BEIJING / Reuters China’s Iranian crude oil imports may rise to a record this year as state-owned oil firms lift more crude through their upstream investments while extending their current supply contracts, senior industry and trading sources said. Chinese firms were expected to lift between 3 million to 4 million barrels more Iranian oil each quarter in 2017 than ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia raised pricing for February oil sales to Asia and increased premiums for light grades to the US as the world’s largest crude exporter prepares to reduce output to help counter a global oversupply. State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, increased its official pricing for Arab Light crude to Asia by 60 cents a ...

  Bloomberg Tomorrow’s stores want to take a page from their online rivals by embracing advanced technology — everything from helpful robots to interactive mirrors to shelves embedded with sensors. The goal: Use these real-world store features to lure shoppers back from the internet, and maybe even nudge them to spend more in the process. Amazon’s new experimental grocery store ...

  Bloomberg Nvidia Corp., the biggest maker of graphics chips, announced a new version of its Shield set-top box and the debut of an online service designed to bring millions of new consumers to high-end computer games. The new Shield will display high-resolution video and feature Google Assistant technology capable of recognizing natural-language commands and controlling other devices. CEO Jen-Hsun ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Sony announced the expansion of its ultra-short throw home theatre line up with the introduction of the VPL-VZ1000ES 4K HDR home theatre projector, designed to integrate easily into people’s homes. Sony’s latest innovative laser light source projector is High Dynamic Range (HDR) compatible with native 4K resolution. It can be positioned as little as six ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Nation’s Fund has called upon the private sector to play its social responsibility role by effectively supporting the Year of Giving initiative, launched by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The UAE has always been a model of philanthropy, in line with the values established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin ...

  Fujairah / WAM The Fujairah Foundation for Regions Development and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MoID) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for partnership and co-operation to ensure maintenance of citizens’ homes and to carry out joint projects. The MoU was signed by Saeed Mohammed Al Raqbani, Deputy Chairman of the foundation’s Board, and Zahra Al Abboudi, ...

  DUBAI / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in collaboration with Meraas Holding, inaugurated a new 132/11 kV substation with a total capacity of 150 Megavolt Amperes at Al Quoz 4, to meet the increasing demand for electricity. Commenting on the announcement, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA, said, “We strive to enhance infrastructure and ...

  DUBAI / WAM Growth momentum in the UAE’s private sector non-oil activity continued to strengthen in December 2016, driven by improving economic conditions, according to Emirates NBD. Output rose at the “sharpest” pace to a 16-month high on back of new orders backed by growth of new export businesses, the bank’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) revealed on Wednesday. ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Executive Committee of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, chaired by Saeed Eid Al Ghafli, approved a number of infrastructure projects worth AED241 million, in line with the wise leadership’s directives to achieve excellence in service provision. The committee approved a development project to increase the capacity of the electricity grid in Al Ain and its suburbs ...