BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq plans to build an oil refinery at the port of Fao on the Gulf with two Chinese companies, and is seeking investors to build three more, the oil ministry said on its website on Monday. The refinery in Fao will have a 300,000 barrel-per-day capacity and include a petrochemical plant, it said. Two other refineries, each …

LONDON / Reuters Tehran is ready to file a case with the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) over the quality and price of gas it receives from Turkmenistan, the Iranian oil minister said on Monday, as a dispute between the two nations over payments escalates. The Central Asian nation stopped gas exports to Iran in January 2017, saying it was …

Bloomberg In the latest reminder that coal still dominates the world’s biggest energy consumer, Chinese power producers are warning of supply tightness while one northern province plans to pause switching homes and industries to natural gas to avoid further heating shortages. Four of China’s biggest generators sent an “emergency report” dated Jan. 22 to the National Development & Reform Commission, …

Bloomberg The rationale for merging some of Europe’s biggest lenders is compelling. That’s the view of many financial executives who met at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week. A decade after the financial crisis, some of the region’s biggest lenders are facing declining revenue as interest rates linger near record lows, while legal bills and capital demands …

DUBAI / Reuters Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank plans to add more than 100 branches in Pakistan this year through its subsidiary Faysal Bank, to capitalise on the country’s low penetration rate of banking services, a senior executive said. Ithmaar Bank owns 66 percent of Faysal Bank, whose contribution to the Islamic retail bank’s overall balance sheet would likely grow to more …

Bloomberg The European Central Bank has to end its quantitative easing as soon as possible, according to ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot, who said there’s not a single reason anymore to continue with the program. “The program has done what could realistically be expected of it,” Knot, who also heads the Dutch Central Bank, said in an interview on …

DUBAI / Reuters The Saudi Arabian central bank’s foreign reserves rose in December for a third consecutive month, a sign that higher oil prices may be easing pressure on the government’s finances, official data showed. The bank’s net foreign assets grew $2.0 billion from November to $488.9 billion last month, after increasing $1.0 billion in November and $8.3 billion in …

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s big hit from stricter global capital standards may be softened by the small print. New rules give supervisors the option to exclude banks’ litigation payouts when calculating their so-called operational risk. If that happens, it would be a boon for Deutsche Bank and potentially improve returns for shareholders. The bank declined to comment specifically on the …

Bloomberg Scott Kirby has a very specific view about how the three US hub-and-spoke airlines work best, having managed two of them. In his current job as president of United Airlines, Kirby’s role is to oversee a major overhaul of how the carrier operates, beginning with a broad restructuring of its three domestic-focussed hubs in Chicago, Denver and Houston. By …

Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd., the premium carrier that’s undergoing a business revamp to fend off competition from Gulf airlines and budget operators, is turning to its employees for ideas. Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier is setting up a lab and encouraging workers across its group—including SilkAir and Scoot—to submit proposals that would help boost efficiency in its operations, Chief Executive Officer …