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, …

DUBAI / Reuters SOCO International, an oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange, said on Monday it was evaluating a merger with Middle East oil and gas firm Kuwait Energy. A merger would provide a way for the Kuwaiti company to go public after it failed last year to complete an IPO of its …

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 …