Recent stories from sustg

  • In Major Shift, Saudi Aramco Dabbles in Oil Trading
     

    Saudi Arabia has long been a dominant force in global oil markets, “but has never been an oil trader.” That changed on January 1st, 2012, when Saudi Aramco began operations at Aramco Trading, a wholly owned company subsidiary. The new Aramco Trading marks an expansion in Aramco’s downstream investment portfolio in the Kingdom and overseas, […]

     
  • Riyadh among lowest risk cities in Mideast
     

    Riyadh is among the lowest risk cities in the region, with a rating that puts it ahead of international business hubs such as Milan, Lisbon, Istanbul and Moscow, according to the findings from the 2012 People Risk Index, created by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon plc. The Aon Hewitt 2012 People […]

     
  • Jadwa Chartbook June 2012: Trade
     

    Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments recently released its June, 2012 Saudi ‘Chartbook’ which includes updates on the Saudi economy, trade, oil metrics as well as assessments of various sectors including banking. Below is a snapshot of Jadwa’s analysis of Saudi imports and exports and letters of credit. 

     
  • The Middle East fights the Flame, but virus spreads anyway
     

    Two years ago there was Stuxnet, a virus that targeted Iranian uranium-enrichment infrastructure. Now Flame, a mutating piece of malware, is continuing to spread, infecting more than 1,000 Windows-powered computers across the Middle East. It’s centered on Iran, but has also spread to Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and even Sudan. Flame is a huge virus — 20 megabytes […]

     
  • Wider world opened to Saudis studying abroad
     

    Wearing the black face-covering veil favoured by Saudi women, Maha Mazyad looked through leaflets for prospective jobs with some of the Islamic kingdom’s largest companies at a recent career fair in Riyadh. A few years ago she would have worried about the disapproving reaction of friends and parents to the notion of a young woman […]

     
  • Jadwa Chartbook June 2012: Banking
     

    Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments recently released its June, 2012 Saudi chartbook which includes updates on the Saudi economy, trade, oil metrics as well as assessments of various sectors including banking. Below is a snapshot of Jadwa’s banking sector analysis.

     
  • Saudi Construction Sector: A Sleeping Giant Awakes
     

    Deloitte’s recently released report, “GCC powers of construction 2012: Five lessons to learn” assesses the current prospects of Saudi Arabia’s construction sector.  Deloitte paints a very optimistic picture noting Saudi Arabia’s leading position in the GCC with regard to population and GDP.  It also highlights the ambitious spending plans established in the latest 5-year development plan announced in […]

     
  • Saudi, Kuwait, UAE lead Q1 GCC corporate earnings growth
     

    Earnings of Saudi Arabian companies totalled $6.7 billion, an increase of 15 per cent YoY and 28 per cent QoQ. SABIC, which reported $1.9 billion in Q1 profits, saw its bottom-line decline by five per cent YoY due to softening of global petrochemical prices when compared to Q1 2011. Saudi Banks continued its stable growth […]

     
  • Key to the kingdom
     

    2012 is likely to be the tipping point for the Gulf’s most ambitious real estate project. If the good results continue, and companies carry on signing up to take advantage of the transport infrastructure coming online in 2013, then KAEC looks set to snowball. But when will the city be fully completed? “Our target is […]

     
  • Oil Prices Fall Below Break-Even for Several Nations
     

    Citibank expects that Russia will have a very turbulent next five years, given their estimate that Brent crude prices will likely settle close to $85 over that time period. Oil producers are beginning to feel the future threat of peak demand for oil caused by multiple factors — including unconventional liquid fuels — breathing down […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia is betting big on Egypt

    Gulf countries — mainly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar — are most interested in building up stakes in Egypt’s state-owned assets. On the block are port terminals, historic hotel chains, and petrochemical companies. The Gulf has grown weary of handing cash to Egypt with little by way of financial payback: Saudi Arabia’s $5 billion deposit in Egypt’s central bank in 2022 may be the last of Riyadh’s handouts. Its Public Investment Fund demands market returns on its investments, particularly those outside the country.

  • Perspective: The Lebanon pager attacks are an escalation toward a war that few want

    Iran and Hezbollah definitely don’t want a major conflict. Hezbollah’s role is to deter an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. It’s pointless to squander Hezbollah’s potent arsenal on a place (Gaza) with no real significance to Iran, or an unreliable ally like Hamas, which broke with them over the Syrian war. Israelis commonly insist that war with Hezbollah is inevitable. But war is hardly inevitable when the other side doesn’t want one.

  • Second wave of exploding devices raises fears of wider Israel-Lebanon conflict

    Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly a year ago, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group's pagers the day before. Lebanon's health ministry said 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured on Wednesday in Beirut's suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, while the death toll from Tuesday's explosions rose to 12, including two children, with nearly 3,000 injured.

  • US says Iran emailed stolen Trump campaign material to Biden camp

    Iranian hackers sent emails containing stolen material from Republican former President Donald Trump's campaign to people involved in Democratic President Joe Biden's then re-election campaign, part of an alleged broader effort by Tehran to influence the U.S. election, U.S. agencies said on Wednesday. "Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations," the FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement.

  • Heinz goes brandless to celebrate Saudi National Day

    In place of the famous Heinz logo, the brand’s ketchup bottles will sport an empty green keystone for a limited time, offering space for shoppers to personalise their own messages of celebration. Additionally, consumers will be able to scan a QR code displayed on billboards across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to submit their National Day messages. These messages, along with the names of the participants, will be displayed on screens across the kingdom for an entire week following the launch, giving the people of Saudi a space to express their pride and love for their country.

  • Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in July hit almost one-year low

    Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in July fell to their lowest level in nearly a year, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday. The country's oil exports stood at 5.741 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, their lowest level since August 2023. Saudi Arabia is world's largest exporter of crude. OPEC+ oil producers earlier this month agreed to delay a planned production increase for October and November and said they could further pause or reverse the hikes if needed.

  • Saudi Arabia welcomes UNGA resolution to end Israel’s unlawful presence in Occupied Territories

    The Kingdom stressed the need to take practical and credible steps to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and international legitimacy resolutions in a way that ensures the Palestinian people’s inherent right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

  • Topgolf Callaway Brands Enters into Multiyear Strategic Agreement with Golf SaudiTopgolf Callaway Brands Enters into Multiyear Strategic Agreement with Golf Saudi

    As part of the agreement, Golf Saudi plans to build three Topgolf venues by 2028, to be owned and operated by Golf Saudi with the option to open another two venues in the future. In addition, Callaway Golf, Odyssey, TravisMathew and Ogio will become the official equipment and apparel brands for the Saudi Men's, Women's and Junior National golf teams as well as for Saudi Elite golf professionals and golf pros working at Golf Saudi facilities. Finally, Golf Saudi will be the exclusive distributor of Callaway Golf, Odyssey and Ogio products in Saudi Arabia.

  • Saudi Arabia launches Tamkeen Initiative to empower tech professionals in MSMEs

    The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has partnered with the National Technology Development Program (NTDP) to launch the Tamkeen Initiative, which aims to empower Saudi technical professionals in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

  • Middle East is the ‘closest to regional war since 1970s’, warns Saudi ambassador

    Prince Khalid bin Bandar al Saud told Sky News's The World with Yalda Hakim that the situation on the ground is only getting worse and it is time to put in "renewed efforts" to stop fighting in places like Gaza. His caution comes after Israel's defence minister announced a "new phase" of the war with troops moving up to the country's northern border, where it has exchanged cross-border fire with Hezbollah for months.