Research Guide to Energy in the Middle East
Eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa—Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—belong to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and depend heavily on petroleum revenues. Oman is a significant net
exporter of oil and gas, too, while Egypt, Syria and Yemen produce enough oil to export,
as well. OPEC’s own website (www.opec.org—where you can find the OPEC Bulletin as
well as monthly and annual statistical data) was finally relaunched in February 2005.
© Jan Ellis je193@columbia.edu
HISTORICAL BACKDROP
Two articles from the Saudi Aramco World archives—‘Bulls from the Sea: Ancient Oil
Industries’ (www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199404/bulls.from.the.sea.htm) and a
history of ‘Muslims and the Oil Industry’ (www.beyond-theillusion.com/files/Religion/Islam/Incoming/islmoil1.txt)—provide plenty of context.
The University of Virginia’s Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies Program company(www.virginia.edu/igpr/apagoilhistory.html) and country-chronologies of international
activity (www.virginia.edu/igpr/apagoilcompany.html) in the Persian Gulf are current as
of 2000 (“to be updated once the various privatization schemes in the Gulf States are
finalized, if ever”).
AN INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Petroleum Finance Co.’s “PFC Energy 50” ranks the world’s largest energy players at
www.pfcenergy.com/pfc50/default.aspx.
about OIL is available from the American Petroleum Institute at
api-ec.api.org/about/index.cfm?bitmask=001002000000000000
GENERAL INFORMATION
PETROLEUM RESERVES
In February 2004, a major discussion of the actual level of Saudi reserves took place at a
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conference in Washington,
DC. The presentation of Matt Simmons, who argues that the Saudi reserves are
overestimated, and the reply of Saudi Aramco are on the CSIS site. They are very clear
and most informative: www.csis.org/energy/040224_baqiandsaleri.pdf versus
www.csis.org/energy/040224_simmons.pdf.
Highlights from the CSIS International Energy Outlook 2004 conference courtesy of the
Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SURIS), with links to the full report, are
posted at www.saudi-us-relations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-interest-04-20.html.
The latest info on Saudi Aramco—12.151.162.56/sa/pubs/Facts_Figure2003E.pdf. Plus:
 Saudi Arabia's Oil Reserves, by Dr. Sadad Al-Husseini www.saudi-americanforum.org/Newsletters2004/SAF_Item_Of_Interest_2004_05_27.htm


Saudi Arabia Ready to Boost Crude Oil Output www.saudi-usrelations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-NID-08-19.htm
U.S.-Saudi Relations and Global Energy Security www.saudi-usrelations.org/newsletter2004/saudi-relations-interest-05-07.html
British Petroleum’s indispensable Statistical Review of World Energy 2004 is available
online too at www.bp.com/subsection.do?categoryId=95&contentId=2006480
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION
Saudi American Bank’s thoughtful overview of the Saudi economy, as of February ’02
(at www.samba.com/investment/economywatch/pdf/Saudi_Economy_2002_English.pdf),
gently refers to the kingdom’s unemployment problems—if not the need to attract foreign
direct investment in Saudi Arabia’s petroleum industry.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) guards its information carefully, but offers a
wealth of economic statistics at www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/index.asp; free newsletters at
www.iea.org/dbtw-wpd/Textbase/news/subscribe.asp; the current issue of its Oil Market
Report at omrpublic.iea.org/currentissues/full.pdf, plus the penultimate edition of its
statistical supplement and users’ guide at omrpublic.iea.org/currentissues/sup.pdf.
The Central Intelligence Agency’s famous Factbook provides national economic
activity, as dominated to greater or lesser extent by petroleum. Choose the individual
country by name, at www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/refmaps.html, then
click ‘Economy’.
GulfWire, issued by the National Council on US-Arab Relations and the US-Gulf
Cooperation Council’s Corporate Cooperation Committee, offers good leads to
publications on gulf economies: www.arabialink.com/GulfWire.
US POLICY
The latest data on US oil imports from the US Department of Energy (DoE) is found at
www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/curre
nt/import.html. The DoE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) maintains the
best energy site on the Web (www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/contents.html), by far,
including:
 an OPEC factsheet, at www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/opec.html;
 an OPEC revenues factsheet, at www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/opecrev.html;
 a country profile of Saudi Arabia, at www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/saudi.html; and
 Persian Gulf oil & gas exports, at www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/pgulf.html
For more, go to the DoE’s homepage (www.eia.doe.gov) and look at ‘Historical Data’
and/or its ‘Energy Links’ (from the menu on the left-hand side of the page); or review the
EIA index (‘Energy A-Z’) for reports on everything from CO2 to GDP.
OIL FIELDS
US Geological Survey publishes interactive Maps Showing Geology, Oil and Gas Fields
and Geological Provinces of the Arabian Peninsula (go to pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr97-470/OF97-470B/arabGmap.html, where you can click to VIEW an even better new
interactive map), Africa (greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/old_OF97470A/afrmap2.html) and the former Soviet Union (FSU) (pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/ofr-97470/OF97-470E/fsumapG.html).
Interactive international oil-deposit maps are available at Baseline DGSI’s ‘nonproprietary à la carte oil library, at www.baselinedgsi.com/services/oil-library2.asp.
‘Oil Fields of the Middle East,’ c.1996, courtesy of Pasadena’s Polytechnic School & the
Britannica: www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gzetlian/images/maps/oilfieldsinmiddleeast.gif.
The geography of Iraq, courtesy of UC/Berkeley’s International and Area Studies:
ias.berkeley.edu/orias/2003/peace/map.htm. Thanks to the efforts of Judicial Watch and
the Sierra Club, two public-interest groups, the US Commerce Department in July 2003
released some documents dated March 2001 that were used by the so-called Cheney
Energy Task Force, including a map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals,
as well as two charts detailing Iraqi oil and gas projects, and a list of “Foreign Suitors for
Iraqi Oilfield Contracts.” Go to www.judicialwatch.org and enter Oil Field in the search
field; open the first document that appears—“Media Advisory: Cheney Energy Task
Force Documents Feature Map of Iraqi Oilfield”—and click the link at the bottom of that
document to see “MAPS AND CHARTS OF OILFIELDS: CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE.”
Meanwhile, maps of Iraq’s oil industry operations as of 1953 and 2003, respectively, can
be found at www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iraq_oil_industry_1953.jpg
and www.orcs.nm.ru/img/oilfields.gif.
Iran: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iran_major_oilfields78.jpg and
www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iran_petroleum_facilities_2004.jpg
A map of Turkey’s regional suppliers, pipelines, refineries and oil wells, from Le Monde
Diplomatique is posted at www.monde-diplomatique.fr/cartes/caucasepetrolemdv1998. A
description of the scandalous Blue Stream project, since abandoned, brings the story full
circle: www.projectfinance.ru/bluestream.html.
National economic activity, as dominated to greater or lesser extent by petroleum, was l
mapped en masse by the CIA in 1993 then posted by the University of Texas for…
Bahrain: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/bahrain_econ.jpg
Iran: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/iran_econ.jpg
Iraq: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/iraq_econ.jpg
Israel: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/israel_econ.jpg
Jordan: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/jordan_econ.jpg
Kuwait: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/kuwait_econ.jpg
Lebanon: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/lebanon_econ.jpg
Oman: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/oman_econ.jpg
Qatar: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/qatar_econ.jpg
Saudi Arabia: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/saudi_arabia_econ.jpg
Syria: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/syria_econ.jpg
Turkey: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/turkey_econ.jpg
UAE: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/uae_econ.jpg
Yemen: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_middle_east/yemen_econ.jpg
OIL PRICES
The current price of the daily OPEC OIL BASKET can be found on a banner running
across www.opec.org; click on the banner itself for further details. For weekly and
monthly and yearly basket averages, &., go to the homepage and click on ‘Market
Indicators’.
MARKET PRICES — www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html
CNN Money’s real-time oil and gas prices: money.cnn.com/markets/commodities.html
CONVERSION FACTORS translating barrels into cubic meters, gas cubic meters into BTUs,
&c., can be found at www.mees.com. First click on ‘Energy Tables’ then ‘Conversion
Factors.’ (The Energy Tables post good information on OPEC production and quotas.)
DoE’s graph of ‘World Oil Market and Oil Price Chronology: 1970-2003’ is posted at
www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/chron.html. (NPR has republished a complementary
chronology from the DoE’s Office of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Analysis
Division, for 1970-2000 at www.npr.org/news/specials/oil/gasprices.chronology.html.)
Additional monthly chronologies for 2001 (www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/chrn2001.html), 2002
(www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/chrn2002.html), 2003 (www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/chrn2003.html),
2004 (www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/chrn2004.html) and 2005 are all available, courtesy of DoE
(www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/monchron.html).
WTRG Economics’ site graphs Crude Oil, Gasoline and Natural Gas Futures, at
www.wtrg.com/index.html, and offers historical economic and strategic analysis of
petroleum markets as well as graphic analyses of oil prices (www.wtrg.com/prices.htm)
from 1867 to 2003.
PIPELINES
World Oil Transit Checkpoints, from the DoE: www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.html.
Iraq Pipeline Watch—a chronological compendium of attacks since Iraq was invaded in
2003—from the Institute for Analysis of Global Security (IAGS, a nonprofit
organization): www.iags.org/iraqpipelinewatch.htm
World Oil’s comprehensive map of Africa highlights the Maghreb’s oil-and-gas
installations, at www.worldoil.com/magazine/magazine_link.asp?ART_LINK=0108_outlook_africa_map.htm.
‘Tapline: the story of the world’s biggest pipeline,’ from the Trans-Arabian Pipeline
Company, c.1951, replete with maps, black-and-white photos, courtesy of al Mashriq:
almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/380/388/tapline/biggest/index.html.
Westward ho! Russia’s treatment of Yukos, one of its own private oil companies, and
indeed its recently announced restrictions on foreign participation in tenders to extract
mineral resources, are unlikely to encourage further foreign investment, but a RusEnergy
map (www.rusenergy.com/image/map_drugba_.gif) depicts OPEC’s competition from
the country’s Druzhba and Adria pipeline connections to new western ports. The network
of Russian oil and condensate trunklines, from Finland’s University of Lapland, c.1997,
can be found at arcticcentre.ulapland.fi/barentsinfo/maps/mapsbig/oilpipes.jpg. For
further information, check the pages of The Moscow Times (themoscowtimes.com),
where local debates are frequently laid out in English.
Various Caspian pipelines—present and future—from Clement M. Henry, at UT/Austin:
www.la.utexas.edu/chenry/oil/caspian.gif; www.la.utexas.edu/chenry/oil/chinapipes.gif.
Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Center maintains a dynamic (but slightly
outdated) Caspian routemap at www.wws.princeton.edu/~wws401c/1998. (See DoE’s
Caspian factsheet www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/caspian.html for the current US POV.)
A broader overview of Central Asian oil transport plans courtesy SUNY/Binghamton
and the Britannica, c. 1999: history.binghamton.edu/hist275/Map_Oil%20Pipelines.gif.
LNG & LPG
Algeria first tapped the international market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), in 1964;
some 40 years later, a giant contract between Shell and Qatar to supply LNG to America
and Europe is just the latest deal with the small Gulf emirate—which is pushing to help
meet burgeoning energy needs and become the predominant LNG supplier. Since the
world’s inventory of gas reserves is more widely spread than is its oil, the growth in
facilities for handling LNG could mean greater energy security as well. The Economist’s
current coverage: http://news.economist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/heii0oN8c0Mo0CXsw0E2.
TANKER TRAFFIC
World Oil Transit Checkpoints, from the DoE: www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.html.
The American Association of Port Authorities’ Glossary of Maritime Terms:
www.aapa-ports.org/industryinfo/glossary.html.
Poten & Partners (www.poten.com) provides first-rate analysis of the trade and
transportation of crude oil, LNG, LPG, et cetera, much of it posted in the public domain.
The Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS)’s ‘Threats to Oil Transport’ is
posted at www.iags.org/oiltransport.html.
OFFSHORE OPERATIONS
Offshore Environment (www.offshore-environment.com) offers analysis of petroleum’s
maritime consequences, e.g., the impact of decommissioned offshore installations
(www.offshore-environment.com/abandonment).
REFINING
The status of worldwide refining, from DoE’s Energy Information Administration, at
www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/Ref_i
mage_Ref_cap.htm and at http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/international/iea2002/table36.xls
(to be updated March 2005).
SANCTIONS
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions programs:
Iran: www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11iran.pdf
Iraq: www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11iraq.pdf
Libya: www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11libya.pdf
DoE’s report on Global Energy Sanctions: www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/sanction.html
FINANCE
The United States’ Export-Import Bank used to post a variety of national factsheets, but
now appears solely concerned with Iraq: www.exim.gov/news/iraqfactsheet.pdf.
EU ‘Relations with Iran’: europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/iran/intro/index.htm.
ISLAMIC BANKING
Harvard University’s Islamic Finance Information Program posts links to most Islamic
financial institutions around the world, at www.hifip.harvard.edu. The Institute of
Islamic Banking and Insurance provides a complementary host of links and info at
www.islamic-banking.com.
Riyadh’s Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp. (www.alrajhibank.com.sa) is the
largest Islamic bank in the world. The Arab League’s Islamic Development Bank
(www.isdb.org) is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al Baraka, a holding company based
in Bahrain and controlled from Jeddah (www.albaraka.com), is the most sophisticated of
the int’l Islamic banking institutions. Kuwait Finance House (www.kfh.com/index.asp)
is Kuwait’s largest Islamic bank (click the large ‘E’ on the left for an English version).
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES
H. E. Taylor publishes a wonderful guide to ‘Energy: Prospects and Alternatives’, at
www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/energy/energy.html#JRamage, and particularly recommends:
<http://www.peakoil.net/> ASPO: Association for the Study of Peak Oil
<http://www.oilcrisis.com/> The Oil Crisis
<http://www.hubbertpeak.com/index.asp> Oil Production & The Hubbert Peak
<http://hubbert.mines.edu/> Hubbert Centre
<http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/jon/world-oil.dir/lynch/worldoil.html> a critique
Resources for the Future’s glossary of ‘alternative energy’ terms is posted at
www.weathervane.rff.org/glossary/index.html, along with policy papers and other
publications, at www.rff.org. The DoE’s glossary of energy-related terms can be found at
www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/energyglossary.html.
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change offers policy briefs, environmental-impact
reports and analyses at www.pewclimate.org, and Britain’s Eyeforenergy posts the latest
international news and alternative energy issues (www.eyeforenergy.com).
ACADEMIA
Columbia’s Center for Energy, Marine Transportation, and Public Policy hosts a set
of oil links and course materials at www.cemtpp.org. Students can avail themselves of
back issues of MEES on the Center’s terminal, as well as access to all Energy
Intelligence Group publications (otherwise available for a fee at www.energyintel.com).
The James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy (www.bakerinstitute.org) recently posted
15 papers concerning The Energy Dimension in Russian Global Strategy (at
www.rice.edu/energy/publications/russianglobalstrategy.html) and a variety of other
helpful publications (at www.rice.edu/energy/publications/otherpapers.html#paper).
The University of Dundee’s postgrad Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law
and Policy site (www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/main) hosts an internet journal and archives.
NEWS & LINKS
Middle East Economic Survey is the best oil newsletter by far, but expensive. The MEES
site (www.mees.com) posts some general information, however, with an index at
www.mees.com/sitemap.htm. Good links: www.mees.com/links/mecountries/index.html.
LINKS to most large oil companies, courtesy of Platts Oilgram News — the industry
standard—can be found at www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/Useful%20Links. The
subscription-based global energy information service (www.platts.com) offers all of its
web content for free—although you may be required to register—including news
headlines and stories updated several times a day in real-time; longer news stories taken
from Platts 250 products and services; charts; web features, which look at an energy
industry hot topic in more detail; events listings; and an energy careers center.
Platts acquired Financial Times Energy in September 2001 (but a deft search of NexisLexis will produce this and most other subscription-based info) while the daily FT’s
great coverage is still available for free at news.ft.com/news/industries/energy.
The Oil & Gas Journal website, ogj.pennnet.com/home.cfm, posts lots of relevant
headlines (plus O&GJ reportage and databases for subscribers only).
For legendary Saudi Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani’s Centre for Global Energy Studies’
Global Oil Report summaries of non-OPEC output, see www.cges.co.uk.
For more oil company LINKS, try www.petroconsult.com.au/resources/company.htm or
directory.google.com/Top/Business/Energy_and_Environment/Oil_and_Gas/Operating_
Companies.
Middle East North Africa Financial Network offers helpful market data and news
(www.menafn.com/qn_energy_r.asp) and OPEC News (at www.opecnews.com) offers a
compendium of articles from a variety of sources—as does Alexander’s Gas and Oil
Connections, at www.gasandoil.com..
Try Oil.com, a good general site with many working links to shipping, OPEC et alia,
plus a wide array of news, at www.oil.com, or—for offshore and maritime news from the
same Internet publisher—try Mideast Energy, at www.mideastenergy.com.
Energy Connection is a membership based collection of oil- and gas-related internet
sites, information, prices, search engine and more... at www.energyconnect.com.
AME Info’s Energy, Oil & Gas news and country guides are available online at
www.ameinfo.com/news/Energy__Oil_and_Gas. Pipeline Magazine carries interesting
natural-gas and project news at www.pipelinedubai.com.
For good basic coverage, try Bloomberg online at www.bloomberg.com/energy.
NATIONAL OIL COMPANIES
Italy’s Eni provides a broad-brush synopsis of PETROLEUM OPS AROUND THE WORLD. Go
to www.eni.it, click on the ‘English version,’ then choose ‘Eni Around the World’ and
select individual oil-producing countries from the site’s drop-down regional menus.
The COUNTRY STUDY Series at www.country-studies.com provides the online version of
books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library
of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Army—beginning (for our purposes) with the “Discovery of Oil”
(www.country-studies.com/persian-gulf-states/discovery-of-oil.html).
Don’t forget the DoE’s Energy Information Administration’s COUNTRY ANALYSES, at
www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs.
ABU DHABI is the wealthiest of the United Arab Emirates and home to the world’s third
largest proven oil reserves. Its National Oil Company is on-line at www.adnoc.com.
A summary of Dubai’s oil and gas concessions is posted at www.datadubai.com/oil.htm.
And the US Army’s historical overview of the UAE’s oil and gas sector is posted at
www.country-studies.com/persian-gulf-states/qatar---the-economy---oil-and-naturalgas.html.
ALGERIA: Sonatrach (www.sonatrach-dz.com) and Sonelgaz (www.sonelgaz.com.dz).
BAHRAIN apparently opts not to field a website for its national oil (BPC) and gas (BNG)
companies, so be sure to take a look at the US Army’s historical overview, at
www.country-studies.com/persian-gulf-states/bahrain---petroleum-industry.html, and
DoE’s country analysis, at www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/bahrain.html#gas.
The EGYPTian General Petroleum Company: www.egpc.com.eg.
The Egyptian Natural Gas Company (transport): www.gasco.com.eg.
The National IRANian Oil Company (www.nioc.org),
the National Petrochemical Company (www.NPC-International.com).
The Iranian Offshore Engineering & Construction Co.: www.ioec.com.
Iran’s oil terminals: www.nioc-otc.com/webpages/geoghraphic-location.htm.
Iran’s Institute for International Energy Studies (www.iies.org) publishes numerous
studies, news and a remarkable list of energy sites and Iranian links, but is no longer
available in English. NetIran (www.netiran.com) posts detailed coverage of NIOC and
the oil industry (click ‘Clippings’). The US Army’s historical overview is available at
www.country-studies.com/iran/oil-and-gas-industry.html and www.countrystudies.com/iran/petroleum-industry.html.
IRAQ’s National Oil Company was subsumed by the Ministry of Oil in 1987 (see “Oil
in the 1980s,” at countrystudies.us/iraq/55.htm), which maintains a site at
www.uruklink.net/oil.
The DoE’s Iraq Energy Chronology 1980-2004 (www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/iraqchron.html)
supplements EIA’s country analysis (at www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/iraq.html). Histories of the
Iraq Petroleum Company and its forerunner, the Turkish Petroleum Company, appear
at almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/380/388/ipc and countrystudies.us/iraq/53.htm.
(Additional histories are available from the US Army at countrystudies.us/iraq/52.htm
and countrystudies.us/iraq/54.htm.) MEES editor-in-chief Walid Khadduri’s heads-up for
Iraq’s oil industry is posted at www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/a47n48d01.htm.
ISRAEL’s Paz: www.paz.co.il.
The KUWAIT Oil Co site resides at www.kockw.com; the Stock Exchange is listed at
www.kuwaitse.com, and the Kuwait Information Office in Washington, DC, tackles
‘Oil and Industry’ at www.kuwait-info.org/Statistics/oil_and_industry.html. US Army’s
historical study: www.country-studies.com/persian-gulf-states/kuwait---oil-industry.html.
For DoD’s report on environmental exposure to oil well fires following Iraq’s invasion of
Kuwait, including small maps of oil fields and international troop movements, see
www.gulflink.osd.mil/oil_well_fires/index.html.
A Daily Star obituary of LEBANON’s foremost geologist, Ziad Rafik Beydouin, is posted
courtesy of al Mashriq, at almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/geology/beydoun. The EIA’s
country analysis is posted at www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/lebanon.html.
Concomitant with newly relaxed relations with the United States, LIBYA’s National Oil
Corporation has finally posted a website (www.noclibya.com), but it’s not terribly
illuminating. The EIA’s new country analysis: www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/libya.html.
The OMAN Oil Company appears to have allowed its website to lapse, but an official
description of the oil and gas sectors is posted at www.brunet.bn/php/kharti/boo95b.htm.
The US Army’s historical overview is available at www.country-studies.com/persiangulf-states/oman---hydrocarbon-sector.html.
QATAR Petroleum (www.qp.com.qa), QatarGas (www.qatargas.com.qa), Ras Laffan
LNG Co. (www.rasgas.com) and Qatar Petrochemical Company (www.qapco).
US Army overview: www.country-studies.com/persian-gulf-states/qatar---the-economy--oil-and-natural-gas.html.
The SAUDI national oil company, Saudi Aramco: www.saudiaramco.com. The bountiful
Saudi Aramco World is now available on a separate site: www.saudiaramcoworld.com.
The kingdom’s main petrochemical company, SABIC, is accessible at www.SABIC.com.
The US Army’s historical overview: www.country-studies.com/saudi-arabia/oilindustry.html, www.country-studies.com/saudi-arabia/oil-industry-in-the-1990s.html and
www.country-studies.com/saudi-arabia/factors-that-transformed-the-economy.html.
SYRIA’s Al Furat Petroleum Company (managed in conjunction with Shell and
PetroCanada) is on-line at www.afpc-sy.com. The EIA’s country analysis is posted at
www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/syria.html.
The TURKISH Petroleum Corporation operates a terrific site at www.tpao.gov.tr. The
US Army’s historical overview of Turkish energy interdependence is available at
www.country-studies.com/turkey/energy.html.
YEMEN’s Ministry of Oil and Minerals maintains a rudimentary presence and oilrelated map at www.pepa.com.ye; but the General Gas Corporation appears to have
allowed its website (www.yemenlng.com.ye) to expire in 2004. So take a look at
www.huntoilcom for a general description of Yemen Hunt Oil or Yemen Hunt LNG
(click on ‘Operations Overview’ and then ‘Yemen’). And Occidental Petroleum’s
Canadian spin-off Nexen Inc., the most active oil company in Yemen, outlines its
activity there at www.nexeninc.com/Operations/International/yemen.asp. The DoE’s EIA
may help to fill the void, at www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/yemen.html.
LEGAL REGIMES & TRADE REGULATIONS
For information concerning business contracts see Barrows (for tables of contents, at
least, and occasional free samples), at www.barrowscompany.net/publication.htm.
Barrows’ invaluable series of historical World Petroleum Arrangements is posted as
follows:
Abu Dhabi: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691001.pdf.
Ajman: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691002.pdf.
Algeria: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/50391001.pdf.
Bahrain: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/51691001.pdf
Dubai: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691003.pdf.
Egypt: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/56291001.pdf.
Fujairah: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691004.pdf.
Iran: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/59691001.pdf
Iraq: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/59791001.pdf.
Israel: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/59991001.pdf.
Jordan: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/60491001.pdf.
Kuwait: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/60991001.pdf
Lebanon: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/61391001.pdf.
Libya: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/61691001.pdf
Morocco: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/63891001.pdf.
Oman: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/65691001.pdf.
Qatar: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/66991001.pdf.
Ras al-Khaimah: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691005.pdf.
Saudi Arabia: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/67691001.pdf.
Sharjah: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691006.pdf.
Sudan: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/69491001.pdf.
Syria: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/70091001.pdf.
Turkey: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/66991001.pdf.
Umm al-Qaiwain: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/71691007.pdf.
Yemen: downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/72991001.pdf.
Appendices for the Middle East and North Africa are on-line at
downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/middle_east.pdf and
downloads.pennnet.com/orc/barrows/north_africa.pdf.