SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Recent stories from sustg

  • Hillary Clinton: Time running out for diplomacy with Iran
     

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear Saturday that time is running out for diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program and said talks aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would resume in mid-April. With speculation over a possible U.S. or Israel military attack adding urgency to the next round of discussions […]

     
  • Water Brings Green to Saudi Arabia
     

    Over the last two-and-a-half decades, a series of NASA’s Landsat satellites have captured these pictures of the growing agriculture industry in the northern reaches of the Syrian Desert in Saudi Arabia, not far from Jordan. Farmers use a technique called center-pivot irrigation to bring up water from below the desert floor to grow wheat and […]

     
  • U.S. Might Have More Oil Than Saudi Arabia, But…
     

    People are often confused about the overall extent of U.S. oil reserves. Some claim that the U.S. has hundreds of billions or even trillions of barrels of oil waiting to be produced if bureaucrats will simply stop blocking development. In fact, in a recent debate between Republican candidates contending for Gabrielle Giffords’ recently vacated House seat, one candidate […]

     
  • Five short stories from World Energy Outlook
     

    The IEA’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) is an annual tradition, the result of much work, data analysis and presentation. A formative volume is produced for all to read and digest, but few of us have the time to do so in the detail required.  As such we rely to some extent on IEA presentations and summary documents. […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia will act to lower soaring oil prices
     

    In an op-ed in the Financial Times, Ali Al Naimi writes, “High international oil prices are bad news. Bad for Europe, bad for the US, bad for emerging economies and bad for the world’s poorest nations. A period of prolonged high prices is bad for all oil producing nations, including Saudi Arabia, and they are […]

     
  • GE wins $200mn power plant conversion contract in Saudi Arabia
     

    GE said it has received a contract for nearly $200 million to supply steam turbine technology, power generation services and distributed control systems for the conversion of Saudi Electricity Co.’s (SEC) PP10 power plant from simple to combined-cycle operation. The project will add 1,300 MW to the plant’s capacity. “The conversion to combined-cycle operation is […]

     
  • Secretary of State Clinton to Visit Saudi on Friday and Saturday
     

    Clinton will be in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh Friday and Saturday. There, she’ll meet with Saudi King Abdullah and participate in an event dedicated to the “strategic cooperation” between the U.S. and Gulf Arab states. Washington and many of its allies say Syrian President Bashar Assad has lost all legitimacy in a year of […]

     
  • 10 Saudi women take fight against breast cancer to Mount Everest
     

    Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan and the Zahra Breast Cancer Association launched a campaign on Tuesday where 10 Saudi women will climb to the Mount Everest base camp in May. The 10 climbers include Jude Al-Aitani, Asma Al-Sharif, Mashael Alhegelan, Mona Shahab, Noura Bouzo, Raha Al-Moharrak, Lina Almaeena, Samaher Mously, Hatun Madani, Alya Al-Sa’ad, […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Jeddah Weddings
     

    I was approached, a couple of months ago by a media company, about the wedding video I made for my cousin’s wedding. The company makes documentaries and would like to make a documentary about modern day Saudi couples in Jeddah getting married. They were, in my opinion, too optimistic, but then again I am a […]

     
  • Saudi Market Opens Up, but Gradually
     

    Regulators of the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, the largest in the Arab world, are fine-tuning the draft of a law on Qualified Foreign Investors in the hope of attracting institutional fund managers to buy shares directly in the $400 billion market. The market, which is equal in size to the combined value of the stock […]

     

MUST-READS

  • U.S. struggles to contain Gaza conflict, as Qatar PM sees progress in hostage release talks

    “I think it’s very important to note that this is an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East,” Blinken said at a press event with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg this afternoon. “I would argue that we have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that.” “We’ve made very, very clear from day one that we’re going to defend our people,” Blinken said. “We’re going to defend our personnel.”

  • Qatar’s Prime Minister Says Progress Made on Hostage-Release Deal

    “We are in a much better place than where we were a few weeks ago,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, during a public forum in Washington. Still, gaps remain wide over key issues, including international guarantees, that during the pause in fighting a comprehensive agreement would be reached that would lead to a permanent end to the war, according to officials familiar with the talks between the leaders. While the talks were positive, a deal isn’t imminent, they said.

  • Arab officials held secret meeting to discuss plans for post-war Gaza

    Senior national security officials from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority secretly met in Riyadh 10 days ago to coordinate plans for the day after the war in Gaza and discuss ways to involve a revitalized Palestinian Authority in governing there, three sources with knowledge of the meeting told Axios.

  • Messi fronts new global campaign for Saudi Arabia tourism

    ‘Saudi Welcome To Arabia’ has kicked off another global marketing campaign featuring football legend and Saudi Tourism ambassador, Lionel Messi. Launching across key target markets in Europe, India and China, the “Go Beyond What You Think” campaign is anchored on the common misconceptions about the destination. It invites audiences to experience the vibrant cultural transformation taking place across Saudi.

  • Saudi, Egyptian foreign ministers call for ceasefire in Gaza

    Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to allow for the entry of humanitarian aid and to pave the way for a political solution to the crisis based on a two-state solution. Speaking at a press conference alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri in Cairo, the prince said: “Today, we discussed the mechanisms of cooperation and the situation in Palestine.” The two men had earlier chaired the Egyptian-Saudi Follow-up and Political Consultation Committee meeting, which included a review of their nations’ efforts at economic integration and removing obstacles to investment.

  • Messi-Ronaldo rivalry is ending, but one between MLS and Saudi Pro League is just beginning

    The second is the big one, though. Thursday's meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr would mark the 37th and final time the best two players of their generation square off if Ronaldo is available.  It remains to be seen if he'll be recovered from the minor injury that has forced Al-Nassr to reschedule a pair of matches in China, but the appeal of that matchup is obvious if Ronaldo can participate.

  • WTA facing pushback on mulled Finals move to Saudi

    Little more than two years after the WTA was lauded by human rights advocates for suspending its tournaments in China, the women's tour risks angering those same activists as it mulls moving its season-ending Finals to Saudi Arabia. Speculation about the event heading to the Gulf country has intensified and there has already been significant pushback from within the game, most notably from tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports like soccer, Formula One and golf over the last few years even as critics accuse the kingdom of using its Public Investment Fund to "sportswash" its human rights record.

  • Smart grids could improve Saudi Arabia’s renewables potential

    Saudi Arabia’s traditional power grid faces challenges such as transmission losses, low efficiency, and limited ability to accommodate renewable energy sources, creating the need for a modernized smart grid.

  • Saudi Aramco Looks to Secure More Downstream Oil Deals in Asia

    Aramco is looking to seal more downstream deals in Asia, particularly in China and India, as it bets on continued demand growth in its most important market for long-term buyers of its crude, the Saudi oil giant’s Downstream President Mohammed Al Qahtani told Bloomberg in an interview. Saudi Aramco, the world’s top crude exporter and the biggest oil firm in terms of both production and market capitalization, has already struck several deals to buy stakes in Chinese refining and chemical projects and has recently entered Pakistan’s downstream sector. But it is on the hunt for more deals. “Really, the big growth markets for us are China, India and southeast Asia,” Al Qahtani told Bloomberg in an interview in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

  • Nigeria oil enters unclear new era after Shell’s onshore asset sale

    Shell's exit from Nigeria's onshore oil sector highlights risks oil majors face in Africa's biggest exporter but has raised hopes that local firms could reverse the output decline from the Niger Delta, industry officials and analysts said.
    Shell – which pioneered Nigeria's oil industry – is the most prominent Western company to exit the Delta, a region blighted by pollution, oil theft and pipeline vandalism. Those issues have for years stymied investment – and throttled production and government finances.