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  • GE Sees Gas Turbine Sales Gain Amid Saudis’ Solar Shift
     

    General Electric Co. GE predicts demand for its gas turbines will increase in Saudi Arabia, even with the kingdom working to supply a third of power needs from solar energy within the next two decades. Saudi Arabia already has 500 installed gas turbines from GE that generate about half its electricity, and the Middle Eastern […]

     
  • Saudi restoration commemorates pact of princes, clerics
     

    Climb the rickety ladder through the Emir Omar bin Saud Palace courtyard in crumbling Diriyah and the image of old Saudi Arabia suddenly appears in an adobe roofscape set against dark green palms. The caramel tones of the mud walls, the smell of dust mingling with water and the muffled clanging of hammer on stone […]

     
  • Abdullah Alireza speaks at C3 Summit
     

    SUSTG attended the C3 Summit in New York City September 13-14, 2012. This was the inaugural event in what the organizers anticipate will be an annual gathering to ‘build new relationships, foster existing partnerships and exchange best practices’ between the U.S. and the Arab world. C3 (Community, Collaboration and Commerce) is looking to host the […]

     
  • The Island of the Arabs
     

    So in 1954 when Aramco’s New York office decided to produce a feature film about Saudi Arabia and the company’s role in the kingdom, they chose Dick Lyford to direct it. The film called Island of the Arabs begins with the early geologists landing in Jubail and then exploring in the desert. While sitting around […]

     
  • Saudi success in show jumping underscores shift in equestrian order, helps its Olympic future
     

    Saudi Arabia appeared on the equestrian show jumping map in at the Sydney Games in 2000 when Khaled Al Eid won an individual bronze. He qualified for London but had to withdraw in July after his horse, Presley Boy, developed laminitis, a painful inflammation of the hoof. Some had considered the Sydney medal a blip, […]

     
  • The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
     

    A new book on the long confrontation between the US and Iran blames the George W. Bush administration for squandering opportunities to improve relations with Tehran and invading Iraq in 2003 without recognizing that Iran would wind up being the power broker in that country. These criticisms are remarkable given their source: David Crist, author […]

     
  • Wealth Management in the Middle East: Boon or Bust?
     

    Middle Eastern policymakers and bankers will develop an indigenous wealth management industry which keeps the super-wealthy’s investments at home. Developing a local national wealth management industry requires letting in foreign competition, changing banking and securities laws, and growing local companies whose shares are worth buying. The first part of the article reviews trends in wealth […]

     
  • With customs union, GCC edges toward closer economic ties
     

    Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arab economy, is leading moves toward political and economic cooperation, which it believes would give the mostly Sunni-led monarchies of the Gulf more power to withstand any confrontation with Shi’ite Iran. Closer business ties within the GCC, which consists of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain and has […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Weighs Annual Budget to Boost Clean Energy
     

    An annual budget for renewables would differ from the feed- in tariffs that Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Britain offered to spur solar and wind power in their nations. Germany was first to introduce the feed-in tariff in 2004 and became the world’s biggest market for solar because of the subsidy, which is paid for […]

     
  • Showing Pragmatism, Egypt’s Morsi Looks to Saudi
     

    The first official foreign visit of any newly elected president represents a significant symbolic statement. Knowing this, new leaders choose their first visit very carefully, often selecting a country that is either a major strategic ally or an important trade partner. Nonetheless, the Egyptian government’s announcement that President Mohammed Morsi’s first foreign visit will take […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Libya’s Haftar Allows Ports Re-opening to Solve Power Crisis

    Forces loyal to Libya’s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar said oil ports closed since January can re-open, though the measure probably won’t enable the strife-torn OPEC member to resume exporting much crude. The ports can restart operations to dispose of stored fuel and gas to supply power plants and help resolve electricity shortages in eastern Libya, Naji al-Maghrabi, head of an oil-facilities guard linked to Haftar’s Libyan National Army, said late Tuesday in a televised statement.

  • Lebanon’s Parliament Confirms State of Emergency, Extending Army Power

    A two-week emergency was first declared by the cabinet in an emergency session with President Michel Aoun the day of the explosion, but the Parliament’s approval makes the measure official and has raised concerns about enabling a crackdown on protesters and those critical of the government. The state of emergency allows the army to impose curfews, ban assemblies and impose censorship on media organizations and publications if it deems them threatening to national security, and also extends the ability of officials to try civilians in military courts. It will last until Aug. 21, but can be renewed.

  • Emirates and Siemens promise to help Lebanon with an airlift and free power

    Emirates and Siemens have pledged to help the people of Lebanon recover from the cataclysmic explosion that rocked Beirut last week and pushed the country's crisis-ridden economy towards the abyss. The flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates committed on Thursday to establishing an "air bridge" that will move critical aid to Lebanon. The airline said that more than 50 flights would be dedicated to bringing "urgent food, medical supplies and other much needed items" into the country.

  • SABIC to build world’s first renewable power chemical plant

    Spanish facility slated to open by 2024 will feature 263,000 solar panels in bid to make industry carbon neutral

  • Blueprint may power up Saudi Arabia’s wind energy future

    "Through our novel methodology and ad-hoc computer simulations, we have accurately quantified wind energy resources in Saudi Arabia and have provided a detailed plan for a cost-effective implementation of the government's wind energy target of 16 gigawatts of installed capacity by 2030," says Genton. "Our work shows that Saudi Arabia is well positioned to become a role model for wind energy development in the Middle East and worldwide."

  • The ACWA Power–Air Products joint venture for green hydrogen: A new Saudi energy policy?

    As the energy transition gains speed, this announcement is a significant step forward in establishing a new role for Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries in a future global economy less dependent on hydrocarbons. That said, the scale and relative inexperience of key project partners means the project still faces an uphill battle.

  • The Saudi Power-Broker of Spanish Soccer’s Second Division

    When it wasn’t raffling off German hatchbacks, Almeria was climbing the standings of Spain’s second division to the brink of moving up to La Liga. This month, it secured a place in Spanish soccer’s promotion playoffs. But the real mystery isn’t how it reached those heights. It’s why a member of Saudi’s royal court would take an interest in a small, underfunded club on the south coast of Spain in the first place. “The Minister is a man of football,” is El Assy’s short answer. That much is clear from Sheikh’s online presence, where his millions of followers are led to believe he’s one of the best connected people in the sport.

  • Ashraf Ghani awards Abdur Rashid Dostum with Afghanistan’s highest military honor as he pursues powerful allies

    Abdurrashid Dostum has been called a rapacious warlord and a born killer. He has been accused of ordering the rape of an elderly political rival and orchestrating the suffocation of hundreds of Taliban prisoners. The former Afghan army general and ethnic Uzbek strongman defied efforts to arrest him and flew into exile in Turkey in 2017 while facing prosecution in Afghan courts.

  • Libya’s war becomes a global scramble for power and prestige

    The biggest victor this summer seems to have been Turkey, which came to the rescue of the U.N.-recognized government based in Tripoli and pushed back the months-long offensive waged by the forces of renegade Gen. Khalifa Hifter. Now, the Turkish-backed Government of National Accord, or GNA, is firmly in command of Libya’s west and may hope to wrest control of the country’s strategic “oil crescent,” an arc of coastal towns and oil facilities in the interior in between Tripoli, the capital, and the eastern city of Benghazi.

  • ACWA Power CEO sees downturn in energy prices from renewables

    Prices of energy generated from renewables are expected to witness a continuous decrease in the region in the coming years, according to officials in a renewable firm and investment banks. Paddy Padmanathan, president and CEO of ACWA Power, a leading renewables firm in the region, said in the virtual BMG Economic Forum on Wednesday that he sees a further decrease in prices of energy produced from renewable resources in the Kingdom.