Regional News

  Bloomberg Qatar Petroleum plans to merge two petrochemical units in its latest consolidation of businesses, as the world’s fourth-biggest oil and natural gas producer seeks to trim costs in its domestic operations and expand internationally. The state-run company will fold the operations of Qatar Vinyl Co., part of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co., into Qatar Petrochemical Co., a unit of ...

  Bloomberg India’s central government will transfer its stake in state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. to the country’s biggest oil explorer as part of its plans to create an integrated oil company, The Economic Times newspaper reported, citing people it didn’t identify. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will issue a proposal for approval by the country’s cabinet to ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is seeking ways to boost foreign investment in its bourse, almost two years after easing access to the one of the world’s most restricted exchanges. The Tadawul, as the market is known, will hold talks with companies already trading on other Gulf Cooperation Council exchanges for a cross-listing in the kingdom by 2018, Chief Executive Officer ...

  Bloomberg The exact dollar value of Saudi Aramco may be up for debate, but the listing of the world’s biggest company will be priceless for the kingdom’s markets. The highly-anticipated share sale has become emblematic of Saudi Arabia’s push to transform its economy and open its doors to more foreign capital. Whatever you think of the valuations involved — ...

  Bloomberg Another week, another record for US crude exports. Producers and traders shipped out 1.21 million barrels a day of US crude in the week that ended February 17, the most in Energy Information Administration data going back to 1993. Domestic output increased to 9 million barrels per day last week, the fastest pace since April, while US refiners ...

  Bloomberg OPEC pumped at will the past two years to defend its turf against rivals. Its recent volte-face has left it contending with additional threats in the world’s biggest oil market. Crude that’s rarely or never-before seen coming to Asia is now sailing from all over the globe to the region, with the door to the market seemingly held ...

  Bloomberg In his first blog post since succeeding Rex Tillerson, the new head of Exxon Mobil Corp. focused on climate change, calling for a carbon tax to discourage use of polluting fuels. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said a revenue-neutral carbon tax “would promote greater energy efficiency and the use of today’s lower-carbon options, avoid further burdening ...

  Reuters Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) could encourage other Gulf countries to list their oil assets, a leading regional economist said, but the oil giant must clear uncertainties over taxation, OPEC policy and ownership of crude. Nasser Saidi, a former economy minister of Lebanon, told Dubai Eye Radio in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that Aramco has to ...

  Bloomberg The companies that own the rights to Leviathan, Israel’s largest natural gas reservoir, approved a plan to allocate $3.75 billion to develop the offshore site. Israel’s main gas equity index rose the most in almost five months. The partners, led by Delek Group Ltd. and Houston-based Noble Energy Inc., have agreed on a final investment decision, which lays ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Co. are competing to buy OMV AG’s fuel-retailing business in Turkey in a deal that may value the asset between $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Aramco, as the Saudi state company is known, and Socar have submitted binding bids for Istanbul-based OMV Petrol ...