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Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp plans to boost production capacity 70 percent by 2025 as the Middle East’s dominant chemical maker works with new joint-venture partners and expands its footprint in the heart of the US shale boom. Increasing chemical production is crucial to Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” blueprint, which envisions creating higher-value products and jobs, Yousef al Benyan, chief …

LONDON / Reuters Gasoline stored in ships off Europe’s coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent’s traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts. Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe’s ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to …

ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria is offering motorists incentives to more than double the number of cars running on natural gas by 2021 in an effort to reduce consumption of costly imported fuel amid strained public finances, officials said. The North African country has been struggling with a halving since 2014 of vital oil and gas revenues, which make up 60 …

ASTANA / Reuters Kazakhstan hopes to settle a profit sharing dispute with global energy companies developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field by June, its deputyenergy minister said, after talks were repeatedly extended. Eni and Shell have the biggest stakes in the Karachaganak project, which they jointly operate. “Negotiations on the Karachaganak project are rather active, we meet almost daily, our …

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s state oil company will soon sign an agreement with a British oilfield services firm to explore building chemical facilities in Texas, according to people familiar with the matter. The agreement with TechnipFMC Plc involves a study for a potential chemical unit on the US Gulf Coast that would be able to produce materials used in gasoline and …

MANAMA / Reuters A new discovery off the coast of Bahrain is estimated to contain at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil, the kingdom’s biggest ever find, Bahrain’s oil minister said. Bahrain said it had discovered extensive tight oil and deep gas resources off the west coast of the kingdom. Independent appraisals by US-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton …

LONDON / Reuters OPEC oil output fell in March to an 11-month low due to declining Angolan exports, Libyan outages and a further slide in Venezuelan output, a Reuters survey found, sending compliance with a supply-cutting deal to another record. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 32.19 million barrels per day last month, the survey found, down 90,000 …

Bloomberg At least four US pipeline companies have seen their electronic systems for communicating with customers shut down over the last few days, with three confirming it resulted from a cyberattack. Oneok Inc., which operates natural gas pipelines in the Permian Basin in Texas and the Rocky Mountains region, said it disabled its system as a precaution after determining that …

GAZA / Reuters The Palestinians are seeking to sell a 45 percent stake in a gas field off Gaza to help to develop the project, its main stakeholder, the Palestine Investment Fund, said on Wednesday after Royal Dutch Shell announced it had pulled out. Gaza Marine, about 30 km (20 miles) off the Gaza coast, has long been seen as …

LONDON / Reuters Oil hit a two-week low on Wednesday after China said it would impose tariffs on a number of US goods including agricultural products, raising the prospect of a growing trade war that could hurt the global economy. China, the world’s largest importer of raw materials, lashed back at the Trump administration’s plan to levy tariffs on $50 …