Tuesday 11 May 2021

Oil prices rise on nagging fears of fuel shortages | Reuters

Oil prices rise on nagging fears of fuel shortages | Reuters

Oil prices settled higher on Tuesday, as lingering fears of gasoline shortages due to an outage at the largest U.S. fuel pipeline system after a cyber attack brought futures back from an early drop of more than 1%.

Brent crude futures rose 23 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $68.55 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 36 cents, or 0.6%, to end the session at $65.28.

Benchmark gasoline futures prices ended the session 0.3% higher at $2.1399 a gallon.

On Monday, Colonial Pipeline, which transports more than 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, said it was working to restore much of its operations by the end of the week.

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #Qatar close

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #Qatar close





Helios to Use $575 Million #Oman Deal as Base for Regional Growth - Bloomberg

Helios to Use $575 Million Oman Deal as Base for Regional Growth - Bloomberg

Helios Towers Plc plans to use an expansion into Oman to further its presence in the Middle East and North Africa, part of an ambitious growth plan kicked off by an initial public offering in London in 2019.

The telecom-mast operator has extended its reach to 11 countries from five since its IPO, and on Tuesday announced a $575 million deal to buy almost 3,000 towers from Omantel. That followed an agreement with Airtel Africa Plc in March to acquire masts in Madagascar and Malawi.

The Oman deal “will ultimately lead us to opportunities in other countries in the Middle East as well as North Africa, which are fast-growing economies,” Helios Chief Executive Officer Kash Pandya said in an interview. “We expect more Middle Eastern operators will start releasing towers from their balance sheet.”

The latest acquisition took Helios a step closer to a target of having more than 12,000 towers in its portfolio, taking advantage of increasing demand from telecom operators to sell off masts to free up funding. While the company has about $1 billion for deals, it can raise more if other big opportunities arise, Chief Operating Officer Tom Greenwood in the same interview.

Helios shares fell 1.8% as of 9:56 a.m. in London on Tuesday, having gained about 45% since the listing.

#Saudi Crown Prince holds key talks with Qatari emir in Jeddah | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Saudi Crown Prince holds key talks with Qatari emir in Jeddah | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad at the Royal Court at Al-Salam Palace here early Tuesday.

At the outset of the official meeting, the Crown Prince welcomed the Qatari emir and his accompanying delegation in Saudi Arabia, conveying to him the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. In turn, Sheikh Tamim extended his greetings to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, expressing happiness to visit the Kingdom and meet with the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince and the Qatari emir exchanged greetings on the advent of blessed Eid Al-Fitr.

During the meeting, relations between the two countries, aspects of bilateral cooperation in various fields and ways to enhance and develop them were reviewed and regional and international developments, including the efforts exerted in this regard, were discussed.

The official talks meeting was attended by Minister of State and Cabinet's member Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Fahd; Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman; Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan; Minister of State, Cabinet's member and National Security Adviser Dr. Musaed Bin Mohammad Al-Aiban and Governor of Public Investments Fund Yasser Bin Othman Al-Rumayyan.

On the Qatari side, the meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani; Chairman of the Qatari Olympic Committee Sheikh Jowaan bin Hamad Al Thani among others.

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #Qatar mid-session #UAE #SaudiArabia closed #Eid

European, Middle Eastern & African Stocks - Bloomberg #Kuwait #Israel #Qatar mid-session #UAE #SaudiArabia closed #Eid







Oil falls on India COVID crisis, easing of pipeline outage fears | Reuters

Oil falls on India COVID crisis, easing of pipeline outage fears | Reuters

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on fading fears of a prolonged outage of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline system, while India's coronavirus crisis showed scant sign of easing, with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 45 cents, or 0.69%, to $64.47 a barrel at 0654 GMT, after gaining 2 cents on Monday.

Brent crude futures dropped 43 cents, or 0.63%, to $67.89 a barrel, after climbing 4 cents on Monday.

Oil was retreating amid weak sentiment as Asian stocks suffered a tech-led selloff and the market shrugged off concerns about a temporary shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, said DailyFX strategist Margaret Yang.