Saudi Arabia

Top U.S. officials have for now put aside a proposal for an alliance with Saudi Arabia to manage the global oil market, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter, an idea one of them said came from White House national security advisers. That the concept was even considered …

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a phone call on Monday to have their top energy officials meet to discuss slumping global oil markets, the Kremlin said, as Trump called Russia’s price war with Saudi Arabia “crazy.” The agreement marks a new twist in global …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several air strikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa, witnesses said. A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, a military school and an air base close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard …

Ballistic missiles were intercepted on Saturday in the sky above Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and the southern city of Jazan, state media reported, citing its own sources and the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts around 2320 (2020 GMT), followed by emergency vehicle sirens in …

A Saudi Arabian energy ministry official said on Friday there had been no contact between the Saudi and Russian energy ministers over any increase in the number of OPEC+ countries, nor any discussion of a joint agreement to balance oil markets. The comments come after a senior Russian official said …

The Group of 20 major economies will do “whatever it takes” to overcome the coronavirus crisis and said on Thursday they are injecting $5 trillion into the global economy though national measures as part of their efforts to lessen its impact. After an extraordinary summit by video-link, the G20 leaders …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed in a phone call the need to maintain stability in global energy markets as the world responds to the deadly coronavirus pandemic, with Pompeo saying Saudi Arabia can reassure markets, the State Department said on Wednesday. …

Istanbul prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday it had prepared an indictment against 20 suspects over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including the former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s general intelligence and a former royal adviser. Khashoggi’s killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 caused a …

In Russia’s battle for oil market share with Saudi Arabia, a sharp fall in the rouble has handed the Russians one advantage – they can now produce cheaper than the Saudis, according to Reuters calculations. The Russian currency has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the U.S. dollar …

Russia never sought a sharp oil price fall or an end to cooperation with Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the Gulf nations are to blame for the crisis on the global oil markets, a senior Russian official said. In early March, Russia and OPEC failed to agree how …

Russia and Saudi Arabia need to maintain contact, Igor Sechin, chief executive with Russia’s top oil producer Rosneft, was quoted as saying by RIA news agency on Friday. “I have no doubts that contact should continue. These two (Russia and Saudi Arabia) are the largest oil producers, and of course, …

The United States believes Saudi Arabia’s flooding of global oil markets compounds the global economic crash at a time of a crisis caused by coronavirus and intends to send a senior official to Riyadh to boost efforts to stabilize energy markets, senior U.S. officials said on Friday. The Energy Department …

Russia and Saudi Arabia have good relations when it comes to oil markets and Moscow does not need anyone else to intervene, the Kremlin said on Friday, when asked to comment on a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump saying he planned to get involved. Trump said on Thursday he …

U.S. senators on Wednesday raised pressure on Saudi Arabia and Russia to stop the price war that is sinking global oil prices as they held talks with the kingdom’s U.S. envoy and separately urged President Donald Trump to impose an embargo on oil from the two countries. Oil prices plummeted …

India plans to take advantage of low prices for oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to top up its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR), two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Global oil prices have fallen around 40% in March as the impact of the coronavirus …

A fire killed five at the refinery and petrochemicals complex in southern Malaysia that is owned by Petronas and Saudi Aramco, officials said on Monday. The cause of the fire, which occurred at the diesel hydro treater unit, is under investigation, the fire and rescue department of the Johor state, …

The United Arab Emirates joined Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in promising to raise oil output to a record high in April, as the two Gulf Arab oil producers in OPEC took a united stand in a standoff with Russia that has hammered global crude prices. The extra oil the two …

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it would increase its crude oil supply to a record high, raising the stakes in its price war with Russia and effectively rejecting Moscow’s overtures for new talks. The clash of the two oil titans sparked a 25% slump in oil prices on Monday, triggering …

The Trump administration on Monday accused “state actors” of touching off an historic slump in global oil prices, and urged Russia’s ambassador to the United States to consider the importance of calming the markets. Oil prices suffered their biggest daily rout since the 1991 Gulf War on Monday as top …

Saudi Arabia will impose a fine of up to 500,000 riyals ($133,000) on people who do not disclose health information and travel details at entry points, it said on Monday, as the Gulf state works to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The kingdom on Sunday imposed a temporary lockdown on …

The collapse in oil prices will put pressure on government finances in the Gulf, credit rating agency Fitch said on Monday. Fitch’s top Middle East and Africa sovereign analyst Jan Friedrich said a $10 drop in crude prices lowered fiscal revenues in the Gulf by 2-4% of GDP, depending on …

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, plans to raise its crude oil production significantly above 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, after the collapse of the OPEC supply cut agreement with Russia, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. State oil giant Aramco will boost its crude output …

The Saudi-Led coalition fighting in Yemen carried out an operation against Iran-aligned Houthi targets in Yemen’s port district, Salif, Saudi state TV reported late on Saturday, citing the coalition. The coalition said it destroyed sites used to assemble and launch explosives-laden boats and drones that pose a threat to maritime …

Three senior members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, including the king’s brother, have been arrested for unexplained reasons. Two of the men were among the kingdom’s most influential figures. The detentions are seen as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tightening his grip on power. In 2017 dozens of Saudi royal figures, …

Saudi Arabia has detained two senior members of the Saudi royal family – Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the younger brother of King Salman, and Mohammed bin Nayef, the king’s nephew, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, King Salman’s son and the de facto …

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it had foiled an attack on an oil tanker off Yemen’s coast on the Arabian Sea, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday. The tanker was sailing 90 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Nishtun port toward the Gulf of Aden when …

British foreign minister Dominic Raab will on Monday begin his first official visit to the Gulf for talks with leaders in Saudi Arabia and Oman, expected to cover trade, human rights issues and climate change. Raab, appointed foreign minister in July last year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will also …

Shares of Saudi Aramco 2222.SE hit 32.50 riyals ($8.66) in intraday trade on Sunday, the lowest since it began trading in December following a record initial public offering, as oil prices plunged amid worries about the global spread of the coronavirus. Aramco shares broke past their previous low of 32.60 …

Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, who was removed last year, was tapped to head the kingdom’s newly-created investment ministry in a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday that also created new ministries for tourism and sports. According to royal orders published by state news agency SPA, the ministers of media …

Saudi Aramco is launching the biggest shale gas development outside of the United States to boost domestic gas supply and end the burning of oil at its power generation plants, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on Monday. The world’s top crude oil exporter has for years battled for …

Saudi Aramco plans to invest $110 billion to develop unconventional gas reserves in Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah field, the state news agency SPA said on Friday. It said the development plans were reviewed by the Saudi High Commission for Hydrocarbons in a meeting chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The …

Naval forces from the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen on Sunday foiled an “imminent terrorist” attack by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the southern Red Sea, a major commercial shipping channel, the Saudi-led coalition said. The forces destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives that was launched from Hodeidah province …

By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem   Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary project NEOM is set to become the first completely digitalized city in the world. “We are going to be the first place in the world that is fully digitized. We are going to be the first region in the world where we …

Qatar has accused Saudi Arabia of allowing a protracted dispute to hinder Gulf Arab coordination over the coronavirus outbreak by denying the Qatari health minister timely access to a meeting of regional health ministers in Riyadh. Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a post on its official Twitter account that Saudi …

By Ibrahim Ogaily special to the Levant News Riyadh – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched this week the first Saudi Health Economics and Policy Experts Dialogue. The two-day dialogue falls under the umbrella of the Saudi Scientific Diabetes Society. This initiative is the first of its kind in the field …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan during a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said. Source: Reuters

Yemen’s Houthis military spokesperson, Yahya Saria, said that Houthis downed a tornado warplane belonging to “enemy forces” in Al-Jawf, the group’s Al-Masirah TV cited him as saying on Friday. The spokesman said the warplane was downed with an advanced air-to-ground missile. There was no immediate information if any crew were …

The ‘Breathe’ event in Riyadh last week has attracted my attention. This event sought to break the barrier of fear, raise the quality of behaviour, and discover the various capabilities of knowledge and innovation. It also sought to raise the quality of life through exercise, meditation and breathing. By Lina …

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Thursday denied media reports of a possible meeting between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid speculation about normalizing ties between Gulf Arab states and Israel. “There is no meeting planned between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan …

The coronavirus crisis, which has already battered oil prices, threatens to further undercut Gulf economies battling a downturn and struggling to wean themselves from a decades-old energy addiction. The six Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates — count China as their main trading …

Riyadh – The initiative launched in 2017 by the Environmental Green Horizons Society to transform one mosque in Riyadh into a sustainable building surrounded by greenery has become a success story. In a relatively short period five mosques were transformed, a new public park was established outside the city and …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday Gulf Arab states — some of the world’s richest countries — could see their financial wealth depleted in the next 15 years amid lower hydrocarbon revenues if they don’t step up fiscal reforms. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – whose net …

Saudi Aramco has seen an increase in attempted cyber attacks since the final quarter of 2019, which the company has so far successfully countered, the state oil giant’s chief information security officer told Reuters on Thursday. “Overall there is definitely an increase in the attempts of (cyber) attacks, and we …

China has achieved “positive” results in its prevention and control efforts in fighting the new coronavirus, President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia’s King Salman by telephone, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. The two discussed “efforts to combat and control the novel coronavirus epidemic”, the report said. China has declared …