News

GENEVA / WAM The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined a chorus of international actors in calling for respecting a truce in Syria’s eastern Ghouta and affirmed that the Syrian people had experienced brutal confrontations and systematic targeting and could not tolerate another bloody chapter. Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, Permanent Representative of the UAE to United Nations and other International ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq’s parliament approved on Saturday a long-delayed 104 trillion Iraqi dinar ($88 billion) 2018 state budget, two lawmakers told Reuters, though lawmakers from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region boycotted the session. The budget of 104 trillion Iraqi dinars ($88 billion) is based on projected oil exports of 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) at a price of $46, ...

Bloomberg Russia is sending more natural gas to Europe than ever before as a blast of Arctic air lifted demand for heat and electricity, underlining the region’s dependence on its eastern neighbour. The freeze severely tested Europe’s energy network over the past week. Spot gas prices tripled to a record, drawing in more Russian supplies by pipeline and prompting a ...

TOKYO / Reuters ExxonMobil Corp has declared force majeure on exports from its Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which has been shut since a powerful earthquake, an industry source familiar with the matter said. At least 31 people were killed by the 7.5 magnitude quake, and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has declared a state of emergency across ...

BARCELONA/ WAM Etisalat received ‘The Most Valuable Telecoms Brand’ in the Middle East and North Africa Region presented by Brand Finance, marking the company’s increase in brand value by 40 percent to $7.7billion, higher than any other telecom brand in the region and the only telecom provider to break the $7bn brand value mark in the region. Etisalat is the ...

Bloomberg Londoners this morning woke up to the rare sight of the city blanketed in snow as the icy blast from Siberia that’s causing havoc across Europe will linger for at least this week. Temperatures across Europe have plummeted and forecasters predict they will remain as much as 8 Celsius below average (14.4 Fahrenheit) in Britain through the weekend. UK ...

BEIJING / Reuters At least 10 of China’s domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants have resumed output in the past week after the government cut off their supply, providing the first signs that the country’s gas supply crunch is starting to ease, company sources said. The return of the plants, which liquefy domestically produced gas that is then trucked to ...

Bloomberg Oil is poised for its first monthly decline in half a year as January’s rally fades on growing fears over booming US shale supply. Futures in New York were little changed, putting them on course for a 2.8 percent drop in February. An industry report was said to show US oil inventories rose last week, which would be the ...

Bloomberg Oklahoma is tightening its rules for fracking after studying a new cluster of earthquakes in one of the hottest US regions for drilling. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced that all explorers within certain areas must use equipment known as a seismic array, which detects movement underground. The regulators also lowered the quake threshold for pausing work from 3.0 magnitude ...

LONDON / Reuters More than $200 billion of investment in liquefied natural gas is needed to meet a boom in demand by 2030, Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s top LNG trader, said. The LNG market is set to continue its rapid expansion into 2020 as facilities approved for construction in the first half of the decade come on line, in ...