Monthly briefing: 22 key developments in the region
28 September 2022
By Indrajit Sen
> Opec+ agrees minor production increase
> King appoints crown prince as Saudi prime minister
> Lebanon parliament approves $1.2bn draft budget
> Iraq court rules against national oil company
> Libya oil production continues to grow
> President approves Egypt's Olympic plans
> Dubai prepares hydrogen strategy
> GCC central banks raise interest rates
> UK and GCC hold ministerial meeting at the UN
OIL
Oil producers will raise output by 100,000b/d in October
The Opec+ alliance of oil producers decided in September that it would increase oil production by just 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) in October to support crude prices, which have fluctuated in recent weeks amid fears that a global economic recession will curb demand for oil.
Opec+ members also increased overall oil production by 100,000b/d in September.
The alliance agreed to increase its July and August crude production by about 50 per cent to 648,000b/d, fully restoring the 5.8 million b/d output that the group had cut at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
IRAN
Deadly protests follow woman’s death in custody
Thirty-five people have been killed in protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on 16 September.
Protests have been reported in 31 provinces.
The 22-year-old Amini had been detained for breaking headscarf rules and was reportedly beaten with batons.
Officials said she suffered heart failure and Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has stated that she was not beaten.
President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to crack down on the unrest on 24 September.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on 25 September that there had been large-scale demonstrations to condemn the protests.
21 September: Iranian demonstrators take to the streets of Tehran during a protest for Mahsa Amini, days after she died in police custody. Credit: AFP via Getty Images
SALIK IPO
Dubai toll operator raises over $1bn from oversubscribed stock listing
Dubai toll operator Salik raised $1.017bn from its initial public offering (IPO) on the Dubai Financial Market, as part of a series of IPOs of state enterprises aimed at boosting the size of the emirate's capital market.
The IPO was more than 49 times oversubscribed across all tranches, with total gross demand at $50.2bn.
The company had set its offering price at AED2 ($0.54) a share, giving it a valuation of more than $4bn.
The emirate's government sold more than 1.867 billion shares in the company, or 24.9 per cent, up from the previously announced 1.5 billion shares, equivalent to 20 per cent.
ARAB PEACE
Saudi Arabia, Arab League and EU hold meeting in New York
Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud and Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit attended a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee and its sponsors in the EU. The meeting took place at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Arab Peace Initiative, which Saudi Arabia launched in 2002, is a proposal to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The members of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee are Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen. The initiative is sponsored by Spain, Sweden and France.
GCC
Two years of high oil prices set to improve regional outlook
Rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has said that elevated oil prices during the next two years will lead to a significant improvement in the fiscal and external positions of GCC sovereigns, partly reversing the sharp deterioration in their balance sheets since 2015.
Improvements in creditworthiness will hinge on the extent to which regional governments utilise the windfall to address constraints posed by their exposure to cyclical oil price and demand volatility, and by longer-term carbon transition risks, Moody’s said.
The agency expects oil prices to average about $105 a barrel in 2022 and $95 a barrel in 2023. As a result, most hydrocarbon-exporting countries in the GCC will run fiscal and current account surpluses, allowing governments to pay down debts, rebuild fiscal reserves and accumulate foreign-currency buffers.
GULF BANKS
Regional banks are returning to pre-pandemic form
After a strong first half, ratings agency S&P Global expects that earnings for most GCC banks will almost reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year amid high oil prices and rising interest rates.
In the second half of 2022, S&P forecasts further strengthening of regional banks’ interest margins and a manageable rise in cost of risk amid lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic via loans that benefited from support measures and were then restructured. Combined, these factors will be a net positive for banks’ earnings.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi infrastructure and property projects top $1.1tn
The aggregate value of property and infrastructure projects since the launch of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan in 2016 has crossed $1.1tn as the kingdom continues to diversify its economy, according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
The $500bn Neom city development is the biggest of 15 major projects in Saudi Arabia that are currently at various phases of construction. The kingdom plans to have more than 555,000 residential units, 275,000 hotel rooms, 4.3 million square metres (sq m) of retail and 6.1 million sq m of new office space by 2030.
The country is also developing several large-scale tourism projects as it seeks to increase the economic contribution of the sector from 3 per cent of GDP to 10 per cent by the end of this decade.
JERUSALEM
UK prime minister considers relocating British embassy
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering moving the British embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Truss spoke about a possible move to the contested city during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in September.
Despite Israel having designated Jerusalem as its capital, Britain has long maintained its embassy in Tel Aviv.
When he was president of the US, Donald Trump took the controversial decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the city as their capital.
SAUDI ARABIA
First Saudi woman to be sent to space in a crewed mission
Saudi Arabia plans to send a woman into space for the first time as part of its new mission programme.
A crew will be launched next year that will include the first Saudi female pilot and astronaut.
The kingdom’s astronaut programme aims to produce qualified Saudi citizens who will take part in short- and long-term space flights, as well as participate in scientific experiments, international research and future space-related missions.
The new programme comes under the umbrella of Saudi Vision 2030 and will fall under the National Space Strategy, the details of which will be announced in the coming months.
FIFA WORLD CUP
Qatar to shut borders to non-World Cup ticket holders
Entry to Qatar will be restricted from 1 November to citizens, residents and holders of the World Cup Hayya card, the tournament’s organising committee has announced.
The suspension of visits by people not attending Fifa World Cup matches will continue until 23 December, five days after the final match takes place in Doha.
The restrictions apply to all air, land and sea borders into Qatar.
Football fans in possession of a match ticket for the World Cup must also apply for a Hayya entry permit – a pre-approved digital visa linked to a passport that offers free public transport around the country.
The Hayya card allows entry into Qatar until 23 January 2023.
Qatari citizens and residents, GCC citizens holding a Qatari identification card, holders of work entry permits and personal visas, and approved humanitarian cases will be exempt from the restrictions.
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Exclusive from Meed
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Rainmaking in the world economy19 April 2024
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Masdar and Etihad plan pumped hydro project19 April 2024
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Ewec signs Ajban solar PV contract19 April 2024
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Egypt resumes power cuts18 April 2024
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Related Articles
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Rainmaking in the world economy
19 April 2024
Commentary
Edmund O'Sullivan
Former editor of MEEDThe biennial IMF World Economic Outlook released on 16 April forecasts that global growth will hold steady at just over 3% in 2024.
That is despite Russia’s war on Ukraine and the risk that Israel’s war on Gaza will trigger a regional conflict and jeopardise oil exports from the region.
This is an unexpected prospect – rather like a meteorologist forecasting that the UAE will get the equivalent of a year’s rainfall in a single day, as it did in mid-April.
A soft landing for the world economy despite the risks is by that standard less surprising. But these things don’t just happen.
Just as the UAE’s greatest flooding incident since records began was exacerbated by creeping climate change, according to experts, global growth is believed to be robust because of determined action to keep prices down, cut inflation and boost the supply of goods and labour.
The challenge to the rosy outlook, however, is not hard to find. Several key stress factors are in the US.
The biggest threat to the IMF’s forecast is from events in the Middle East
American fiscal policy under President Joe Biden has been extremely loose. The US budget deficit to 2030 is forecast to average 6% of GDP. Its debt-to-GDP ratio – now above 100% – will rise for the foreseeable future.
Even the IMF, always reluctant to criticise its biggest shareholder, says this looks unsustainable.
More than 3 million migrants arrived in the US last year and the proportion of foreign-born residents in America is approaching an historic high. A more contentious issue is that more than 2 million undocumented migrants also entered the US in 2023 and the figure is rising.
Donald Trump is making migration an issue in his campaign to regain the White House. This is fuelling concern among US voters that could precipitate restrictions on immigration.
The biggest threat to the IMF’s forecast is from events in the Middle East. On the night of 13 April, Iran launched drones and missiles on Israel in retaliation for its attack on Tehran’s Damascus consulate two weeks earlier.
Oil prices spiked ahead of Iran’s attack and eased back on expectations that there would be no wider regional conflagration. But higher levels of risk are being built in to forecasts of oil prices, which are around a quarter higher than they were in January. Even without an escalation, oil is heading towards $100 a barrel this summer.
This doesn’t have to happen, however. With concerted international diplomatic efforts on stage and behind the scenes, the world has the capacity to block the path to a new Middle East war and all it entails.
But does it have the will?
Main image: Flooding in Dubai remains three days after the severe storm on 16 April
Connect with Edmund O’Sullivan on Twitter
More from Edmund O’Sullivan:
> New shock treatment for Egypt’s economy
> Syria’s long march in from the cold
> Lebanon’s pain captured in a call from Beirut
> Troubled end to 2023 bodes ill for stability
> The Holy Land and delusions it inspires
> Region to mark golden jubilee of 1973 war
> Gulf funds help reshape football
> When a war crime is denied
> Embracing the new Washington consensus
> Trump, Turkiye and the trouble ahead
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Masdar and Etihad plan pumped hydro project
19 April 2024
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Etihad Water & Electricity (Ethad WE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop several clean energy projects in the UAE's northern emirates.
The planned projects include a solar photovoltaic (PV) project, a pumped hydro storage project and a potential battery energy storage system facility.
The two companies signed the MoU on 18 April, the final day of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
"This agreement aims to formalise the intention of the parties to further discuss the potential areas of collaboration and possible projects," Masdar said in a social media post.
Etihad WE is responsible for the procurement and offtake of water and power production services in Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and parts of Sharjah.
Masdar and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) announced an agreement to work together on aluminium decarbonisation and low-carbon aluminium growth opportunities during the same event.
As part of the agreement, Masdar and EGA will also work together internationally to find opportunities through which Masdar will support EGA to power new aluminium production facilities with renewable energy sources.
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Ewec signs Ajban solar PV contract
19 April 2024
Abu Dhabi state utility Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) has signed an agreement for the development and operation of Abu Dhabi’s third utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power project (IPP).
A team led by French utility developer EDF Renewables and including South Korea's Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo) won the 1,500MW Al Ajban solar PV IPP contract.
Ewec announced the official signing of the contract on 18 April, the final day of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
As with previous solar PV projects in the emirate, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) will own a stake in the special purpose vehicle that will implement the project.
It is the second major contract won by the French-South Korean team in the GCC since March last year. The team previously won the contract to develop and operate the 500MW Manah 1 solar IPP in Oman.
EDF, along with Masdar and Saudi contracting company Nesma, also won the contract to develop and operate the 1,100MW Hinakiyah solar IPP project in Saudi Arabia in November.
The EDF-led team submitted the lowest levelised electricity cost of 5.1921 fils a kilowatt-hour (kWh) or about 1.413 $cents/kWh for the Al Ajban solar PV IPP contract, as MEED reported in July 2023.
Japan’s Marubeni submitted the second-lowest bid of 5.3577 fils/kWh.
Ewec requested proposals for the contract in January 2023 and received bids in late June 2023. It qualified 19 companies to bid for the contract in September 2022.
Delivering goals
The Al Ajban project – similar to the 1,584MW Al Dhafra solar IPP, which was inaugurated in November, and the operational 935MW Noor Abu Dhabi plant – supports the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net-Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.
Ewec aims to install up to 17GW of solar PV capacity by 2035.
The plan will require the procurement of about 1.5GW of capacity annually over the next 10 years. Over the intervening period, ending in 2030, Ewec plans to have an additional 5GW of solar capacity, reaching a total solar installed capacity of 7.3GW by 2030.
Ewec expects its first battery energy storage system to come online in the late 2020s to boost balancing the grid's load as more renewable energy enters the system.
The UAE published its updated national energy strategy in July last year. It includes a plan to triple the nationwide renewable energy capacity to 19GW by 2030.
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Egypt resumes power cuts
18 April 2024
Power cuts resumed across Egypt on 15 April, with scheduled power outages lasting a maximum of one hour per grid zone between 11am and 5pm daily.
The scheduled power outages began last year and were suspended during Ramadan.
The electricity ministry has confirmed that, since no new amendments to the load reduction plan have been issued, the power cut plan will continue indefinitely, adding that the outages are expected to last "until at least the end of summer, due to increased grid demand during the hotter months".
The government-initiated load-shedding programme initially aimed to rein in rising electricity consumption and reduce pressure on the country's gas network.
According to the country’s Electricity & Renewable Energy Ministry, national electricity consumption reached 43,650MW in mid-July last year, up significantly from previous highs of about 31,000MW.
While the record-high consumption level is still below the official generation installed capacity of close to 60,000MW, consumption levels of 34,000MW–36,000MW will require about 129-146 million cubic metres of gas and diesel a day.
Barring load-shedding, any increase in consumption beyond 36,000MW will require a commensurate increase in gas and diesel, which is understood to be beyond the government’s capacity to procure.
Crucially, the other side of the electricity rationing initiative has to do with the need to save gas for exports, to boost the government’s dollar reserves in the face of the ongoing currency crisis.
MEED’s latest special report on Egypt includes:
> Cairo secures a cumulative $54bn in financing
> Egypt faces political and economic trials
> Cairo beset by regional geopolitical storm
> More pain for more gain for Egypt
> Egypt oil and gas project activity declines
> Familiar realities threaten Egypt’s energy hub ambitions
> Egypt’s desalination projects inch forward
> Infrastructure carries Egypt constructionhttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11694938/main5714.jpg -
Ewec wants carbon-capture readiness for next gas power plant
17 April 2024
The request for proposals (RFPs) that will be issued for the next combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in Abu Dhabi will explicitly require the developers or developer consortiums to accommodate the installation of carbon-capture facilities once they are commercially viable.
"A key part of the RFP is to make a declaration that this project will be carbon-capture ready … that such facility will be installed as part of the project once carbon-capture solutions become commercially viable," Andy Biffen, executive director of asset development at Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec), told the ongoing World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
As MEED previously reported, Ewec is considering issuing a tender in the next few weeks for its first gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) project since 2020.
The greenfield Taweelah C gas-fired IPP is planned to reach commercial operation by 2027, according to a recent Ewec capacity procurement statement.
"We understand that they might skip the expressions of interest and request for qualifications stage and directly invite qualified developers to bid for the contract," two sources familiar with the project previously told MEED.
The planned Taweelah C gas-fired IPP is expected to have a power generation capacity of 2,457MW.
Ewec awarded its last CCGT IPP nearly four years ago. Japan's Marubeni Corporation won the contract to develop the Fujairah F3 IPP in 2020.
The state utility is considering new gas-fired capacity in light of expiring capacity from several independent water and power producer (IWPP) facilities.
The plants that will reach the end of their existing contracts during the 2023-29 planning period include:
- Shuweihat S1 (1,615MW, 101 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD)): expires in June 2025
- Sas Al Nakhl (1,670MW, 95MIGD): expires in July 2027
- Taweelah B (2,220MW, 160MIGD): expires in October 2028
- Taweelah A1 (1,671MW, 85MIGD): expires in July 2029
Ewec and the developers and operators of these plants are expected to enter into discussions before the expiry of the contracts to decide whether a contract extension is possible. Unsuccessful negotiations will lead to the dismantling of the assets at the end of the contract period.
In 2022, MEED reported that Abu Dhabi had wound down the operation of Taweelah A2, the region's first IWPP. The power and water purchase agreement supporting the project expired in September 2021 and was not extended.
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