ABUJA: The oil and gas industry is facing huge challenges on multiple fronts and is “under siege” due to years of underinvestment globally that has led to market tightness, Mohammad Barkindo, the OPEC secretary-general,  said on Tuesday.

“Our industry is now facing huge challenges along multiple fronts,” he told delegates at an energy conference in Nigeria’s capital.

“And these threaten our investment potential now and in the long term, to put it bluntly, my dear friends, the oil and gas industry is under siege,” he said, citing geopolitical developments in Europe.

The fallout from the war in Ukraine has left many countries globally vulnerable to soaring energy prices. 

He said the supply shortage could be eased if extra supplies from Iran and Venezuela were allowed to flow.

Years of sanctions have limited supplies from Iran and Venezuela.

In addition, the West has imposed sanctions on Russia, a member of OPEC+ that groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, tightening oil markets further.

“We could, however, unlock resources and strengthen capacity if the oil produced by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Venezuela were allowed to return to the market,” Barkindo said.

Strain on the industry has been increased by some countries' efforts to divest from hydrocarbons, he said.

While they are seeking to limit global warming, he said oil demand was growing even as investment in capacity falls and prices surge.

Nigeria’s Oil Minister Timipre Sylva said Africa’s top oil producer would not abandon fossil fuels.

“For us in Nigeria, fossil fuel will always have a share in our energy mix, for the foreseeable future. We will not at this time abandon fossil fuels. We have adopted ... gas as a transition fuel,” he said.

RIYADH: South Korea’s inflation rose to a 24-year high in June, while Australia’s central bank increased the country’s interest rate for the third month in a row. 

South Korea’s inflation last month hit the highest since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago, adding to signs of building strains on the open, trade-dependent economy and fanning expectations of a big rate hike by the central bank.

Data showed on Tuesday the consumer price index grew a slightly faster-than-expected 6 percent in June over a year earlier — the highest since November 1998 — while other data showed foreign exchange reserves shrank by the most since late 2008.

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates for a third straight month and flagged more ahead as it struggles to contain surging inflation even at the risk of triggering an economic downturn.

Wrapping up its July policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted its cash rate by 50 basis points to 1.35 percent, marking 125 basis points of hikes since May and the fastest series of moves since 1994.

“The Board expects to take further steps in the process of normalizing monetary conditions in Australia over the months ahead,” said RBA Gov. Philip Lowe in a statement.

Japan’s services sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in over eight years in June as the easing of coronavirus curbs boosted sentiment among businesses such as those in tourism.

The pick-up in activity is welcome news for a government betting on domestic demand to put the world’s third-largest economy firmly on a recovery track and help overcome production pressures on the country’s manufacturing industry.

The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purchasing managers’ index rose to a seasonally adjusted 54, marking the fastest pace of expansion since October 2013.

That was stronger than May’s final 52.6 growth, though it remained below a 54.2 flash reading for June released last month.

Japan’s real wages extended a decline in May to post the biggest year-on-year drop in nearly two years, government data showed on Tuesday, as consumer inflation hovering near a seven-year-high outpaced nominal wage growth, reducing households’ spending power.

Higher living costs amid low-wage growth are likely to curb Japan’s consumption-led economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Inflation is also a top issue for voters in an upper house election on Sunday, although Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party is likely to increase the number of seats it holds, according to an opinion poll published on Monday.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed lower on Tuesday, giving up more than 1 percent gains made during the day, as investor sentiment soured in global markets, while the rupee hit a fresh record low on concerns of a bigger current account deficit.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 0.15 percent at 15,810.85, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.2 percent to 53,134.35. Both the indexes had gained over 1 percent in morning trade.

The slide in the value of the Indian rupee continued on Tuesday, and it closed at 79.37 against the US dollar on June 5. 

India to address volatility of Indian rupee against dollar

India is trying to “address volatility” in the Indian rupee that has tumbled to record lows against the dollar in recent weeks, a government official said on Monday, amid concerns of a widening trade deficit and sell-off of assets by foreign investors.

The rupee has plunged 6 percent against the dollar this year, weighed down by broad strength in the greenback and as investors retreated from the domestic share markets.

Twitter pursues judicial review of Indian content takedown orders

Twitter is seeking to overturn some Indian government orders to take down content, a source familiar with the matter said, in a legal challenge which alleges abuse of power by officials.

The US social media company's attempt to get a judicial review is part of a growing confrontation with New Delhi over content regulation. Twitter was warned by India's Information Technology Ministry of criminal proceedings if it did not comply with some orders.

Twitter has been asked by Indian authorities over the past year to act on content including accounts supportive of an independent Sikh state and on dozens of tweets that were critical of the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

India's IT ministry did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment about Twitter's legal move.

(With inputs from Reuters) 

RIYADH: Saudi Al-Khaleej Training and Education Co. has acquired a 60 percent stake in Al-Faisaliah National Schools Co.

The acquisition deal is worth SR60 million ($16 million) and is subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, according to a bourse filing.

Listed on Saudi Arabia’s main stock index TASI, Al-Khaleej Training narrowed its net losses by 33 percent to SR5.09 million during the first quarter of 2022, down from SR7.6 million in the same period a year ago.

RIYADH: China stocks closed roughly flat on Tuesday as concerns over the worsening COVID-19 situation offset optimism from recovering services activities in the country.

The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.1 percent at 4,489.54, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended flat, at 3,404.03 points.

China touts Afghan trade and investment plans

China’s ambassador touted trade and investment plans for Afghanistan on Tuesday, in what was a public endorsement for doing business in the Taliban-controlled country after an earthquake drew attention to the humanitarian consequences of Western sanctions.

At a rare press conference alongside the Taliban administration’s acting minister for disaster management, Ambassador Wang Yu announced $8 million in aid for relief from the June 22 earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people.

“Besides emergency humanitarian aid, after the political changes last year and after the earthquake, we also have long-term economic reconstruction plans,” he said. The priority would be trade, followed by investment, as well as agriculture.

No country has formally recognized the Taliban, who seized power last year after the US and its allies withdrew troops following 20 years of war.

China port group launches major pipeline in oil hub Shandong

China’s Yantai Port Group has started pumping oil into a newly expanded crude oil pipeline that connects the port of Yantai to a group of independent refineries in the country’s refining hub Shandong, state media reported on Tuesday.

The 370-kilometer pipeline, with an annual transport capacity of 20 million tons which equals 400,000 barrels per day, is solely invested by Yantai Port Group, a unit of provincial government-backed Shandong Port Group.

The new line, linking Yantai with the city of Weifang, adds to an existing parallel 650 km pipeline connecting Yantai with Zibo, bringing total transport capacity to 40 million tons annually, or 800,000 bpd.

About 10 independent refineries are linked to the two pipelines, according to Shandong-based commodities consultancy JLC.

As part of commodities logistics operations, Yantai Port also operates a 300,000 ton crude oil terminal and a 3.6 million cubic-meter crude oil tank farm.

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has signed 55 agreements across sustainability, digital, industrial, manufacturing and social innovation sectors, as part of a major expansion of its Namaat industrial investment programs. 

Growing from 32 to 55 investments since last year, Namaat supports industrial investment partnerships to create jobs for Saudis and to contribute to national growth and capacity building, according to a statement.

“Namaat enables Aramco to be a catalyst for change across the Kingdom’s economy, while maintaining our reliability as a global energy supplier at a time of market uncertainty,” Ahmad Al-Sa’adi, Aramco senior vice president of technical services, said. 

As part of our industrial investment program #namaat, we sign a series of agreements and MOUs with our partners to enable the industrial value chain#aramco — aramco (@aramco) July 5, 2022

As part of our industrial investment program #namaat, we sign a series of agreements and MOUs with our partners to enable the industrial value chain#aramco

Bolstering Aramco’s long-term growth strategy and the Kingdom’s expanding energy and chemicals value chains, the agreements include:

Honeywell, to establish a joint venture to develop and implement digital technology solutions across industrial facilities.

Armorock and AlKifah Precast, to establish a joint venture to localize the use of polymers in concrete production.

Shell & AMG Recycling and United Company for Industry, the signing of the Vanadium concentrate sales agreement, enabling the construction of an in-Kingdom metal reclamation and catalyst manufacturing facility. 

In addition to the Saudi-owned conglomerate Al Rushaid Group’s agreement between ARPIC, Samsung, and Aramco to create a National Engineering, Procurement and Construction joint venture in Saudi Arabia. 

The new EPC joint venture aims to increase Saudization levels and deploy leading construction technologies in alignment with the Saudi Aramco Namaat program.