DUBAI / WAM In line with the decision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to declare 2017 as the “#Year of Giving”, and the global vision of endowment adopted by Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), announced the ...
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Saudi driving ban lift could increase gasoline demand
Meed Saudi Arabia’s lifting of the ban on women driving could lead to an increase in its demand for gasoline, according to energy consultants First Global Energy (FGE). Saudi Arabia is the biggest consumer of gasoline in the region and is the world’s nine largest gasoline market. Current demand is around 580,000 barrels a day (b/d) – a figure that ...
Read More »SATORP achieves ISO certification
Emirates Business Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, certified Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), an oil and petrochemical joint venture refinery between Saudi Aramco and TOTAL, as being compliant with the standard requirements of ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems Certification. This globally-recognised standard was developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and ...
Read More »India needs to double refining capacity to meet fuel demand
Bloomberg India needs to double its refining capacity by 2040 to meet rising fuel demand as an expanding middle class buys more passenger vehicles and its economy grows, a top refinery official said. India’s refining capacity must increase to 465 million tonnes by 2040, from about 230 million tonnes currently, and investments are already being made, said Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, ...
Read More »Australian gas supply crunch squeezes east coast LNG exporters
MELBOURNE / Reuters The Australian government warned that the country’s east faced a worse-than-expected natural gas shortfall in 2018, but the competition watchdog said the gap could easily be filled by diverting uncontracted exports to the local market. It is now up to the government to decide by November 1 whether to pull the trigger on its Australian Domestic Gas ...
Read More »Forget oil, water is new ticket for pipeline growth in Texas
Bloomberg The torrent of dirty water coming out of almost every American oil well is the next big bet for a former fund manager for billionaire Paul Allen. Getting rid of wastewater from onshore wells has become an increasingly costly problem for oil producers as US crude output surged in recent years, especially in the new shale fields from Texas ...
Read More »Smartphone effect clouds Asia’s bumper export year
Bloomberg The rush to upgrade smartphones may be ebbing, prompting economists to dial back the outlook for Asian exporters. Early indications, including signs of disappointing orders, point to a mixed reaction to the latest iPhones, hurting the share prices of Apple Inc.’s Asia-based suppliers. Given that smartphone improvements help power demand for electronics components from supply-chain powerhouses such as South ...
Read More »Jaguar ends Ford engine deal, putting 750 UK jobs at risk
Bloomberg Jaguar Land Rover pulled the plug on a 2008 agreement with Ford Motor Co. to supply gasoline engines from a facility in Wales, compounding the struggles the UK plant already faces due to uncertainty caused by Brexit. About half the staff at Ford’s Bridgend factory, or roughly 750 people, depend on the deal to make V6 and V8 engines ...
Read More »Philippines plans to ease foreign ownership limit
Bloomberg The Philippines plans to amend its Constitution next year to help ease restrictions on foreign investment, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said. Dominguez informed Japanese investors in a recent forum in Tokyo that the government is also reviewing its so-called Foreign Investment Negative List to increase foreign ownership limits in the areas of construction and other sectors, the Finance Department ...
Read More »Uber drivers need licenses in Australia’s Queensland
Bloomberg Ride-booking operators and drivers, such as those from Uber Technologies Inc., will need licenses to offer their services in the Australian state of Queensland under new regulations announced in Brisbane. The eligibility tests for drivers and booking entities will be the same for all those offering personalised transport, Mark Bailey, Queensland’s minister for main roads, road safety and ports, ...
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