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Both companies and governments are investing in new refineries
From Tunisia in North Africa to Yemen at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, governments and national oil companies across the region are planning or studying investments in new refineries.
The unprecedented level of interest in building refining capacity is being driven by the need to meet growing domestic fuel consumption and a desire to boost exports of refined products in order to maximise the value of hydrocarbon resources.
Between 2009 and 2014, about $50.6bn-worth of engineering, procurement and construction contracts were awarded for refining projects in the region. A further $126bn-worth of schemes are under study or in the tendering phase. Although some projects will likely fail to proceed, the vast investment programme will see Middle East oil producers play an increasingly important role in the global refined products market in the decade ahead, competing against refiners in Russia, the US, Europe and even Africa and Asia.
With the opportunity to invest in state-of-the-art facilities that meet the most stringent sulphur-content standards coupled with access to abundant crude reserves, refiners in the region will have a distinct advantage over their rivals and are well-placed to succeed.
Governments across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are beginning to boost the amount of time and money they put into researching and implementing renewable energy projects to assist efforts to meet growing demand for electricity.
Projects spending in MEED’s Top 100 Construction Index grew during 2013 and with economies around the region improving, this is expected to continue. This webinar examined projects market trends in the Middle East and forecasts which areas will grow in 2014.
It was the hardship posting to end all hardship postings. British officers went quite literally round the bend to get there, writes Matthew Teller, and perhaps sometimes metaphorically too. In 1863 Britain was looking to strengthen its control over the Gulf. The eager new ambassador to the region, Political Resident ...
The India Office exercised colonial rule over an area stretching west as far as Aden. Stories are being brought to light in a £8.7m project for nearly half a million documents relating to the Gulf to be digitised.
