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TOKYO / Reuters The United States will overtake Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer by 2019 at the latest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday, as the country’s shale oil boom continues to upend global markets. IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at an event in Tokyo the United States would overtake Russia as the biggest crude ...

RIYADH / Reuters Marriott International expects to attract $2 billion of investment in Saudi Arabia in the next four years by almost doubling the number of hotel rooms it operates there, an executive said. The kingdom aims to boost domestic and international tourism in its drive to diversify the economy away from oil exports. It is has set a target ...

Bloomberg Oil traded near a three-week high after a supply disruption in Libya and as investors await US inventory data. Futures in New York slid 0.3 percent after closing at the highest since February 5 as crude exports from a key Libyan terminal were disrupted. The focus now shifts to US stockpiles, which are forecast to have risen last week. ...

Bloomberg For the thousands of attendees it was meant to be a conference to showcase China’s flagship Belt and Road project in Pakistan—the port in southwestern Gwadar that gives Beijing access to the Arabian sea. In the evenings the almost 8,000 delegates were wowed with cultural shows and a firework display at the newly opened five-story Gwadar Exhibition Center which ...

Bloomberg A unit of HNA Group Co. will lead two funds that will invest 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) in China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative as the conglomerate shows its support for the government campaign. HNA Capital Group Co., which owns aircraft leasing firm Bohai Capital Holding Co. and online financial platform Jubaohui, will back infrastructure and financial services ...

Bloomberg The venture capital community has been fretting about the impact SoftBank Group Corp.’s giant tech fund has on deal prices. The Japanese company says be grateful. “It’s good for investors if valuations go up as they can exit at those prices,” said Rajeev Misra, head of the Vision Fund, citing deals with Didi Chuxing, Uber Technologies Inc. and WeWork ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s premier is urging the public to avoid hoarding toilet paper after a reported spike in prices by manufacturers spurred a run on supermarket supplies. The island’s government is monitoring distributors and retailers for signs of price manipulation after local media said major toilet-paper brands would boost prices by as much as 30 percent from next month, spurring anxious ...

Bloomberg China’s exporters are shrugging off the surging yuan, even as it nears its strongest level since 2015. Growth in outbound shipments is expected to build on January’s double-digit increase to climb 6 percent in 2018, though the yuan has posted a 9 percent gain over the past year. While a rising domestic currency over time makes exports more expensive, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) signed an agreement with Japan’s INPEX Corporation awarding the company a 10 percent interest in Abu Dhabi’s offshore Lower Zakum concession. A wholly-owned INPEX subsidiary, JODCO Lower Zakum Limited, will hold and manage the interest in the concession on behalf of INPEX. The agreement, which comes into effect on ...

BARCELONA / WAM The United Arab Emirates is ranked first for the highest-Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) penetration among all its global counterparts for a second year in a row, according to the FTTH Council. The council published its annual report that highlighted UAE with a coverage of 94.3 percent compared to countries such as Singapore (90.3 percent), South Korea (81.6 percent), Hong ...