“The total number of the PoS operations in 2020 amounted to about 2.8 billion, an increase of 75 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.”

-Talat Zaki Hafiz, economist and secretary-general of the media and banking awareness committee for Saudi banks.  He added that the value of operations amounted to about $93.7 billion, an increase of nearly 24.1 percent compared with the same period in 2019. [Arab News]

“By removing an extra 60 million barrels from the market, the cut should ensure inventories continue to fall even if the epidemic surges again, vaccine deployment is slow, and international aviation remains restricted. Timing is critical. The cut will help to bridge the difficult first quarter, when  consumption is always seasonally low and there is the greatest danger this year from the virus and vaccine delays.”

 -John Kemp, Reuters’ analyst, commenting on Saudi Arabia’s unilateral 1 million barrel per day cuts planned for February and March. [Reuters]

“We are the guardian of this industry. We have the responsibility of looking after the market, and we will take all necessary actions. I have said this repeatedly and even advised that no one should bet against our resolve, Those who have listened are now bearing the fruits; the others — good luck with their ouching.”

-Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman discussing Saudi Arabia’s pledge to unilaterally cut 1 million barrels a day in February and March. [Bloomberg]

“OPEC’s Gulf exporters shipped more oil last month than at any time since May, when their current round of output restraint came into effect. The move came before a slight easing of output curbs in January and talks to decide whether to change production targets in February.”

“Tamam is the first entity in the Kingdom and the region to offer consumer micro-loans via a fully digital customer experience, through a mobile app. SAMA’s Regulatory Sandbox licensed Tamam after an eighteen-month testing period where the app and the service was vetted for functionality, security, and compatibility with customer user profiles in Saudi Arabia.”

-Zain Group announced that, Tamam Financing Company, its financial technology (fintech) subsidiary in Saudi Arabia has been officially licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide micro-financing services to consumers across the Kingdom. [Kuwait Times]

“It’s not like people go to Saudi very often to ride in the desert. So I think this really helped make the race more fair and also the desert in Saudi was better than expected. The country in general was really nice to visit and the way they organized the race was amazing and seeing the landscapes there surprised me. It was a really cool race and better than I expected and leaves me excited to race there again this year.”

-Andrew Short, U.S. rider who finished 10th in 2019 (fellow U.S. riders Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes came in 1st and 9th, respectively), comparing the Saudi Dakar Rally with those held previously in South America. [Yahoo]

“Concerning the importance of this project for Azerbaijan, I would like to stress that in addition to being first ever foreign investment based IPP, the wind power station annually will help to generate 1 billion KWh electricity, saving up to 220 million cubic meters of gas, cutting down on 400,000 tons of emissions annually, create new jobs and new production and service areas.”

-Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, commenting on ACWA Power’s agreement to execute a 240 MW wind power project that will be located in the Absheron and Khizi regions. [PRNewswire]

“AEC is considered the ‘crown jewel’ of Saudi Arabia’s military industries and a proud accomplishment for its citizens, and will bring about transformative change in the Kingdom’s defense sector.”

-Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Chairman of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI) which is a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), discussing SAMI’s purchase of the Advanced Electronics Company, the country’s largest ever military industries deal. [Arab News]

“We will show them how they can make a lot of money from camels, how it can be a profitable business for them; we have many surprises to share with camel owners around the world.”

-Fahd bin Falah bin Hathleen, Chairman of International Organization of Camels (ICO) and the Saudi Camel Club, discussing the establishment of the ICO in 2019 (now over 100 member countries) and Saudi efforts to address issues related to camels as a heritage and promote the camel industry globally. [Associated Press]