Saudi cement market remains subdued; long-term outlook positive
August 23, 2017

Oil remained elevated as geopolitical risks supported prices earlier this decade, the National Commercial Bank said in its Saudi Economic Review in August 2017. Saudi benefitted from substantial oil revenues which facilitated record fiscal expansionary policies, it added. Accordingly, mega projects nourished as the government pursued long-term sustainable development, and as cement plays a pivotal role in the construction, maintenance, repair, and renovation of building"...

Tight spending,higher oil revenue drive Saudi fiscal improvement in H1
August 23, 2017

Tight spending and higher oil revenues drive Saudi fiscal improvement in 1H17, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s report Emerging Insight: Saudi Arabia revealed.

The 2Q17 fiscal deficit stood at SR46.5bn (“$12.5bn), with 1H17 deficit standing at SR73bn annualizing SR145bn ($39bn). The financing for the budget deficit was taken from the government's reserves account at SAMA (SR15bn) as well as external borrowing (international sukuk of SR33.7bn;"...

WAKGROUP Signs Historic Deal With China’s GEDI & CEEC to Establish State-of-the-Art Oil Refinery in KP Pakistan
August 22, 2017

WAK Group, a Pakistani Conglomerate with varied interests especially in the Oil and Gas Sector, and Guangdong Electrical Design Institute ('GEDI'), an energy industry leader in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions singed a historic EPC agreement to engineer, design and construct a state-of-the-art Falcon Oil refinery at KP Pakistan.

The futuristic oil refinery"...

Saudi Arabia approves net metering framework for systems up to 2MW
August 21, 2017

Saudi Arabia’s Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) has approved a net metering scheme that will allow self-consumption and export to the grid.

Eligible PV systems up to 2MW in size will have exported power offset against consumption with a cash pay off for any differential. The rules will come into force from July 2018.

An"...

Saudi Arabia issues rules for small-scale solar energy generation
August 21, 2017

Saudi Arabia has issued a regulatory framework for electricity consumers to operate their own, small-scale solar power generating systems and export unused power to the national grid, the government said on Monday.

The rules will come into force next July 1 and cover small photovoltaic facilities with generating capacity of no more than 2 megawatts, the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory"...

Fresh blow to Saudi Arabia: US oil output hits two-year high
August 18, 2017

US crude production of the so-called black gold has jumped around 13 per cent over the past year alone, figures this week revealed.

The news put pressure on prices, despite the revelation that stockpiles have also declined.

Saudi Arabia is desperately trying to slash the world's supply of oil so that demand will raise prices, helping to increase its income.

The kingdom's economy has taken a hit since oil prices tumbled"...

Oil Patch Bits: Fluor’s phosphate megaproject begins production
August 18, 2017

Fluor Corp. announced August 10, that the Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Co.’s Umm Wu’al phosphate project in Saudi Arabia has started production of ammonia, merchant-grade acid and fertilizer. Fluor is providing overall program management services for this $8 billion megaproject, in addition to engineering, procurement and operations and readiness services for various scopes.

“As"...

Shell wraps up SADAF chemicals sale in Saudi Arabia
August 17, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell said on August 16 that the Anglo-Dutch energy giant has completed the sale of its 50% share in SADAF, the petrochemicals joint venture, located in Al Jubail, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to SABIC for $820 million.

According to Shell, this sale was announced on January 22, 2017. Completion follows anti-trust filings in the relevant countries and regulatory approval from"...

Schlumberger Announces Third-Quarter 2017 Results Conference Call
August 17, 2017

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) will hold a conference call on October 20, 2017 to discuss the results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2017.

The conference call is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am US Eastern time and a press release regarding the results will be issued at 7:00 am US Eastern time.

To access"...

Higher crude oil prices slash Saudi Arabia deficit
August 16, 2017

The Saudi Finance Minister has announced an annual decline in the budget deficit for the first half of the year thanks to higher oil prices in the period. At $19.39 billion (72.728 billion riyals), the first-half deficit was 51 percent lower than what the government had projected, the ministry also said. Total budget revenues in the period rose by 29 percent on an annual basis while expenditures fell by 2 percent.

Over"...