Regional News

  Bloomberg Iran’s gold jewellery demand climbed to a four-year high in the first quarter, as the rest of the Middle East was hurt by low oil prices. An improving economy helped Iran’s jewelry demand climb 27 percent from a year earlier to 12.9 metric tons in the first three months this year, the World Gold Council said in a …

  Bloomberg Statoil ASA, Norway’s biggest oil and gas producer, rose the most in five months after first-quarter profit climbed on higher output amid recovering crude prices and as it deepened cost cuts to emerge from a downturn that has battered the industry for more than two years. The shares rose as much as 3.7 percent, the most since December …

  Bloomberg The era of quantitative easing and emergency measures has left central banks with trillions in assets. In the case of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, it ended up with 10 percent in the country’s state oil company. Even as KazMunayGas National Co. prepares an initial public offering by 2020, the central bank will “stay a shareholder” and the …

  Bloomberg Pemex is producing more gasoline and diesel at its six refineries across Mexico, reducing fuel imports and leaving less oil available for export. In the first three months of the year, Mexico’s refineries processed 21 percent more crude than a year earlier, according to a company presentation. The increase has largely come from crude that was previously being …

  Bloomberg Iran will go along with whatever decision OPEC makes at its meeting later this month on whether to extend oil production cuts beyond June, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. “All indications are that the members want a renewal of the deal and we will go along with what they agree upon,” Zanganeh said on Saturday on the …

  Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell Plc showed it has adapted to a world of lower oil prices, generating a surge in cash that allowed it to pay dividends while reducing debt. The Anglo-Dutch company’s first-quarter performance helps validate Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden’s $54 billion purchase of BG Group Plc — for which some shareholders complained he overpaid — …

  Bloomberg Sunrun Inc., the largest independent US rooftop company, fell the most in more than 11 months after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the company adequately disclosed how many customers canceled contracts. The San Francisco-based rooftop installer dropped 8.8 percent to $4.75 at the close in New York, the most …

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s giant oil and gas reserves and any decisions about producing from them will remain solely in government hands after Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on state television. The world’s largest oil exporter known formally as Saudi Arabian Oil Co. holds a concession to pump the kingdom’s oil and gas, …

  Bloomberg Oil rebounded from a six-week low on signs the US crude surplus is easing and as Russia signaled support for longer production cuts with OPEC. Futures in New York rose as much as 1.1 percent after closing at the lowest since March 21. US crude inventories fell by 4.16 million barrels last week and gasoline dropped by 1.93 …

  Bloomberg Saudi Aramco is seeking to boost its fuel-trading volume by more than a third as the world’s biggest crude exporter expands its capacity to refine oil to grab a bigger share of growing markets in Asia and Africa. Aramco, as Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is known, is building refineries in the kingdom and in Asia to help it …