Permian Oil Drillers Bounce Back with Biggest Rig Hike This Year - Bloomberg

Permian Oil Drillers Bounce Back with Biggest Rig Hike This Year - Bloomberg:

Explorers in the world’s biggest shale patch are roaring back, putting an additional 10 rigs to work this week for the biggest jump in activity since a price crash triggered an unprecedented collapse in drilling.

Drillers in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico led the rest of the nation in expanding the rig count. With crude stabilizing above $40 a barrel, the total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 11 to 183 this week, according to Baker Hughes Co. data released Friday.

The increase in the Permian was the biggest since December. But despite the jump, overall drilling is still mired at levels not seen since the early days of the shale boom more than a decade ago.

Damac to turn focus away from tall towers, says chairman Hussain Sajwani - Arabianbusiness

Damac to turn focus away from tall towers, says chairman Hussain Sajwani - Arabianbusiness:

Damac Properties chairman Hussain Sajwani has revealed the Dubai-based giant will be “avoiding” building tall towers in the future, with a concentration more on villas and developments up to a maximum of 15 stories.

Damac’s collection of high-rise properties includes the Paramount Tower Hotel and Residences Dubai; the 84-storey Damac Heights tower; three residential towers at Bellavista at Damac Hills; and Zada Residence in Dubai’s Business Bay, among many more.

However, in an interview with CNN’s Zain Asher, Sajwani said going forward the company is “avoiding now any tall towers”.

“I think towers of 60, 80 stories, a dozen elevators, you have to wait so long for elevators, people are not comfortable. Our focus is going to be more on villas, six stories, 12 stories, up to 15 stories,” he said.

The strong, silent type - The United Arab Emirates has become a force in the Middle East | Middle East & Africa | The Economist

The strong, silent type - The United Arab Emirates has become a force in the Middle East | Middle East & Africa | The Economist:

It was not quite Anwar Sadat speaking before the Knesset, or King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin clutching hands in the Rose Garden. That would not have been Muhammad bin Zayed’s style. The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced on August 13th, was hashed out quietly by spies and sheikhs and unveiled largely on Twitter. It made the UAE the first Gulf country and only the third Arab state to open formal relations with Israel. Yet it had all the pomp and circumstance of a tariff agreement.

Though long overshadowed by Saudi Arabia, Prince Muhammad, the UAE's de facto ruler (pictured in illustration), has turned his small country of 10m people into arguably the most influential Arab state. It wields soft power through Dubai, the region’s business hub, and firms like DP World, a shipping giant. A compact but capable army provides a sharper edge. Emirati money and media have backed coups and intrigue across the Middle East.

Much of this is done quietly, allowing the UAE to evade the scrutiny applied to bigger powers. Savvy at playing politics in Washington, Paris and other capitals, it positions itself as a reliable partner. “We realise our size,” says one Emirati official. “We need to be part of collective policies.” Westerners who advise the government in Abu Dhabi, often ex-diplomats or retired soldiers, slip into the first-person plural, as if there is no daylight between their employer and their native countries.