Vast swathes of land across the desert region are seeing the sprouting of new special zones to entice big business to set up shop. But can the model work to power the GCC economy?

London, United Kingdom -- Wall Street stocks slid on Friday despite banks beating expectations at the start of earnings season as oil and gold prices shot up amid worries about the conflict in the Middle East widening. "Geopolitical worries have triggered some risk aversion, but worries about a growth slowdown have...

Kuwait City, Kuwait - Opposition lawmakers maintained a majority in Kuwait's parliament, results showed Friday, after the Gulf state's third parliamentary vote in as many years held just months into the new emir's reign. Opposition candidates won 29 seats in the 50-member assembly, according to results carried by the official KUNA...

The threat of regional war compounded fears that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates as much as previously expected, with the focus now on the release of key US jobs data later in the day. The sell-off followed a plunge across the board on Wall Street.

Vienna, Austria--The participants of the 53rd Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, agreed to keep current oil production levels unchanged. During the meeting which took place via videoconference today, the JMMC reviewed the crude oil production...

Oil prices rose around one percent, with Brent crude closing in on $90 per barrel, as OPEC experts met to discuss extending supply cuts. "Geo-political risks linked to conflict in the Middle East, OPEC supply cuts and better data out of China are helping to drive bullish sentiment currently," said...

Tehran, Iran -- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has said that shale oil deposits have been discovered in 10 different locations across the country. The director of exploration at the NIOC, Mehdi Fakour, announced that the company's specially designed model will enable the extraction of oil from these resources....

Non-oil growth to stay robust, bolstered by a strong non-oil GDP growth in the region's two biggest economies, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) expects the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 4.2 percent in 2024, rising to 5.2 percent in 2025, while maintaining its estimate for a 3.1 percent growth in 2023. In its quarterly economic review report...

Tokyo, Japan--The UAE exported 44.1 percent, namely 31.3 million barrels, of Japan's crude oil needs in February 2024, according to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in Tokyo. The agency, part of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, stated that the amount of crude that Japan imported...

Amman, Jordan--Jordan's import bill for crude oil, derivatives, and mineral oils saw a notable decline in January this year, according to data released by the Department of Statistics on Tuesday. The figures revealed a decrease in the value of oil imports to the Kingdom, totaling $361 million for January, compared...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has called for increased investments in the oil industry to meet global energy demands and sustain economic growth. According to its secretary general, Haitham Al Ghais, these investments are crucial for ensuring reliable energy supplies for current and future generations....

The company narrowed losses to $367 million in Q4.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – US will no longer be able to dictate oil prices in the Middle East, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief Sergey Naryshkin said. The Russian official made the statement in the documentary "Oil" on the premier online platform. “The ‘hegemon’ has lost a step. It is...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia does not see the risk of trading oil at a loss due to the redistribution of energy flows to the East - growing local markets will be able to "absorb" its supply, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Lavrov said this in an interview for the...

An A grade would be potentially aligned with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit temperature rise to "well below" 2C and if possible the safer curb of 1.5C. An H grade, according to Carbon Tracker, is the furthest from the Paris goal, with activities and strategy more...

Pointing to the still paltry share of renewable energy in global supply, the head of Saudi Aramco described the current energy transition strategy as a misguided failure on Monday. "In the real world, the current transition strategy is visibly failing on most fronts," Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser said...

Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry have risen for three consecutive years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), hitting near record highs in 2023.

The oil ministry and Iranian businesses signed deals worth $13 billion to increase daily oil production in six major fields. The deals have been labelled as Iran's "biggest oil contracts in the past decade" that are aimed to add 350,000 barrels per day to the Islamic republic's daily production.

Iran sealed contracts worth billions of dollars with domestic companies to boost its oil production in the face of Western sanctions. In a ceremony broadcast on state TV, the oil ministry and Iranian businesses signed deals worth $13 billion to increase daily oil production in six major fields.

Cairo, Egypt -- The European Union, which is seeking to stem the inflow of irregular migrants, announced Sunday a 7.4 billion euro ($8 billion) package of loans, grants and energy cooperation deals with cash-strapped Egypt. It will include billions in loans over coming years and aims to step up Egyptian energy...

The oil and gas strike is the first of 2024.

Rising fuel needs of ships rerouted away from the Red Sea also to increase demand, the International Energy Agency said. Commercial ships have been taking longer and costlier journeys around the southern tip of Africa to avoid attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

This brings the total dividend for 2023 to $717 million.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) continued to decline for the 13th month in a row, falling 8.8 percent in January compared to Jan 2022, on the decrease in mining and quarrying activity. Given the relative importance of mining and quarrying activity, which amounted to 61.4...

The oil giant posted a 24.7% fall in net profit to US$121.25bn.

Other parts of the Islamic world may be grappling with their own challenges, from conflicts to high inflation. But many Muslims say their thoughts are with Palestinians this year.

Libya earns around $20 billion per year in net revenues from oil and gas exports, which accounts for around 95 percent of state revenue. Much of this wealth pays for a bloated public sector that employs almost one third of the population, as well as for state subsidies meant to...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran and Russia have agreed to sign new contracts on developing oil and gas fields, according to the oil ministers of the two countries. Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji held talks with Nikolay Shulginov, the Minister of Energy of Russia, on the sidelines of the GECF Summit in Algeria...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Economic growth of the country is projected to continue amid fiscal expansion, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team said. The team said that medium-term vulnerabilities to oil price volatility have increased significantly. Growth in the non-oil sector has rebounded strongly in 2023 while inflation receded. Supported by...

An energy ministry source said Riyadh "will extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, which was implemented in July 2023, until the end of the second quarter of 2024," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. "Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these additional cut volumes will...

Despite being the world's third largest oil producer, Russia has suffered sporadic fuel shortages since last summer amid high demand and repair works on refineries. Wholesale gasoline prices have risen since the start of the year, a problem exacerbated by repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries.

Decline attributed to lower prices for base oils, secondary products.

Istanbul, Turkey--The commodity markets saw supply concerns and rises by optimism from China, despite the negative impact of the Fed's announcements, sanctions, and ongoing geopolitical risks. Uncertainties as to when the Fed will start cutting interest rates persist, and the minutes of last week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting...

Oil spills in Iraq -- a country ravaged by decades of conflict, corruption and decaying infrastructure -- have contaminated farmland in the northern province, especially during the winter rains.

Rivals' challenge to the control of a key oil asset can derail the acquisition.

BEIJING, CHINA – The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has announced the recent discovery of the largest metamorphic rock oilfield in the Bohai Sea. According to China Central Television, the Bohai 26-6 oilfield, situated approximately 170 kilometers from Tianjin Municipality, has recently confirmed an unprecedented volume of oil and...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz revealed on Sunday that an additional 15 trillion standard cubic feet of gas have been proven at Saudi state oil company Aramco's Jafurah field, in addition to 2 billion barrels of condensates. Reserves at Jafurah had reached 229...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The economies of the UAE and Gulf countries will outpace the global forecast for 2024, helped by the domestic multi-year investment cycle in the region, a report says. Despite recent geopolitical headwinds and muted global recovery, national and regional growth is expected to be driven by...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's trade surplus remained stable at SR97 billion ($25.8 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2023 sustaining a level comparable to the previous quarter. According to recent data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the trade surplus in December 2023 was SR39 billion ($10.4...

The company said lower energy prices cut into its profits.

In December, oil exports fell by SAR 13.5 billion or 15.8% to SAR 72 billion ($19 billion) from SAR 85.5 billion in December 2022. The share of oil exports in total exports decreased from 78.4 percent in December 2022 to 73.1 percent in December 2023.

Tehran, Iran--Iran said Wednesday that Israel was behind twin sabotage attacks against gas pipelines that disrupted supplies in at least three provinces last week. The February 14 explosions hit pipelines in the cities of Safashahr in the southern province of Fars and Borujen in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and...

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS -  A Dutch court quashed an appeal by Russia in a record $50-billion case on Tuesday, paving the way for a payment to former shareholders of dismantled oil giant Yukos. The decision is the latest in a legal tug-of-war over Yukos which broke up in the early 2000s...

Doha, Qatar -- Qatar's Industrial Production index (IPI) in December 2023 reached 95.3 points, an increase of 3.9 percent compared to the previous month (November 2023), and decreased by 4.2 percent, when compared to the corresponding month in 2022. The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) has issued the press release...

ABU DHABI, UAE - Oil prices could rise to $100 per barrel and gold prices could reach $3,000 per ounce within the next 12 to 18 months, subject to three potential catalysts, CNBC reported, citing Citi analysts. Aakash Doshi, Citi’s North America head of commodities research, told CNBC that gold...

It plans to hike investments in the country to US$5 billion.

"The weakness of yesterday's US retail sales release have given market doves a new lease of life and allowed them to refocus on the likelihood of an early Fed rate cut," Rabobank analyst Jane Foley told AFP.

"As the IEA celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, oil supply security remains as critical as ever," said the agency created half a century ago by the OECD to help rich countries weather the 1970s oil crisis which wreaked widespread economic havoc. "Given heightened geopolitical risks and low global oil...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Kingdom's surprise decision to halt a planned expansion of its oil production capacity reflects ambitions to expand into other forms of energy, the Gulf country's energy minister said on Monday. Oil giant Aramco announced on January 30 that the energy ministry had ordered it to maintain...