Sunday 8 August 2010

Crescent Petroleum Says Iran Natural Gas Contract Has Not Been Cancelled - Bloomberg

Crescent Petroleum Co., which is the biggest shareholder in Dana Gas PJSC, said a contract with Iran to supply natural-gas to the United Arab Emirates has not been cancelled.

“The 25-year contract between National Iranian Oil Co. and Crescent is valid, internationally binding and currently in international arbitration, as is known, and neither side has cancelled it,” a Crescent spokesman said by e-mail to Bloomberg today.

IranOilGas.com reported that the contract has been cancelled.

Dubai Shares Fall to Two-Week Low on Growth Concerns; Israeli Bonds Climb - Bloomberg

Dubai’s benchmark stock index fell to a two-week low, leading a decline in Middle East markets, after weaker-than-forecast growth in U.S. company payrolls damped investor appetite for riskier assets and pushed oil lower.

Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ largest Islamic Bank, lost the most since June. RAK Properties PJSC slumped 4.9 percent in Abu Dhabi after second-quarter profit declined 27 percent. The DFM General Index slid 1.5 percent to 1,494.86, the lowest level since July 25, at 1:18 p.m. in Dubai. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Gulf stocks decreased 0.3 percent and Egypt’s benchmark index fell 0.2 percent. Israeli government bonds rose.

“The U.A.E. is weaker across the board due to absence of any positive drivers,” said Dubai-based Julian Bruce, director of equity sales at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE.

Agility says no longer facing U.S. indictment

Kuwait's logistics firm Agility on Sunday confirmed that U.S. prosecutors have moved to dismiss fraud indictments against its subsidiary, Agility Holdings.

Agility, formerly Public Warehousing Co, K.S.C. (PWC) was dropped from supplying food to the U.S. Army in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan after being accused of overcharging the military.

The company held contracts worth $8.5 billion spanning more than three years."

Brokerages may have to bolster reserves - The National Newspaper

The financial market regulator is looking at raising the minimum level of capital brokerages are required to hold, fearing their reserves are too low.

Such a move by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) would trigger further mergers and closures in the sector, which has suffered from weak volumes after the global financial crisis.

“Brokerages are aware of this as they [SCA officials] have been meeting with the heads of brokerages since the beginning of the year to discuss capital requirements among other regulations set to be put in place,” said Saad al Chalabi, an institutional trader at AlRamz Securities in Abu Dhabi."

Iran cancels gas deal with UAE's Crescent, UAE

Iran has cancelled a gas contract with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum with which it has had a long-standing dispute over the supply of Iranian gas, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said on Saturday.

NIOC and Sharjah-headquartered Crescent signed a 25-year gas contract in 2001, with a price linked to oil. But as oil rallied some Iranian officials called for a revision to the price formula and blamed the price dispute for delivery delays.

Javad Oji, head of NIOC and Iran's deputy oil minister said the contract had been nullified and that from now on: 'The oil ministry's policy is the direct sale of gas to the UAE government', the semi-official Mehr news agency reported."

Saudi Shares Rise After Oil Stays Above $80; Mobily, Al Rajhi, Sabic Gain - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabian shares rose to a six- week high, led by mobile-phone and petrochemicals companies, after U.S. and European markets rallied in the week and oil prices surpassed $80.

Etihad Etisalat Co., the mobile-phone company known as Mobily, and Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s largest petrochemicals maker, paced the advance. The 143-company Tadawul All Share Index gained 0.6 percent to 6335.57, the highest since June 26, at the 3:30 p.m. close in Riyadh.

“The rise is related to petrochemical valuations looking good, as well as some positive news now given that oil prices are above $80 and a bit in the telecom sector,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Banque Saudi Fransi in Riyadh. “But the uptick is not significant given that the news from the U.S. is not that auspicious.”