Friday 2 September 2011

Russia: world’s biggest oil producer, but for how much longer? | beyondbrics – FT.com

Soaring energy prices are driving Russia’s oil output to record highs. But how long can the world’s biggest oil producer keep it up?

Not very long, according to industry analysts, unless the government reforms the tax system to encourage investment at oilfields.

Russia produced 10.27m barrels a day of oil in August hitting a new post Soviet high. Output for the full year is now expected to edge close to 10.3m barrels a day – up from 10.1m b/d in 2010.

Saad Group Investment Unit Sues Founder Al-Sanea in London Court - Bloomberg

The investment unit of Saad Group, a Saudi company whose businesses range from construction to health care, sued its billionaire founder Maan al-Sanea, one of Saudi Arabia’s richest men, in a U.K. court.

Saad Investments Company Ltd. filed the complaint yesterday in the High Court in London and details of the allegations in the suit weren’t immediately available. Tim Robertson of Cardew Group, Saad’s external U.K. spokesman, declined to immediately comment when reached today by phone.

Al-Sanea also faces global litigation with Saudi Arabia’s Algosaibi family and their Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co., another group of companies spanning multiple industries. Algosaibi has sued al-Sanea, who had married into the family, in the Cayman Islands, Saudi Arabia and New York, accusing him of heaping debt on the company by taking out fraudulent loans. Both groups defaulted in 2009 after borrowing about $15.7 billion from more than 80 banks.

Middle East Crude-Oman at 3-mth high on Europe pull | Reuters

Middle East crude rose on Friday sending Oman's premium to a three-month high as European buyers drained supplies, boosting arbitrage flows opened by a strong Urals market.

Three to four Oman cargoes for loading in September and
October were expected to head to the Mediterranean as refiners there stock up on crude supplies in the run-up to the heating season.

Spot Oman cargoes for loading in November were notionally
valued at a premium of $1 to Dubai quotes, the highest since
early June, up from 90 cents on Thursday and discounts as deep as 30 cents last month.

Holy land status leads to $68m Dubai dispute involving Nakheel - The National

Land designated for a mosque is at the centre of a US$68 million (Dh249.7m) dispute between a hotel developer and Nakheel, the Dubai property giant.

Greenfield Trading paid Dh200m in June 2008 for a plot in Dubai Waterfront, the Nakheel development that would create a new business and resort district.

Greenfield planned to build a mixed use hotel and resort on the site.

But two months after Greenfield bought the property, Nakheel disclosed that part of the parcel was classified as holy land and had served as a site for a mosque for 30 years, Greenfield alleges in a claim filed with the Dubai World Tribunal.