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DUBAI / Emirates Business Beijing Tai Cloud Technology, the first blockchain company in China’s new OTC market, has announced the launch of its UAE operations aimed to leverage opportunities of trading in blockchain technology. Tai Cloud is a pioneer in the research and application development of the blockchain technology system in the People’s Republic of China. The company established the …

Bloomberg Global growth is set to slow over the next two years as central banks raise borrowing rates and US fiscal stimulus starts to fade, the World Bank said. The world economy will grow 3.1 percent this year and 3 percent in 2019, the development lender said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report. Both forecasts were unchanged from January, …

Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd. has received first-round bids for its US shale portfolio from oil majors including BP Plc and Chevron Corp., valuing the unit at $7 billion to $9 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, partnering with private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, also submitted a bid for the entire unit late in May, …

Bloomberg A tentative deal to revamp US biofuel policy appeared to collapse when the White House indefinitely delayed an expected announcement of the planned changes, according to three people familiar with the move. The postponement of a directive outlining the deal may mark the end of the latest effort to overhaul the American renewable fuel mandate with an eye on …

Bloomberg Repsol SA, Spain’s largest oil producer, plans to raise dividends and investments over the next two years on a bet that crude will remain above $50 a barrel. The scrip dividend — a payout to shareholders in stock — will climb to 1 euro in 2020 from a planned 90 euro cents this year, according to a strategy update …

ABU DHABI / WAM The Arab Coalition in Support of Legitimacy in Yemen has said that the Iranian-backed Houthi militias are currently suffering from wide isolation and facing difficulty in enlisting recruits, a fact reflected in the great losses they sustained in the Yemeni districts of Al-Hodeidah and Saada. In a news conference in Saudi Arabia, the official spokesman of …

Bloomberg They are the building blocks of our daily stuff, from sports shoes to computer keyboards, created when oil and natural gas molecules are split, or cracked, to produce ethylene, propylene and other chemicals. The petrochemicals are big business in the oil-rich Persian Gulf, and they’re poised for further growth. Energy producers view these compounds increasingly as a key to …

Bloomberg Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped on news that its chief financial officer is taking over as interim CEO, offering some continuity to investors rattled by political pressure at the state-controlled oil producer. Ivan Monteiro was named after the resignation of Pedro Parente, as Brazilian politicians called for a chief executive officer more focussed on the good of the nation than …

Bloomberg Canadian crude surged by the most ever after Enbridge Inc. said it won’t implement a new procedure to stop shippers from claiming more space than they can use on a key pipeline linking Alberta’s oil sands with US refineries. Western Canadian Select jumped as much as $12.20 a barrel to $13.80 below the US benchmark, the narrowest spread since …

Bloomberg France’s biggest energy company expressed skepticism about the economics of hydrogen-powered vehicles as the government unveiled subsidies to promote the gas as way of cutting fossil-fuel consumption and fighting climate change. “We find it difficult to be convinced it has a future in 10 years time,” Total SA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with local …