Cyprus’ Energy Minister Georgios Lakkotrypis announced on Thursday that ExxonMobil has discovered the third-biggest gas deposit in the world off the coast of the island, which is subject to territorial claims from Turkey. The deposit is southwest of the island, close to Egypt’s territorial waters, and contains anywhere from 142 billion to 227 billion cubic meters of gas. ExxonMobil Vice President Tristan Aspray floated constructing a plant to process the gas on Greek Cyprus. Exxon partners with Qatar Petroleum to carry out exploratory drilling off the Mediterranean island, a point of contention with Turkey despite its alliance with Doha. Read More
By Dr. James M. Dorsey, March 14, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Saudi plans to become a major gas exporter within a decade raise questions about what the real goal of the kingdom’s policy, and by extension that of the US, is towards Iran.
Continue to full article ->
Saudi Aramco will issue its first bond of $10 billion as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The bond will shed unprecedented light on the operations of Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil company as it seeks to buy a majority stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the kingdom’s petrochemicals firm. Riyadh has repeatedly delayed publicly listing Aramco. The move is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to modernize and diversfiy the kingdom's oil-based economy. Read More