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DUBAI / Emirates Business Smart Cities, connected mega-events such as Expo 2020 Dubai, and the growth of “intelligent enterprises”, will drive the UAE’s IT market to top AED20 billion in 2018, according to the newly-appointed UAE Managing Director of global technology company SAP. Increasingly, UAE organisations are becoming “intelligent enterprises,” using innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of …

Bloomberg A red-hot electric vehicle market has triggered a face-off between Big Oil and utilities. Oil majors, who’ve sold fossil fuels to cars for a century, are now moving into an electricity sector that’s preparing for exponential growth. The problem is that utilities, the primary power suppliers for a century, have the same idea. BP Plc predicts electric vehicle sales …

Bloomberg Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) declared force majeure on another two oil ports, removing thousands more barrels from the market just as global supply concerns put pressure on OPEC to ramp up production. Oil loadings at the Zueitina and Hariga export terminals in eastern Libya have stopped, the Tripoli-based NOC said on Monday. The halt comes just a week …

Bloomberg The average American household will have $440 less to spend this year due to rising pump prices, putting at risk one-third of the windfall they got from tax cuts. Strong oil prices drove the cost of US gasoline to the highest level in more than three years last month, according to AAA, and pump prices are now 27 percent …

PUNTLAND / WAM Teams from the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation have begun the distribution of emergency relief assistance to Somali families in villages in Puntland State, northeastern Somalia, as part of phase two of a campaign launched to assist those ravaged by drought in the region. 900 tonnes of food aid is being delivered to help recipients endure …

Bloomberg BMW AG and Hyundai Motor Co urged the US not to impose tariffs on auto imports, joining General Motors Co in pressing their case to the Commerce Department even as a top aide to President Donald Trump dismissed the concerns as “smoke and mirrors.” “It seems that the threat to impose these sanctions is designed to achieve certain goals,” …

Bloomberg Canada’s oil industry just moved one step closer to getting some relief from its pipeline woes. Enbridge Inc’s planned $7 billion replacement and expansion of its Line 3 conduit, linking Alberta’s oil fields to refineries in the US, was given the green light by regulators in Minnesota, clearing the way for the project to move ahead. The state’s Public …

Bloomberg The chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corp in Tripoli said he’s confident that the US and other world powers would help block authorities in eastern Libya from exporting any crude after militia captured key ports there. Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a commander in the politically divided nation’s east, have handed over control of ports with a combined export …

Bloomberg South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources has issued a moratorium on new applications for petroleum exploration and development in order to change its licensing process. The restriction won’t affect applications received before the date of publication of the notice, which appeared in the online version of the Government Gazette on June 28 and was signed by Minister Gwede Mantashe. …

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) recorded its best H1 ever in its 13-year history, trading over 11,300,000 contracts so far in 2018, up 44 percent year-on-year (y-o-y). Traded value for the first six months of 2018 breached $250 billion for the first time too. The exchange’s record-breaking performance was sealed following a robust month of trading …