Saudi commerce minister visits India to discuss anti dumping duties
(Al Sharq Al Awsat)
Saudi minister of trade and industry Abdullah Zainel has begun talks with the Indian foreign affairs minister Maliah Somanahale Krishna to discuss the anti dumping duties that India imposed on polypropylene products mainly from Sabic and Advanced polypropylene company.
This official move from Saudi Arabia, comes after claims that the Indian imposed anti dumping duties on Saudi polypropylene imports are just to help India’s Reliance Industries to market its new 800,000 metric tonnes per year of polypropylene which is due on stream in the next few days.
Saudi Arabia imports 34100 bpd of gasoline in August
(Argaam)
Saudi Arabian gasoline imports stabilised at 34,100 barrel per day (bpd) in August showing no change from July. This has been due to problems at the new gasoline unit in the Kingdom.
Sources said that the kingdom is obliged to continue exporting for spot markets as the new production unit in PetroRabigh is facing problems.
The new production unit partially started operations in 2008, and has a production capacity of 60,000 bpd of gasoline.
Iran says Crescent gas deal needs revision
(Mehr News Agency)
Iran won’t deliver any gas to Crescent National Gas unless the two sides reach an agreement on a price for the exported gas which serves Iran’s national interests, National Iranian Gas Export Company’s managing director said on Wednesday.
“The two sides should first come to terms on providing valid guarantees and consenting on new delivery points,” Seyyed Reza Kasaeizadeh said.
“Up to now three other Emirati companies have declared their readiness to buy the produced gas from Salman gas field,” he added.
The previous National Iranian Oil Company managing director Seifollah Jashnsaz had stated that the Iran-Crescent deal will be enforceable only if it serves Iran’s national interests.
He had made the remarks in response to the Crescent’s recent decision on seeking international arbitration for what it said to be the failure of the Iranian state oil firm to fulfill the gas export contract.
The UAE-based Crescent National Gas Corp. signed a deal with the National Iranian Oil Company in 2001 to import natural gas from Iran’s Salman field through a pipeline jointly built by Iran and Crescent.
Based on the signed MoU, Iran was supposed to export 600 million cubic feet of gas daily to the UAE for 25 years starting in 2005.
As oil rallied in following years, some officials and politicians in Iran called for a revision to the price formula. They have blamed the price dispute for the delay.
Crescent says the two sides provisionally agreed on a revised price in September last year, but that it has heard nothing from NIOC on the price since then.
Aramco awards $21billion contracts to produce 15 million bpd
(Al-Yaum)
Saudi Aramco has awarded $21bn contracts in the last six months, after being idle during the second half 2008.
The contract awarded aims to increase the production capacity to 15 million bpd by 2015 through the development of Manifa and the gas field of Karan, which is KSA’a largest non associated gas field and is expected to produce 1.5 billion cubic feet per gas by 2011, as the company aims to keep the pace with the growing gas consumption in the Kingdom – currently expanding at a rate of 7% per year.
Saudi Advanced Polypropylene changes its name to Advanced Petrochemical
(Tadawul)
Saudi Advanced Polypropylene Company has changed its name to Saudi Advanced Petrochemical Company. The company aims to diversify its business portfolio.
Meanwhile, the company said the first hearing session of the anti-dumping import duties by the Indian Ministry of Commerce is scheduled to begin in September 2009. Companies affected by the duties are invited to submit
evidence to demonstrate that they were not dumping polypropylene into Indian markets.
India has imposed $440 per tonne anti dumping duties on Saudi Advanced products exported to India.
