Apicorp is looking to issue more bonds to expand its energy portfolio. Getty
Apicorp is looking to issue more bonds to expand its energy portfolio. Getty
Apicorp is looking to issue more bonds to expand its energy portfolio. Getty
Apicorp is looking to issue more bonds to expand its energy portfolio. Getty

UAE, Saudi Arabia look at increasing crude and product supply to Asia


Jennifer Gnana
  • English
  • Arabic

Opec producers led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia will increase their push towards locking in long-term crude and oil product contracts in Asia  as they compete with higher US exports  to the region.

“Long-term contracts give assurance to the producer/refiner, they know that the product is sold, they know the price, their income is locked in and so it is easier to plan, easier to make investment decisions," said Spencer Welch, director for oil markets and downstream at London-based IHS Markit.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are producing  more refined products after cutting back on crude supply to comply with the ongoing  global oil output cuts.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, and the UAE, the second-largest Arabian Gulf producer, are earmarking more crude for Asia and boosting exports of refined products, as they seek to extract more value from each barrel of oil pumped.

As the US increases exports for crude, condensate and products, Gulf producers would likely want to lock-in Asian buyers.
"I can't see Gulf producers selling much to US, they need to sell to Asia," Mr Spencer said.

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Adnoc opens up for more partnerships in new era

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Now producers are also moving to guarantee long-term exports of crude products as the global oil output to trim 1.8 million (bpd) is set to remain in place until the end of 2018 with a possible extension beyond.

Last month, Adnoc signed a long-term contact with Malaysian petrochemical company Lotte Chemical Titan to supply a million tonnes of naphtha over the next three years, a shift from the earlier short-term contracts. Naphtha is a refined product that is used  as a feedstock to produce petrochemicals.

Adnoc, which in November announced the acceleration of its downstream-focused strategy, has signed similar three-year long-term deals over the past three weeks with naphtha customers in Thailand and Japan, a company spokesman told The National.

“We'll be looking at a multitude of different approaches. For Adnoc, this is about stretching the margin of every barrel of oil and securing market share in fast-growing economies,” he said.

Last week, Adnoc chief executive and UAE Minister of State Dr Sultan Al Jaber visited Japan in order to forge partnerships with Japanese petrochemical firms and expand downstream activities. Adnoc, which is eyeing new markets as it seeks to triple its petrochemical production by 2025, has a $109bn five-year capex programme that also includes downstream investments abroad.

Adnoc, which last year entered into an agreement with India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to park up to six million barrels of crude underground in Mangalore in the country's south, awarded a 10 per cent stake in an offshore concession to  an Indian consortium led by ONGC on Sunday. The move, the first hydrocarbon rights agreement between Abu Dhabi and Asia's third-largest economy, forms part of increasing efforts by Gulf producers to service growing Asian demand by offering investment opportunities to lock-in long-term supply.

The UAE's push comes amid an increasing flow of US exports of crude and products, including naphtha  into the Asian markets over the past year.

Saudi Aramco also aims for more downstream integration to counter setbacks to its crude market share as a result of the Opec curbs

Last month, Aramco chief Amin Nasser said the company planned additional investments in China and looked to develop a refinery in India.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment on its downstream and product sales strategy

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Adnoc chief: global growth to inflate energy demand, putting pressure on producers

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. .

Gulf producers' moves for engagement with Asia comes amid a relaxation of crude export restrictions in the US, where current production has surged to 10.25 million bpd, overtaking Saudi Arabia, the latest data from US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows. Exports, meanwhile, average a million bpd and set to increase to two million bpd by the second half of the year or early 2019, the EIA said. With the caps lifted, US crude has found its way into newer markets and increased supply to meet rising demand. Recent data from Thomson Reuters shows that crude shipments to China have surged to a record 400,000 bpd in January, with half a million tonnes of liquefied natural gas sourced from the shale gas boom in the US also making its way there.

The US also delivered its first ever cargo of shale - a 1.6-million-barrel shipment - to India in October as the world’s third-largest oil consumer looked for alternative supply to balance its traditional off-take of Middle East crude.

"People have spoken of 1.5 or 2 million exports of shale, but they [refiners] are now taking Middle Eastern crude," said Chris Midgley, global content director for analytics for Platts. "India has complex refineries that don't necessarily want to take this light crude from the US, so the Middle East will try to compete with that.”

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Russia v Scotland, Thursday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match on BeIN Sports 

Prop idols

Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.

Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)

An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.

----

Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)

Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.

----

Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)

Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.

The Details

Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5 

Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final

Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
While you're here
POWERWASH%20SIMULATOR
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FuturLab%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESquare%20Enix%20Collective%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20Switch%2C%3Cstrong%3E%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPlayStation%204%20%26amp%3B%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%2FS%20and%20PC%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Results

6.30pm: The Madjani Stakes (PA) Group 3 Dh175,000 (Dirt) 1,900m

Winner: Aatebat Al Khalediah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihe (trainer).

7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m

Winner: Down On Da Bayou, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

7.40pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner: Dubai Avenue, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

8.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner: My Catch, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

8.50pm: Dubai Creek Mile (TB) Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner: Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz

Director: Kushan Nandy

Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami

Three stars

MATCH INFO

 

Maratha Arabians 107-8 (10 ovs)

Lyth 21, Lynn 20, McClenaghan 20 no

Qalandars 60-4 (10 ovs)

Malan 32 no, McClenaghan 2-9

Maratha Arabians win by 47 runs

The%20National%20selections
%3Cp%3E6pm%3A%20Barakka%3Cbr%3E6.35pm%3A%20Dhahabi%3Cbr%3E7.10pm%3A%20Mouheeb%3Cbr%3E7.45pm%3A%20With%20The%20Moonlight%3Cbr%3E8.20pm%3A%20Remorse%3Cbr%3E8.55pm%3A%20Ottoman%20Fleet%3Cbr%3E9.30pm%3A%20Tranquil%20Night%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE%20SWIMMERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESally%20El-Hosaini%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENathalie%20Issa%2C%20Manal%20Issa%2C%20Ahmed%20Malek%20and%20Ali%20Suliman%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
  1. Steve Baker
  2. Peter Bone
  3. Ben Bradley
  4. Andrew Bridgen
  5. Maria Caulfield​​​​​​​
  6. Simon Clarke 
  7. Philip Davies
  8. Nadine Dorries​​​​​​​
  9. James Duddridge​​​​​​​
  10. Mark Francois 
  11. Chris Green
  12. Adam Holloway
  13. Andrea Jenkyns
  14. Anne-Marie Morris
  15. Sheryll Murray
  16. Jacob Rees-Mogg
  17. Laurence Robertson
  18. Lee Rowley
  19. Henry Smith
  20. Martin Vickers 
  21. John Whittingdale
Federer's 11 Wimbledon finals

2003 Beat Mark Philippoussis

2004 Beat Andy Roddick

2005 Beat Andy Roddick

2006 Beat Rafael Nadal

2007 Beat Rafael Nadal

2008 Lost to Rafael Nadal

2009 Beat Andy Roddick

2012 Beat Andy Murray

2014 Lost to Novak Djokovic

2015 Lost to Novak Djokovic

2017 Beat Marin Cilic

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)

Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

MATCH INFO

Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports

Brief scores:

Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first

Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)

Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15

Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)

Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

If you go

Flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.

The stay

Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.

Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199