Page 19 - MEOG Week 49

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

POLICY Khamenei’s work. His tweet was also reported for medium-term bullishness.
by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. “As we anticipate a recovery [in demand],
Iran: US seeks to loot Syria appeared to be a response to reports by several seeing in investment in oil exploration and
The statement about Khamenei’s health
a key concern is the decline that we are
oil, support terrorists news organisations, which referred to a tweet development,” warns Nasser. “Many producers
by a journalist in Arabic who said Khamenei
in different parts of the world are facing
Secretary-General of Iran’s Supreme National had transferred duties to his son because of financial pressures and higher cost portfolios.
Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said the his health. As economies and demand recover gradually,
US stays in Syria to pillage oil, ensure Israel’s Khamenei has served as supreme leader we may also see supply being constrained.”
security and strengthen the presence of since 1989, with the final say on all state But, while remaining positive about the
Daesh/ISIS terrorists in the region. matters. His health has been the subject of upstream, Aramco will continue to pursue
Shamkhani met on Tuesday with Syrian speculation for years. its expansive downstream strategy as a
Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, who is A security official in Israel, which closely counterbalance to its production arm. “Over
visiting Tehran as part of his first official visit follows events in its enemy Iran, told Reuters: the coming decade, we expect about half of
abroad. “We are aware of these rumours, and regard the growth in oil demand is likely to come
“The vicious US presence in northern Syria them as rumours only.” from petrochemicals,” says Nasser. Aramco
must be ended”, Shamkhani said in statements REUTERS “will convert… a significant part of our
cited by the official IRNA news agency. production to petrochemicals over the next
“Rulers who are normalizing ties with the two decades”.
fake regime of Israel will not have a fate better COMPANIES The NOC also plans “large growth” in its
than that of [former Libyan leader] Muammar refining business, and its strategy is for further
al-Gaddafi and [former Sudanese President] Aramco CEO sees H2 2021 integration of chemicals with its refining
Omar al-Bashir,” he said. asset base. “Although we are seeing a number
As part of his official visit to Tehran, oil price recovery of companies announcing global refinery
Mekdad also met with Iranian Foreign rationalisation or shutdowns in Europe and
Minister Javad Zarif on Monday. “We are still in the tunnel, but I believe we the US, and some scale-back in Asia, we still
ANADOLU can now see more light at the end of the see opportunities in certain geographies,” says
tunnel.” So said Amin Nasser, the CEO Nasser. Asia is an obvious focus, given that
Iranian official denies of Saudi Aramco, as he accepted the 2020 Aramco expects more than half of the world’s
Kavaler Award from petrochemicals industry
new refining capacity coming onstream over
rumours of decline in association The Chemists’ Club. the next 8-10 years will be in region “And
“I believe the worst is behind us at this
70-80pc of that will be focused mainly on
supreme leader’s health moment,” says Nasser, although he cautions plastics,” Nasser predicts.
that “there is still some uncertainty due to
Another growth area for Aramco is non-
An official close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Covid-19 waves, especially in Europe and the metallic materials that can substitute high-
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied rumours on US”. On the other hand, economic recovery carbon emission alternatives in sectors such
social media on Monday that the 81-year-old’s in China and elsewhere in Asia, as well as as construction, housing, automotive and
health was deteriorating. the prospects for the rollout of vaccination renewables. “We continue to evaluate and
“By the grace of God and with the good programmes on a global scale, give him cause pursue a number of [growth] opportunities
prayers of devotees, the gentleman (Ayatollah for optimism. here in the kingdom and around the world in
Khamenei) is in good health and is busy “We can expect a better recovery in the countries like China and India,” says Nasser.
vigorously carrying out his plan according to oil market in the second half of 2021,” he “We are considering adding more chemicals
his routine,” the official, Mehdi Fazaeli, said on continues. And, despite the growing debate or [further] integration with existing assets in
Twitter. over the potential that peak oil demand might our refining base, both in the kingdom and
Fazaeli has worked in an office publishing have already been reached, he also sees reason also globally, such as in the US.
“As for M&A, [Saudi petchems
heavyweight] Sabic is a significant transaction,
and we are currently working on the
integration programme with Aramco. [But]
we are not ruling out any good opportunities
that come our way in the future,” he continues.
PETROLEUM ECONOMIST

OIL
Downhole pumps boosting

North Yaran oil output

The head of North Yaran Oil Field
Development Project said announced

Week 49 09•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19