Mideast oil refinery expansions could help ease diesel crisis: Bloomberg

The Middle East will process 8.8 million bpd of crude in 2023, one million bpd more than output in 2019. (Shutterstock)
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Updated 20 June 2022
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Mideast oil refinery expansions could help ease diesel crisis: Bloomberg

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Iraq are set to help ease a forecasted diesel crunch by producing an additional million barrels per day in 2023, Bloomberg reported. 

Citing data from the International Energy Agency, the report stated that oil refiners in the Middle East will process 8.8 million bpd of crude in 2023, one million bpd more than output in 2019. 

This increase will roughly compensate for the amount that Europe will lose over the period. 

Bloomberg noted Jazan Saudi Aramco will be able to produce more than 200,000 bpd of diesel when it reaches full capacity. It added the refinery will not be able to reach its full capacity until the first quarter of 2023. 

The diesel market in Europe faced a crunch following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, gasoline and diesel prices surged dramatically in the US and western countries, as oil refiners struggled to make up for the loss of Russian crude and other petroleum products. 


QatarEnergy halts LNG production over Iran attacks: statement 

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QatarEnergy halts LNG production over Iran attacks: statement 

DOHA: Qatar’s state-run energy firm said on Monday it had halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on facilities at two of its main gas processing bases. 

“Due to military attacks on QatarEnergy’s operating facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City in the State of Qatar, QatarEnergy has ceased production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products,” the company said in a statement. 

Earlier, Qatar’s defence ministry said one Iranian drone “targeted an energy facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City, belonging to QatarEnergy,” referring to the firm’s onshore gas processing base 80 km (50 miles) north of Doha. 

Another “targeted a water tank belonging to a power plant in Mesaieed,” the statement said, referring to an area 40 km south of the Qatari capital, which is also a key site for Qatar’s natural gas production. 

There were no reports of casualties, the defence ministry added. 

The Gulf state is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers, alongside the US, Australia and Russia. 

Qatar shares the world’s largest natural gas reservoir with Iran. 

State-run QatarEnergy estimates the Gulf state’s portion of the reservoir, the North Field, holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves. 

In recent years, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni among others.