Page 13 - DMEA Week 50 2020

DMEA POLICY DMEA

Kuwait names new oil and

finance ministers

KUWAIT KUWAIT’S Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah as prime minister.
al-Sabah this week approved a new Cabinet for It is hoped that by bringing in fresh blood,
The appointments the country, including new ministers of oil and Kuwait will be able to end deadlock over legisla-
follow the resignation finance. The appointments follow the resignation tion that would enable the state to access interna-
of the previous of the previous government following a Decem- tional debt markets to improve liquidity.
government. ber 5 general election in which nearly two thirds In Q3 KPC followed its regional counter-
of incumbent lawmakers lost their seats. parts in reassessing its capital programme, and
Mohammad Abdulatif al-Fares, who was reduced capital spending in its 2020-2025 five-
named Minister of Oil, Electricity and Water, is a year plan.
board member at state behemoth Kuwait Petro- The company has been forced to reprioritise
leum Corp. (KPC). its activities because of the impact of the coro-
Meanwhile, a former undersecretary at navirus (COVID-19) pandemic and weak oil
the Ministry of Finance was named as finance prices, which are the main causes of the deficit.
minister. The company has chosen to postpone, stop or
Top of the list of priorities for the new admin- re-offer projects in order to cut spending, though
istration will be plugging the estimated $46bn those to develop and import gas appear to have
deficit said the Emir, who was appointed in been ringfenced, with efforts to develop Jurassic
September following the death of his brother. Gas reserves and import LNG ongoing despite
The Emir re-appointed Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid the reduced spending plans. ™

Saudi Red Sea facilities attacked again

SAUDI ARABIA SAUDI Arabia’s Red Sea oil infrastructure was that it carries the hallmarks of tactics deployed
targeted once again this week with a tanker by Iran in the Gulf of Oman in 2019, where lim-
The vessel had been struck while discharging fuel at the port of Jed- pet mines were used to target vessels.
chartered by Aramco. dah, with the ship’s owner saying it had been “hit While the Red Sea facilities are more than
from an external source”. 1,000 km from the bulk of upstream opera-
When the incident happened, the Singa- tions which are located in the Eastern Prov-
pore-flagged BW Rhine immediately halted fuel ince, the success of such an attack on Jeddah
transfer and a fire was extinguished. Its owner could have significant human and operational
Hafnia said the December 14 strike caused implications, with the city being Saudi Arabia’s
“an explosion and subsequent fire on board”. It second most populous. While Aramco closed
added: “It is possible that some oil has escaped its Jeddah refinery in 2017, targeting facilities
from the vessel, but this has not been confirmed, that far north illustrates the capabilities of the
and instrumentation currently indicates that oil Houthis, and must give Aramco cause for con-
levels on board are at the same level as before the cern about vital midstream and downstream
incident.” facilities at Yanbu’, which is just 300 km further
The vessel had been chartered by Aramco up the coast.
Trading Co. and was loaded with gasoline at the Yanbu’ is a key export hub and the western
port of Yanbu’ on December 8 before heading end of the East-West Pipeline, which Aramco is
south to Jeddah. currently overhauling to increase longer-term
No group has yet claimed responsibility for throughput capabilities from 5mn barrels per
the attack, though Dryad Global has suggested day to 7mn bpd. ™

Week 50 17•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13