Reuters Iraqi state oil firm SOMO and Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan have begun jointly exporting crude from the giant Kirkuk oilfield again after cutting a preliminary deal on revenue-sharing, trading sources said on Thursday. The development signals a breakthrough in relations between Baghdad and Erbil, which have been disputing how to share oil and budget revenues for several …

  REUTERS Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) expects its coal-to-chemicals project in China with Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group to cost $3-4 billion, its acting CEO told Al Arabiya TV. “The project is approximately $3-4 billion and we expect it to be ready in 2020,” Yousef al-Benyan said. SABIC signed the agreement in May. The joint project would be a …

REUTERS Kunooz Oman Holding, one of the country’s major mining, quarrying, transportation and construction materials groups, plans an initial public offer of its shares in the first half of 2017, chairman Salim Abdullah al-Rawas said on Thursday. He told a news conference that the company had obtained initial approval from Oman’s securities regulator to offer at least 25 percent of …

  REUTERS Oil settled up nearly 3 percent after a weak U.S. jobs report hurt the dollar and boosted commodities, but crude prices still ended the week sharply lower on concerns about oversupply. U.S. employment growth eased more than expected in August after two straight months of robust gains, the report showed. That initially led to doubts that the Federal …

  REUTERS EgyptAir says a passenger has been detained after storming the pilot’s cockpit on a flight carrying 150 passengers. The Friday incident took place aboard charter airline CairoAir 462, which took off from the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to Alexandria’s Borg el-Arab airport, EgyptAir said. The passenger was not armed. “The crew checked if the passenger was not carrying whatever …

  Bloomberg Russia is on track to accomplish a major energy project aimed at cementing its ties with Turkey following a recent thaw in relations. The government in Moscow expects officials in Ankara to make necessary decisions in one to two months to proceed with a natural gas pipeline under the Black Sea that may kick off by end-2019, Russian …

  Bloomberg OPEC’s crude production climbed to a record last month as increased output from Gulf members made up for persisting losses in Nigeria and Libya, according to a Bloomberg survey. Supplies from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose by 120,000 barrels a day to average 33.69 million a day in August amid increases by Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, …

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is poised to expand use of oil storage tanks in Japan and China, strengthening ties with its two largest Asian buyers as it fends off competitors for market share. The world’s biggest exporter plans to increase the amount of storage capacity it uses on Japan’s Okinawa islands, where it’s been leasing tanks since 2010, Amin Nasser …

  Bloomberg Your fridge is getting so smart, security-software maker Kaspersky Lab thinks you probably shouldn’t trust it. As makers of household appliances fill their machines with computer chips to make them smarter, consumers and privacy watchdogs should beware the data collected by these objects and how it’s used, Marco Preuss, a director on Kaspersky’s global research and analysis team …

  Bloomberg It’s September, and that means it’s time for the next iPhone. Earlier this week, Apple sent out invitations to a Sept. 7 event, drumming up excitement with the tagline “See you on the 7th.” Some industry watchers think that’s a play on words for the expected name of the new iPhone, the “iPhone 7.” Apple has reported two …