Bloomberg Countries in the Middle East and North Africa led by Egypt, Kuwait and Morocco are boosting liquefied natural gas import capacity, taking advantage of low prices to meet rising energy demand. The region plans to add permanent terminals and temporary, off-shore units that will increase annual capacity by 58.2 billion cubic meters in 2021, energy lender Arab Petroleum Investment ...

  Bloomberg Iran approved a new oil contract model, taking the OPEC nation a step closer to welcoming foreign investment in its energy industry and boosting production even more into an oversupplied market. The contract model was approved at a cabinet meeting Wednesday, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Priority will be given to boosting output at jointly ...

  Bloomberg Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc suspended plans to build one of the nation’s biggest power plants as a local gas shortage makes it difficult to obtain fuel and a downturn in Africa’s largest economy hinders efforts to raise funds for the project. The company in 2014 said it would raise $1 billion to build a 1,000-megawatt gas-fired facility. ...

  Bloomberg Oil traded near $41 a barrel after U.S. gasoline supplies fell the most since April, retreating from the highest seasonal level in at least two decades. Futures were little changed in New York after advancing as much as 1.4 percent earlier. Prices climbed 3.3 percent on Wednesday, the most in three weeks. Inventories of the motor fuel slid ...

  TEHRAN / AP Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that world powers have not fulfilled their commitments under the landmark nuclear deal, harming Iranian economic growth. Speaking on state TV, Rouhani said that “if the other party had acted properly, we would be in a better situation today.” He said Iran still cannot access its foreign assets, although ...

  NEW DELHI / AFP Indian business leaders on Thursday hailed the passage of a landmark tax reform bill that paves the way for a new national sales tax and the creation of a common market across the country for the first time. Lawmakers voted late on Wednesday in favour of introducing the long-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST), which ...

  Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. reported Thursday a 14.5 percent drop in profit for the fiscal first quarter as sales fell and a strong yen slashed earnings for the Japanese automaker. Two powerful quakes in southwestern Kumamoto in April that had disrupted production also hurt results. Toyota’s April-June profit totaled 552.4 billion yen ($5.4 billion), down from 646.3 billion yen ...

  Bloomberg India’s biggest electricity producer plans to fuel a proposed power project on the country’s southern coast with domestic coal, switching from its original plan to use overseas supplies equivalent to almost 9 percent of this year’s forecast imports. The state-owned company NTPC Ltd. made the decision after the federal power ministry and the state government of Andhra Pradesh, ...

  BLOOMBERG South Korea’s Hollys Coffee, which popularized 430-calorie sweet potato lattes as an unusual alternative in the caffeine-addicted country, has started looking for a new owner. Buyout firm IMM Private Equity Inc. has kicked off an auction of its controlling stake in the homegrown cafe chain, which it is seeking to sell for as much as $300 million, according ...

  AFP A string of overseas investments has shone a new spotlight on Chinese conglomerate Fosun, after the mysterious disappearance — and re-emergence — of its tycoon chairman rattled investors. In the space of three days last week, the Shanghai-based company bought a stake in an Indian drugmaker for $1.26 billion, acquired a Brazilian investment firm and announced plans to ...