After cutting production in 2020 in response to falling prices during the Covid pandemic, OPEC+ began to modestly raise production last year and has renewed the policy every month. Its output is supposed to have returned to pre-Covid levels -- but only on paper as members of the 23-nation group...

The Kingdom has for several years imported Russian oil, which helps to reduce its need to refine crude for products and cut the amount of oil it needs to burn for power, leaving it with more unrefined crude to sell in globally at higher prices. In 2021, it imported 1.05MT...

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has suggested that his country, Africa's largest natural gas exporter, could join the BRICS economic group that includes Russia and China.

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa on Monday morning, Turkey announced, as Kyiv said the "brutal" shelling by Moscow of the southern city Mykolaiv had killed an agriculture tycoon.

A spokesman for the Turkish presidency said there was a "high probability" that a first ship carrying Ukrainian grain could leave Ukraine's port of Odessa on Monday. That is despite Russian missiles hitting the city in the wake of the July 22 agreement on shipping grain between Russia, Turkey, the...

Saudi Arabia's year-on-year economic growth in the second quarter was 11.8 percent compared to the same period last year, according to initial "flash" estimates published by the General Authority for Statistics. The Middle East's largest economy has benefited from a spike in oil prices and has resisted appeals from Western...

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have supplied around 80 percent of Japan's oil demand for the month of June, followed by Qatar and Kuwait with 14 percent each, taking Arab share to 94.7 percent.

Russian energy giant Gazprom Saturday suspended gas supplies to Latvia following tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and US sanctions against Russia. Gazprom drastically cut gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline on Wednesday to about 20 percent of its...

The top diplomats of the United States and Russia spoke Friday for the first time since the Ukraine war, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing a "frank" exchange as he pushed to free two Americans. Blinken initiated the call with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whom he had shunned a...

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group has agreed on a $10.54 billion package for the Comprehensive Food Security Response Program (FSRP) that will support member countries in addressing the ongoing food crisis and increase the group's ongoing efforts to contribute to strengthening its members' resilience to future food security problems....

The UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a phone call to his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu described the agreement as a ''key step.''

Despite damaging Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's economy appears to be weathering the storm better than expected as it benefits from high energy prices, the IMF said Tuesday. The sanctions were meant to sever Russia from the global financial system and...

Natural gas has emerged as a weapon of war between Russia and Europe since Moscow's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Here is how the standoff developed:  Nord Stream 2 halted  On February 22, 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he is suspending the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia...

Russia's top diplomat reassured Egyptian leaders Sunday that their orders for Russian grain would be met as he began a tour of African countries dependent on imports for their food supply. Between 20 million and 25 million tonnes of grain has been blocked in Ukrainian ports since Russia and Ukraine...

The UAE has welcomed the agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine on the export of grain, and has applauded the role of Turkey and the United Nations in helping the two countries to sign the Black Sea Grain Export deal.

Ukraine and Russia and two of the world's largest grain producers.

Wheat prices tumbled Friday, retreating to levels last seen prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine following a landmark agreement to unblock Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports. Wheat and other grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and landmines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious...

Ukraine and Russia signed a deal on Friday to unblock grain exports and relieve a global food crisis, as a critical Russian gas pipeline to Europe reopened. However, there was no respite in the conflict on the ground, with Russian artillery on Thursday pounding Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv, already...

The war in Ukraine has caused food insecurity in Arab nations, many of which are heavily dependent on wheat imports from the former Soviet state. His address comes days after Russia took part in a summit hosted by Iran and attended by Turkey.

Russia on Thursday resumed critical gas supplies to Europe through Germany, reopening the Nord Stream gas pipeline after 10 days, but uncertainty lingered whether the continent could avert an energy crisis this winter. "It's working," a Nord Stream spokesman said, without specifying the amount of gas being delivered.

Syria announced Wednesday that it was severing ties with Ukraine in support of its close ally Russia, saying the move was a response to a similar move by Kyiv.

The US president could not dispel the view that the Washington is no longer a reliable ally and he also failed to connect at a personal level with the young GCC leaders, say experts.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last week that "an important document on energy security will be signed between the European Union and Azerbaijan".

The tourism sector of the Jordanian economy has seen a huge growth, with more than 1.9 million visitors arriving in the kingdom during the first six months of the current year Tourism Minister Nayef Al-Fayez described the situation as reassuring. He said the return of expatriates was an important component...

With the war in Ukraine still raging, Russian President Vladimir Putin travels Tuesday to Tehran for talks with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts on the Syria conflict. Russia, Turkey and Iran have in recent years met to discuss Syria as part of the so-called "Astana peace process" to end more...

The euro's plunge against the dollar, triggered by the Ukraine war and mounting risks to the EU economy, has driven the two currencies to parity for the first time in two decades. The European single currency sank to $0.9952 on Thursday -- a level not seen since the end of...

The commander of US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria on Friday urged Russia and Iran to prevent Turkey from launching a new attack in the country's north, days before an expected Syria summit.

Stocks soared Friday after retail sales data showed that US consumers continue to spend more in the latest signal of the economy's resilience despite high inflation and rising interest rates. Wall Street pushed higher on a better-than-expected 1.0 percent rise in retail sales in June.

The EU executive, which tracks the economy of the 27 countries in the European Union, said GDP growth in the eurozone would reach 2.6 percent in 2022 and a sharply lowered 1.4 percent in 2023. Inflation would end the year at 7.6 percent, much higher than previously forecast, and 4.0...

Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday made substantive progress in their first direct talks since March on a deal to relieve a global food crisis caused by blocked Black Sea grain exports. The high-stakes meeting involving UN and Turkish officials in Istanbul broke up after slightly more than three hours with...

The euro struck parity with the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years on Tuesday as a cut in Russian gas supplies to Europe heightened fears of a recession in the eurozone.

The four-way meeting in Istanbul comes with Russia's invasion of Ukraine showing no sign of abating.

The region is better placed to deal with global slowdown as oil and gas prices will stay high due to supply restrictions, Jean Claus, CEO of Allianz Trade Middle East, tells TRENDS.

The UN Security Council has agreed to extend a vital system for cross-border aid to war-ravaged Syria by six months, the length of time wanted by Russia, diplomats told AFP Monday. 

Saudi Arabia's oil-driven economy expanded by 9.6 percent in the first quarter, its strongest growth rate in a decade.

Iran is planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine, a top US official said Monday. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security advisor, said the information received by the United States supported views that the Russian military is facing challenges sustaining...

Russia on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended cross-border aid to Syria by one year without Damascus's backing. Western powers then voted down a competing resolution put forward by Moscow that proposed extending approval by just six months.

World food prices, including for wheat, fell in June for a third month running despite remaining near an all-time high, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. Export flow disruptions resulting from Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and international sanctions on Moscow have sparked fears...

Iran and Turkey share a land border, while Russia shares a maritime border with Iran and Turkey across the Black Sea and Caspian Sea respectively.

Global oil prices may hit $380 a barrel if Russia were to announce crude oil cuts in response to the US and European curbs.

UNESCO inscribes the culture of cooking borshch soup in Ukraine on its list of endangered cultural heritage amid Moscow's opposition.

Are China and Russia taking over the US power in the Gulf Cooperation Council region? Khaled Janahi, chairman of Vision 3, tends to disagree. “I would question the question because there are a lot of people thinking that already China and Russia are taking over. There is difference between relationship...

The United States vowed to reinforce Europe's defences in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as NATO declared Moscow the West's greatest threat -- prompting Vladimir Putin to lash out at the alliance's "imperial ambitions". Meeting in Madrid Wednesday, NATO leaders said Russia "is the most significant and direct...

Major oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are expected to stick to a previously decided output boost at their meeting on Thursday, despite pressure to further increase production. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated concerns about oil supplies, sending prices to record highs this year.

Egypt's food security has been under mounting pressure since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February causing massive disruption to exports from Black Sea ports. Before the invasion, the two countries accounted for 85 percent of Egypt's wheat imports.

Saudi oil giant Aramco has built new refineries in Jazan to boost its production capacity to 400,000 barrels a day to compensate for the fuel shortage triggered by curbs against Russia.

United States is seeking to crack down on Russians seeking to skirt existing sanctions by "covertly" acquiring US, Japanese and European defence components.

US President Joe Biden and his counterparts from the world's most industrialized nations are gathering at Elmau Castle in the Bavarian Alps before they continue on to Madrid for talks with NATO partners.

G7 leaders including US President Joe Biden gather on Sunday in southern Germany, seeking emphatic backing for Ukraine against Russia's invasion while grappling with the intensifying global fallout of the war. Ahead of the talks, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged allies not to waver in their support.

The market benefited from an exuberant 2021 holiday shopping season across the regions, with a seven percent increase over the same period in 2019.