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Middle East news Regional update
While we remain in the COVID-19/low oil price I am pleased to see the resilience shown by our member companies as they look to remain productive Ryan M cPhers on during this period. Make no mistake this remains an extremely turbulent time with continued volatility expected in the coming weeks as we seek to balance out the supply, demand and storage conundrum which witnessed WTI falling into negative territory for the first time as the markets remained unprepared for a supply glut with storage options close to saturation. During this time like my colleagues elsewhere we have embarked on a weekly series of webinars to give a transparent overview of what is happening across the region and illustrate the number of partner agencies who are here to assist you during a time of need. This has included country briefings for Saudi Arabia, UAE and Oman where we are averaging over 100 attendees for each webinar, the majority of whom are regular attendees which is great to see. We will continue to provide this service in the coming months and embark on a range of additional topics. As part of our webinars we have introduced an e-networking service to our webinars allowing delegates to be introduced facilitated by EIC staff. This is a great opportunity to broaden your network while working from home. All webinars have been recorded so please contact me or any of the team if you wish to get a copy including the accompanying presentations. Our recently launched Africa membership has welcomed our first member under this category in ABSA Bank who we are delighted to welcome into the EIC family and hope to see more companies join them in the coming months. Our African market webinar illustrated the opportunities in this region where it was tremendous to see many UK and African companies alike on the call. More information can be found at www.the-eic.com/Membership/Africa We also welcomed Inmarsat as our latest GCC member and look forward to working alongside them in the months ahead. On a positive note (accepting that predictions are severely time bound at present) it was interesting to see UBS forecasting Brent oil prices could rise to US$43bbl by the end of 2020 and Saxo Bank predicting that Brent could recover to US$50-70 levels by the first half of 2021 – hopefully we see more of this sentiment reflected in the physical market. Get in touch Share your news and views...
Email newsdesk@the-eic.com • Phone +44 (0)20 7091 8600
On a final note from all of us here at EIC we hope that you and your respective families continue to stay safe during this period. Please continue to take advantage of the network, talk and help each other out where possible. We appreciate that this is a challenging time for UK businesses the world over and we want to remind you of the strong network at your disposal and that we are here to help in any way we can. Ryan McPherson, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS ryan.mcpherson@the-eic.com
Regional news
Saudi Arabia initiates 1.2GW round three solar projects The Ministry of Energy has issued the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Round Three Solar PV independent power producer (IPP). Round Three is comprised of four solar PV projects with a combined generation capacity of 1,200MW. The Ministry of Energy has extended the RFP timeframe on this round of projects from four to six months due to COVID-19. Additionally, the ministry will be hosting virtual meetings to facilitate bidders’ conferences.
ADNOC terminates Dalma contracts with Petrofac
ADNOC has cancelled the award of two packages of work to Petrofac on the Dalma development. Petrofac has said that it will continue to work closely with ADNOC over the coming weeks to explore alternative options to deliver this project in a way that supports their strategic objectives within the current environment. The cancellation of the contract award has led to speculation from several sources that ADNOC could delay many of its tenders and projects this year.
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