MUST-READS

• Energy
  Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

  Naimi, 79, dominated the debate at the November meeting, according to officials briefed on the closed-door proceedings. He told his OPEC counterparts they should maintain output to protect market share from rising supplies of U.S. shale oil, which costs more to get out of the ground and thus becomes less viable as prices fall. In December, he said much the same thing in a press interview, arguing that it was “crooked logic” for low-cost producers such as Saudi Arabia to pump less to balance the market.

• 9/11 Lawsuits
  Saudi Arabia: No evidence its agents helped in 9/11 attacks

  Saudi Arabia was among the countries, companies and organizations sued in 2002 and afterward by families who claimed they aided al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and other terrorist groups. The lawsuits sought billions of dollars in damages.  

  • Daily Mail - FBI accused of whitewashing Saudi Arabian 9/11 involvement
• Saudi Military Spending
  Saudi Arabia military spending rises to $80bn: SIPRI report

  The report released on Monday showed that Saudi Arabia recorded the biggest annual hike of any of the top 15 military spenders. An increase of 17 percent took the Saudi spend to $80.8 billion (76.2 billion euros) in 2014. The Saudi government is currently leading a coalition of forces against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

  • Bloomberg - China, Russia, Saudi Arabia Boosted Defense Most as U.S. Cut
• Hajj
  Report: Iran Suspends Hajj Trips to Saudi Arabia Amid Spat

  Iran suspended all minor hajj trips to Saudi Arabia on Monday amid growing diplomatic tensions between the two countries, state television reported.

• Global Energy Markets
  U.S. remained world’s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2014

  The United States remained the world's top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2014, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. U.S. hydrocarbon production continues to exceed that of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, the second- and third-largest producers, respectively. For the United States and Russia, total petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbon production, in energy content terms, is almost evenly split between petroleum and natural gas. Saudi Arabia's production, on the other hand, heavily favors petroleum.

• Yemen in Crisis
  Analysis: To Win Its War in Yemen, Saudi Arabia May Have to Split the Country in Two

  Aden is a forlorn port city in the south of Yemen. It has been the capital of both a British colony and the Arabian peninsula's only socialist state. It was once the busiest port in the world. And it is probably best known today as the place where the USS Cole was bombed 15 years ago.

  • AFP - Saudi demands Iran stop backing Yemen rebels
  • Reuters - Yemen's exiled president appoints conciliatory figure as deputy
  • Asharq Alawsat - Opinion: The Iranian “Dialogue” Ruse
  • Al Arabiya - Saudi Foreign Minister Says Saudi Arabia Dismisses Iran Calls for Yemen Ceasefire
• Saudi-Yemen
  96 Saudi border villages with Yemen may be evacuated soon

  The Border Guard has reported the authorities are assessing 96 Saudi villages on or near the Kingdom’s border with Yemen to determine if they should be evacuated as a precaution against any potential attacks from Houthi rebels.

  • Fox News - US reportedly steps up involvement in Saudi-led Yemen campaign
  • Market Watch - Saudi Arabia: ‘Not at war with Iran’
  • LA Times - Saudi-led strikes do little to reverse Houthi gains, Yemenis say
  • WSJ (paywall) - U.S. Widens Role in Saudi-led Campaign Against Houthi Rebels in Yemen
  • Aljazeera - Saudi soldiers killed in fighting near Yemen border
• Cayan Group
  Cayan Plans $1 Billion of Dubai, Saudi Real Estate Developments

  Cayan Group is planning to spend almost $1 billion on three property projects in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, according to the chairman of the Saudi real estate developer.

• Banking
  Saudi banks to report flat growth in first quarter

  As banks in Saudi Arabia have started reporting preliminary results for the first quarter of 2015, analysts expect weaker growth in assets and profitability both year on year and quarter on quarter basis.

• Gaza
  Gaza police seize Banksy painting in legal row

  Palestinian police confiscated from a Gaza graffiti artist on Thursday a bombed-out doorway bearing a Banksy painting after the original owner complained of being swindled into selling it cheap.

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