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DUBAI / Reuters Saudi International Petrochemical Co (Sipchem) said on Tuesday it was planning to resume proposed merger talks with Sahara Petrochemical in a deal that could create a 14.7 billion riyals ($3.9 bln) chemicals company. The two companies called off a planned merger in 2014, citing an inadequate regulatory framework in the kingdom for the collapse. Sipchem said on …

Bloomberg A US appeals court ruled against New York’s bid to block a pipeline that will shuttle natural gas to a $900 million power plant under construction there, setting a potential precedent for other battles over gas conduits. The court sided with federal energy regulators’ ruling that New York waived its right to act on the pipeline by failing make …

Bloomberg Turning Canada’s heavy oil sands into a more marketable kind of crude is making a comeback, or rather half a comeback. Alberta’s government’s C$1 billion dollar pledge ($780 million) will help support the construction of smaller and cheaper varieties of upgraders. The so-called partial upgraders would process the sticky oil just enough so that it can flow freely through …

Bloomberg Oil fell below $61 a barrel, following its biggest rally in seven months, on speculation that growing US production will help keep global markets well supplied. WTI futures dropped as much as 2.2 percent ahead of a government report that may show further expansion in shale output. Stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for futures contracts, were little …

Bloomberg The Gulf Cooperation Council is setting up a company to facilitate direct money transfers among its six members. The Riyadh-based company will allow Gulf states to transfer money “without reliance on international currencies,” Kuwait central bank Governor Mohammed Al-Hashel told reporters following a meeting of regional central bankers in Kuwait City. The chief executive officer has been picked and …

Bloomberg A full-blown trade war could cost the global economy $470 billion, according to Bloomberg Economics. The US decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum may just be the beginning, with President Donald Trump warning of more levies and other economies promising to respond. Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union’s trade chief, vowed on Monday to “stand up to bullies.” …

Bloomberg Oil risks sliding back under $60 a barrel as a surge in US shipments to Asia threatens to undermine a deal between OPEC and its allies, according to ING Groep NV. While the producer group complied with a pledge to curb output and ease a glut in 2017, US flows that are gaining a bigger slice of the prized …

DUBAI / Reuters Egypt plans to award the tender for a high-speed railway between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the second half of 2018, transport minister Hisham Arafat said on Monday. The project will connect the eastern resort of Ain al-Sokhna to El Alamein, a town west of Alexandria that was scene of a battle in World War …

Bloomberg An agency tasked with cleaning up Nigeria’s murky oil industry says even though financial accountability has improved the state oil company still hasn’t explained billions of dollars of missing revenue. While energy producers have cooperated and complied with requirements to publish payments, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has struggled with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., Waziri Adio, …

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq’s oil ministry on Monday said the nation would reduce its petroleum products imports by 25 percent as crude oil refiner­ies are being rehabilitated following fighting with IS militants. Iraq is also producing more oil products by processing natural gas liquids, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said in a statement, without indicating a specific timeframe for the import …