchmark operated by the Dubai Mercantile Exchange and traded on CME’s electronic platform.
The UAE, the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, pumps around 3 million bpd, produced mostly by Abu Dhabi-based ADNOC.
Murban light crude grade production is around 1.6-1.7 million bpd, and is exported from Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman.
For many years the UAE has traditionally sold oil directly to end-users, mainly in Asia, based on a retroactive pricing system rather than the forward pricing used by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
Most Middle Eastern grades, including those of Saudi Arabia, are currently priced
off the Dubai/Oman benchmark for Asian exports, off Brent-related indices for European exports and U.S. indices for U.S. shipments.
The world’s long-established top benchmarks, Brent crude and West Texas International (WTI), also deal in light crude oil, and trade at vast volumes.
ADNOC and ICE declined to comment. REUTERS
PetroChemiCals
ADNOC creates fertilizer JV with OCI
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) this week announced the signing of a deal to create a fertilizer joint venture (JV) with Netherlands-based OCI.
The new entity will be headquartered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and is anticipated to have annual revenues in excess of $1.7bn, based on figures from 2018.
According to a press release by ADNOC, with a capacity of 5mn tonnes per year of urea and 1.5mn tpy of merchant ammonia, Fertiglobe will be the world’s largest export- focused nitrogen fertilizer platform and the largest producer in the MENA region.
It is underpinned by a young asset
base and a robust storage and distribution infrastructure with access to key ports on
the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Arabian Gulf. Fertiglobe’s complementary production and distribution locations bring geographic diversity and enhanced market access, benefitting both existing and new customers.
Following the close of the transaction, Fertiglobe will focus on the integration of the two businesses, which is expected to create significant value through the unlocking of commercial and technical synergies.
H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State, CEO of the ADNOC Group and Chairman of the new joint venture, Fertiglobe, said: “The efficiency we have shown in completing this milestone transaction so quickly is a strong indication of the way that Fertiglobe will operate in the future and a hallmark of what we hope to achieve by combining ADNOC’s fertilizer platform and OCI’s MENA-based fertilizer assets. We have laid careful groundwork to extract and promote synergies throughout
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Week 39 03•October•2019