A Bloomberg News survey suggests that extra volumes from some Opec members did not cover the drop in crude output from Libya.
A Bloomberg News survey suggests that extra volumes from some Opec members did not cover the drop in crude output from Libya.

Saudi Arabia aims to boost drilling fleet



Rising crude prices and falling Opec spare capacity have spurred Saudi Arabia to call on oilfield services firms to bolster the kingdom's drilling fleet.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil monopoly, met leading services companies in the region last week, including Halliburton, which has headquarters in Houston and Dubai. The firms discussed plans to increase the kingdom's rig count this year by 28 per cent to 118 from 92, Bill Herbert, an analyst at the US investment bank Simmons, said last week.

The move was unexpected, he said, but "with Libyan production falling, Saudi Arabia may feel it has to be ready for higher production capacity".

Saudi officials said extra drilling activity would be needed to maintain the kingdom's estimated 12.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil production capacity. That includes 12 million bpd of Aramco capacity and another 500,000 bpd maintained by the US oil company Chevron on behalf of Saudi Arabia in the neutral zone between the kingdom and Kuwait.

"It's not to expand capacity. It's to sustain current capacity on new fields and old fields that have been bottled up," an official told Reuters.

Analysts put Saudi oil output last month at 9 million bpd, the highest since October 2008. That may have raised apprehensions inside the kingdom, as well as internationally, about Aramco's ability to pump oil even faster to meet rising world demand.

A recent Bloomberg News survey suggests Opec production fell last month as extra volumes from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and some other Opec members failed to cover a sharp drop in Libyan output to a 49-year low. Data compiled by the news agency indicate Saudi Arabia could increase production by 2.5 million bpd within 30 days. That is significantly less than the 3.5 million bpd of spare output capacity Ali al Naimi, the Saudi oil minister, said on March 8 the kingdom had at its disposal, and lower still than the 4 million bpd production cushion it may have had before fighting broke out in Libya.

"The numbers show that it will take a while before the Saudis and others make up for Libya's missing barrels," Rick Mueller, the director of oil markets at Energy Security Analysis, told Bloomberg. "This is why Brent is above US$115."

North Sea Brent crude, the European benchmark, topped $119 per barrel on Friday, as US light crude in New York reached a new 30-month high above $108.

Khalid al Falih, the Aramco chief executive, said last month the state oil company stood ready to cover any shortfall in Libyan crude supplies. Mr al Naimi said Saudi Arabia had developed two light, low-sulphur crude blends that were close to the specifications of Libya's high-quality crude.

But with oil exports from Nigeria, the biggest African producer, also threatened by increasing sabotage attacks in the run-up to presidential elections, the pressure on Gulf oil producers is growing.

Opec oil shipments are expected to fall to their lowest level since October, according to the tanker tracker Oil Movements.

"I can't see any movements from Libya at all," Roy Mason, the firm's founder, told Bloomberg.

Oil Movements predicted shipments would fall to 22.91 million bpd in the four weeks ending on April 16, down 2.3 per cent from volumes shipped in the previous four-week period.

While Saudi Arabia may already be exceeding its Opec production quota by about 950,000 bpd, the UAE also boosted output last month by about 160,000 bpd to more than 2.5 million bpd.

Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat

Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press 

At Eternity’s Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen

Three stars

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Tips from the expert

Dobromir Radichkov, chief data officer at dubizzle and Bayut, offers a few tips for UAE residents looking to earn some cash from pre-loved items.

  1. Sellers should focus on providing high-quality used goods at attractive prices to buyers.
  2. It’s important to use clear and appealing photos, with catchy titles and detailed descriptions to capture the attention of prospective buyers.
  3. Try to advertise a realistic price to attract buyers looking for good deals, especially in the current environment where consumers are significantly more price-sensitive.
  4. Be creative and look around your home for valuable items that you no longer need but might be useful to others.
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs

Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo

Gearbox: 7-speed automatic

Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 350Nm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km

Price: Dh235,000

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

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Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

Draw for Europa League last-16

Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe

Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United


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