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Oil & Gas

Oil and gas news from the Middle East and beyond. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

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Oil & Gas news

Petrol station in Al Hamra, Oman. Regulations require new petrol stations to include solar power, electric vehicle charging points, ATM’s and parking for a variety of vehicles

Oman petrol stations must install solar and EV charging

Oman has toughened rules around licensing new petrol stations, telling operators to install solar power and provide electric vehicle charging points and other facilities. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has said it will not issue licences for new petrol pumps unless they fulfil requirements which include the provision of fuel, suitable pumps […]

An oil worker in Kazakhstan, which has been exceeding its Opec+ quotas

Opec+ triples additional June barrels to deter quota-breaking

Saudi Arabia and seven members of Opec+ will triple the volume of barrels they add to the market in June, as part of the kingdom’s new strategy to squeeze quota-busting members and boost market share, experts said. Saudi Arabia and seven other countries implementing voluntary cuts decided in an online May 3 meeting to add […]

Unexpected high oil prices allowed Oman to overcome its predicted budget deficit

Higher oil prices wipe out Oman’s 2024 budget deficit

Higher-than-budgeted oil prices wiped out Oman’s OR640 million ($1.7 billion) deficit for 2024, according to the finance minister, although the IMF has warned that the Gulf state still faces economic challenges.  Oman posted a surplus of $1.4 billion last year as it sold oil at an average price of $82 per barrel, a third higher […]

Workers at a Saudi Aramco onshore rig. Excluding the oil major, Saudi Arabia has about $600bn of domestic assets it could sell

Oil price fall poses spending dilemma for Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has various assets it could sell as the drop in oil prices pushes up the country’s 2025 budget deficit, economists have said. The country could also opt to plug the gap by issuing more debt or altering its spending plans. Saudi Arabia’s debt-to-GDP ratio is only 29 percent, according to S&P Global Ratings, […]

Water, Waterfront, Pier

Oman strikes LNG deal with Mexico’s Amigo

Oman has signed a 15-year agreement with Mexico’s Amigo LNG to secure liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of its strategy to diversfy its clean energy sources. Under the agreement, the government-backed OQ Trading will purchase 0.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Amigo’s export terminal in Guaymas, Mexico. Amigo LNG is a subsidiary […]

Adnoc Gas revenue was up 1 percent year on year to over $6 billion following the signing of new supply agreements

Adnoc Gas rules out project delays and sticks to capex plan

Adnoc Gas, a unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), said it is ruling out project delays in its $15 billion, five-year capital expenditure plan, though two developments are still pending a final investment decision. Adnoc Gas plans to make a final investment decision (FID) around mid-year on its Rich Gas Development project, which […]

A drilling rig at the Zhetybay field in Kazakhstan. It defied Opec+ this month when its energy minister said he will prioritise national interests over those of Opec+

Opec+ accelerates oil output hikes despite weak demand

Opec+ has agreed to accelerate oil production hikes for a second consecutive month, raising output in June by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd), the group said on Saturday. This is despite falling prices and expectations of weaker demand. Following an online meeting lasting just over an hour, the producer group announced the supply increase, saying […]

TotalEnergies and Oman are collaborating on a groundbreaking LNG project

Oman launches LNG project for clean marine fuel

Oman has begun construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the northern port of Sohar, which its sponsors say is one of the lowest emission plants in the world. TotalEnergies of France holds an 80 percent stake in the $1.6 billion Marsa scheme while OQ Exploration & Production has the remaining 20 percent, […]

A liquefied natural gas tanker is tugged towards a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo, Japan

QatarEnergy in talks with Japan on long-term LNG supply

One of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas suppliers, QatarEnergy, is in talks with Japanese firms for a long-term deal to supply LNG from its North Field expansion project, five trading and industry sources told Reuters. Under the deal, Qatar would supply a consortium of Japanese importers and a volume of at least 3 million […]

Depressed oil prices, falling to a four-year low, contributed to a slowdown in Saudi Arabia's economic growth in the first quarter

Oil price slump hits Saudi Arabia’s economic growth

Growth in Saudi Arabia slowed in the first quarter of 2025 amid depressed oil prices and fears of an escalating global trade war. Figures released by the General Authority for Statistics on Thursday showed that the non-oil economy grew by 4.2 percent, while real GDP grew by just 2.7 percent. Oil activities contracted by 1.4 […]

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has raised $5.25bn from debt markets this year

PIF raises $1.25bn from year’s second debt sale

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has sold $1.25 billion in 7-year sukuk, tapping the bond market for the second time this year. The sovereign wealth fund was able to lower the price guidance to 110 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries from 140 bps over the same benchmark released earlier in the day after […]

Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter. Riyadh has been angered by Kazakhstan and Iraq producing above their Opec+ targets

Saudi Arabia signals it can live with lower oil prices

Saudi Arabian officials are briefing allies and industry experts to say the kingdom is unwilling to prop up the oil market with further supply cuts and can handle a prolonged period of low prices, sources said. This possible shift in Saudi policy could suggest a move toward producing more and expanding its market share. This […]

Keeping the lights on in Kuwait is becoming a problem with a lack of power reserves

Kuwait cuts off crypto mining to save power

Kuwait this week began a clampdown on illegal cryptocurrency mining activity, as the energy-intensive sector places further pressure on the Gulf state’s already severe power shortage problem. The country’s industrial facilities were told earlier this month to suspend operations for six hours daily during the summer, as part of a power rationalisation plan. The ministry […]

An Egyptian farmer harvesting flax, which the country exports. Shifting trade patterns could result in more foreign direct investment

UAE and Egypt could benefit most from global trade shift

The UAE and Egypt may benefit the most among Mena countries from the US-led reordering of the global trade framework, Citigroup Mena CEO Ebru Pakcan has said. By contrast, oil producers from Iraq to Kuwait and Oman to Bahrain could struggle, Pakcan said, on the back of the lowest international prices in four years.  Resource-poor […]

Adnoc is to sell more US LPG to India. LPG has a variety of uses, including as a cooking fuel.

Adnoc to supply US LPG to India following China-US tariffs

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) will start replacing some of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) it supplies to India with cheaper US cargoes from June, industry sources said, as US-China tariffs rejig global trade flows. The move will enable Adnoc to ship more of its own LPG to China, where buyers are paying higher […]

Workers at Woodside's Pluto LNG in Australia. Louisiana LNG is targeting first production in 2029

Kuwait in talks to buy stake in Woodside’s Louisiana LNG

Australian petroleum company Woodside Energy Group is in negotiations with Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration (Kufpec) to sell a stake in its Louisiana liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Kufpec, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum’s overseas unit, is considering both acquiring equity and securing LNG supply from the US facility, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.  The […]

While lower oil prices may squeeze some Mena producers, Gulf nations are expected to maintain long-term investment plans

Gulf oil investment ‘can weather price slump’

International oil prices may have fallen to their lowest in four years but that is unlikely to disrupt the exploration and production investment plans of Gulf national oil producers, energy analysts have said. But Middle East and North Africa producers outside the GCC may not be so lucky. Crude oil fell below $60 a barrel […]

Sultan Al Jaber, the group CEO of Adnoc

Adnoc to raise $1.5bn with Islamic bonds

Abu Dhabi state oil giant Adnoc will raise $1.5 billion from a debut sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, acting through its primary debt capital markets entity Adnoc Murban, is selling the sukuk at 60 basis points over US Treasuries, the […]

An LNG pipeline will link Nador in Morocco to the to the Maghreb Europe Gas Pipeline

Morocco invites bids to build its first LNG plant

Morocco has invited companies to bid to build the country’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal as it seeks to diversify its sources of fuel, Morocco World News reported. A gas pipeline will also be built to link the terminal at Nador West Med Port on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast to the Maghreb Europe Gas Pipeline, […]

Opec+ has already agreed to increase oil output by 411,000 barrels per day in May

Opec+ to consider further oil output increase for June

Several Opec+ members are to suggest the group accelerates oil output hikes in June for a second consecutive month, as a dispute worsens between members over compliance with production quotas. Oil prices hit a four-year low in April, dragged down by a US-China trade war and an unexpected decision by Opec+ to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day […]

Morocco’s energy minister Leila Benali said the pipeline project has "made considerable progress" and is in the execution stage

Morocco and Nigeria agree terms for $25bn gas pipeline

Morocco and Nigeria have agreed to create a joint venture to manage a long-planned $25 billion pipeline which will ship gas to Europe, a Moroccan minister has said. Leila Benali, minister of energy transition and sustainable development, told Morocco’s parliament that a floating gas storage terminal would also be installed at Nador on the Mediterranean […]