Thursday 26 January 2017

Iranian oil tankers return to European waters

Iranian oil tankers return to European waters:

"Supertankers from Iran’s state-owned oil fleet are sailing to Europe for the first time since sanctions were eased last year, as one of the world’s biggest crude shippers moves to step up deliveries.

The National Iranian Tanker Company currently has two giant vessels called ‘Snow’ and ‘Huge’ steaming towards the storage and trading port of Rotterdam after loading at Kharg Island earlier this month.

While European refiners have been taking small cargoes of Iranian crude since the loosening of sanctions linked to the nuclear deal with Tehran last year, these are the first vessels operated by the NITC rather than independent shippers. Each of the very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are capable of carrying more than 2m barrels of oil."



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BlackRock and Vanguard crush smaller ETF rivals

BlackRock and Vanguard crush smaller ETF rivals:

"Champagne corks should be popping in celebration across the exchange traded fund industry after a third successive year of record-breaking growth. But many ETF providers will have left their fizz on ice after again struggling to mount any meaningful challenge against BlackRock and Vanguard, the two largest fund houses globally, which have enormous passive investment businesses. Both asset managers registered record ETF inflows in 2016, tightening their grip on the market. Together the fund giants now control 55 per cent of the global ETF market between them — up from 52 per cent at the end of 2012."



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Abu Dhabi Investment Council’s stake in ADCB rises after lender’s capital reduction | The National

Abu Dhabi Investment Council’s stake in ADCB rises after lender’s capital reduction | The National:

"Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank says its main shareholder, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (Adic), now owns 62.52 per cent of the lender after a capital reduction. Adic previously held a 59.08 per cent stake. The increase in Adic’s stake comes in the wake of a stock buyback programme that began in 2013 and concluded in January 2015."



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Qatar investment in Russia to bolster OPEC, non-OPEC ties: Barkindo | Reuters

Qatar investment in Russia to bolster OPEC, non-OPEC ties: Barkindo | Reuters:

"Qatar's investments in Russia will further strengthen ties between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member oil producers, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo told Reuters.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and global commodities trader Glencore have bought a 19.5 percent stake in Russia's Rosneft, the world's top listed oil company by output.

At a meeting with the heads of Glencore, Italian bank Intesa and the sovereign wealth fund QIA in the Kremlin on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Qatar would take part in hydrocarbon production in Russia."



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf mixed, Egypt surges on international bond issue success | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf mixed, Egypt surges on international bond issue success | Reuters:

"Gulf stock markets were mixed on Thursday, supported by strong global equities and oil prices, while Egypt surged on the back of the success of Cairo's international sovereign bond issue. The Saudi index edged up 0.1 percent though losing stocks outnumbered gainers by 99 to 52. Petrochemical blue chip Saudi Basic Industries added 1.0 percent, while telecommunications firm Zain Saudi rose 2.9 percent. Nama Chemicals jumped 9.6 percent on announcing the main elements of a recovery plan after accumulated losses exceeded 75 percent of its capital. The plan includes eventually increasing capital to finance production of specialty chemical products and boost capacity, and the sale of assets of an investment affiliate."



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The real story regarding 1MDB that has never been told | Malaysia Today

The real story regarding 1MDB that has never been told | Malaysia Today:

"This is part three in the series titled Clare Rewcastle Brown’s ‘heist of the century’. In this third and final part we will reveal how Husni and Muhyiddin knew back in 2013 that 1MDB was going to be sabotaged. However, instead of warning Najib about it, Muhyiddin approached Mahathir to discuss how they could help ensure that the sabotage is successful and use this to bring Najib down and at the same time walk away with a large sum of money. The Third Force For the past year or so, the name Aabar Investments PJS Limited has been making headlines the world over, a company registered in the BVI and the reason IPIC had a falling out with 1MDB. Currently, the two factions appear locked in dispute over the status of the company, which officials from IPIC insist isn’t one of theirs. The Malaysian Ministry of Finance (MoF) found this difficult to believe, considering that the BVI registered entity (Aabar-BVI) had officials from IPIC listed as stakeholders. That, and the fact that the MoF has in its possession agreements negotiated through Qubaisi in his capacity as the chair of an Abu Dhabi entity bearing a name similar to that of the BVI company. The MoF insists that Aabar-BVI is a subsidiary of IPIC. What the MoF did now know is someone from the ministry conspired to withhold information that had the potential of averting a dispute currently being arbitrated in a London court. And that person is none other than the former Second Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni bin Mohamad Hanadzlah."



PAST ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES

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Egypt Eyes Taking Bond Sales Eastward After $4 Billion Offer - Bloomberg

Egypt Eyes Taking Bond Sales Eastward After $4 Billion Offer - Bloomberg:

"Egypt may sell bonds in Japanese yen and Chinese yuan after the country raised $4 billion in its first foray into international capital markets since a currency devaluation in November. The sale of dollar-denominated bonds across three maturities on Tuesday was covered “multiple times,” and the country is now “studying carefully” future sales of notes in the Japanese and Chinese currencies, Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg TV in London. The transaction comes two months after Egypt dismantled a currency peg, triggering a 50 percent devaluation as part of a package of reforms aimed at luring back foreign investors. Money managers buying the new notes were offered a premium -- about 30 basis points on the yield for 10-year securities in the sale over similar maturity bonds issued in 2015."



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CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Australia's Ichthys LNG dealt blow as major contractor pulls plug | Reuters

CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Australia's Ichthys LNG dealt blow as major contractor pulls plug | Reuters:

"Australia's over $35 billion Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project has been dealt a blow as engineering firm CIMIC, involved in building the facility's power station, announced on Wednesday it was pulling the plug. "CIMIC Group advises that the ... consortium (building the power station) ... has terminated its contract with JKC Australia LNG Pty Ltd for the design, construction and commissioning of the Ichthys Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) project," CIMIC said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) on Wednesday. CIMIC spokeswoman Fiona Tyndall said "we are not going beyond what we have said in that ASX statement.""



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MSCI welcomes Saudi reforms, repeats it may launch EM inclusion review in June | Reuters

MSCI welcomes Saudi reforms, repeats it may launch EM inclusion review in June | Reuters:

"International equity index compiler MSCI said it welcomed reforms of the Saudi Arabian stock market and reiterated that it could launch in June a review of whether to include Saudi Arabia in its emerging market index. "MSCI specifically recognizes the extent and the pace of change undertaken by the Saudi Arabian authorities to open the local equity market to international institutional investors. MSCI will continue to monitor these positive developments," it said in a statement late on Wednesday. On the possibility of classifying Saudi Arabia as an emerging market, which would draw billions of dollars of international funds to the bourse, MSCI said:"



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Qatar sovereign wealth fund plans another $2bn Russian investment

Qatar sovereign wealth fund plans another $2bn Russian investment:

"Qatar’s sovereign welfare fund is planning to spend a further $2bn in Russia following a triumphant but controversial investment in state oil giant Rosneft. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, said on Wednesday that the Qatar Investment Authority would participate in new oil extraction projects in the country, without elaborating further. Abullah bin Mohammed Al Thani, the fund’s chief executive, said it would invest a further $2bn on top of $500m of existing investments in the country. Some of the investments would be made jointly with the $10bn sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund, its partner in a deal last summer for St. Petersburg’s airport, he added. Mr Putin hosted Mr Al-Thani in the Kremlin at an event to celebrate QIA and Glencore’s deal to buy a 19.5 per cent stake in Rosneft, which concluded early this month."



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi rises, most of Gulf moves little in early trade | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi rises, most of Gulf moves little in early trade | Reuters:

"Saudi Arabia's stock market continued its uptrend of the past few days in early trading on Thursday while other Gulf bourses moved little, with Kuwait's bull run stalling in heavy trade.

The Saudi index climbed 0.5 percent in the first hour as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries rose 0.8 percent.

Nama Chemicals jumped 9.6 percent after announcing the main elements of a recovery plan after accumulated losses exceeded 75 percent of its capital.

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