Diane Foley in August after ISIS beheaded her son, James. She has taken part in a review of government policy on hostages. By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS May 29, 2015 WASHINGTON — When President Obama met recently with the mother of James Foley, the American hostage beheaded last August by the Islamic State, she said, he told her that freeing her son and the other American hostages held with him had […]
UAE. The depressed oil prices predominant since late last year could herald a lasting trend if, as evidence suggests, we are now facing the low-price segment of an oil ‘super cycle’, according to the latest paper from global strategy and management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. This new situation would pose both challenges and opportunities to Middle East companies and countries. There is still much volatility in the […]
A picture illustration shows Apple Inc’s logo reflected in a person’s eye, in central Bosnian town of Zenica, March 13, 2015. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Files NEW YORK A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Apple Inc’s bid to disqualify an antitrust compliance monitor appointed after the technology company was found liable for conspiring with five publishers to raise e-book prices. While saying some allegations against the monitor Michael Bromwich […]
Crude oil prices were broadly unchanged in early trading on Tuesday, as firm demand supported and ample supply dragged, but analysts said there were signs that a recent rally was running out of steam. Robust demand in Asia as well as due to the driving season in the United States is being met by near record output, especially from the Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), although […]
Iran is likely to abolish subsidised fuel allowances for motorists, an Oil Ministry adviser said on Saturday, in a move that will cut state spending but could also drive inflation and cause protests. The government is trying to curb subsidies that have led to profligate energy consumption and put a strain on public finances, already squeezed by international sanctions and last year’s drop in oil prices. “The […]
UAE. Landmark real estate regulatory changes including the UAE-wide Federal Mortgage Cap and Dubai’s doubling of Property Registration Fees last year, which was aimed at curbing speculative activity, have together gradually and successfully contained a market that was in danger of overheating with the level of transactional activity now dramatically reduced, according to latest research released by international real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons Spring 2015 Dubai Residential […]
|Special by TAP Staff| RERA’s Rent Index system continues to be unrealistic as it fails to factor in variables such as views, size of units, age of the building, and this might may trigger a period of ‘off-grid’ deals, where landlords and tenants agree to rents that are not in sync with RERA’s recommendations, property consultants Cluttons has predicted. The Cluttons’ report highlights that with supply levels […]
|Special byTAP Staff|Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments is expected to reap rich dividends from its involvement with Mongolia’s coal industry in the wake of a landmark mining deal concluded recently. Aabar Investments has been the largest UAE investor in Mongolia since 2011 through its investment into Gobi Coal & Energy Ltd, which has been credited with the discovery of the massive Oyu Tolgoi project. Its two main projects, […]
|By TAP Staff| Oil is poised to slump to $45 US a barrel by October as a surplus of crude and producers’ easy access to cash weigh on the market, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. A recovery in prices to near $60 a barrel from a six-year low in March is premature, analysts including Jeffrey Currie said in an e-mailed report dated May 18. The availability […]
|TAP Special| Faced with a continued upswing in capacity creation, Dubai hospitality sector is under pressure and is forced to continuously make price adjustments to remain competitive. This has already meant lower revenues, posing a question mark over the hotel sector’s performance. According to the latest Hotel Intelligence report of JLL, performance of the hospitality sector in Dubai is expected to remain under pressure this year. This […]
|By Nafeesa Syeed & Rinat Gaynullin|Saudi Arabia is burning through foreign reserves at a record pace as the largesse of the new king and regional turmoil ratchet up pressure on public finances already hurt by the oil price slump. The kingdom spent $36 billion of the central bank’s net foreign assets — about 5 percent of the total — in February and March, the biggest two-month drop […]
TOKYO—Japan’s Inpex Corp. has secured a 5% stake in Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, or ADCO, one of the Gulf nation’s biggest oil concessions, becoming the second foreign stakeholder after France’s Total SA . The move suggests that as part of Tokyo’s efforts to shore up its energy supplies, the partly state-owned Japanese energy company was prepared to pay a hefty signing-on fee that other […]
|TAP Special| Citibank has lost a key decision in its defense of a lawsuit in Abu Dhabi accusing the bank of self-dealing, defrauding investors, and attempting to cover-up investor losses. The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court of First Instance on April 14, 2015 determined the lawsuit should proceed and ordered the appointment of a Committee of Experts to review evidence and determine Citibank’s culpability. The Court’s decision is […]
Plunging iron ore prices are providing a lifeline for some of China’s biggest steel mills, but raising the prospect of a rising tide of exports and increased friction with the European Union and countries such as India. Even as China’s domestic steel demand shrinks and the industry battles chronic overcapacity, lower iron ore prices have helped many large mills post better earnings in 2014 than a year […]
|By TAP Staff| Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) totaled 30.72 million barrels per day (b/d) in March, up 800,000 b/d from February, and the highest monthly volume since November 2012, according to the latest Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts. In November 2012, OPEC output was estimated at 31.08 million b/d. Saudi Arabia boosted production by 280,000 […]
Marketing of Dubai property to overseas investors needs new regulation to prevent damage to “Brand Dubai” from gimmicks being offered to coerce buyers including yachts and luxury cars, the chairman of Emaar Properties was quoted as saying on Sunday. Dubai has ramped up its oversight on the emirate’s property sector in the wake of a real estate crash at the end of the last decade which sent […]
As chairman of Emaar Properties, Mohamed Alabbar has shaped much of Dubai’s skyline, but rapid growth in his outside real estate interests is raising the possibility of a rarity in the Gulf – open shareholder dissent. Speculation persists that Alabbar and Emaar, the company he founded in 1997, could soon part ways despite a categorical denial from the firm last month. His involvement in other firms’ projects, […]
India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), trade sources said on Monday, marking the start of a round of purchases by the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus. The sources said […]
QATAR. Notwithstanding the weak start for the global economy, Asian economies are expected to continue to grow rapidly in 2015. We expect economic growth to average 5.7% in 2015, the same rate as in 2014. However this masks significant differences across Asian countries that mainly depend on their exposure to global headwinds. India and Myanmar stand out as bright spots for 2015, while China, Indonesia, Malaysia and […]
Dubai’s Amlak Finance will hold a shareholder meeting on April 16 to seek their approval for lifting a six-and-a-half year trading suspension on the mortgage lender’s shares, according to a bourse filing on Wednesday. If shareholders agree, the board will then seek permission from the “concerned authorities” to resume trade and determine a date to do so. Trading in Amlak, 48 percent owned by Dubai’s biggest developer […]
Brent crude oil held below $56 a barrel on Tuesday on signs of slowing growth in China and as Saudi Arabia said its production was close to an all-time high. Factory activity in China, the world’s second-largest economy and top oil importer, slipped in March with the flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading at 49.2, below the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction. Economists polled […]
The next big threat to oil prices isn’t from OPEC or Bakken shale. It’s Russian samovars, or teapots. Simple refineries that process crude into fuel oil are scaling back, because when oil prices slump, the government reduces the discount that these refiners — known as teapots to those in the industry — get for exporting fuel. They use less crude, freeing it up for sale abroad, which […]
DOHA, 23 hours, 10 minutes ago Kuwait’s real gross domestic product (GDP) has been projected to slow this year as the government cuts subsidies before recovering in the next two year as major development projects get underway, according to a report. QNB Group’s ‘Kuwait Economic Insight 2015,’ examined recent developments and the outlook for Kuwait’s economy. Kuwait is well placed to withstand lower international oil prices with […]
Salim Al Aufi, Oman’s undersecretary for oil and gas, likens attempts to cut the reliance on oil during a price slump to acting “with a gun pointed at your head.” If you have to make decisions under pressure, “you will probably make the wrong ones,” he said March 3 in Muscat during a panel discussion on the impact of the oil shock. Oman relied too much on […]
