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  Reuters Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering (IPO) could encourage other Gulf countries to list their oil assets, a leading regional economist said, but the oil giant must clear uncertainties over taxation, OPEC policy and ownership of crude. Nasser Saidi, a former economy minister of Lebanon, told Dubai Eye Radio in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that Aramco has to ...

  Bloomberg The companies that own the rights to Leviathan, Israel’s largest natural gas reservoir, approved a plan to allocate $3.75 billion to develop the offshore site. Israel’s main gas equity index rose the most in almost five months. The partners, led by Delek Group Ltd. and Houston-based Noble Energy Inc., have agreed on a final investment decision, which lays ...

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Azerbaijan’s State Oil Co. are competing to buy OMV AG’s fuel-retailing business in Turkey in a deal that may value the asset between $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said. Aramco, as the Saudi state company is known, and Socar have submitted binding bids for Istanbul-based OMV Petrol ...

  Bloomberg OPEC officials this week hailed the “excellent” and “unprecedented” implementation of their agreement to cut oil production, but were still waiting for solid evidence that the deal was fulfilling their key measure of success and shrinking the global glut. A reduction in the amount of oil held in storage around the world is the most important factor for ...

  Bloomberg Call it collateral damage. If Donald Trump delivers on threats to put punishing tariffs on Chinese goods, plenty of pain would be felt in Taiwan, a de facto US ally that Beijing considers a breakaway province. The island would be among the most vulnerable to economic spillover from any US-China trade war. More than 40 percent of the ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s government sold A$11 billion ($8.5 billion) of 11-year debt notes in its biggest-ever bond transaction, as investors hungry for higher yields set aside concerns stubborn budget deficits will cost the nation its AAA credit rating. It’s the third time in less than six months the South Pacific country has set a new borrowing record. It exceeds the ...

  Bloomberg Volkswagen AG is in advanced talks to team up with Tata Motors Ltd. as the German automaker takes another stab at India’s fast-growing demand for cars, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal to jointly develop vehicles for emerging markets may be announced at the Geneva auto show in early March, said the people, who asked ...

  Bloomberg A decade-long wait by India’s cash-hungry real estate and infrastructure developers may finally be nearing an end. Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. estimates that real estate and infrastructure trusts will raise as much as 600 billion rupees ($9 billion) this year as India rolls out the much-anticipated investment products mooted in 2007. Sterlite Power Transmission Ltd. and ...

  Bloomberg The chairman of China’s top insurance regulator vowed to impose “stringent” rules and “severely” punish short-term speculation by insurers, the latest sign of tightening controls on the nation’s industry. The watchdog will also curb “aggressive” pricing and the “unreasonably” high returns of some insurance products, Xiang Junbo, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, told reporters in Beijing. ...

  Bloomberg A rally by Hong Kong property developers showed little sign of faltering amid optimism rising home sales will boost earnings. Hong Kong real estate companies were among the biggest gainers on the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which slid 0.4 percent at the close, down from a 1 1/2 year high. New World Development Co. topped the gauge with ...