Regional News

Total chases growth with $5bn purchase of Maersk Oil unit

Bloomberg Total SA agreed to buy the oil and gas unit of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, the French company’s biggest acquisition since 1999 and another sign of the accelerating pace of energy deals after a long downturn. Total will pay Maersk with $4.95 billion of its own shares and assume $2.5 billion of the Copenhagen-based company’s debt, according to a statement ...

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Sempra Energy offers to buy Oncor for $9.45 billion

Bloomberg US utility owner Sempra Energy has agreed to buy control of Texas power distributor Oncor Electric Delivery Co. for $9.45 billion, topping a bid by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. just last month. Sempra’s deal for Energy Future Holdings Corp., which owns 80 percent of Oncor, is valued at about $18.8 billion including debt, the San Diego-based company said ...

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Iraq plans major change into oil pricing for Asia

SINGAPORE / DUBAI / Reuters Iraq has informed its customers that it plans to switch its price benchmark for Basra crude in Asia to DME Oman futures from January, dropping the average of Platts’ Oman-Dubai quotes, in a major shift in the way it prices its oil. The proposal by state-oil marketer SOMO would mark a significant change by OPEC’s ...

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Iran seeks ‘funds’ for oil sector

BEIRUT / Reuters Attracting foreign investment for Iran’s oil sector will continue to be a top priority during President Hassan Rouhani’s second term, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. “Attracting foreign investment and technology is a priority for us in the oil industry, whether in shared fields or for increasing the production of oil at fields that are already operational,” ...

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Shell mulls buying Israel, Cyprus gas for Egypt plant

Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc is seeking creative solutions to bring gas from Israel and Cyprus to market, a step that could help turn the Mediterranean region into a major gas- producing hub. Shell is in talks to buy natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan field, combine it with output from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field, in which it owns a 35 percent ...

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Telecom startup plans $800mn ‘solar towers’ investment in Africa

Bloomberg GreenWish Partners, a renewable energy company run by a former Morgan Stanley executive, is planning to invest $800 million on solar-powered telephone towers across Africa. The project could fuel economic growth by providing power for essential services. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest rates of energy access in the world and is home to about half of the world’s 1.2 ...

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Philippines courts China, Japan for $135 billion power push

Bloomberg The Philippines is seeking investment from China and Japan for $135 billion worth of power projects that President Rodrigo Duterte’s government is ready to fast-track. The Southeast Asian nation has held discussions with China, Japan, Russia and other countries about helping it boost generation capacity by 43 gigawatts in the coming decades to stabilize its power supply as the ...

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New law to allow firms register within hours in Egypt

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt is hoping that long-awaited regulations approved to its new investment code will draw in fresh and needed cash from abroad as the country pushes ahead with reforms. Investment Minister Sahar Nasr told Reuters in an interview that the law could now be active within days. “Establishing (a company) will literally now take hours. It used to ...

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Qatari pilgrims can change riyals, says Saudi central bank

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s central bank said it had not banned trading of the Qatari riyal since Riyadh cut diplomatic ties with Doha, and said visiting Qatari citizens could exchange their currency. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of backing terrorism, which Qatar denies. ...

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Blackstone doubles down on shale boom lasting with Harvest deal

Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP’s reach for $10 billion in energy assets is the firm’s latest bet that the US shale boom is just hitting its stride. The world’s largest alternative-asset manager agreed to buy Harvest Fund Advisors for an undisclosed amount, adding the firm’s 18-member team led by Eric Conklin to an investment empire that spans private equity, real estate, ...

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