A1SaudiArabia.com

DUBAI/LONDON – Lenders to Dubai World will get a range of options including full repayment once Abu Dhabi decides how much additional support it will provide its debt-strapped neighbour, sources close to the discussions said.

Bankers in London and the Gulf are divided over how Dubai should restructure the $26 billion debt pile dogging its flagship holding company, leading the emirate to consider parallel offers in an effort to please all, the sources said.

Read More

JEDDAH – Saudi Arabias oil production is still down this year compared to 2008 levels, Saudi Aramcos chief executive was reported as saying on Tuesday.

Crude oil production fell in 2009 and production is still declining this year when compared to the 2008 production level, Khalid Al-Falih was quoted as saying in the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. “(Oil) drilling activities for production are on the decline unlike exploration,” Falih said.

Overall drilling for oil this year is expected to remain the same as last year but Aramco would increase gas drilling activities, industry sources said this week.

Read More

JEDDAH/DUBAI: Speculation over dividends and earnings pushed most Middle East markets higher on Tuesday, but gains were limited and investors remained cautious amid an uncertain global outlook and a dearth of local news.

Saudi Arabia’s index fell to a five-week low as the world’s top oil exporter belatedly reacted to crude’s four-week, 12 percent slide and the consensus view is for further sideways regional trading. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.34 percent down at 6,200.69 on Tuesday with losses in almost all sectors, except for two sectors, which were the Agricultural & Food Industries and the Real Estate Development sector, which were up 0.60 percent and 0.64 percent respectively. Otherwise, sector losses ranged from a loss of 0.09 points in the Retail sector to a loss of 1.51 percent in the Multi-Investment sector. Overall market breadth was negative with 24 advancers and 100 decliners registering an AD ratio of 0.24, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.

Read More

DUBAI: The central bank of the United Arab Emirates forecast the countrys growth to be low in 2010 but better than the previous year, its governor told a media briefing on Monday, according to a source at the briefing.

Sultan Nasser Al-Suweidi told local media the central bank expected the growth rate in 2009 to be slim, while the 2010 rate would be low but better than in 2009, the source said.

Read More

TEHRAN – Irans constitutional watchdog approved a contentious law that would sharply slash energy and food subsidies – a move that could provoke more unrest in a country struggling under international sanctions, double-digit inflation and a government crackdown on the opposition.

The bill was formally approved by the Guardian Council, state television Web sites reported Wednesday, roughly a week after Iranian lawmakers signed off on the plan proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Guardian Council is a hardline body that must vet all legislation before it becomes law.

Read More

DUBAI – A top official for the worlds biggest sovereign wealth fund said Monday the bulk of its holdings are still in the US and Europe, and that the Abu Dhabi fund sees “significant, long-term investment potential” in both regions despite the global downturn.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authoritys managing director said “many substantial risks” remain as the global economy struggles to recover, however. Among the threats he cited are policies that could restrict cross-border investments by big overseas investors such as ADIA.

Read More

RIYADH: The Saudi central bank reiterated on Monday its commitment to peg the riyal to the US dollar, saying it brings stability, as business leaders hit out at the bank for not doing more to spur anemic lending growth.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agencys (SAMA) Governor Muhammad Al-Jasser sought to inject a dose of realism at a rare meeting with leaders of the private sector, which has endured a particularly tough 2009 as growth shrank to 2.5 percent from some 4.5 percent in 2008.

Read More

AL-KHOBAR – Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has received two bids from four Saudi-owned firms to build, own and operate a new export-oriented refinery in Jizan, industry sources said.

Earlier this month, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said he expected the winning bid to be announced by the end of the year. The tender for Jizan has been delayed several times, after initial plans to open bidding in the second quarter of 2007.

Saudi industrial group Tasnee teamed up with Saudi Nama Chemicals Group and Saudi Advanced Refineries and Petrochemicals Co (ARPC) to form a consortium, two sources said.

Read More

DUBAI: A $40 billion deal by the United Arab Emirates to acquire nuclear reactors puts it ahead in a drive to meet fast growing power needs among its Gulf neighbors, while also allowing it to export more of its oil.

The prospect of starting electricity exports within the next decade is a key element behind the UAEs award to a South Korean consortium on Sunday of the deal to build and operate four reactors in the third largest oil exporter.

Read More

DUBAI – The United Arab Emirates Sunday awarded a South Korean consortium a prized $20 billion deal to build nuclear reactors in the oil rich Arab nation.

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. said it chose the Korean team because it was “best equipped to fulfill the governments partnership requirements.” The state-run company valued the deal for four 1,400-megawatt reactors at about $20 billion.

The winning bid, led by Korea Electric Power Corp., beat out proposals from a French team and one led by the US and Japan. The Korean consortium includes Samsung, Hyundai, Doosan Heavy Industries, Japans Toshiba and Westinghouse, the UAEs official WAM news agency reported.

Read More