Bloomberg Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday a $500 billion plan to build a business and industrial zone that links with Jordan and Egypt, the biggest effort yet to free the kingdom from dependence on oil exports. The 26,500 square km (10,230 square mile) zone, known as NEOM, will focus on industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and ...

Agencies Saudi Arabia reassured global investors that it’s on track to sell shares in oil giant Aramco in 2018 as the who’s who of global finance and business gathered in Riyadh for a conference dubbed the “Davos in the Desert.” The kingdom plans next year to sell a stake in Saudi Arabian Oil Co., as the world’s biggest oil exporter ...

Bloomberg Iraq began using a new offshore crude-exporting facility to boost shipments by sea and make up for a drop in pipeline exports from the country’s north due to a conflict with the self-governed Kurdish region. The supertanker Chloe, which can transport about 2 million barrels of oil, moored at the new loading point in the Persian Gulf off the ...

Bloomberg Equatorial Guinea, OPEC’s newest member, is taking steps to stem the decline in its oil production following the acquisition by Kosmos Energy Ltd. and Trident Energy Management Ltd. of fields currently operated by Hess Corp.For two to three years there has been a trend of US companies operating in Africa, but not re-investing there, said the nation’s Minister of ...

Bloomberg The biggest US grid operator is asking regulators to reject Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s plan to prop up ailing coal and nuclear plants. “I don’t know how this proposal could be implemented without a detrimental impact on the market,” Andrew Ott, who heads up PJM Interconnection LLC, told reporters by phone. Perry’s proposal is “discriminatory” and inconsistent with federal ...

BEIJING / Reuters Russia held on to its position as China’s top crude oil supplier ahead of Angola and Saudi Arabia for the seventh straight month in September, with shipments hitting a record as refiners rushed to buy lower-sulphur oil to meet cleaner fuels standards. Imports from Russia last month were almost 6.35 million tonnes, or 1.545 million barrels per ...

Bloomberg Infosys Ltd. slashed its annual revenue forecast, as the Indian software outsourcing giant deals with the aftermath of a boardroom coup that forced out its top executive. The software exporter is now forecasting 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent growth in revenue in the year ending March in US dollar terms, versus the 7.6 percent rise analysts were anticipating. That ...

Bloomberg The distributor of Nike Inc.’s Converse brand in Thailand is hopeful of a revival in consumer spending once a yearlong mourning period for King Bhumibol Adulyadej ends on October 29. Whether Rich Sport Pcl Chief Executive Officer Papitch Wongpaitoonpiya is proved right will help to determine the strength of a rebound in the Thai economy, since household consumption is ...

Bloomberg Singapore is experiencing a surge in venture capital fundraising, reflecting growing interest in Southeast Asia’s startups. This month, Vertex Ventures and two other venture-capital firms completed fundraising efforts in the city, each with their largest fund yet. In September, East Ventures, which made early bets on successful startups like Tokopedia and Traveloka, raised $30 million that will go toward ...

­­­­­­­­­­­Bloomberg Facebook Inc. could be in the firing line of data privacy regulators across the European Union if the bloc’s top court follows the opinion of an adviser who said the social media giant may be policed by authorities in the country where users are based. Yves Bot, an advocate general of the EU Court of Justice, said that national ...