NEOM Green Hydrogen Company completes financial close of $8.4B for world’s largest green hydrogen plant

NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC)—an equal joint venture by ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM—announced that following signing financial documents with 23 local, regional, and international banks, and investment firms, it has now achieved financial close on the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility at a total investment value of... Read more →


Hynfra and Amarenco MENA form strategic partnership to produce hydrogen and ammonia in MENA region

Poland-based Hynfra has signed a framework cooperation agreement with Amarenco MENA, a major developer of renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa and part of Amarenco Group. The strategic partnership is aimed at building infrastructure for the production of hydrogen and its derivatives, primarily ammonia, using electrolysis... Read more →


Iran announces first lithium reserve in country; projected 8.5 million tonnes

Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade recently announced that the country has discovered its first lithium reserve, in Qahavand in Hamedan province. The reserve is believed to hold 8.4 million tons of lithium; if realized, this would rank Iran behind Chile (11 millions tons) and ahead of Australia (7.9... Read more →


At the 45th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (OPEC+) in Vienna, the organizations decided to cut crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day (mb/d), starting in November 2022. The adjustment will reduce OPEC+ production from 43,856 million... Read more →


Aramco awards $10B in contracts for vast Jafurah shale gas field development

In late November, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) announced the start of development of the vast Jafurah unconventional gas field, the largest non-associated gas field in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Company has awarded subsurface and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts worth $10 billion, with capital expenditure... Read more →


Saudi Aramco signs 12 agreements with South Korean partners worth billions of dollars

Saudi Aramco and its affiliates signed 12 agreements with major South Korean companies to reinforce relationships with South Korea, expand international operations, and support the region’s energy security with the expansion of Arabian crude oil supply to Asian markets. Among these agreements is a partnership with Hyundai Motor on hydrogen.... Read more →


The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), a non-profit entity established by Masdar Institute that is part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, announced the world’s first commercial flight using locally produced sustainable fuel on an Etihad Airways Boeing 787 powered by GE’s GEnx-1B engines. (Earlier post.) The flight from... Read more →


EMT, the transport company of the Spanish capital Madrid, is set to receive another 276 Mercedes-Benz Citaro NGT urban buses with natural gas drive in the next two years. This will be the fourth major order from Madrid in quick succession. EMT placed its first order two years ago for... Read more →


Emirates Transport (ET), the UAE government owned public transport provider, recently launched the final phase of testing for the first electric-powered school bus in the region. The 45-seater bus was manufactured in close cooperation with the Shanghai Sunwin Bus Cooperation. During the pilot phase, the bus will operate on full... Read more →


The Technical Failure That Could Clear The Oil Glut In A Matter Of Weeks

by Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com OPEC exports have come under pressure this week from technical threats to oil fields, with Saudi Arabia’s Manifa problems grabbing the headlines. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, while addressing the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul, stated that the outlook for oil supplies is “increasingly worrying”,... Read more →


Toyota to collaborate in research for the creation of H2-based society in the United Arab Emirates

Toyota Motor Corporation has agreed to collaborate with Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Air Liquide, and Toyota distributor Al-Futtaim Motors in a joint research program to explore the potential of hydrogen energy use in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the creation of a sustainable, low-carbon society. As... Read more →


King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Announces Inaugural Global Research Partnership Investigator Winners

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia has named the winners of its Global Research Partnership (GRP) Investigator competition. Twelve international scientists—among them Dr. Yi Cui at Stanford (silicon nanowires for li-ion batteries) and Dr. Bruce Logan at Penn State (microbial fuel cells)—were selected as KAUST... Read more →


Iran Khodro Company to Start Production of Dual-Fuel Cars in July; National Push for Natural Gas Fuel

Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) will begin the production of dual-fuel gasoline-compressed natural gas cars in late July. IKCO is the largest vehicle manufacturer in Iran and the Middle East, and builds cars and commercial vehicles for domestic use and for export. Iran is facing a gasoline shortage. Riots erupted in... Read more →


Middle East May Have 1 Million Natural Gas Vehicles by 2010

Despite being home to 65% of the world’s oil reserves, pressure to improve air quality and maximize crude oil revenues is driving Middle Eastern governments to implement alternative fuel schemes that dwarf many of those in oil-dependent nations. Government and private organizations in Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates and other... Read more →


China Investing $3B to Up Capacity for High-Sulfur Crudes

Bloomberg. China, the world’s second-biggest oil consumer, plans to spend $3 billion on refinery units capable of processing lower-quality, high-sulfur (“sour”) crude oil from the Middle East. In return, the country hopes to be able to cut its current annual oil import bill by as much as 20%. Oil higher... Read more →