ARAB NATION NEWS

First Coal Power Plant Soon To Be Built In Gulf Region

2008-07-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Ajman has recently signed a deal worth $2billion with MMC, a Malaysian power producer, as the two has been collaborating to establish the first gulf region coal-fired power plant. The deasl is the answer for the power shortage experienced mostly in Northern Emirates.

To address the worsening regional power crunch some Gulf states, including the UAE, are considering building nuclear plants. But nuclear programmes take years to develop, and the UAE does not expect its first atomic power plant to be completed until at least 2016.

Around that time, the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which produces 90 per cent of the UAE’s oil and gas, also expects to bring at least one major new gas project on-stream, tapping the Shah sour gas field that Abu Dhabi National Oil Company agreed to start developing with ConocoPhillips.

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Kuwait In Talks With Iran To Meet Growing Oil Demand

2008-07-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Despite its oil reserves, Kuwait is likewise running out of domestic supply of oil. The Kuwaiti government is in advanced talks with Iranian government for possible gas import from Iran. Reports claimed that Iran is willing to support and cooperate with Kuwait.

"The committee will meet with the Iranian side in the next days to discuss the project details and determine the yearly amount to be imported," Al Qabas quoted an unspecified source as saying.

Kuwait has said it was considering importing gas from Iran and Iraq to help meet rising demand from power plants and industry. It is also negotiating to import gas from Qatar.

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Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways Tags As Aerospace Major

2008-07-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Since it was founded five years ago, Etihad Airways was named as the major earospace is United Arab Emirates. With the exemplary records of Etihad, its chairman is still aiming to be the world's top airlines.

It is not known how deep discounts the rival aircraft makers have been forced to offer, though James Hogan, Etihad's chief executive said "the announcement is the result of many months of negotiations".

The deals are part of a growth strategy that will bring Etihad's fleet from 32 planes today to more than 80 by 2016, with continued growth thereafter.

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Saudi Extends Chevron oil concessions

2008-07-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Chevron oil company was supposed to end up its business oil deal with Saudi but as report said, Saudian government approved deal extension between the two as the US major oil producer perhaps renew its deal with the Saudian government.

The 60-year deal was first granted in 1949 to a company founded by U.S. industrialist Jean Paul Getty, helping. It helped make him the richest man in the United States.

"The cabinet approved authorising... the petroleum and mineral resources minister to sign a project of agreement to extend and amend the Saudi Arabian government and Chevron Saudi Arabia (concession) at the neutral zone," Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Monday.

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Iran Tensions Bring Same Tension To Arab Stocks

2008-07-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Heightened tensions in Iran brought tensions to Gulf Arab stocks across the region. Here are the following stocks highlights: Saudi index sharply lower....

Saudi Arabia
The Saudi index plunged 3.18 percent, its biggest one-day fall since February 9, to close below 9,000 points for the first time since April 1. It finished at 8,998.28 points. Shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Samba Financial Group which plummeted 5.11 percent and 4.52 percent respectively. Al Rajhi Bank fell 2.31 percent. It reported a net second-quarter profit of 8.2 percent on Tuesday. “The political tension is overshadowing any positive financial results,” said Hisham Tuffaha, head of investment research at Bakheet Investment Group. Almarai Co, the largest dairy company in the Gulf Arab region by market value, was one of the few stocks to end higher, advancing 0.61 percent, after it posted a 42.3 percent rise in second-quarter net profit.
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Iraq Soon To Sign Contract For New Oil Refineries

2008-07-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Two new contracts to build two new oil refineries in Southern Iraq will soon be materialized as the Iraq's Oil ministry is doing its efforts in realizing a new contracts. The first contract is set to be inked on the early of August according to reports.

The official says the ministry also is studying proposals presented by international companies to build another 150,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Karbala.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday because he is not authorised to make statements.

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Saudi IT Industry Shares 5% to GDP

2008-07-08T00:22:00.000-07:00

The government of Saudi Arabia has acknowleged more than 5 percent contributins to its GDP from the IT Industry of the Kingdom, as the government hopes for more economic resturns that is based on knowledge and training taken from the booming IT industry markets of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is planning to launch Yusr, by the end of 2010 as users will be able to deal electronically with all their governmental operations and get things done using only their PCs.

The Saudi government has granted SR3 billion to complete the electronic government. Statistics show that 80 per cent of the Saudi population is under the age of 25, having more technology users in the Kingdom. Moreover, the attraction of the Saudi stock market has put pressure on more people to learn how to deal with the cyber world of the Internet.
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Dubai Index Posts 3 Consecutive Day Losses

2008-07-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

Dubai index is now hitting the third day of its negative returns in the stock market. Emaar and DFM led the slide of stocks.

Emaar Properties dropped 1.86 per cent and Dubai Financial Market 2.35 per cent. The index shed 1.48 per cent to 5,427.45 points.

"We are in a retail-driven market, which will likely be flat this month. Second-quarter earnings have already been factored into the share prices," said Amr Diab, head of sales at EFG-Hermes.

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Aramco, Dow To Build $26Bn Chemical Plant

2008-07-04T03:26:00.000-07:00

Saudi Aramco, tying up with Dow Chemical is set to build a $26billion worth of chemical plants in Saudi Arabia. This joint venture with the Dow Chemical, the biggest US chemical producer is expected to produce as much as eight million tones of chemical in a year.

"It is a very aggressive target," Al Judaimi said in an interview in Madrid yesterday. "It will be challenging to get debt, but if we have a project that will get good returns it will be successful."

Aramco formed the joint venture with Dow last year to build a network of factories with the capacity to produce as much as eight million tonnes of chemicals a year, using raw materials from nearby oil and natural gas plants to cut costs. The country's oil ministry said yesterday that it plans to spend $250 billion on oil, gas, power and water production through 2012.

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Saudi Foreign Reserves To Reach $595Bn by 2011, Economists Say

2008-07-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

As the Saudi government tried its best to invade the international scene in terms of foreign reserves, the latter is expected to reach its foreign reserves of about $595 billion comes 2011 according to some economists. The forecast is due to the unstoppable positive economic gains of its government.

"We forecast that net foreign assets will increase to 93.7 per cent of GDP by the end of 2008 and 109.7 per cent of GDP by the end of 2010,"Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG, said.

Saudi Arabia plans to start a sovereign wealth fund with $5.3 billion this year, to be managed by The Saudi General Investment Fund.

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FlyDubai: A New Low Cost Airline

2008-06-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

To counter the emerging crisis in Airlines, posed by the sky-high oil prices, Dubai Aviation will focus and launch a low cost air line system but with a full service that could cater to billions of inhabitants. The new airline system is being dubbed as FlyDubai.

Earlier, the Dubai government announced the new low-cost airline - the second budget carrier of the UAE after Air Arabia.

Gaith Al Gaith, Chief Executive of FlyDubai, said, "We are recruiting for key positions, evaluating aircraft options and routes, working out our pricing and distribution strategy, and putting in place the structure and operational resources for the business."

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Abu Dhabi Recorded 2 Day Index Fall

2008-06-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi index fell for the second day, losing 1.07 per cent yesterday to close at 5,063.24.

Led by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, Taqa, the state-controlled global energy investment company, which had the biggest one-day drop in two years, the energy sector tumbled 5.49 per cent.

Taqa, which announced this week the sale of $4.15 billion worth of bonds convertible to shares primarily to its shareholders, lost 9.79 per cent to close at Dh3.41. Dana Gas and Aabar Investments also dragged lower, declining 1.45 per cent and 0.26 per cent respectively.

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Iran To Continue Uranium Enrichment, Despite Warnings

2008-06-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

If the Iranian government fails to respond to the international incentive package, that has something to do with its nuclear program, the European foreign policy will be forced to maintain a new European sanctions, just to make it sure that Iran will strictly follow economic incentives.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that EU nations had agreed on the need for a new round of sanctions to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He announced that Britain will freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli, and said potential EU sanctions would target Iran's oil and gas sectors.

There was no immediate Iranian reaction to the British move or warnings of new EU sanctions.

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Abu Dhabi Is Planning To Buy Chrysler Building

2008-06-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi is definitely conquering the international market of investments as it recently planned to buy the Chrysler Building in New York City.

Sources told the Post that the Abu Dhabi Investment Council would also get part of the skyscraper's Trylons retail space next door and that Tishman Speyer would remain in charge of the building, with the Abu Dhabi fund essentially acting as a silent partner.

The agreement would follow last month's deal in which a group led by Boston Properties Inc would buy the GM Building and three others from Macklowe Properties for $3.45 billion. The Post said investors in that deal included the wealth funds of Kuwait and Qatar.

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Doha Bank Opens Door for Future Acquisitions

2008-06-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

In line with its expansion strategy, Doha Bank is now ready for possible future acquisitions of any financial industries so to further its quest for investments.

With the local market saturated, the bank's strategy is to increasingly expand beyond Qatar, and the choice of countries is driven by mutual trade relations between Qatar and the target country, Al Thani said.

UAE-Qatar trade has risen from 3.7 per cent of the total of Qatar's trade in 2004 to 4.6 per cent in 2006, and that was the reason for the bank to start operations in Dubai, which was officially opened on Tuesday.

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Adbic Gets $4bn for Polymer Park

2008-06-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation or Adbic finally gets the $4 billion Polymer Park projects. The said plastic manufacturer is located at the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi.

"The project reflects the emirate's commitment towards diversifying sources of income through adopting a futuristic strategy based on encouraging investment and focusing on the industrial sector as the main driver for economic development," Shaikh Mohammad said.

"The government of Abu Dhabi is seeking to support and develop the heavy industries such as aluminium, steel, and petrochemicals through providing the basic needs capitalising on the abundance of energy sources, the advanced infrastructure, and the strategic location," he added.

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Energy Regulators Will Tackle Oil Market Manipulation

2008-06-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

Energy Industry regulators are schedule to meet at Washington to talk about the possible solution in preventing market manipulation in the global oil market.

The CFTC-hosted conference, open only to regulators, is scheduled for June 11 and 12.

U.S. congressional leaders have suggested oil and products markets were being manipulated. A congressional energy committee later this month is expected to release results of an investigation into skyrocketing prices.

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IEA Chief: Energy Revolution Is Needed To Combat oil prices

2008-06-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

International Energy Agency is demanding for an energy revolution so to combat energy crisis. Will this measure fits to the escalating problems on oil?

In contrast, global consumption fell after the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution of 1979 as countries turned to more energy efficient transportation and power plants.

"We are in a third energy crisis," he said during the Reuters Energy Summit.

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Mid East Traditions not Anymore Glittery Due to Gold Price

2008-06-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

How do soaring price of gold affects traditions in Middle East? Wedding traditions in Middle East are now using less gold as present to mother-in-law and even to the wife-to-be.

Gold prices have surged since late last year partly because of demand from investors spooked by the weak U.S. dollar, fears of a recession and record crude-oil prices. Gold set a record of $1,038.60 an ounce on March 17, although it has fallen slightly since. Several analysts have predicted $2,000 gold ahead, as a global commodities boom pushes the price of raw materials further into record territory.

The price of gold is changing customs for some not just in the Arab world but also in Asian countries such as India, the world's largest gold consumer.

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Ending Peg Is Not Solution To Inflation Problem Says Paulson

2008-06-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

In its visit to oil-rich countries, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson commented that the current issue on Arab currency's peg will not resolute the present inflation problem that has been posing threats to Arab economies. Is there any alternative that Paulson has offer to inflation problem? Find out.

Since oil is priced in dollars, and most GCC currencies are pegged to the dollar, their massive foreign exchange reserves built up from oil sales are overweight dollars and their value is fully exposed to the dollar's swings in currency markets.

In May 2007, Kuwait abandoned its peg and now links to a currency basket which includes the dollar, euro, yen and sterling.

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Arab states still suspicious of investing in Iraq

2008-05-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

What makes Arab states of still wary to invest in Iraq? Does it mean that Iraq is not yet safe to invest after the historical Saddam Hussein years of reign?

Arab states have steered clear of devoting resources or personnel to Iraq since a car bomb attack on the Jordanian Embassy in 2003 killed 17 people. The kidnapping and murder of the Egyptian ambassador in 2005 reinforced that position.

Since then, the US troop surge and establishment of the Sunni Awakening Movement have made significant progress in reducing insurgent attacks. But Arab officials say they are still uncertain about the staying power of the new Iraqi government.

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What's The Best Bank in Kuwait?

2008-05-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

Guess what is the best bank in Kuwait? Yes, its the Gulf Bank! The Global Finance Magazine, the world's leading finance publication named and recognised the Gulf Bank as a top performer ans best bank in Kuwait, following a survey of regional banks in its annual reports on Best Emerging Market Banks in the Middle East.

This is the 15th year that Global Finance has selected top banking performers in emerging markets. Publisher Joseph D. Giarraputo commented: “Emerging markets are attracting increased attention as the global economy expands. We have identified banks such as Gulf Bank that provide services to corporations seeking to take advantage of substantial opportunities for growth in a sometimes challenging environment.”
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Aramco To Spend $129bn in the Next 5years

2008-05-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

Saudi Aramco will spend $129 billion in its next five-year business plan, which shall commence next year and expected to finish in 2014. The plan envisions Saudi Arabia to become one of the world's top five oil refiners and major petrochemical producers.

"We are currently seeing a real disconnect between crude oil price movements and the physical market, with buyers and sellers taking their cues not just from production numbers, demand projections and inventory levels, but from a whole host of factors which lie beyond the realm of the petroleum industry itself," Al Falih said.

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Australia Gets Oil Investment From Saudi Arabia

2008-05-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

In its effort to expand internationally, Saudi Arabia is now invading Australia with its oil investments. Will this new investments make way for future business relationship for both?

But Saudi Arabia is a lot richer than it used to be. As we said in a previous Money Morning, at US$130 it pulls in revenues of well over a billion dollars a day. And that means it has spare liquidity to pour into investments. Those investments will, of course, be the source of its income when oil eventually runs out.

One of them is Australian. Bemax Resources (ASX:BMX) recently received a takeover offer from Arabian National Titanium Dioxide Company. Bemax burrows around in Australia’s vast mineral sand resource. Among other things, it produces minerals containing titanium and zircon.

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Egypt, Jordan Are Hurdling Economic Growth

2008-05-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

How would Jordan and Egypt settle those growing complaints on economic trouble, inflation despite notable economic growth?

In both countries, the private sector has begun to play a much larger role, gross domestic product (GDP) has accelerated, and foreign direct investment, financial markets, and real estate are booming. Yet the two countries' economies have thus far failed to address the needs of their poorest citizens, who feel the acute inflation in basic commodity prices. The gap between the rich and poor has not been reduced and unemployment levels remain stagnant.

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