Regional News

Bloomberg Oil extended losses near $50 a barrel as US industry data showed an increase in gasoline stockpiles and a boost in crude inventories at the nation’s biggest storage hub. Futures lost as much as 1% in New York after falling 2.4% in the previous two sessions. Gasoline supplies rose by 4.91 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute …

Bloomberg Libya’s oil output, hampered by sporadic shutdowns at fields and ports, is on track to resume its recovery as the OPEC nation’s biggest crude deposit started pumping after a three-day forced halt. The Sharara field re-opened on Wednesday and is restoring production, the state producer National Oil Corp. said on its website. NOC lifted force majeure at the field …

SINGAPORE / Reuters Saudi Aramco has raised the price of its Arab Light grade for Asian customers for loading in November by 30 cents versus the previous month to a premium of 60 cents a barrel to the average of Oman and Dubai quotes, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. It also raised prices for two other …

Bloomberg OPEC nations pumped slightly more crude in September as Libya’s biggest oil field returned to production. Output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was 32.83 million barrels a day in September, a gain of 120,000 barrels a day from August, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data. Production in Libya, which along …

Bloomberg BHP Billiton Ltd. is getting closer to drilling its first oil wells in Mexico’s deep waters. The Australian mining giant, which last year won rights to partner with state-owned Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico’s Trion field, hopes to have a drilling rig contracted this year and to spud two wells in the second half of 2018, Steve Pastor, …

Bloomberg Savola Group, Saudi Arabia’s largest food products company, is in talks to buy sweets and confectionery maker Sanabel Al-Salam in a deal worth $300mn, sources said. Savola, which owns supermarket chain Panda, is keen to increase the quality and variety of its sweets offering, said the sources, who declined to be named as the matter was not public. Talks …

Reuters Bahrain-listed Investcorp aims to invest in companies that support oil giant Saudi Aramco and is also eyeing healthcare and education assets being sold in Saudi Arabia’s privatisation drive, its executive chairman said. The private equity and alternative asset firm, which has offices around the world, aims to more than double investments to $50 billion in five years by expanding …

Bloomberg A push to use more natural gas by the world’s fastest-growing oil guzzler is getting a boost from an unlikely source: the nation’s gasoline and diesel makers. India’s top three state-owned oil refiners are planning to use their gasoline and diesel fuel outlets to sell compressed natural gas for vehicles, increase investments in city-gas distribution projects and expand use …

KHOBAR / Reuters Saudi Arabia and Russia plan to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in energy projects, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a interview broadcast by Al Arabiya TV on Monday. The fund, to be finalised during this week’s visit by Saudi King Salman to Moscow, was part of efforts by two of the world’s …

Bloomberg Kuwaiti officials are considering an annual public spending cap of 21 billion dinars ($69.5 billion) on average over the next three fiscal years to help the government plan future debt sales, a senior official said. The cap is being included in a proposed budget for the fiscal year starting in April, the official said, asking not to be named …