“The region is already susceptible to dangerous heat levels. We found that even in the best case scenario, where temperatures only go up by 1.5 degrees Celsius, pilgrims would still be under threat.”
-Fahad Saeed, lead author of a study evaluating the increased risk that pilgrims may suffer life-threatening heat stroke from rising temperatures as a result of global warming. The risk could rise five-fold with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times, found the study in the journal Environmental Research Letters. [Reuters]
“If there is any chance to go to the quarter-finals then victory over the African side is necessary with games against the 2016 silver and gold medalists — Germany and Brazil respectively — to follow. It is the toughest of groups with those two installed as second and sixth favorites by the bookies to win in Tokyo. In contrast, the young Falcons are 250-1 outsiders, along with South Africa.”
-John Duerden reports for Arab News on Saudi Arabia’s Olympic hopes and their opening match on Thursday against Ivory Coast. [Arab News]
“Consensus building is an art…OPEC+ is here to stay.”
–Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Energy Minister, in comments to reporters after a meeting in which Saudi Arabia and the UAE agreed to gradually add more oil supplies to the market, ending a two-week spat. The deal is evidence of the strong bonds between members, he added. [Bloomberg]
“To prevent crowding, gatherings, long waiting under preventive measures to fight coronavirus and to maintain the health of shoppers, we urge shop owners and businesses to remain open through all working hours, including prayer times.”
–The Council of Saudi Chambers, in a decision taken that will end decades where all shops had to shut for at least half an hour during daily Muslim prayers. It is the latest in a series of social and economic reforms intended to modernise the conservative kingdom and boost the private sector’s contribution Saudi Arabia’s economy. [Reuters]
“There are certain sectors of the economy for which batteries will not work, such as shipping, aviation, and steel production. Energy analysts refer to these sectors as “the final 15%” of global energy demand.”
-Marcus Chenevix reports on recent plans to develop hydrogen production in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “Hydrogen production will always be a difficult and intensive industrial process – much more akin to the petrochemical polymer industry than the oil industry.” [AGSIW]
“There will be multiple energy transitions in the Middle East, and this short-term hike in oil prices could provide a boost to future cleaner energy planning for some, and entrench patterns of poor government delivery of services and fiscal mismanagement for others.”
-Karen Young examines energy investment trends and sees potential for ‘equity gaps’ globally and especially in the Middle East. [Middle East Institute]
“They’ll probably wait to see how MSC gets on, but Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and the grand voyage lines like Cunard, Princess, Azamara and so on are likely to feature Saudi ports calls and possibly even departures in the near future.”
-Shaun Ebelthite, the editor of Cruise Arabia Online, commenting MSC Cruises plan for the MSC Bellisima to homeport in Jeddah while it’s MSC Magnifica will offer seven-day, Red Sea cruises through March. A third ship, the MSC Virtuosa, will make weekly calls at Saudi Arabia’s Arabian Gulf port of Dammam from December through March during Middle East cruises to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. [Travel Weekly]
“The message that we very strongly got was that the expenditure path set out in the budget will be stuck to, regardless of where oil prices go to, which I think is the right thing to do.”
–Tim Callen, the IMF mission chief to the kingdom, said in an interview late Monday. Saudi Arabia is likely to use surplus oil revenue to rebuild reserves, breaking with its historical practice of boosting spending when crude prices rise, Bloomberg reports. Callen added that sticking to targeted spending “allows you then to really build the financial assets that have been run down in recent years.” [Bloomberg]
“If we were able to create a well-designed interface to a central bank digital currency, we could do for the transfer of value what the internet did for the transfer of information, which is create a platform for innovation.”
–Neha Narula, head of Project Hamilton, a U.S. Federal Reserve collaboration with MIT on building a central bank digital currency. More than 60 countries and jurisdictions are currently researching or deploying their own digital tender. Fed chair Jerome Powell has commented that, “it’s more important to get it right than to be first.” [Quartz]
