MENA upstream month in brief: 2 June 2016

Iran’s crude oil exports surpassed 2 million b/d in May, while CNPC and Sinopec increased their commitment to the Azadegan North and Yadavaran developments. In Israel, the  Cabinet approved an amended version of the ‘stability clause’ of the Gas Outline Agreement. This a positive development for the US$6.8 billion Leviathan project. Libya came closer to unifying its petroleum sector while Egypt’s  EGPC launched a new bid round. Saudi Arabia replaced its long-serving oil minister Ali al-Naimi with Khalid al-Falih, and ADNOC’s operating companies made several changes to its senior management. Oman’s proposed LNG tax increase tabled in December 2015 moved a step closer to implementation. While in Qatar, the Al Shaheen retender process progressed as Qatar Petroleum received bids for the post contract agreement. Algeria and Jordan signed an MOU for the former to supply the latter with LNG. Elsewhere in North Africa, PA Resources, Cooper Energy and Circle Oil continued to struggle.