Author: admin

Oil prices edged up on Monday, recouping some of the losses suffered at the end of last week, as investors focused on a tight global supply outlook while a last-minute deal that avoided a US government shutdown restored risk appetite.

Brent December crude futures rose 8 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $92.28 a barrel by 9:00 a.m. Saudi time.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 10 cents, or 0.11 percent, to $90.89 a barrel.

Both benchmarks rallied nearly 30 percent in the third quarter on forecasts of a wide crude supply deficit in the fourth quarter after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended additional supply cuts to the end of the year.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with Russia and other allies, or OPEC+, is unlikely to tweak its current oil output policy when the panel called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meets on Wednesday, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters, as tighter supplies and rising demand drive an oil price rally.

“Oil prices started the week on a strong note amid supply concerns with no policy change by OPEC+ expected, while the avoidance of a US government’s shutdown over the weekend gave some relief,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.

“Still, whether or not the market will rise further will depend on future demand trends,” he said.

While OPEC+ is not expected to change its output policy given the recent strength in the market, Saudi Arabia could start to ease its additional voluntary supply cut of 1 million barrels per day, said ING analysts in a note on Monday.

Official data on Saturday showed that China’s factory activity expanded for the first time in six months in September, adding to a run of indicators suggesting the world’s second-largest economy has begun to stabilize.

However, a private-sector survey on Sunday was less encouraging, showing the country’s factory activity expanded slower in September.

Indeed, a durable recovery in China’s economy is delayed by a property slump, falling exports and high youth unemployment, raising fears of weaker fuel demand.

Elsewhere, a last-minute decision by Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to turn to Democrats to pass a short-term funding bill pushed the risk of the shutdown to mid-November, meaning the US federal government’s more than 4 million workers can count on continued paychecks for now.

Amplifying supply fears, the US oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by seven to 623 in the week to Sept. 29, the lowest since February 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.

Brent is forecast to average $89.85 a barrel in the fourth quarter and $86.45 in 2024, according to a survey of 42 economists compiled by Reuters on Friday.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2384026

As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, the UAE’s flagship carrier, Emirates, has entered into an agreement with Shell Aviation to procure over 300,000 gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel for use at its international hub in Dubai.

According to a press statement, the initial SAF delivery under this partnership is expected to commence by the end of this year, marking the first instance of Dubai International Airport using biofuel.

Emirates has emphasized that this agreement underscores its environmental strategy, built upon three core pillars: reducing emissions, responsible consumption, and preserving wildlife and habitats.

Emirates President Tim Clarke said: “We hope that this collaboration develops further to provide an ongoing future supply of SAF in our hub, as there are currently no production facilities for SAF in the UAE.”

He added: “We look forward to continue collaborating with like-minded organizations and government entities to look at viable solutions that introduce more SAF, a fuel that is currently extremely limited in supply, into the aviation fuel supply chain and support Emirates’ efforts to reduce emissions across our operations.”

Shell Corporate Travel Vice President Chu Yong-Yi described this agreement as a significant milestone in the aviation industry’s journey toward achieving zero emissions.

“This agreement marks a step forward for the aviation industry in the UAE. Enabling SAF to be supplied at DXB for the first time is an important milestone and a perfect example of how the different parts of the aviation value chain have a role to play in unlocking progress on SAF,” said Yong-Yi.

He added: “We hope that this can act as a springboard for more action on SAF across the aviation industry in the UAE and region, delivering another step forward for our net zero emissions journey.”

In an earlier announcement in May, Emirates committed a $200 million fund to research and develop projects to mitigate the impact of fossil fuels in the commercial aviation sector.

The airline specified that this designated fund would be disbursed over three years, with Emirates actively seeking partnerships with organizations specializing in fuel and energy technologies.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2384046

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is optimistic on demand and sees under-investment as a risk to energy security, Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais said on Monday at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi.

He stressed the importance of continued investment in the oil and gas industry and said he sees calls to stop investing in oil as counterproductive.

“We still see oil demand as quite resilient this year, as it was last year,” Al-Ghais said, noting the group’s forecast was for year-on-year demand growth of more than 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd).

He added that investment in the oil and gas sector was important for energy security.

“We are…running quite low on spare capacity; we have said this repeatedly and this requires a concerted effort by all of the stakeholders to see the importance of investing in this industry,” he said.

The UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei echoed the call and said investment by both international and national oil companies was needed.

“And these investments need the financial world to be willing to finance oil and gas,” Al-Mazrouei said.

He later told reporters that his country is on track to expand its oil production capacity to 5 million bpd by 2027 from 4.2 million bpd currently.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2384066

Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy grew by 12.3 percent in the second quarter of 2023, accompanied by a 3.5 percent increase in its overall gross domestic product, reported the Statistics Centre — Abu Dhabi.

The emirate’s real non-oil GDP soared to 154 billion dirhams ($42 billion), marking its highest since 2014. This increase represents a record for the first quarter of the current year, surpassing 146 billion dirhams.

SCAD’s statistical estimates revealed growth in the construction sector, with a year-on-year increase of 19.1 percent, reaching 25.3 billion dirhams.

The financial sector also grew 29.7 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, reaching 18.3 billion dirhams.

The manufacturing sector also advanced 7 percent in the second quarter to 25 billion dirhams compared to the year-ago period.

The real estate sector climbed to 9.8 billion dirhams in the second quarter from 9.3 billion dirhams in this year’s first quarter.

Furthermore, wholesale and retail trade activities reached their highest quarterly value since 2014, amounting to 16.7 billion dirhams.

These activities contributed 5.8 percent to the GDP in the second quarter of 2023.

Ahmed Jasim Al-Zaabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, emphasized: “The continued strong performance of Abu Dhabi’s economy despite mounting challenges in the global economic landscape reaffirms the success of the emirate’s diversification strategy and adaptability to market shifts.”

Last month, S&P Global Ratings anticipated that the UAE would achieve 3 percent economic growth in 2023, primarily driven by the non-oil sector.

The analysis from the rating agency forecasts a further expansion rate of 4 percent next year.

Trevor Cullinan, a sovereign ratings analyst at the agency, pointed to the impressive expansion of the UAE’s non-oil sector, citing significant strides in services and industrial domains, reported the Emirates News Agency.

Identifying key sectors that are steering the UAE’s economic growth, Cullinan mentioned oil and gas, wholesale trade and industry, real estate, construction and financial services.

The rating agency also reported that the employment growth in the UAE last month was at its highest since October 2016, even as the Purchasing Managers’ Index hit 56.6, up from 56.1 in September.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2384076