DUBAI / LONDON / Reuters China is offering to buy up to 5 percent of Saudi Aramco directly, sources said, a move that could give Saudi Arabia the flexibility to consider various options for its plan to float the world’s biggest oil producer on the stock market. Chinese state-owned oil companies PetroChina and Sinopec have written to Saudi Aramco in …

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, …