SINGAPORE / DUBAI / Reuters Iraq’s proposal to change the way it prices crude oil in Asia faces resistance from refiners who fear that longer lead times between pricing and deliveries will expose them to more risk. Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO surprised traders this week by seeking feedback on plans to switch its Basra crude benchmark in Asia to ...

Bloomberg PetroChina Co. took a page from the playbook of global peers known for generous dividends by deciding to pay shareholders its entire half-year net income. China’s biggest oil producer passed on to investors the benefits of higher global prices with almost 12.7 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) in dividends, the Beijing-based company said as it reported earnings that beat estimates. ...

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s Carbon Holdings aims to finalise funding and start building its massive Tahrir petrochemicals project by June, producing raw materials desperately needed to boost the country’s industrial sector, its chief executive told Reuters. The $10.6 billion scheme in the Suez Canal Economic Zone will be the largest petrochemicals project in Egypt. Carbon Holdings CEO Basil El-Baz sees ...

Bloomberg Grab, Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing app, plans to invest $100 million in Myanmar as it extends its battle with Uber Technologies Inc. to capture exploding use of smartphones. Grab will invest the money over the next three years and work with local governments to expand ride-hailing to more cities and roll out services such as its in-app digital payment ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s electronics output surged almost 50 percent in July from a year earlier, underpinning overall manufacturing in the city state and signaling a global trade recovery is holding up. Industrial production rose 21 percent, the fastest pace in seven months, beating all 17 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The electronics cluster, which includes products such as semiconductors, ...

Bloomberg Infosys Ltd. Chairman Nandan Nilekani moved to reassure investors and employees after a dramatic coup by the firm’s founders this week in which they ousted four directors and took back control of the troubled Indian IT company. “I want to put this company on the right stable path,” Nilekani, 62, said. “I plan to be here as long as ...

Bloomberg Speculators thinking Lee Jae-yong’s sister, Lee Boo-jin, could take the family mantle, are making a bet Samsung will stray from the tradition of male-dominated succession at the country’s chaebol. But Samsung has broken away from tradition to better the business before and Boo-jin already advises and owns 5.5 percent of holding company Samsung C&T Corp. She’s also proven her ...

Bloomberg Harvey became the strongest hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, making landfall in the heart of the US energy sector and bringing the danger of a life-threatening storm surge. Harvey came ashore as a Category 4 storm between Port Aransas and Port O’Connor, Texas, packing gusts strong enough to strip the roof off houses and menacing ...

Bloomberg President Nicolas Maduro summoned holders of Venezuelan bonds to a meeting with Economy Minister Ramon Lobo next week to discuss the effects of US sanctions aimed at sovereign and state oil company debt. US-based holders of Venezuela bonds will be hurt the most by the sanctions, Maduro said. President Donald Trump “burned the bonds in their hands” by trying ...

Bloomberg German Social Democratic challenger Martin Schulz returned to his European Union roots in a speech to several thousand supporters in Frankfurt, accusing Angela Merkel of souring relations with EU allies and being unacceptably vague on plans for euro-area integration. Speaking on the German financial capital’s Roemerberg square in the shadow of the financial capital’s medieval city hall, the former ...