Chinese companies dominate Iraq bidding round

The prospect of interest rates staying higher for longer took oil prices down by $1 on Friday. Nevertheless, supply concerns and encouraging economic indicators from China resulted in prices recording only a small weekly loss.

Brent crude closed the week at $82.79 a barrel. Opec's next meeting is on June 1, with analysts expecting member states to maintain their current voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day.

Iraq’s bidding round for new oil and gas exploration and production has been dominated by Chinese companies. Fourteen blocks were auctioned on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Ten were won by Chinese businesses, three by Iraq-based KAR Group while one bid, by Sinopec, was rejected.

The Chinese winners are mostly medium-sized private companies. Of the large state-owned companies that led the way in Iraq initially, Sinopec and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation won one block each while the China National Petroleum Corporation did not submit any bid. Some western companies such as Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni, alongside Dubai’s Dragon Oil, were on the qualification list but did not submit bids either.

Iraq is seeking to boost oil production capacity to strengthen its case for a higher Opec allotment, and to increase gas output to close a persistent deficit and improve electricity provision. It is in talks to resume oil shipments to Jordan, after they were interrupted by political differences.

Meanwhile, Qatar's Finance Minister says high energy prices are weighing on the economies of the region’s oil and gas importers.

In Dubai, taxi fares have increased in line with fuel prices.

Mubadala strikes it big in Indonesia

Mubadala Energy has made an important gas discovery in Indonesia. The Tangkulo-1 offshore well, near North Sumatra, is “game-changing”, according to chief executive Mansoor Al Hamed, and follows last year’s find of more than six trillion cubic feet nearby in the Layaran-1 well.

Adnoc Drilling, the biggest state-owned driller in the Middle East, has reported a first-quarter profit increase of 26 per cent, helped by a jump in revenue from offshore drilling. It is setting up a new subsidiary, Turnwell Industries, to deliver wells for unconventional oil and gas for parent Adnoc.

Meanwhile, Adnoc Logistics and Services has reported that first-quarter profit rose by 34 per cent to $194 million, helped by gains in revenue across all segments. The company expanded its fleet of offshore service vessels last year.

US tariffs on Chinese EVs good politics but bad business

US President Joe Biden will announce new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, quadrupling the rate to 100 per cent. Semiconductors, batteries and solar cells will also be hit with levies, as the US tries to build up its clean energy manufacturing sector while limiting competition from much cheaper Chinese products. Although tariffs are good politics, they are bad economics.

As EVs become popular in the UAE, Adnoc Distribution will more than double its network of charging points. From 89 stations today, it hopes to reach 150 to 200 by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, global ports operator DP World has teamed up with Swedish freight mobility start-up Einride to introduce the Middle East’s largest fleet of driverless electric cargo vehicles at Jebel Ali port.

UAE’s ‘fifth wave’ of cleaner energy

Hydrogen could be the UAE’s “fifth wave” of cleaner energy, says Florian Merz of Masdar, succeeding liquefied natural gas, then pipeline gas exports, renewables and nuclear power. Faye Al Hersh, head of green hydrogen business development in the UAE, says the company hopes to beat its target of producing a million tonnes a year by 2030.

Mr Merz was speaking at the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam, with the Emirates and the Netherlands chairing a 20-country hydrogen trade group. Morocco recently joined the group, and its Energy Transition Minister Leila Benali pointed to her country’s existing connectivity by pipeline to Europe.

Soaring carbon dioxide brings record heat in April

Last month was the hottest April globally on record, and the last 12 months were 1.61°C above the pre-industrial benchmark. Carbon dioxide levels are rising 10 times faster than at any point in the last 50,000 years, research on Antarctic ice shows.

Climate change could lead to the spread of malaria, including into areas along the Nile and southern Europe from which it had been eliminated. However hotter, drier conditions in much of Africa could diminish the disease there.

Abu Dhabi has laid out plans to reduce air and noise pollution. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi will monitor pollution hotspots and release air quality maps, while businesses and construction sites will be required to improve. Luxury tourism providers face difficulty in reducing their environmental footprints while keeping up with guest expectations.

Beautiful auroras a warning for electricity grids

The solar storm that led to spectacular auroras over Europe and North America on Friday and Saturday is a sign of a more active phase of the Sun’s cycle. A more major solar event could destroy satellites and lead to power cuts. This emphasises the importance of strengthening the electricity grid and building in redundancies.