ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria aims to amend its energy law in 2018 as it plans to improve contract terms to attract needed foreign investment, authorities said, giving the first timeline for a much-anticipated move. OPEC member and gas supplier Algeria relies heavily on energy revenues to balance state finances, which have been hit significantly by a drop in global oil ...

TUNIS / Reuters Tunisia will raise VAT and other taxes and lay off about 3,000 public sector workers next year in a bid to cut the budget deficit, an economic adviser to the prime minister said. Tunisia will also seek to raise 7.4 billion Tunisian dinars ($3 billion) from foreign loans including 1.4 billion dinars from the sale of bonds, ...

Bloomberg The latest battle for Iraq’s future is unfolding around the country’s oldest oil field. Federal government troops pushed back forces from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region with a rapid thrust into Kirkuk province in northern Iraq, breaking a stand-off over the long-disputed area. Baghdad wants to reassert control of the area’s oil deposits from Kurdish fighters, who seized the territory ...