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  • Saudi Arabia denounces Israeli decision to confiscate West Bank land

    Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned an Israel decision to confiscate 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank.

    The Kingdom “strongly condemns the Israeli occupation’s announcement,” emphasizing “that such actions violate international laws and relevant resolutions,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) cited the ministry as saying.

  • Saudi Arabia denounces Israeli decision to confiscate West Bank land

    Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned an Israel decision to confiscate 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank. The Kingdom “strongly condemns the Israeli occupation’s announcement,” emphasizing “that such actions violate international laws and relevant resolutions,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) cited the ministry as saying.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Trade Finance Corp to provide $1.4 billion to Bangladesh Petroleum

    The Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) signed an agreement on Monday to provide $1.4 billion to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, Saudi Arabia's state news agency SPA reported. The ITFC, part of Saudi Arabia's Islamic Development Bank, said the financing was aimed at developing Bangladesh's energy infrastructure. "This agreement is a testament to the successful long-term partnership between the two parties and the financing plan will ensure energy security for one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia," SPA said.

  • Iraq girds to revive long-abandoned nuclear energy program

    The Iraqi government has declared its intention to revive the country’s long-abandoned nuclear energy program. The announcement by Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani comes amid a broader regional push to develop nuclear capabilities, following in the footsteps of Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While Iraq is a long way from completing such an endeavor, Sudani’s announcement is a diplomatic win for the prime minister—underscoring his engagement with international organizations. 

  • Saudi Arabia is not abandoning upstream investment

    The 13 million bpd capacity expansion plan would have cost Aramco $40 billion. A big focus area that was stressed by Aramco’s management this year is increasing gas production by 60 percent by the year 2030. The gas will mainly come from the Jaffoura basin and will help Aramco displace around 1 million bpd of liquids that are currently being burnt for power generation in the Kingdom.

  • Saudi Arabia is not abandoning upstream investment

    Saudi Arabia’s recent announcement of shelving plans to boost its oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 and instead focusing on maintaining 12 million bpd caused a stir among energy news watchers. The knee-jerk reaction to the decision came in the form of questions surrounding the future of oil demand and how the Kingdom’s U-turn represents a win for all those advocating to “keep oil in the ground.” The reality of the situation is a lot more nuanced.

  • Saudi Aramco CEO says energy transition is failing, world should abandon ‘fantasy’ of phasing out oil

    Gas has grown 70% since the start of the century, Nasser said. The transition from coal to gas is responsible for two-thirds of the reductions in carbon emissions in the U.S., he said. “This is hardly the future picture some have been painting,” Nasser said. “Even they are starting to acknowledge the importance of oil and gas security.”

  • In key concession to Turkey, Iraq bans PKK

    Iraq’s government has banned the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ahead of an expected visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next month. This comes as Turkey is expected to launch another major offensive against its longtime Kurdish foe inside Iraq this summer. Although the Iraqi ban seemingly stops short of labeling the PKK as a terrorist organization, it represents a major concession—possibly in hopes that Ankara will reciprocate on key issues like trade and water resource management.

  • Alvarez & Marsal: Performance of Saudi Banks is Largely Robust, Positive

    The performance of the top 10 banks in Saudi Arabia is largely robust and positive, global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has said. The firm has released its 4th annual edition of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Banking Pulse for fiscal year 2023. It said operating income grew by 9.5 percent reflecting the effect of higher Non-Interest Income (NII). The year also saw Net Interest Margins (NIM) improving by 3.5 percent with both the cost-to-income ratio (C/I) and the COR showing improvement. Overall, return on equity (ROE) increased to 14.5 percent while return on assets (ROA) stayed constant at a healthy 2.0 percent.

  • Alvarez & Marsal Releases Saudi Arabia Banking Pulse For Fy2023

    Leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has released its 4th annual edition of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Banking Pulse for fiscal year 2023. The performance of the top 10 banks in the Kingdom is largely robust and positive. Operating income grew by 9.5 percent reflecting the effect of higher Non-Interest Income (NII). The year also saw NIMs improving by 3.5 percent with both the cost-to-income ratio (C/I) and the COR showing improvement. Overall, return on equity (ROE) increased to 14.5 percent while return on assets (ROA) stayed constant at a healthy 2.0 percent. Looking ahead, we expect the outlook for Saudi banks to remain stable to positive.