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  • Saudi Arabia may raise prices for most oil grades to Asia for June

    Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may raise prices for most of the crude grades it sells to Asia in June to their highest levels in five months after Middle East benchmarks strengthened this month, trade sources said on Monday.
    The June official selling price (OSP) of flagship Arab Light crude may rise by 70 to 90 cents to close to a $3 per barrel premium to the average of Dubai and Oman quotes, seven refining sources said in a Reuters survey, which would be the highest level since January.

  • MAWANI launches first railway transport between major Saudi ports

    The Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) has announced the first container shipment via railway from Jubail Commercial Port to Riyadh Dry Port. This shipment, consisting of 78 containers, utilised the railway link between the Jubail Commercial Port and the East Railway network. The railway has a maximum load capacity of 140 TEU per trip. MAWANI collaborated with the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority (GAZT), Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR), and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). This collaboration aims to promote seamless transportation of containers, bulk materials, and general goods by establishing rail connections between ports.

  • Saudi Arabia to Launch a Centre for Space Futures in the Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network

    The World Economic Forum has signed an agreement with the Saudi Space Agency to establish a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) focused on space.
    The Centre for Space Futures, set to open in autumn 2024, will be hosted by the Saudi Space Agency. It aims to facilitate public-private discussions on space collaboration, incorporating best practices from the Forum and its communities into the global space sector and generating contributions to accelerate space technologies.

  • Continued Progress in Saudi Economic Diversification

    Similarly, in a year such as 2022, when oil production and oil export revenue are high, the economy can look less diversified even if the non-oil sector has done well. It is therefore important to look through short-term swings in the oil market to identify underlying trends in diversification. One way of doing this is to compare two years when oil export revenue is similar. Below, outcomes in 2023 are compared with 2018 – when Saudi oil export revenue was $232 billion, close to the $248 billion in 2023 – and 2022.

  • Residents of northern Israel brace for possible all-out war with Hezbollah

    Eli Harel was an Israeli soldier in his early thirties when he was sent into Lebanon in 2006 to battle fighters from the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in a bloody, largely inconclusive month-long war.
    Now 50, Harel is ready to rejoin the army to fight the same group if shelling along Israel's northern border turns into a full-blown war with Iran's most powerful regional proxy. This time Israeli forces would face some of the most challenging fighting conditions imaginable, he said.

  • 3 citizens and expatriate arrested for money laundering involving SR200 million

    It was revealed in investigations that a female citizen started a commercial entity to collect debts and handed it over to her husband, who in turn enabled the expatriate to manage the entity and its bank accounts, while another citizen also carried out the same criminal method. This enabled the expatriate to exploit these bank accounts with cash deposits amounting to more than SR200 million, in exchange for external transfers without making any customs imports.

  • How AI is reshaping Saudi Aramco’s oil exploration and underwater operations strategy

    Saudi Aramco is spearheading the innovations by embracing cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, both within its core operations and beyond, which places the company ahead of the curve. The Saudi state-owned oil company has significantly invested in research and development compared to its industry peers, allocating approximately 3.5 USD billion in 2023, representing a 15% annual increase despite global challenges. This investment is reflected in its innovative efforts, which extend beyond its primary operations.

  • Saudi Crown Prince leads Special Dialogue at WEF special meeting in Riyadh

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led a Special Dialogue session at the World Economic Forum special meeting in Riyadh on Sunday where prominent figures from different industries discussed challenges and plans, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.

  • Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud

    Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met today with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.  Secretary Blinken underscored the need to avoid further escalation in the region.  The Secretary discussed ongoing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. The Secretary discussed the recent increase in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and emphasized that increase must be sustained.   The Secretary and Foreign Minister continued discussions on regional and bilateral efforts to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including through greater integration among countries in the region and a pathway to a Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel. They also discussed efforts to resume negotiations under the Jeddah platform aimed at ending the conflict in Sudan and preventing further widespread civilian harm.

  • Saudi Arabia to cut electricity production cost to maintain competitiveness: Minister

    Addressing a session entitled “Advancing Carbon Capture Innovations and Its Uses in Global Partnerships” on the sidelines of the special meeting of the World Economic Forum, the Minister said that the Kingdom is working hard to ensure that the renewable energy program is the basis at the present time, especially in light of what is happening at the world level and the previous outbreak of the COVID pandemic and the supply chain disruptions.