South-West Asia

SandboxAQ - a U.S. artificial intelligence and quantum tech firm - signed an agreement on Monday with Bahrain's sovereign fund to speed up the development and creation of biotech assets valued at $1 billion. Mumtalakat, Bahrain, will license SandboxAQ’s large, quantitative models that are trained in physics, chemistry, and biology, to speed up drug discovery and scientific investigation. The deal was announced at the Future Investment Initiative, Saudi Arabia's premier investment conference. The statement said that the collaboration would help to position Bahrain as a regional hub for biotech, with a joint committee leading a program of three years aimed...

Next week, global financial titans will descend on Riyadh for Saudi Arabia's premier investment conference. This is the first time that they have been in the city since Donald Trump's return to the White House, and his taste for extravagant projects fits with the Kingdom's ambitious plans. The Future Investment Initiative conference (FII) is being held against a backdrop that includes a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, simmering tensions in the region and a Kingdom under increasing pressure to prove its massive economic transformation. In the past, the world's biggest oil exporter used the event to show off its ambitious plans...

The major Gulf stock markets were mixed early on Wednesday as investors awaited the release of earnings reports. However, Abu Dhabi's index rose on the back of First Abu Dhabi Bank's results. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates, saw its index rise by 4.6%. FAB, on track for its best day in late July, reported a 21 percent increase in the third-quarter's net profit at 5.39 billion dirhams (1.47 billion dollars), which was above analysts’ average estimates of 4.54 billion. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, whose trading had been suspended before its earnings announcement, was...

The major stock markets of the Gulf were sluggish in early trading on Monday due to weak oil prices. Investors also awaited further corporate earnings reports. The oil prices - a catalyst in the Gulf's Financial Markets - have been weighed down as a result of worries about a global glut. U.S.-China Trade tensions are also adding to the concerns over an economic slowdown, and a weaker demand for energy. Saudi Arabia's benchmark Index eased by 0.1% on track to extend losses from previous session. ACWA Power Company lost 2.2%. ACWA Power obtained project financing of 10.8 billion Riyals ($2.88...

Egypt's Foreign Minister said that the Palestinian issue was crucial to progressing in the U.S.-funded transport project connecting India to Europe by sea and rail via the Middle East. The India-Middle East Economic Corridor was announced in September 2023 on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies. It was seen as a U.S. rival to China's Belt and Road initiative on global infrastructure. A month after the announcement of the decision, war broke out in response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023. "We must remember...

Sources with knowledge of the issue said that India intends to reduce imports of liquefied gas from the Middle East, as its state refiners seek to increase purchases from the U.S. This will help New Delhi in its efforts to secure a wider trade agreement with Washington. Sources who spoke under condition of anonymity said that the state refiners had already informed their traditional LPG suppliers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about the expected reduction in LPG sales. It is not clear how much LPG India will reduce from the Middle East, but a report in July...

Kuwait's Oil Minister Tareq al-Roumi announced on Wednesday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is planning to appoint one of the "top consultants" in the near future to assess the production capacities of member countries. OPEC+ Ministers requested OPEC headquarters to develop a method to determine the maximum sustainable production capability for each member. This will be used to establish their production baselines for 2027. The determination of the maximum production capability for each OPEC member or OPEC+ is controversial because some members, like the United Arab Emirates have increased their capacity and pushed the case for higher quotas....

Sources with direct knowledge said that the EU is likely to approve ADNOC's 14.7 billion euro ($17 billion) offer for German chemicals firm Covestro. EU regulators are expected to tweak remedies offered earlier in the month. The European Commission is investigating the deal - ADNOC’s largest acquisition to date and one of the biggest foreign takeovers by a Gulf State of a EU company - over concerns that ADNOC could be using state subsidies for the acquisition of the chemicals company. Last week, the EU regulator asked for feedback from competitors and third parties after ADNOC offered a change to...

Andrew Feldman, CEO of AI chip startup Cerebras Systems, said on Monday that the company plans to deploy its infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates, to support the rapidly growing AI industry there, as well markets in India, and Pakistan. Feldman said, "I am very confident there will be large clusters of our equipment here," including "megawatts of equipment" for Stargate, Feldman referred to the U.S. and UAE agreement to build the largest AI data centre outside of the United States. California-based Cerebras produces high-performance AI systems and chips designed to accelerate the training and deployment large AI models. They...

Sources with knowledge of this matter stated on Friday that Saudi Arabia's crude exports to China will fall to 40 million barrels in November as refiners switch to cheaper spot supplies from other Middle East producers. This would be a drop from the 51 million barrels expected to be exported by the top oil exporter in October. Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, left its official November price for its flagship Arab Light crude in Asia unchanged, despite market expectations that it would increase. This was a day after OPEC+ had agreed to a modest rise in oil production. Data...

Two senior U.S. government officials announced on Thursday that the United States would deploy 200 troops to Gaza as part of a task force for stability. There will be no Americans present on the ground. According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity with reporters, the 200 people would form the core of a taskforce that would also include representatives of the Egyptian military, Qatar and Turkey, as well as the United Arab Emirates. Officials said that the exact location of U.S. forces had not yet been determined. They would create a joint command center and integrate the...

Exxon Mobil returned to Iraq two years after it left, signing an agreement on Wednesday with Iraq to develop the large Majnoon Oilfield and expand their oil export infrastructure. OPEC’s second-largest producer wants to attract Western oil majors back and increase production, which has been constrained for years by wars, corruption and religious tensions. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that Exxon had signed a deal, but provided few details. According to four sources familiar with the situation, the agreement will include a profit sharing agreement for crude oil and refined oil products as well as plans to upgrade...

OPEC did not change its forecasts on Monday for the relatively high growth in global oil demand this year and the next. It also implied that the oil market would see a smaller deficit of supply by 2026, as the OPEC+ group continues to increase production. OPEC+ has added more crude oil to the market since the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other allies have decided to undo some production cuts faster than originally planned. This extra supply has led to concerns of an oil surplus, and has weighed down on the price of crude this...

Saudi Arabian crude oil exports fell to their lowest level since four months in July, according data released by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative on Monday. The world's biggest oil exporter has seen its crude exports fall to 5,994 million barrels a day from 6,141 million bpd, the lowest level since March 20,25. Saudi Arabia's crude production for July fell to 9.201 million barrels per day (bpd) from the 9.752 in June. The data revealed that the crude throughput of Saudi refineries was 2.978 millions bpd. This is up 10% from June, when it was 2.703million bpd. Direct crude burning,...

The energy minister announced on Tuesday that Sri Lanka is expecting the Chinese state energy giant Sinopec, to begin construction on a $3.7-billion refinery in this year. They are also considering the long-standing request of the company to sell more local fuel. In an interview in his office, Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody stated that the Sinopec refinery approved in 2023 will have a capacity of processing 200,000 barrels per day. It will be located close to the Chinese-built Hambantota Port in southern Sri Lanka. He said, "The land is already allocated to them and they've done all the other facilities."...

Three sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, has asked Asian buyers for more crude oil in October. The kingdom had made price cuts deeper than expected on all grades due to a growing supply. Two sources claim that Saudi Aramco, in its bid to regain market share, spoke with Asian buyers at the APPEC Conference in Singapore this week, encouraging them to buy more crude oil in October. One of them stated that this has partially led to the delay of the October supply being allocated to their customers, possibly...

A survey released on Thursday found that OPEC oil production increased in August following an OPEC+ production agreement. This was primarily due to the United Arab Emirates' and Saudi Arabia's higher production. According to the survey, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 27,84 million barrels of oil per day in July, an increase of 360,000 barrels per days over the revised total for the month of July. The United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, were the countries that saw the biggest increases. OPEC+ - which includes OPEC, its allies, including Russia - is accelerating the plan to...

China's refiners increased their processing rates in the month of July. However, strong crude oil imports from abroad and domestic production meant that there was still an excess of over half a million barrels a day (bpd). Calculations based on data from the official sources show that crude oil surplus in July dropped to 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 1.42million bpd. The key is that despite the drop in oil surplus, refiners will likely continue to add to their stockpiles. This will allow them the ability to reduce imports if prices increase to levels they feel are not justified....

Four trade sources reported on Monday that Indian Oil Corp had purchased 7 million barrels from the United States and Canada, as well as the Middle East. This comes at a time when U.S. president Donald Trump is intensifying his criticism of India over its purchases Russian oil. India is the largest buyer of crude oil by sea from Russia. Russia is currently under Western sanctions due to its involvement in Ukraine. Reports last week said that its main refiners stopped buying Russian oil as discounts from other suppliers shrank. Trump had threatened to impose hefty tariffs for imports of...

Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), India's largest refiner, bought 7 million barrels from United States, Canada, and Middle East crudes arriving in September via an auction, according to several sources. IOC's large purchase of spot crude comes after the arbitrage windows for U.S. oil to Asia opened, and Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian crude oil at a time when discounts were shrinking. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has warned that countries should not purchase oil from Moscow because it is currently under sanctions for its full-scale invasion in Ukraine on February 20, 2022. The sources stated that IOC purchased 4.5...

It would have been a bold prediction a couple of months back to claim that OPEC+ could bring back 2,5 million barrels of crude oil production per day and keep the price of oil at $70 a barrel. This is what happened, as the eight producers of the group rolled back their voluntary reductions of 2.2 million bpd by September and allowed a separate rise for the United Arab Emirates. Eight OPEC+ member countries met virtually on Sunday and agreed to increase output by 547,000 bpd in September. This is an addition to the 548,000 bpd increases for August, the...

Trade sources and LSEG data show that at least two ships loaded with Russian crude oil bound for refiners located in India were diverted due to new U.S. Sanctions. This week, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against more than 115 Iran linked individuals, entities and ships. Some of these vessels are involved in transporting Russian crude oil. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has warned that he will impose 100% tariffs on all oil purchases from Moscow unless Russia signs a peace agreement with Ukraine. Trade sources reported that three ships, the Aframaxes Tagor, Guanyin, and Suezmax Tassos were to...

Kuwait's Oil Minister said he is optimistic about the fundamentals of the oil market and that OPEC+'s efforts aim to achieve market balance, according to the state news agency KUNA on Tuesday. Tariq Suleiman Al-Roumi made his comments after the OPEC+ Meeting on Monday. Al-Roumi, along with other ministers of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, met online to have a brief discussion and stress the importance of full compliance with oil agreements. KUNA reported him saying that he was "optimistic" about the fundamentals on the oil market, and that OPEC+'s efforts were aimed at energy security and the market balance....

A panel of OPEC+ members on Monday emphasized the importance of full compliance with oil production agreements, in advance of Sunday's separate meeting of eight OPEC+ member countries to decide whether or not to increase oil output for September. Online, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which is composed of top energy ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as their allies, led by Russia convened for a brief discussion. The JMMC is a two-monthly meeting that has the authority to call a full OPEC+ meeting to discuss market developments if necessary. In a press release...