Petrobras : New well in Libra confirms oil discovery extension in the block

Petrobras informs that has concluded the drilling of the well 3-BRSA-1305A-RJS (3-RJS-739A), located in the Libra block northwest area, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin, confirming the discovery of good quality oil in reservoirs with excellent productivity.

The well found an oil column of around 270 meters and high-quality reservoirs in communication with previous wells in this area. Two Drill Stem Tests (DSTs), performed on two different intervals, have confirmed the excellent productivity of these reservoirs and good oil quality (28º API), similar to the wells 2-ANP-2A-RJS and 3-RJS-731.

Currently, two other wells are being drilled in the Libra block northwest area: 3-BRSA-1322-RJS (3-RJS-741) and 3-BRSA-1339-RJS (3-RJS-742).  In the well 3-RJS-741, the oil-bearing zone was identified by wireline logging (set of tools to characterize the reservoir drilled in the well) and fluid samples, which will be characterized by laboratory analysis. The well is being drilled at a depth of 5,527 meters. The well 3-RJS-742 started to be drilled on the latest February 6th.

These three wells are part of the Discovery Evaluation Plan activities of the well 2-ANP-2A-RJS, submitted to the National Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), on September 15th 2015, and currently under approval process.

The Libra Consortium is composed of Petrobras (operator, with 40% WI), Shell (20%), Total (20%), CNPC (10%) and CNOOC (10%), and the contract manager is Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA).

For more information, please visit : http://www.petrobras.com

$70 billion of petrochemical investment

Iran’s 20-year vision plan targets producing $70 billion of petrochemicals a year at current prices.

Officials say petrochemical production will hit 70 million tonnes worth $27 billion at current prices in the new Persian year which begins on March 20.

The country seeks to more than double this capacity in the next decade, which requires between $7 billion to $10 billion of annual investment.

Companies from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan and even the US have indicated readiness to participate in Iran’s petrochemical projects.

Germany’s industrial gases company Linde and Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals plan $4 billion of investment in Iranian petrochemical projects, new Managing Director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Marzieh Shah-Daei said this month.

Linde and the world’s largest chemical producer BASF sent their executives with German Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel to Iran in July to discuss investment and transfer of technology.

Negotiations are underway with BASF to construct a petrochemical township in southern Iran with $4 billion of investment, Iranian media quoted Shah-Daei as saying last week. 

Maire Tecnimont has signed a collaboration agreement worth 1 billion euros for construction of refineries and petrochemical plants in Iran,

Italy’s engineering company Maire Tecnimont has signed a collaboration agreement worth 1 billion euros for construction of refineries and petrochemical plants in Iran, a news agency says.

The agreement signed with the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. (PGPIC) includes providing finance, parts and equipment, as well as solutions to Iran's processing issues, Mehr said Monday.

“Italy is seeking to open a new chapter in its cooperation with Iran, especially in the oil and petrochemical industries,” it quoted Maire Tecnimont CEO Pierroberto Folgiero as saying on the sidelines of a signing ceremony in Tehran.

According to Mehr, the Italian company will help Iran build an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and rubber plant in the industrial city of Asaluyeh.

The ABS product has a variety of applications including in the automotive industry.

Last month, Italy’s Saipem signed a memorandum of understanding with the Parsian Oil & Gas Development Company to cooperate on major oil and gas projects in Iran.

The deal, worth between $4 billion and $5 billion, involves revamping and upgrading of Shiraz and Tabriz refineries and building 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of pipeline in Iran.

Saipem, which is controlled by Italian oil major Eni and state lender FSI, clinched the deal during President Hassan Rouhani’s first official visit to Rome where contracts worth up to 17 billion euros ($18.4 billion) were signed in total.

Earlier this month, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Eni was planning to send a delegation to Iran soon to sign contracts for purchase of 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil and developing an oilfield.

Another Italian refiner Saras wants to buy up to 70,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude oil, he added.

Kuwait’s KNPC awards EPC work to construct $16B Al-Zour refinery

Several major EPC companies signed contracts this week to build Kuwait’s $16-billion Al Zour oil refinery, which will more than double the nation’s crude processing capacity.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Tecnicas Reunidas and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. are among companies that signed contracts today to build Kuwait’s $16-billion Al Zour oil refinery, which will more than double the nation’s processing capacity.

The refinery, with a capacity of 615,000 bpd, will raise Kuwait total refining capacity to 1.4 million bpd when completed in July 2019, Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, CEO of state-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Co., said at the signing ceremony in Kuwait City. 

The Al Zour refinery, valued at 4.87 billion dinars ($16 billion) will be integrated with a plannedpetrochemical complex which KNPC will discuss at an upcoming board meeting, he said.

“Al Zour refinery is one of the world’s largest grass root plants being built from conceptual stage,” Al-Mutairi said. “Al Zour refinery along with other ongoing mega projects will change the landscape of the oil refiningindustry in Kuwait. ”

Al Zour’s construction has been planned since 2007, and was delayed by internal political disputes. Theproject is another move by oil producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council states to diversify their source of income by processing crude at home after suffering revenue loss from lower oil prices since last year.

Heavy oil from new fields in Kuwait will be used at the refinery to produce low-sulfur diesel, 340,000 bpd of high-value light products and 225,000 bpd of fuel oil to feed power-generation plants in the country, Al-Mutairi said.

The refinery will be built in five packages, with the first valued at 1.28 billion dinars awarded to Technicas, Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec, Khaled Al-Awadhi, KNPC project manager, said at the signing ceremony. 

The second and third packages at a combined value of 1.75 billion dinars were awarded to Fluor Corp., Daewoo and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., he said. 

The fourth package valued at 475 million dinars was given to Saipem and Essar Oil, and the fifth package of 454 million dinars was to Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Saipem and SK Holdings Co., he said.

Bharat Forge to set up auto component hub in Nellore.

Leading forging major Bharat Forge recently announced plans to set up an integrated auto component hub in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and said it will invest Rs. 1,200 crore and create 3,000 jobs. Announcing the plans, Bharat Forge Chairman Baba Kalyani said at the Andhra Partnership Summit that an MoU has been signed with the state government to set up a multi-modal facility in the state. He said "Bharat Forge plans to set up an integrated auto components hub in Nellore". "The investment planned is Rs. 1,200 crore and about 3,000 people would get employment," Kalyani said while adding that land possession would happen soon for the project. Pune-based Bharat Forge is the world's largest forging company with manufacturing facilities spread across India, Germany, Sweden and France. It manufactures a wide range of components for the automotive and non-automotive sectors. It is part of USD 2.5 billion conglomerate Kalyani Group which has about 10,000-strong global work force.

Aurobindo Pharma to build pharmaceutical factory in Saudi Arabia.

Indian pharmaceuticals manufacturer Aurobindo Pharma has become the latest global conglomerate to launch its factory in Saudi Arabia. The company's investment arm has leased a site in Phase one of the King Abdullah Economic City's (KAEC) Industrial Valley to build its first manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia to produce oral tablets and capsules. The deal is part of the joint effort by KAEC and the National Industrial Clusters Development Programme, with pharmaceuticals being one of six major industries targeted by the drive. "This partnership is yet another indicator that KAEC is moving forward with its strategic goals and future vision," said Fahd Al-Rasheed, Managing Director and CEO of KAEC.

GE wins Saudi power plant contract worth nearly $1 billion.

General Electric announced recently that it had won a contract worth nearly $1 billion from the Saudi Electricity Company to build and supply a power plant in northern Saudi Arabia. Under the contract, the US industrial giant will build the Waad Al Shamal combined-cycle power plant and provide four advanced gas turbines, a steam turbine and turbine maintenance services. Waad Al Shamal will serve phosphate mining operations in an area of Saudi Arabia that the government has targeted for industrial development, GE said in a statement. The 1,390-megawatt plant, which also will have solar technology, will be able to provide the equivalent power needed to supply more than 500,000 Saudi homes. GE said one of the gas turbines will be built at a GE plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with the remaining three and a steam turbine to be constructed in the US. "Waad Al Shamal brings significant value to the Kingdom by strengthening the northern grid and through its potential to energise the local industrial sector," said Mohammed Mohaisen, president and chief executive of GE gas power systems for the Middle East and North Africa, in the statement. "We are delivering on our commitment to provide stronger localisation support to our partners."

Essar's Italian venture bags $1.5-b order.

Essar Projects recently said its joint venture with Italy�s Saipem S.p.A won a $1.57 billion order from Kuwait National Petroleum Company for setting up a part of the Al-Zour Refinery Project. This is Essar�s biggest third-party order won in the region. The project at Al Zour is Kuwait's biggest development project with a crude processing capacity of 615,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Kuwaiti company has so far awarded four contracts for the refinery�s construction, worth over $13.2 billion to different International bidders. The project is expected to be completed by 2019. Essar Projects' Managing Director & CEO Shiba Panda said, "The project marks Essar's entry into the Kuwait project market with the biggest EPC contract by an external client." With this order, Essar Project�s order book has reached $2.8 billion, with projects being executed in nine countries.