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Oil gains on Saudi supply disruption, Mideast tensions

Agencies
September 23, 2019

Singapore, Sept 23: Oil prices rose to their highest in two sessions on Monday amid concerns about oil supply disruptions from Saudi Arabia and elevated tensions in the Middle East.

Brent crude futures increased to as much as $65.50 a barrel. The front-month contract was at $64.84, up 57 cents, or 0.9% at 0224 GMT.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.61 a barrel, up 52 cents, or 0.9%, after earlier hitting a high of $59.39.

Despite efforts by the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia to reassure global markets that it can resume full production by the end of this month after an attack on its largest oil processing facility in mid-September, buyers and traders remained sceptical.

State oil company Saudi Aramco has switched crude grades and pushed back crude and oil products deliveries to customers by days following the attack.

"The fund community faded the attack last week on the assumption that supply would return very quickly, but the reality is likely to be different," said Energy Aspects analyst Virendra Chauhan in Singapore.

Tensions in the Middle East have escalated after the attack. The Pentagon has ordered additional troops to be deployed in the Gulf region to strengthen Saudi Arabia's air and missile defences following an attack on Saudi oil facilities.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that the troops are for "deterrence and defence" and Washington aimed to avoid war with Iran.

In the United States, the impact of Tropical Storm Imelda on refineries in Texas has eased as Exxon Mobil Corp and Valero Corp restarted their crude processing units over the weekend.

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Agencies
July 5,2020

Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker Hassan Karim al-Kaabi on Saturday described the move as provocative and in violation of international law.

Kaabi also called on the Iraqi government to take swift measures to halt such actions.

The Embassy’s move to fire in a residential area in the heart of Baghdad is an unacceptable act and another challenge for the Arab country, adding to the mass of its provocations and illegal actions in Iraq, he noted.

According to Iraqi media, the US tested a patriot missile system inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.

Anti-US sentiments have been running high in Iraq since Washington assassinated top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the Iraqi popular mobilization units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in January.

Following the attack, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill on January 5, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Baghdad and Washington are currently in talks over the withdrawal of American troops. Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to comply with the parliamentary order.

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News Network
April 25,2020

Riyadh, Apr 25: Saudi Arabia announced nine deaths and 1,197 new cases of the COVID-19 virus on Saturday.

Of these cases, 120 were recorded in Madinah, 364 in Makkah, 271 in Jeddah, 170 in Riyadh and 43 in Dammam.

The number of people who had recovered from the coronavirus in the Kingdom increased to 2,214 after 165 patients were reported to have recovered.

A total of 136 people have died of the disease in the Kingdom so far.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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