Saturday 11 January 2020

#Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures Readies New Fund, Beijing Office - Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures Readies New Fund, Beijing Office - Bloomberg:

Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, a unit of the kingdom’s energy company, is preparing to start a new fund this year after completing $500 million in investments. 

The new fund will also be roughly $500 million in size, Majid Mufti, the company’s chief executive officer, said in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. It will be financed primarily by returns on the previous investment, which has backed 45 technology companies, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, since 2012.

The venture capital firm opened an office in Beijing in December, Mufti said.

Carson Block: meet the man who took down #UAE's NMC Health - Arabianbusiness ht @Carson_C_Block @muddywatersre

Carson Block: meet the man who took down UAE's NMC Health - Arabianbusiness:

All it takes for Donald Trump to declare war on Iran is a single tweet to his 70 million Twitter followers.

While Carson Block may only have about 0.1 percent of the number of followers of the US President, one of his recent controversial posts proved to be just as powerful and set in motion a series of events that wiped nearly $2 billion off the value of the UAE’s largest private healthcare provider.

On December 19, shares of NMC Health fell the most on record after the London-listed hospital operator was targeted by Block, the founder of San Francisco-based Muddy Waters Capital and arguably the world’s most feared short seller.

In a 34-page report, Block said he had “serious doubts” about NMC Health’s financial statements and concerns over possible “fraudulent asset values and theft of company assets,” and disclosed a short position in the company.

#UAE energy minister says all OPEC+ members committed to stable oil market - Reuters

UAE energy minister says all OPEC+ members committed to stable oil market - Reuters:

The United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Saturday all members of OPEC+ were committed to a stable oil market.

“All countries in OPEC+ ... are committed, not to raise prices...but to deliver balance and ensure the world is well-supplied,” Suhail al-Mazrouei said at an energy event in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

#UAE investing to ensure energy resources well secured - Reuters

UAE investing to ensure energy resources well secured - Reuters:

The United Arab Emirates energy said on Saturday it was investing heavily to secure its energy resources.

“We are in a very good position to secure ourselves and keep securing our customers (needs),” Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told an energy conference in the capital Abu Dhabi.

“We are committed that (our partners) have ample supply of hydrocarbons and we are investing heavily to ensure that energy security for... our partners are well secured,” he added.

He said investments by foreign companies in the UAE energy sector reflected their confidence in the country’s security.

RPT-NEWSMAKER- #Oman's new ruler chosen to provide continuity - Reuters

RPT-NEWSMAKER-Oman's new ruler chosen to provide continuity - Reuters:

When Oman’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said named his preferred successor in a sealed envelope, he prioritised continuity by choosing a cousin with extensive foreign policy experience.

Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, confirmed as sultan by the ruling family on Saturday based on the letter opened after Qaboos’ death on Friday aged 79, has been central in charting the Gulf state’s development plan. He enjoys good relations with Arab and Western leaders and has worked in business, according to Oman observers.

He will need mastery of diplomacy and economics to maintain Oman’s independent foreign policy that has balanced ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran, who are vying for regional influence, and to create growth and refill state coffers depleted by lower oil prices.

“I believe the choice will provide continuity to Qaboos’ policies”, one diplomat told Reuters.

#SaudiArabia's ACWA Power plans $10 billion of investments in 2020: CEO - Reuters

Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power plans $10 billion of investments in 2020: CEO - Reuters:

Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power is planning to invest about $10 billion in 2020 as it eyes new projects in some 10 countries, the company’s chief executive said on Saturday.

The company, which builds power and desalinated water plants and has 50% of its portfolio in Saudi Arabia, plans to expand into new markets, Paddy Padmanthan told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy event in Abu Dhabi.

ACWA Power has assets in 12 countries and has bid for renewable energy projects in five new countries – Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. 


“We have won two renewable energy projects (in Ethiopia) this year which together will produce 300 mega watts, they will run in parallel and be worth about $500 million of investments,” he said.

Sultan Qaboos, Quiet Peacemaker Who Built #Oman, Dies at 79 - The New York Times

Sultan Qaboos, Quiet Peacemaker Who Built Oman, Dies at 79 - The New York Times:

Credit...Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo, via Associated Press

Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, who over nearly five decades in power transformed his Persian Gulf kingdom from an isolated enclave into a developed nation known for brokering quiet talks between global foes, has died, the Omani government announced on Saturday. He was 79.

His death was announced by the official Oman News Agency. The announcement did not mention the cause, but Qaboos had been receiving treatment in Europe for cancer since at least 2014.

Qaboos’s decades as an absolute monarch who used oil wealth to pull his country from poverty made him a towering figure at home, with roads, a port, a university, a sports stadium and other facilities bearing his name. Internationally, as the longest-serving leader in the Arab world, he used Oman’s place in a turbulent region, next to one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, to become a discreet but essential diplomatic player.