Regional News

Bloomberg Plans to sell a stake in Saudi Arabian Oil Co. are “well underway,” the government said on Saturday, as the kingdom redrafts one of its key economic blueprints to eliminate overlap with other reform programs. The government’s privatization program “continues to gain traction,” the Ministry of Culture and Information said in a statement. Officials have said the kingdom plans ...

Bloomberg Oil declined the most since July as Hurricane Irma threatened to slash energy demand that had only just begun to recover from the wrath of Harvey. Futures slid 3.3% in New York. While Valero Energy Corp. and other refiners resumed fuel production after Harvey roared ashore two weeks ago, demand for gasoline and other transportation fuels may falter across ...

ASTANA / Reuters Kazakhstan is aiming for a standalone deal with leading global oil producers on restraining its crude production due to a need to crank up output at its Kashagan field, a Kazakh official said. The Central Asian nation increased oil and gas condensate output by 9.9 percent in January-July to 49.907 million tonnes, or 1.724 million barrels per ...

ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria’s government has approved draft amendments to a law aimed at securing new funding sources to cover budget deficits as it struggles to cope with a sharp fall in energy earnings. Amendments to the Money and Credit Law were endorsed at a cabinet meeting, chaired by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, that discussed plans for the newly appointed government ...

Riyadh / Emirates Business The health of the non-oil private sector in Saudi Arabia continued to improve during August. Growth was supported by sharp expansions in new orders and output. Moreover, international demand for Saudi Arabian products and services picked up, as highlighted by a renewed increase in new export orders. Growth of staffing levels was sustained during August, as ...

Reuters Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma’aden) , the Gulf’s largest mining company, has asked banks to submit proposals for a loan which would refinance some $2.88 billion of existing debt, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. It sent a request for proposals to banks last week and the banks have until the end of September to respond, the ...

LONDON / Reuters A blockade on production at Libya’s Sharara oil field, the country’s largest, was lifted after it shut down output for more than two weeks, a Libyan oil source said. A valve on a pipeline leading from the field that was closed during the shutdown has reopened, though it was not clear how quickly production would resume at ...

Bloomberg Europe’s biggest energy companies have a message for the aging UK North Sea oil industry: We may be selling assets, but that doesn’t mean we’re heading for the exit. The North Sea will always be “one of the great basins,” said BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley. Royal Dutch Shell Plc will keep investing in a place where it ...

SINGAPORE / Reuters Several bookings for oil product tankers from Asia to the United States and Latin America have been cancelled as traders have not been able to find spot supplies to fill them and as demand has tapered off slightly, traders and shipbrokers said on Wednesday. About one-third of the estimated 25 vessels that were provisionally booked to load ...

LONDON / Reuters OPEC members’ compliance with the agreement to reduce output has improved in recent months, Iran’s oil minister said, noting that unofficial talks were underway among the oil producing countries to extend the cuts next year. Under the agreement OPEC is curbing its collective oil production by about 1.2 million bpd, while Russia and some other non-OPEC producers ...