Exclusive: #Saudi's Manara in advanced talks to buy stake in First Quantum's Zambian mines | Reuters

Exclusive: Saudi's Manara in advanced talks to buy stake in First Quantum's Zambian mines | Reuters

Saudi Arabia's Manara Minerals is closing in on a deal to buy a minority stake in Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals' (FM.TO), opens new tab Zambian copper and nickel assets, three people familiar with the details told Reuters.

Manara, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian mining company Ma'aden (1211.SE), opens new tab and its $925 billion Public Investment Fund, is in advanced talks to acquire between 15% and 20% equity in the Zambian assets, the sources said.

The stake could be worth between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, one of the sources added.

First Quantum's sale of a stake in the Zambian assets could be concluded by year-end, the sources said. There is no certainty that a deal will be signed as the negotiations are ongoing, they added.

Both First Quantum and Manara Minerals declined to comment on the sale.

Most Gulf markets in black ahead of earnings; oil geopolitics cap gains | Reuters

Most Gulf markets in black ahead of earnings; oil geopolitics cap gains | Reuters

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Wednesday as investors prepare for the third-quarter earnings season to accelerate, although regional conflict and softening oil prices limited gains.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab gained 0.3%, with aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group (4143.SE), opens new tab rising 0.4% and ACWA Power Company (2082.SE), opens new tab closing 1.6% higher.

Among other gainers, Arabian Internet and Communications Services (7202.SE), opens new tab advanced 1.2% after the firm signed a 309.7 million riyals ($82.50 million) contract with Saudi Telecom Company (STC) (7010.SE), opens new tab. STC shares finished flat.

On the other hand, oil behemoth Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab eased 0.2%.

Oil - a catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - steadied supported by OPEC+ cuts and uncertainty over what may happen next in the Middle East conflict, although an outlook for ample supply next year added downward pressure.

Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), opens new tab gained 0.4%, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU), opens new tab climbing 1.5%.

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on U.S. military aid, U.S. officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab inched 0.2% higher, supported by a 3.7% rise in Fertiglobe (FERTIGLB.AD), opens new tab.

Fertiglobe - the largest producer of nitrogen fertilisers in the Middle East and North Africa - expects to more than double its net ammonia production capacity as it integrates ADNOC's portfolio of low carbon ammonia projects following the energy giant's purchase of a majority stake in the fertiliser maker on Tuesday.

The Qatari index (.QSI), opens new tab advanced 0.9%, with Qatar Islamic Bank (QISB.QA), opens new tab rising 2.1%.

Post trading hours, the sharia-compliant lender reported a nine-month net profit of 3.27 billion riyals ($897.12 million), up from 3.06 billion riyals a year earlier.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab eased 0.1%, hit by a 2.4% fall in Talaat Mostafa Holding (TMGH.CA), opens new tab.

#SaudiArabia tightens its belt

Saudi Arabia tightens its belt

In a bid to explain the scale of the massive project he is overseeing in Riyadh, Jerry Inzerillo points through his office window at the forest of cranes towering over a construction site. 

Around 80 are there now, but “we’ll have 275 cranes by 2027,” says Inzerillo. “Last year, we poured 500,000 cubic metres of concrete.” 

The New Yorker, a veteran of the hospitality industry, is now chief executive of the $65bn Diriyah Gate project, a high-end, retail, residential and cultural development beginning to take shape on the outskirts of the kingdom’s capital. 

Eventually, opulent villas and Michelin-starred restaurants will butt up against the remnants of a centuries-old village of mud houses that was the ancestral home of the ruling al-Saud family. 

Diriyah is one of five so-called “giga-projects”, being developed by the Public Investment Fund that are deemed vital to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030” drive to modernise the kingdom, reduce its addiction to oil revenues and project it on the global stage. 

They have been at the core of a frenzy of activity led by the PIF that has transformed the once conservative kingdom into one of the world’s largest construction sites and a magnet for international consultants and contractors. In tandem, the PIF has been on a global spending spree as it has metamorphosed from a near-dormant state holding company into the oil-rich Gulf’s highest profile and one of its largest sovereign wealth funds, with $925bn of assets under management. 

But after almost a decade of the frenetic pace, Saudi Arabia is entering a new phase — one that interviewees describe variously as a “recalibration” or “reprioritisation,” as a sense of realism and pragmatism takes hold. Government departments are being instructed to slash spending on consultants, while state-related entities are being forced to tighten their belts; some projects are being scaled back, or phased over a longer time period.

How #AbuDhabi’s national oil company is planning for the energy transition #UAE

How Abu Dhabi’s national oil company is planning for the energy transition

A full-size replica of an oil rig stands outside the headquarters of Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company (Adnoc), a reminder of what the city’s wealth is built on. 

But inside the 340m-tall skyscraper, Adnoc’s leaders are working out how to “future proof” the state oil company over the next 25 years as the world tries to wean itself off fossil fuels and hit climate targets. 

Like Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, Adnoc is investing as much as $5bn a year in low-carbon energy, according to the consultancy Wood Mackenzie, far more than the US majors. 

It has also set a target to hit net zero emissions by 2045, five years ahead of its peers, and is diversifying into products derived from hydrocarbons, such as plastics, which will sustain oil demand after the use of gasoline and diesel starts to drop. 

At the start of this month, the company announced a $16bn deal for Covestro, a German specialist in polyurethane and polycarbonate. 

But unlike the European majors, who are preparing for peak oil sometime in the next decade or so, Adnoc wants to be one of the last oil companies pumping. 

It is therefore also investing heavily in raising its crude oil capacity and betting on demand for gas.