New base 576 special 06 april 2015

Copyright © 2015 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,

or otherwise copied without the written permission of the authors. This includes internal distribution. All reasonable endeavours have been used to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this

publication. However, no warranty is given to the accuracy of its content. Page 1

NewBase 06 April 2015 - Issue No. 576 Khaled Al Awadi

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE

Solar Impulse numerous more challenges to face in the next

flight from Chongqing to Nanjing of the Round-the-World tour. http://www.solarimpulse.com/

NEXT FLIGHT

Due to the weather conditions, Si2 has to stay in Chongqing for the next few days. There should be a

weather window for Flight#6 to Nanjing – China from April 7th. Stay tuned!

Under the applauses of the solar teams and solar impulse fans around the world, Bertrand Piccard has finally

landed Si2 in Chongqing China. The landing has been difficult as the pilot had to maneuver the aircraft in a

rather windy spot after a 20h30 long flight. The team in Monaco is honored to receive the visit of Prince

Albert of Monaco at the Mission Control Center.

Bertrand Piccard is absolutely thrilled to

have landed in Chongqing China. He

regards it as a privilege to be able to bring

the first solar airplane to the biggest and the

biggest country in the world. Bertrand

Piccard is looking forward to meeting

people of China, universities and schools to

show that clean technologies can achieve

miracles. Being in China will be the

opportunity to share the core message

behind Si2’s Round-the-World tour: The

Future is Clean.




Qatargas loads 5,000th cargo from Ras Laffan port Gulf Times + NewBase

Qatargas has loaded its 5,000th cargo from common LNG (liquefied natural gas) storage and loading asset in Ras Laffan. The cargo was loaded on board the Q-Flex vessel ‘Al Karaana’ at Ras Laffan port, a Qatargas spokesman said.

Operated by Qatargas, the common lean LNG storage and loading facilities were built to store and load LNG produced from Qatargas’ seven LNG production trains and RasGas trains 6 and 7. The LNG is loaded from berths 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 at Ras Laffan port and delivered to Qatargas’ and RasGas’ customers across the globe.

The common LNG storage and loading facilities include twelve LNG tanks, eight of which have a storage capacity of 140,000 cubic metres each and four with a capacity of 85,000 cubic meters each.

The facility also recovers Boil-Off gas (BOG) from the LNG tanks. The recovered gas is supplied to the LNG trains as fuel gas. Five LNG loading berths are also part of the facility. In addition, the common LNG storage and loading facilities also operate the jetty boil-off gas recovery units, which recover boil-off gas during LNG ship loading, compress it and send it back to the LNG ventures to be used as fuel gas.

To mark the 5,000th loading milestone, a brief ceremony was held on board ‘Al Karaana’ attended by senior officials from Qatargas and RasGas and the ship master.

Qatar's LNG export capacity is the

highest in the world at 77 million

tons per year (MMt/y), approximately

3.7 Tcf/Y , split between

Qatargas (42 MMt/y)

RasGas (35 MMt/y).




Saudi non-oil business growth hits 6-mth high in March Reuters + NewBase

Growth in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector accelerated to a six-month high in March, a survey of businesses showed yesterday, indicating the kingdom’s economy continues to comfortably ride out low oil prices.

The seasonally adjusted SABB HSBC Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 60.1 points last month from 58.5 points in February. The 50-point level separates expansion from contraction. The Saudi government has continued spending

heavily on economic development and welfare projects despite the plunge of oil prices since last June. It is drawing down its huge foreign currency reserves to cover its budget deficit. Output growth surged to 67.6 points in March, it’s fastest since June 2011, and the survey showed. New order growth accelerated to 67.3 points. Employment growth slowed slightly but remained strong at 53.7 points. Output price inflation edged up to 50.4 points but input price inflation increased faster, to 53.7 points. Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Market and customers need to apply to Market for a license. Meanwhile, business activity growth in the United Arab Emirates’ non-oil private sector slowed to a 17-month low in March as expansion of both output and new orders eased, a corporate survey showed yesterday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures manufacturing and services, fell to 56.3 points last month from 58.1 in February. The 50-point level separates growth from contraction in the survey of 400 firms. “Rates of expansion eased for the second month running and were below those seen through much of last year,” said Philip Leake, economist at data provider Markit. “As a result, workforce numbers rose at the slowest pace in three years.” Output growth dropped to 60.7 points from 64.3, while new order growth slowed to 61.6 from 63.3. However, growth in export orders actually accelerated because of strong demand in neighbouring countries. Employment growth fell to 51.3 points. Input costs and output charges fell simultaneously for the first time in five years, which the survey attributed to stiff competition among suppliers. Input price inflation tumbled to 49.3 points from 53.6; output price inflation edged up to 49.2. Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Market and customers need to apply to Market for a license.




Jordan:To declare international tenders for nuclear plant

Jordan advanced its nuclear power ambitions after striking a deal with Russia last month, but reliable access to water and financing remains in question.

The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) and the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation moved forward with plans first announced in 2013 with an agreement for the

framework to construct two nuclear reactors that will add 2,000 megawatts of power to the Arab country’s grid.

The agreement will establish a joint venture company that will handle the operation, supply and distribution of the power plant. Rosatom expects the project to cost in the area of US$10 billion, with Rosatom and JAEC almost splitting the costs down the middle. It is not clear how the funds will be raised.

While international institutions such as the World Bank and its financial lending

arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), do not fund nuclear energy projects, there could be options for ancillary schemes such as the development of water supply systems for a plant. “In principle, we can consider water and wastewater investments in Jordan, but we need to assess the merits of these projects in due course,” said Ahmed Attiga, IFC country manager in Jordan.

The nuclear reactors will be in Amra, located 70 kilometres east of Amman, in the eastern desert. Jordan already faces a water deficit of about 600 million cubic metres annually. Water is necessary for nuclear power plants as an agent to help in the cooling process, and Jordan already faces a water deficit of about 600 million cubic metres annually.

“Water supply is the paramount issue,” Rosatom said.

A US nuclear expert said that the selected location in the eastern desert without sufficient water supplies did not make “economic sense”. “The lack of water flow is what caused the explosions at Japan’s Fukushima,” said Paul Sullivan, professor at Georgetown University. The most recent nuclear meltdown occurred four years ago in Japan. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced meltdowns at its three reactors after an earthquake and tsunami hit the island.

Jonathan Cobb, spokesman for the World Nuclear Association (WNA), said that Jordan would secure cooling water from the Khirbet Samra Wastewater Treatment Plant. The plant currently produces 267,000 cubic metres a day, but an expansion project with France’s Degrémont is expected to be complete in July. The treated water would increase to 367,000 cubic metres a day, according to the Degrémont Middle East chief executive Pierre Pauliac.

This type of arrangement is not unprecedented, Mr Cobb said.The Palo Verde nuclear generating plant, located in the Arizona desert, uses 220 millions of litres per day of treated water that is pumped 70km from Phoenix.

Rostatom's VVER-1200




By those calculations, Mr Cobb said that the Khirbet plant would supply enough water to cool the proposed plant. “It’s hard to give precise figures as it will depend on conditions from reactor to reactor, but the proposed supply seems more than sufficient,” he said.

Jordan needs nuclear power to meet its rising energy demand as currently it imports over 95 per cent of its energy. The country generates 2,400MW of electricity, but it will need 8,000MW by 2030.

However, with the proposed nuclear power plant located only about 200km from the borders of both Iraq and Syria, security is a concern. “Geopolitics seems to be the bigger issue. Jordan sits in the eye of the Middle East storm, including so-called US allies,” said Akira Tokuhiro, nuclear energy expert at the University of Idaho.

WNA’s Mr Cobb said that while security was always a top concern, there are already well used practices available to mitigate the potential for attacks. “Measures are taken around the world to ensure nuclear plants are protected from terrorism,” he said.

But Georgtown’s Mr Sullivan warned that “there is a good likelihood for nuclear power for electricity in Jordan if stability prevails. Otherwise, all bets are off”. It has also been unclear if the US will insist that Jordan follows the example of the UAE and sign a “gold standard” 123 Agreement not to pursue uranium enrichment reprocessing capabilities.

Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act requires the conclusion of a specific agreement for significant transfers of nuclear material, equipment, or components from the US to another nation. Jordan has said it wants to keep its options open in this regard but not signing such a deal will impact what kind of technology it can utilise at its proposed plant.

International tenders for the planning phase of Jordan’s proposed nuclear power plant will be announced this month, according to Russia’s nuclear energy company.

The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission and Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation signed an agreement last week for the framework to construct two nuclear reactors that will add 2,000 megawatts of power to Jordan’s grid. The Arab country aims to have its first reactor unit in operation by 2021, with the second following four years later.

“As for the pre-investment phase of the project, international tenders are already taking place,” a Rosatom spokesman told The National. “In April, it is planned to announce tenders for consulting services, market studies and grid studies.”

The company said that South Korea’s Kepco had already been awarded the work for the site and environmental impact assessments at the end of last year, but declined to name companies involved in the current bid round.




Jordan is working to increase its power generation capacity and expects one-third of its supply to come from nuclear energy by 2030. The country currently imports more than 95 per cent of its energy needs, costing equivalent to about one-fifth of its GDP, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA).

It experienced 37 power outages in 2013, averaging around 14 minutes per interruption, according to the country’s state-owned utility National Electric Power Company (Nepco). The utility said that the total installed power generating capacity stood at 3,366MW with peak loads reaching 2,770MW in 2012. Peak loads increased to 2,975MW the next year.

While nuclear energy could be a solution to Jordan’s growing power demand, safety concerns continue to be an issue in light of the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophes.

A meltdown at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 resulted in one of its four nuclear reactors exploding, releasing radioactivity into the atmosphere. And 25 years later, a tsunami followed by an earthquake caused the cooling systems to shut down at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, resulting in meltdowns at three reactors.

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called an emergency high-level debate on the safety of nuclear energy after the incident. “Twenty-five years ago, the Chernobyl disaster taught us that nuclear radiation respects no borders. Today, the Fukushima disaster in Japan raises popular fears and difficult questions,” Mr Ki-moon said at the time.

Concerns remain the same today requiring that the start of any nuclear programme be met with a plan to educate the public, reassuring that safety measures are a priority. “I have said ‘culture, machine, outcomes’ meaning how people react and interact with nuclear power determines the outcome,” said Akira Tokuhiro, nuclear energy expert at the University of Idaho.

Fukushima resulted in a sector slowdown worldwide, with Japan alone halting the construction of 14 proposed nuclear reactors.

Germany had already planned to phase out nuclear energy from its mix, but after Fukushima, the Angela Merkel-led government ordered the immediate shutdown of the European country’s seven oldest plants. Germany’s nuclear energy sector now accounts for 15 per cent of power generation, down from 25 per cent before 2010.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, while the number of nuclear plants on order decreased after 2011, the number of countries that said they are considering a nuclear power programme actually increased to 19 by 2013, from 11 two years earlier.

The UAE is one of those countries. Construction at the first unit at the Barakah site west of Abu Dhabi city was started in 2012. The nuclear power plant will have four Korean-built reactors, totalling 5,600MW of capacity, with one coming online each year from 2017.

Belarus also began work in 2013, becoming only the second country in the past three decades to start its first nuclear power plant. Other countries have started site preparation work such as Bangladesh, Turkey and Vietnam. With the exception of the UAE, Russia’s Rosatom has had some hand in each of these nuclear plans.

Two years after Fukushima, Rosatom increased its foreign contracts 42.8 per cent to a value of US$72.7 billion in 2013 from $50.9bn in 2011. The firm expects to help grow the nuclear energy sector around the world, with a forecast to have 80 reactor orders by 2030.




African oil producers seek to limit global production www.reuters + NewBase

African crude-exporting countries will lobby the world's oil producers to reduce output in order to boost prices that have fallen to levels that threaten to spark social unrest, the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) said.

Brent oil has crashed from 2014 peaks above $115 and US crude tumbled from above $107 in a selloff in oil, which began in June 2014. It accelerated in November after Saudi Arabia persuaded the broader group within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to stick to its output and defend market share. "The council expresses its deep concern faced with this situation of falling crude prices, which hurts the economies of members and non-members of Opec with the risk of social crisis if they continue," APPA spokesman Ousmane Doukoure said. Oil ministers from APPA, which represents 18 African oil producers, agreed at a meeting in Ivory Coast to establish a

platform that would allow the association to carry on a dialogue with other producers on output levels. "We will contact all other organizations, including Opec," said Libya's Oil Minister Mashala Said. "These unfair prices have an impact on the economies of African countries, and we are going to do what's needed to have our voice heard." Prices fell as Iran and global powers reached a preliminary deal on Tehran's nuclear programme. --




Cairn India Aims to Treble Gas Output from Rajasthan Block Natural Gas News + NewBase

Cairn India aims to boost gas production to 3 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) by mid-2018 from its gas block in Indian state of Rajasthan. The targeted output would be three times the current figure of 1 mmscmd produced from the Raageshwari gas field in the Barmer district block RJ-ON-90/1.

The information was stated in an application Cairn India submitted last month to India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) seeking approval to lay a pipeline to Gujarat for transporting gas.

"Given the advanced status of gas producing wells and surface facilities, we envisage gas production through the new facilities latest by first half of 2017,” Cairn India said in the application submitted late last month. “Subsequent to ramp-up over a period of one year (from first half of 2017), the estimated gas production will be 3 mmscmd plateau for a period of 5 years with an overall profile of 15 years. Out of this around 2.6 MMSCMD will be for external sales.”

The company is planning to drill a minimum of 42 more wells to augment and sustain the gas supply in the next three years. Drilling for new wells is expected to start in first quarter of fiscal year 2016-17 with contracting for drilling rig, related equipment and services at an advanced stage.

The existing pipeline infrastructure nearest to Raageshwari Deep Gas (RDG) Terminal is GSPL’s High Pressure Gujarat Gas Grid (Palanpur Terminal) authorized by PNGRB. The pipeline is owned and operated by Gujarat State Petronet Limited. (GSPL). The Palanpur Terminal on GSPL’s Gujarat Gas Grid is located in Banaskantha District of Gujarat State and provides Tie-in connectivity option for gas production from RJ-ON-90/1 Block.




Tanzania: Orca Exploration Plans $120 mn Expenditure on Songo Songo

Source: Orca Exp

Orca Exploration Group plans to commence first phase of development work on Songo Songo natural gas field offshore Tanzania at a cost of $120 million.

The field currently produces approximately 91 million standard cubic feet per day (MMcfd), which is less than the existing Songas Limited infrastructure capacity of approximately 102 MMcfd.

“In order to fill the existing Songas infrastructure to capacity and provide operational redundancy, the Company is contemplating a first phase of offshore development consisting of working over two existing wells (SS-5 and SS-9) that are currently suspended, working over an existing production well (SS-7) and drilling a new offshore development well (SS-12),” the company said earlier this year.

The infrastructure includes two processing plants with a capacity of 35 MMcfd on Songo Songo Island; a 25-kilometre 12-inch pipeline to Somanga Funga and a 207-kilometre 16-inch gas pipeline to Dar es Salaam.

Orca Exploration Group operates one licence in Tanzania which comprises two blocks known as the Discovery Blocks. The license contains the large Songo Songo gas field offshore Songo Songo Island (SSI).

The license has a total area of approximately 41,630 acres (170 km2). The blocks are located in shallow water approximately 15 kilometres off the coast and 200 kilometres south of Dar es Salaam.




Oil Price Drop Special Coverage

Saudi Oil Minister expects oil price to stabilise Reuters + NewBase

Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said yesterday he expected oil prices, which hit a near six-year low in January, to stabilise, signalling cautious optimistism about the market outlook. Giving a speech in the German capital, Ali Al Naimi also urged non-Opec producers to help balance the oil market, saying it was not up to Saudi Arabia to subsidise higher-cost producers and that circumstances required non-Opec to cooperate. “Going forward, I hope and expect supply and demand to balance and for prices to stabilise,” Naimi said. “Global economic growth seems more robust.” The comments are a further sign Opec’s top producer is sticking to its policy to defend market share. Last month, Naimi signalled satisfaction with developments, saying he saw oil demand growing and that markets were “calm”. Oil was trading Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel in early Asian trade on Monday, as last week's framework deal between Iran and global powers on Tehran's nuclear programme offers little chance for any significant increase in exports until 2016. International benchmark Brent tumbled as much as 5 per cent on Thursday after a preliminary deal was reached with Iran, paving the way for more Iranian oil onto world markets if a comprehensive deal is reached by June. However, analysts warned that a potential ramp-up in exports could take many months, and would not happen before 2016. "While clearly a bearish headline, a final deal and full lifting of sanctions still face a number of obstacles," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. "Even if a final deal is reached, we do not expect any physical market impact before 2016,' they said. Brent crude for May delivery was up $1.07 at $56.02 a barrel by 0051 GMT. US crude for May delivery was 91 cents higher at $50.05 a barrel.




The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States declined by 11 this week to 802, the smallest decline since December. Two weeks of thin declines in the US rig count have raised expectations that drilling activity is nearing a pivotal level that could dent production, bolster prices and coax idle rigs back to the field after a precipitous cull since October.

Asian shares rose and the dollar dropped on Monday, after a dismal US jobs report pushed up US Treasury yields as investors pared bets the US Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon.




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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi, Energy Consultant MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA Emarat member since 1990 ASME member since 1995 Hawk Energy member 2010

Mobile: +97150-4822502 [email protected] [email protected]

Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great

experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.

NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

NewBase 06 April 2015 K. Al Awadi







Economy & Finance

New base 576 special 06 april 2015