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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Read more:
Abu Dhabi awards interest in offshore oil concession to Indian consortium
Saudi Aramco and Sabic to build world's largest oil-to-chemicals plant
Adnoc opens up for more partnerships in new era
_______________
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
___________
Read More:
Adnoc to boost carbon capture in oilfields by six-fold over the next 10 years
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.
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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
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.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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
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