A Saudi prince reportedly booked out an entire row on passenger aircraft to transport his falcons back home. A picture posted on social media website Reddit shows what’s believed to be 80 falcons sitting on platforms placed on seating in the centre row of an aircraft. Each of the falcons, who have their wings tied so as to prevent movement, appear to be taking up one seat […]
WASHINGTON/RIYADH Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, in a phone call on Sunday with U.S. President Donald Trump, agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, a White House statement said. Trump, during his presidential campaign last year, had called for Gulf states to pay for establishing safe zones to protect Syrian refugees. A statement after the phone call said the two leaders agreed on the importance of […]
US President Donald Trump will speak to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and South Korea in separate calls on Sunday, the White House said in a statement. Trump is expected to speak with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman first this afternoon, followed by a conversation with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The calls come just days after Trump signed an […]
The Saudi holy city of Makkah has the most hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and Africa, according to new data by analysts STR. STR’s December 2016 Pipeline Report showed that Makkah has 23,060 rooms in 14 projects, ahead of Dubai, which has 20,451 rooms in 69 projects. The latest figures showed a total of 158,441 rooms in 555 projects under contract in the Middle […]
Barilla, the world’s leading pasta brand, has announced regional expansion into Saudi Arabia in partnership with Mayar Foods for distribution of its Italian products through retailers across the kingdom. The pasta market size in Saudi Arabia is 55 thousand tonnes with nearly 2kg consumption per capita per year and the numbers continue to grow, the company said in a statement. The Italian family founded company said it […]
If only a portion of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Programme is implemented, there will be dramatic change, one of the kingdom’s most influential lawyers assures. “If we can cover 50 percent of what is the aspiration in the Vision 2030, the kingdom will be doing much better,” the Saudi country director of international law firm White & Case, Doug Peel, says. “My view is that it’s a […]
Two Saudi men who blew themselves up during a gunbattle with security forces in Jeddah last week had ties with ISIL and were linked to past attacks on mosques and security forces in Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. After Saturday’s security operation in Jeddah’s eastern Al-Harazat district, the interior ministry accused the two men of planning attacks inside the country. A ministry statement carried […]
Oil and gas company Saudi Aramco has invited banks to pitch for an advisory position on what is expected to be the world’s biggest initial public offering, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley and HSBC are among banks that have received the request for proposals, one of the sources told Reuters, with the other adding that the invitation was to evaluate Aramco’s […]
Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption body has accused executives and employees of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) of misusing public funds, it said in a statement on Sunday referring the case for prosecution. The National Anti-Corruption Commission, or Nazaha, said it had identified irregularities in eight contracts concluded by the state-controlled utility company’s employees in Eastern Province worth more than 80 million riyal ($21.33 million), mostly involving the purchase of […]
Proscient to provide Process Safety and Operational Risk Management System (PSORMS) capabilities to reduce risk, improve productivity and lower costs Proscient to provide Process Safety and Operational Risk Management System (PSORMS) capabilities to reduce risk, improve productivity and lower costs Dammam, Saudi Arabia, 23 January 2017 Petrotechnics, the developer of Proscient – the hazardous industries’ first software platform for Operational Excellence – has been selected by Accenture […]
The Saudi finance ministry said on Sunday there would be no fees applied on remittances out of the country, days after the kingdom’s advisory Shura Council said it was looking at a proposal to impose a 6 percent levy on expatriate remittances. Saudi Arabia is “committed to the principle of free movement of capital in and out of the kingdom, in line with international standards,” the ministry’s […]
Energy ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC countries meeting in Vienna on Sunday have struck a positive note regarding their agreement to cut oil output as a committee set to monitor compliance with the deal meets for the first time. “I am satisfied, I am optimistic and, as I said, the markets are on their way to rebalance and it’s happening,” Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said. Compliance […]
DOHA Two suspected militants blew themselves up following a confrontation with security forces in Saudi Arabia’s second city of Jeddah on Saturday, Saudi media reported. Saudi security forces surrounded a house in Jeddah and exchanged fire with the men, who blew themselves up, Sabq.org, a website affiliated with the monarchy’s interior ministry, said. UAE-based Sky News Arabia also reported the incident and ran a video of an […]
Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank (NCB) reported a 7.5 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Wednesday as the kingdom’s largest lender was boosted by higher income from commission and investments. The results are the strongest in four quarters for the bank, which like other lenders in the kingdom has seen its performance clipped by weaker activity as depressed oil prices drag economic growth to its lowest […]
At least $13.3 billion of government projects are at risk of being cancelled in Saudi Arabia this year because of fiscal pressures and changing government priorities, Zawya Projects reported, citing a study by consultants Faithful+Gould. The total value of project awards for 2017 is forecast at $27 billion, and could rise to $32 billion if the Makkah Metro project, which was originally expected to be awarded in […]
Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), the Gulf’s largest utility firm, sank to a deeper net loss in its fourth-quarter results as it was hit by higher energy prices and increased operating costs. The company, which the government is aiming to restructure to improve efficiency, made a net loss of 2.34 billion riyals ($624 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, according to a bourse statement on Wednesday. […]
Saudi Arabian budget carrier flynas is to buy 80 Airbus A320neo narrow body jets in a deal worth $8.6 billion that includes upgrading an earlier order, it said on Monday. The 80 A320neo order is valued at $8.6 billion, flynas Chairman Ayed Al Jeaid said at press conference in Riyadh on Monday. The order is for 60 A320neos and an upgrade of an existing order for 20 […]
Saudi Arabia will launch in coming weeks a renewable energy programme that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday. Falih, speaking at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi, said Riyadh would in the next few weeks start the first round of bidding for projects under the programme, which would produce 10 […]
Jordan has awarded Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power a contract to develop a 61.3 megawatt peak (MWP) photovoltaic project, which will generate enough electricity for 12,000 households, the Saudi firm said on Monday. ACWA Power gave no value for the contract but said in a statement the 42 fils per kilowatt hour it submitted was the lowest for solar energy ever presented for a Jordan-based project. MWP is […]
By Henning Gloystein | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil dipped on Tuesday on lingering concerns over global fuel oversupply due to rising U.S. output and doubts that OPEC and other producers would adhere to commitments to cut output in an effort to balance markets and prop up prices. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $55.55 per barrel at 0643 GMT, down 31 cents from […]
Photo Celebrations erupted in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. Credit Mohamed El-Shahed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images CAIRO — An Egyptian court on Monday upheld a ruling that said the government cannot transfer control of two key Red Sea islands to its main financial backer, Saudi Arabia, deepening a rift between the two Middle Eastern countries. The alliance between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two of the […]
Saudi Arabian Airlines’ budget carrier Flyadeal will lease six Airbus A320s, an Airbus executive said on Monday, a sign that the European planemaker might again have pipped Boeing in the race to win a big Middle East deal. Flyadeal, which is set to start services in mid-2017, is aiming to operate a fleet of up to 50 narrow body jets by 2020 and Saleh al-Jasser, director general […]
FM EXPO Saudi 2017 and Saudi Clean Expo running until 17 January at the Jeddah Centre for Forum & Events Jeddah, 16 January 2017 FM EXPO Saudi 2017 and Saudi Clean Expo opened its doors to thousands of visitors as industry professionals turned out in force to learn more about this growing industry. With the support of Advanced Facilities Management, the headline sponsor of FM EXPO Saudi […]
OPEC probably won’t need to extend a deal it reached with other crude producers to cut output, given compliance with the reductions and the outlook for an increase in global demand, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. The re-balancing of the oil market should take place by the end of the first half of the year, Al-Falih told reporters during an energy event in the United Arab […]
Saudi Arabia will adhere strictly to its commitment to cut output under the global agreement among oil producers, its energy minister said on Monday, expressing confidence that OPEC’s plan to prop up prices would work. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, speaking at an industry event in Abu Dhabi, also said he was encouraged by signs of commitments by other participants in the deal since it took effect […]
DUBAI Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority has called cinemas and singing concerts harmful and corrupting, in a move that could complicate government efforts to introduce cultural reforms to the conservative kingdom. The comments by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, published on his website, said cinemas and round-the-clock entertainment could open the door to “atheistic or rotten” foreign films and encourage the mixing of the sexes. Cinemas […]
The Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to loan the Kyrgyz Republic $20 million to finance a rural water supply and sanitation improvement project. The funding will help the Kyrgyz Republic to improve access and quality of water supply in targeted rural communities, improve sanitation services primarily in schools, and health centres in selected villages and strengthen capacity of institutions in the water supply and sanitation […]
US chemical giant Dow has announced the “topping out” of its new innovation centre in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to become operational in the second half of 2018. Dow chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris reported good progress in the construction of the Dow Middle East Innovation Centre at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. Liveris said: “When the new Dow Innovation […]
OPEC is unlikely to deliver fully on its target to cut production despite Saudi Arabia saying it had trimmed more than it had committed to, OPEC delegates say, but compliance of 80 percent would be good and as low as 50 percent acceptable. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is planning to cut its output by 1.2 million barrels per day to 32.50 million bpd from […]
Oil continued its see-saw start to the new year, registering its biggest advance in six weeks on Thursday after Opec’s biggest producer said that it had slashed output to the lowest level in almost two years. Brent, the global oil market, rose as much as $1.24 to $56.43 a barrel after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih said that the kingdom had cut production to less than […]
