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Recent stories from sustg

  • Chart of the Day: A Short History of 200 Years of Global Energy Use
     

    If you want to tell the story of worldwide energy consumption over the past 200 years, you need three chapters. Chapter 1: The Coal Age. Chapter 2: The Oil Age. Chapter 3: The China Age. In the early days of industrialization, the use of biofuels such as wood declined as the West learned to live […]

     
  • Saudis Increasing Riyadh Water Supply
     

    With the bulk of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water coming from desalination plants, the country’s sky-rocketing population growth puts enormous demand on water supply. Arab News reports that a new desalination plant in the Eastern Province is gearing up to go online. When it is producing, it will nearly double the amount of water flowing into […]

     
  • Internet in the Middle East Still Short of Its Potential
     

    Last week’s third ArabNet conference for digital entrepreneurs in the MENA region was, by the standard of these things, a modest affair. But nonetheless it showed how the regional digital economy has grown, and how it is poised to take off. As one commentator said: “Jordan for the talent, Lebanon for the creativity, Egypt for […]

     
  • Saudi to maintain oil supply if U.S. draws stocks
     

    Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release emergency stocks, but it will not seek to lure buyers for more oil by discounting its crude, industry sources said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday in Riyadh sought an assurance from Saudi King Abdullah that the kingdom […]

     
  • 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 […]

     
  • “Out in the Blue” Part 9 of Video Series “Distant Arabia”
     

    In this clip excerpted with permission from the documentary The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power based on the book of the same name by Daniel Yergin, the story of Tom Barger’s first journey to Saudi Arabia is related through his movies and letters. The complete story is told in Barger’s book […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Beijing eyes more investments from Saudi sovereign wealth fund

    The mayor of Beijing has told the governor of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund he hoped the fund would further expand its business in the Chinese capital, state media said on Wednesday. Beijing's diplomatic push to court U.S. ally Saudi Arabia comes amid its frustration over what it sees as Washington's weaponisation of economic policies, nudging it to expand ties with countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

  • Power restored gradually in Riyadh neighborhoods after contractor damage

    The Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority clarified that the power outage affecting parts of the Hittin, An Nakheel, Al Aqiq, and Al Ghadeer neighborhoods in Riyadh on Tuesday's night at 8:33 PM was caused by damage to a main power transmission line by a contractor working on a public project unrelated to the Saudi Electricity Company.

  • Saudi Arabia drops 2.9 per cent in its Industrial Production Index in May

    Saudi Arabia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) experienced a 2.9 per cent year-on-year decline in May this year, according to data released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The index dropped to 106.30 points, based on the 2021 base year, down from 109.45 points in May 2023. This decrease was primarily driven by a downturn in mining and quarrying activity, which constitutes 61.4 per cent of the index, according to a report by Saudi financial news portal Argaam.com.

  • Saudi Arabia Nets $12.35 Billion From Aramco Share Offering

    The final proceeds for Saudi Arabia from the secondary sale of shares in its oil giant Aramco came in at $12.35 billion after the exercising of an over-allotment option, boosting the Kingdom’s total gain from the sale by $1 billion. Saudi Aramco sold last month a 0.64% stake in a secondary offering. Aramco priced 1.545 billion shares on offer in its latest share sale at $7.27 (27.25 Saudi riyals) apiece, based on the results of the book-building process. That was a discount of 6% compared to the closing price of Aramco’s shares on the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, on the day before the secondary offering was announced at the end of May. This sale raised $11.2 billion for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • Expat remittances from Saudi rise 12% to $3.4bn

    Expat remittance from Saudi Arabia jumped by 12 percent year on year to SAR12.6 billion ($3.4 billion) in May, according to the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). Remittances rose 11 percent month on month, or SAR1.3 billion, in May, the central bank said. Globally, remittances to low- and middle-income countries grew by an estimated 3.8 percent in 2023, reaching $669 billion, the World Bank said in its December 2023 report. It is forecasting a global increase of 2 percent for 2024.

  • Critical Metals, Obeikan partner to build lithium hydroxide processing plant in Saudi Arabia

    The 50/50 JV will be geared towards developing, constructing and operating the plant for the conversion of lithium spodumene concentrate from Critical Metals’ Wolfsberg project in Austria, which, according to Critical Metals CEO Tony Sage, is set to become the EU’s only battery-grade lithium mine by 2027.

  • Saudi law graduates to benefit from specialist skills program

    Outstanding Saudi law graduates will be receive intensive practical training from a team of specialist advisers as part of a second Future Adviser Program announced on Tuesday by the Center of Legal Studies and Research. The 12-month program aims to qualify young legal talents, and develop their skills in legal and regulatory consultation, as well as legislative drafting. Applicants for the program must be Saudi nationals, recent graduates from the years 2023-2024, and hold a bachelor’s degree in law with an academic GPA of no less than 3.75/5 or 2.75/4 or its equivalent.

  • As Boeing struggles, Airbus inks 4-aircraft deal with Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia signed a deal with Airbus for an additional four of its A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) on Wednesday in a sign that the French aerospace giant is gaining ground in the Gulf as its US rival, Boeing, struggles. The kingdom ordered four more of Airbus’ A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The aircraft is used for air-to-air refueling, as well as transport purposes. The aircraft will enter into service in 2027, Airbus said in a statement. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that the order constitutes the kingdom’s third contract for the A330, but did not specify how many of the aircraft are currently in use in the country. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/07/boeing-struggles-airbus-inks-4-aircraft-deal-saudi-arabia#ixzz8ffxYbhgt

  • Saudi Arabia’s Neo Space Group Appoints Martijn Blanken as New CEO

    NSG is a wholly owned company of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund. NSG will focus on pursuing strategic and commercially feasible space sector opportunities. It will also invest in the most promising new space technology startups and entrepreneurs both in Saudi Arabia and globally. NSG is fully aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and plans to create a global commercial space communications leader.

  • Syria’s national airline resumes Saudi flights after 12 years

    Syria's national airline resumed regular services to Saudi Arabia after a 12-year suspension on Wednesday as the first flight arrived in Riyadh. The move, announced by Syrian Airlines and confirmed to AFP by Syria's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, continues a slow rapprochement between the two governments who restored diplomatic relations last year. Ambassador Ayman Soussan said a Syrian Airlines plane carrying 170 passengers touched down in the Saudi capital, marking the resumption of a regular route.