Regional News

  Reuters The number of tourists visiting Egypt this year could come close to levels seen before its 2011 uprising, encouraged by investments in airport security and a cheaper Egyptian pound, the country’s tourism minister said. Egypt’s tourism industry, a crucial source of hard currency, has suffered in the years of turmoil that followed the mass protests, as well as ...

  Reuters Hundreds of Egyptians protested around the country, blocking roads and surrounding government offices, after a change to the way bread rations are managed raised fears that the government was cutting food subsidies by the back door. Bread subsidies are an explosive issue in Egypt, where more than 70 million people receive state rations. Core inflation in the country ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has a daunting to-do list as the real work begins on his plan to transform the world’s biggest oil exporter into an economy no longer reliant on crude. “2017 is a reality check,” said John Sfakianakis, director of economic research at the Gulf Research Center. “We’re done with the announcements. ...

  Bloomberg Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., which develops residential, commercial and industrial construction projects in Israel, is considering expanding its operations into offshore energy exploration. The Petach Tikvah, Israel-based company is mulling a bid to drill for oil and gas in the 24 new blocks opened for exploration in the country’s economic waters, a company spokeswoman told Bloomberg. Israeli ...

  Reuters Business activity in Egypt shrank for the 17th consecutive month in February although the pace of decline slowed from a month before, a survey showed on Sunday. The Emirates NBD Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the non-oil private sector came in at 46.7 points, well below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction but higher from ...

  Reuters Demand for gasoline in the United States, which accounts for a tenth of global oil consumption, is expected to peak next year as engines become more efficient, WoodMackenzie analysts said. Global demand for gasoline, which accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s oil consumption, is set to peak as early as 2021 even in the face ...

  Bloomberg Libya halted exports from its two of biggest oil ports and reduced production from some fields after clashes threatened to reverse the North African country’s progress in reviving crude output and sales. Shipments from Es Sider, the country’s largest oil port, and Ras Lanuf, its third-biggest, have been suspended until the security situation improves and workers return to ...

  Bloomberg Nigeria has filed criminal charges of corruption against oil multinationals Royal Dutch Shell and Eni over the $1.1 billion sale of one of Africa’s richest oil blocks. Both companies have denied any wrongdoing. Charges filed at the High Court in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, allege the companies paid $801 million to former Oil Minister Dan Etete, former Justice Minister ...

  Bloomberg Iraqi oil shipments of about 105,000 barrels a day were halted briefly after Kurdish troops seized control of a pumping station in disputed Kirkuk province and demanded that crude shipments to the country’s central government be stopped. Oil from Kirkuk stopped flowing into a Kurdish-built export pipeline to Turkey after fighters loyal to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ...

  Bloomberg Vitol Group BV is offering to sell Nigerian crude oil from a storage terminal in South Africa, five traders familiar with the matter said, in what may be a signal that the global supply glut is beginning to ease. The world’s biggest oil merchant has been offering 4 million barrels of Nigeria’s Qua Iboe for delivery to Europe ...