News

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The UAE Banks Federation, a professional body representing 49 member banks operating in the UAE, held its Ordinary Annual General Assembly Meeting at the Head Office of the Commercial Bank of Dubai. The meeting, chaired by HE AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation, was attended by Federation Board members and representatives of ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Manufacturing Conference & Exhibition for Oil & Gas (MAF 2016) closed on a grand note in Dubai. While attendees were able to forge new partnerships, foster relationships with existing clients and throw spotlight on innovative mechanisms, the three day high-profile event also witnessed some discussion on challenges faced by the region’s Oil & Gas sector. The ...

MOSCOW / Reuters Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak hopes leading oil producers will agree to freeze output at a meeting in Doha on April 17, he said, which should help the global oil market to rebalance. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar agreed in February to freeze production at January levels, but said at the time the deal was contingent ...

RABAT / Reuters French carmaker Renault and component suppliers will invest 10 billion dirhams ($1.04 billion) in Morocco to build an “industry ecosystem”, the country’s industry minister said on Friday. Renault’s ecosystem and its new plants will raise Renault’s local sourcing of components to 65 percent from 32 percent and are projected to generate 20 billion dirhams in revenues, Moulay ...

DUBAI / Reuters Iran is exporting around 350,000 barrels of crude oil a day to India and hopes to increase this number, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying on Saturday after meeting Indian counterpart Dharmendra Pradhan. The Shana news agency, linked to Iran’s oil ministry, quoted Zanganeh as saying Indian oil purchases from Iran were at 350,000 barrels ...

LONDON / Reuters Oil refineries are shifting into high gear to produce as much gasoline as possible for the world’s fuel-hungry drivers – kicking the problem of a worsening diesel glut further down the road. The “margin” or profit derived from refining crude into diesel has plunged in Europe, hitting multi-year lows this week as demand for the fuel – ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg In the energy world, India is becoming the new China. The world’s second-most populous nation is increasingly becoming the center for oil demand growth as its economy expands by luring the type of manufacturing that China is trying to shun. And just like China a decade ago, India is trying to hedge its future energy needs ...

MUMBAI / Reuters Fairfax India Holdings said it has agreed to acquire a minority stake in privately held Indian petrochemical company Sanmar Chemicals via a roughly $300 million investment. The Sanmar investment is the latest in a string of bets Fairfax India and its sister concern Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd have made in the country within the last year. The ...

Sydney / Bloomberg Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised a prudent budget will be handed down next month in comments published by the Australian Associated Press. Turnbull was speaking less than a week after an opinion poll showed the government trailing the opposition for the first time since he deposed Tony Abbott seven months ago. This budget will not be about ...

Bandar Seri Begawan / DPA Brunei should take advantage of the region’s growing Islamic finance industry which is set to develop even further with the support of large Muslim populations in Southeast Asia. In an interview, Jeff Pirie, a senior partner from auditing firm Deloitte Singapore, said that Islamic finance is a good area where Brunei can build expertise outside ...