Regional News

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Jabal Omar Development Co, one of the largest listed property developers in the country, plans to raise 4 billion riyals ($1.1 billion) with local currency sukuk issues, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The company, which has taken out bank loans over the past few years to back its flagship development in Mecca, …

BEIJING / Reuters Chinese oil refineries operated in July at their lowest daily rates since September 2016, official data showed on Monday, to ease brimming inventories as state-owned oil giants faced off independents in a retail petrol price war. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, processed 45.5 million tonnes of crude in July, or 10.71 million barrels per day (bpd), …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has vowed to revive America’s dying nuclear industry. Backers of a troubled Georgia nuclear project want him to prove it. They have asked the administration to come to the aid of a project to build two reactors to the Southern Co.’s Vogtle power plant, according to people familiar with the talks. That could include increasing or …

Bloomberg Oil and Natural Gas Corp. plans to tap the debt market for the first time, an opportunity that may be hard to pass up for bond bulls. India’s largest state-run energy producer may sell bonds and take out loans of as much as $4 billion to pay for the purchase of the government’s $5.2 billion stake in Hindustan Petroleum …

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt is looking to reverse a series of bans on its agricultural products that has hit one of its most promising export sectors, Abdel Hamid al-Demerdash, the head of Egypt’s Agriculture Export Council told Reuters. Egyptian crops from strawberries to peppers have been hit by temporary bans on concerns over pesticides residues. Sudan introduced a blanket ban …

LONDON / Reuters OPEC forecast higher demand for its crude in 2018 due to rising global consumption, and pointed to signs of a stronger oil market that suggest an OPEC-led production cut is getting rid of price-sapping excess supply. In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said the world would need 32.42 million barrels per day …

CAIRO / Reuters Egypt’s key inflation rates soared to multi-decade highs on the back of energy sub- sidy cuts agreed with the International Monetary Fund as a condition of its $12 billion three-year loan. Annual urban inflation for July hit a critical high of 33.0 percent from 29.8 percent in June, the official CAPMAS statistics agency said, the highest since …

Reuters Freight rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on Asian routes may have finally bottomed as owners attempt to resist moves by charterers to push rates still lower, brokers said. “This is a really bad market now. The floor keeps getting lower but I think there’s now resistance by owners,” said a Singapore-based supertanker broker. That came as VLCC …

Bloomberg OPEC’s two biggest producers agreed to strengthen their commitment to production cuts and maintain balance in world crude markets, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said after talks with his Iraqi counterpart Jabbar al-Luaibi, according to the kingdom’s state news agency SPA. The two ministers also agreed to ensure coordination of their nations’ oil policies, Saudi Press Agency reported, citing …

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia favours New York for the main foreign listing of state oil giant Aramco, even though some financial and legal advisers have recommended London as a less problematic and risky option, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. A final decision on where to stage what could be the world’s largest initial public offering will be …