Regional News

MOSCOW / LONDON / Reuters Russia’s biggest oil company, Rosneft, has agreed to take control of Iraqi Kurdistan’s main oil pipeline, boosting its investment in the autonomous region to $3.5 billion despite Baghdad’s military action sparked by a Kurdish vote for independence. The move appears to be part of a strategy by President Vladimir Putin to boost Moscow’s Middle Eastern ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters The global oil market is improving and stabilising, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said in Baghdad on Saturday. In a speech at the opening of the Baghdad International Exhibition, Falih praised the cooperation between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which he said had helped to boost global oil prices. Speaking later to reporters, he said Saudi Arabia and ...

LONDON / Reuters Oil producers are working to build consensus on extending their deal to reduce supplies, OPEC’s secretary general said, with the potential for continuat- ion throughout 2018 forming a basis for talks. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and nine other producers, are cutting oil output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until ...

KHOBAR / Reuters National oil firm Saudi Aramco plans to set up a construction company with local and international partners to build non-oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, industry sources familiar with the plan said. Saudi and foreign companies have expressed interest in the project, and will form consortiums which apply to take part at a later date, one of the ...

Bloomberg US shale drillers are tapping on the brakes in the wake of a growing investor revolt that’s held down company values, even as they’ve scored historic production numbers. The evidence is stacking up: The latest rig count showed the biggest one-week drop in the Permian Basin in 19 months, while Schlumberger Ltd. and Baker Hughes, the two largest oil ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is still aiming to complete both international and domestic portions of the initial public offering of its state oil company in 2018, Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. Asked whether both parts of the IPO will happen next year, Al-Falih said: “Yes of course; it is on track.” He declined to answer questions on whether Chinese investors were ...

DHAKA / Reuters Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) is set to sign a 15-year deal with Indian oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) to import gasoil to meet the country’s energy demand, two company officials with the direct knowledge of the matter said. The sales and purchase agreement is expected to be signed on October 22 during Indian Foreign Minister ...

Bloomberg Oil extended gains as signs of declining US stockpiles pointed to healthy demand while investors weighed potential disruptions to supply because of global geopolitical tensions. Futures in New York rose as much as 0.6 percent after adding 2.5 percent in the past three sessions. An industry report showed US inventories fell last week, with government data forecast to show ...

Bloomberg India’s biggest gas utility plans to use some of the liquefied natural gas it gets from the US to restart three idled fertilizer plants, according to people with knowledge of the matter. State-run GAIL India Ltd. plans to supply the factories in eastern India with more than a third of the LNG it’s contracted to buy from the US, ...

DUBAI / LONDON / Reuters China is offering to buy up to 5 percent of Saudi Aramco directly, sources said, a move that could give Saudi Arabia the flexibility to consider various options for its plan to float the world’s biggest oil producer on the stock market. Chinese state-owned oil companies PetroChina and Sinopec have written to Saudi Aramco in ...