Baghdad, Iraq -- Iraq's oil revenues in August hit nearly $9 billion, according to the data issued by the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO).The $8.99 billion revenue came from crude oil exports of more than 106 million barrels, the country's Ministry of Oil said in a statement, according to the...

The officials are suspected of "bad management" and negligence, among other offences, a statement from the prosecutor general's office said, adding that seven of them served currently or previously in offices responsible for water resources and dam management. "The mistakes that they made" and their "negligence in the matter of...

LONDON, UK- The UK looked set to backtrack on Wednesday on policies aimed at achieving net zero emissions by 2050 with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expected to water down some of the government's green commitments.The move comes amid growing concern over the potential financial cost of the government's policies to achieve...

Brent North Sea crude oil traded above $95 per barrel Tuesday for the first time since November last year, supported by tight supplies and robust demand. "When central banks are starting to see the light at the end of the inflation tunnel, $100-plus oil will be incredibly unwelcome and unhelpful,"...

Energy, banking and financial services, and industrial sector companies are among the largest in the Middle East, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has confirmed Saudi Arabia’s credit rating, both in local and foreign currency, as “A/A-1” with a stable outlook. The confirmation comes in view of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to implement significant reforms and achieve structural improvements in recent years, which have supported the sustainable...

Tehran, Iran - Iran has seized two oil tankers allegedly carrying smuggled fuel in the Gulf and arrested their crews, state television announced on Friday."The Revolutionary Guards naval forces seized two ships over the course of the last two days," state television said, citing Mohammad-Sharif Shirali, a Guards commander."The seized tankers......

Copenhagen, Denmark - Danish shipping giant Maersk on Thursday launched the world's first container ship running on bio-methanol, a key step in its effort to lower its huge carbon footprint.Maersk, which sold its oil division to TotalEnergies in 2017, has set out a target to become carbon neutral by 2040.European Commission...

The IEA said world oil demand remains on track to grow by 2.2 million bpd to 101.8 million bpd this year, partly due to resurgent Chinese consumption and jet fuel. But the extension of Saudi and Russian output cuts "will lock in a substantial market deficit" through the last three...

The IEA's annual World Energy Outlook, due out next month, will show that "the world is on the cusp of a historic turning point," executive director Fatih Birol wrote in the FT.

"At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, the Jabal al-Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al-Marj," Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya, said. "This is besides the massive material damage that struck public...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - The second pilot of a helicopter that crashed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has been found dead, authorities said Monday, days after he was declared missing.A first pilot was confirmed dead on Friday after the Bell 212 helicopter went down the night before in...

Tehran, Iran--Iran’s oil exports to China hit an all-time record in August despite continued US pressure on the country, according to data from a major international energy data company.The Sunday report by Fars news agency said Iran’s oil exports to China had reached an average of 1.5 million barrels per...

More bad news for the wind energy sector, which is at the heart of the UK's plan to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2050, arrived this week when the government's auction of permits to build offshore wind farms failed due to a lack of takers. Russia's invasion of...

DUBAI, UAE – Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed readiness to build an economic partnership with the BRICS countries.The Saudi Press Agency said the two sides had discussed various issues at the BRICS summit, where Saudi Arabia was...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia’s real GDP grew by 1.2 percent in the second quarter of 2023, compared to Q2 of 2022, according to Kingdom's General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).A GASTAT report showed a 6.1 percent increase in non-oil activities over 2022, a 2.3 percent increase in government activities...

Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, led the UAE delegation to Jakarta, Indonesia, the host of ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

The Saudi production cut of one million barrels per day which first took effect in July will continue "for another three months until the end of December 2023", the kingdom's energy ministry said in a statement. Russia's export cut of 300,000 bpd will continue for the same period, Deputy Prime...

Tehran, UAE -- Iran’s oil production capacity has increased 40 percent in two years with the rise in investment in semi-finished oil projects, the country's Minister of Oil Javad Owji said Sunday.He said since the beginning of the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi, in August 2021, increasing investment opportunities in...

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices rose to their highest in over half a year and snapped a two-week losing streak, buoyed by expectations of tightening supplies.A Middle Eastern country is widely expected to extend a voluntary 1 million barrels per day oil production cut into October, prolonging supply curbs engineered by the...

Dubai, UAE - An airport terminal able to handle up to 45 million passengers a year will open in Abu Dhabi in November, state media said Thursday, accelerating competition in the crowded Gulf market.Terminal A in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates capital, touted as one of the world's biggest, will be...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's oil exports fell by 33.4 percent to SAR 227.7 billion ($60.70 billion), from SAR 341.6 billion, in the second quarter of 2023, contributing mainly to the decline of 31.8 percent in overall merchandise exports, compared to Q2 2022.The value of exports amounted to SAR...

Combining elements of everything from boxing to judo and Muay Thai, mixed martial arts (MMA) had a limited following in Saudi Arabia just a decade ago, but that started to change when the kingdom hosted the popular regional Desert Force competition in 2014.

Strong capital inflows, a young and growing population and growing awareness about asset management will drive the sector's growth in future.

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday after industry data showed a large draw in crude inventories in the U.S., the world's biggest fuel consumer, and as concerns about a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico kept investors on edge.Brent crude futures for October climbed 31 cents, or 0.36%, to...

Online celebrities best known for posting about video games are also dropping in unexpected plugs for gasoline stations, fuel rewards and club cards. In India, Mexico, South Africa and the United States many spots were found that promoted major oil firms such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies on...

Cairo, Egypt--The Egyptian government plans to drill 45 natural exploratory gas wells in the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta with $1.9 billion in investments until mid-2025, according to a Cabinet statement on Tuesday.The drilling of 10 wells between July 2022 and June 2023 resulted in the huge discovery in the...

Doha, Qatar -- Qatar's foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR 19.6 billion ($5.38 billion) in July 2023, a decrease of about QR 15.1 billion or 43.5 percent compared to July 2022, and an increase of nearly QR 2.2...

Despite a decline in FDI inflows in the past few years, GCC countries remain optimistic as they expect strong economic growth in 2023 and beyond.

The South Pars gas field is one of the world's largest natural gas condensate fields. Iran shares the gas field with energy giant Qatar and there are 24 platforms on the side of the Islamic republic which has been developing it in the Gulf since the 1990s.

Wells were drilled in onshore, offshore operations.

Manama, Bahrain--Bahrain has indicated its keenness to encourage investments in the kingdom's oil and environmental projects through partnerships with the private sector, especially banks, to achieve sustainable development goals.Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak bin Daina, Oil and Environment Minister, Special Envoy for Climate Affairs, has affirmed the government’s keenness to encourage...

A court in Tehran has ordered the US government to pay $330 million in damages for "planning a coup" against the newly established Islamic republic in 1980, the judiciary said. A year after the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, a group of mostly army officers tried to...

AMMAN, JORDAN  - The value of the Kingdom's oil bill decreased during the first half of 2023 by 15.6 percent, Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS) announced. According to the DoS foreign trade report, value of the Kingdom's imports of crude oil, its derivatives and mineral oils went down in the...

Tehran, Iran -- The trade exchanges between Iran and China in the first seven months of the current year reached $8.540 billion, with China’s export of products to Iran accounting for $6 billion of it.The trade declined by 11 percent compared to the same period last year, China’s Customs Office...

The foreign minister's visit is also intended to pave way for Turkish President's trip to Baghdad for which a date is yet to be finalized. The issue of water and dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, both of which have their sources in Turkey before entering Iraq, is a...

Libya's central bank announced that its two rival branches in the west and east are reuniting after nearly a decade apart. The North African country is currently split between Abdelhamid Dbeibah's UN-backed government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Tehran, Iran -- Trade between Iran and the European Union member states reached 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in the first half of 2023, according to Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat).Trade between Iran and Germany accounted for half the value, Tasnim News Agency reported, adding the Iran-EU trade...

Tokyo, Japan -- Japan is preparing to hold a foreign ministers' meeting with the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Saudi Arabia in early September, a report said.Japan's Kyodo News said the meeting comes as Japan aims to strengthen relations with oil-producing countries in the Middle East...

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices jumped about 1% on Friday on signs of slowing U.S. output, but both crude benchmarks also ended their longest weekly rally of 2023 on mounting concerns about global demand growth.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 86 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $81.25 a barrel, and...

Abu Dhabi, UAE-- As the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed visits Ethiopia to strengthen relations with the African country, the non-oil trade between the two nations has expanded to US$1.4 billion in 2022.According to Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, the UAE’s has...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Neymar was greeted with much fanfare Friday as he arrived in Saudi Arabia where he joins a growing list of big names lured to the oil-rich kingdom.The 31-year-old Brazil forward who will be unveiled as an Al-Hilal player on Saturday after six seasons with French champions Paris Saint-Germain landed...

From Cristiano Ronaldo to Neymar, the kingdom is offering eye-watering salaries to international football stars to bring them over from clubs across Europe.

Paris, France - Brazil forward Neymar has signed for Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain, the clubs announced on Tuesday, joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema as the latest big name lured to the Kingdom."I am here in Saudi Arabia, I am Hilali," Neymar said in a video posted to Al...

Dubai, UAE--Oil prices declined more than 1% on Monday as concerns about China's faltering economic recovery and a stronger dollar weighed against seven weeks of gains on tightening supply from OPEC+ output cuts.Brent crude futures fell $1.07, or 1.2%, to $85.74 a barrel by 0631 GMT while U.S. West Texas...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The UAE has applauded the UN for the successful unloading of oil from the deteriorating tanker, FSO Safer, situated off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) lauded the collective efforts of the United Nations, its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy...

Hodeida, Yemen -- The United Nations said Friday it had successfully transferred more than one million barrels of oil from a dilapidated Yemeni tanker, removing the imminent risk of a spill.UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres "welcomes the news that the ship-to-ship transfer of oil from the FSO Safer to the Yemen...

PARIS, FRANCE - The International Energy Agency said Friday it had revised upwards its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2023 as demand is "scaling record highs".World oil demand already hit a record 103 million barrels per day in June and August and "could see yet another peak", the Paris-based...

Production limitations set by the OPEC + exporters "are continuing to offset concerns over demand," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com. Analysts have also cited the retreat in the dollar as a supporting factor for oil prices. Crude is denominated in the US currency.

Tokyo, Japan - Iran's foreign minister visited Japan on Monday for the first time since 2019, in a rare trip to a G7 member country by the Islamic republic's top diplomat.The purpose of the visit by Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to the current chair of the G7 was not announced, but reports said...