DUBAI / Reuters OPEC is monitoring unrest in Iran as well as Venezuela’s economic crisis, but the group will only boost output if there are significant and sustained production disruptions from those countries, a senior OPEC source from a major Middle Eastern oil producer said. Venezuela’s economic troubles have hit the country’s oil out-put, which is at near 30-year lows, ...
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Aramco joins Saudi companies boosting pay after royal orders
Bloomberg Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and some of the kingdom’s biggest companies said they’ll pay Saudi staff more money, matching a royal order that extended handouts to government workers to ease public discontent over rising prices. Aramco, preparing for what could be the world’s largest initial public offering, will pay “eligible employees†an extra 1,000 riyals ($267) a month for ...
Read More »Oil rises as American drillers cut rigs for first time in 3 weeks
Bloomberg Oil rose after drilling activity in the US eased, adding to signs the global crude surplus is abating. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 0.5 percent, following a 1.7 percent increase last week, when they hit a three-year high. Rigs drilling for crude fell by five to 742 in the seven days ended January 5, according to Baker Hughes data. ...
Read More »Asia’s refining margins drop to lowest since May
SINGAPORE/ Reuters Profits for Asia’s oil refiners dropped to their lowest since May last year as rising supplies dragged down regional fuel prices at the same time that global crude oil prices have climbed to two-year highs, data on Thomson Reuters Eikon showed. Margins at a typical complex refinery in Singapore fell to $5.93 a barrel, the lowest since May ...
Read More »Saudi retailer looks to World Cup, online sales to counter VAT
Bloomberg Retailer United Electronics Co., the second-best performing Saudi Arabian stock of 2017, is looking to increased demand for televisions before this year’s soccer World Cup, expanded consumer credit and rising online sales to counter any slowdown caused by the start of value-added tax. The company, known as eXtra, plans to open new stores in 2018 as it seeks to ...
Read More »Surge in foreign fund inflows sets stage for Egyptian boom
CAIRO / Reuters Encouraged by Egypt’s economic reforms, a major gas find, streamlined business rules and a devalued currency, investors are increasingly optimistic about prospects for the North African country after years of political turmoil. Foreign holdings of Treasury bills hit a record high in December, foreign inflows into the stock market last year were the highest since 2010 and ...
Read More »Saudi to provide Oman with rare grant to develop port hub
Bloomberg Oman has accepted an amount of $210 million grant from Saudi Arabia to fund two projects at its flagship Arabian Sea port of Duqm, a rare agreement between two countries. The funding, which will be provided by the Saudi Development Fund, will finance a 61-million-rial ($158 million) fishing facility and a road costing 20 million rials, state-run Oman News ...
Read More »Forties pipeline crack under probe
Bloomberg The UK Health and Safety Executive is investigating the causes of a crack in a key North Sea oil pipeline that disrupted production at more than 80 fields for weeks. While an HSE spokesman couldn’t comment further on the matter, such investigations aren’t automatically triggered. Incidents must be severe or unusual enough to meet the regulator’s criteria for a ...
Read More »Angola joins long list of oil nations in ditching dollar peg
Bloomberg Angola is poised to become the latest emerging nation to abandon its currency peg as it seeks to rescue an economy still reeling from the oil-price crash four years ago. The southern African nation, an OPEC member, said this week it would let the kwanza trade within a new band. The rate at which it’s been fixed against the ...
Read More »Trump seeks to open most US coastal waters to oil drilling
Bloomberg The Trump administration is proposing to open almost all US coastal waters to oil drilling, including those off California and Florida where activists have fought for decades to spare delicate ecosystems from oil spills. The proposal will go far beyond President Donald Trump’s April order directing the Interior Department to consider auctioning oil and gas leases in the Arctic ...
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