“The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday upped its average Brent crude oil price assumption for 2022 to $79.40 a barrel, but predicted a rally may ease off as prices that hit a three-year high last month push up global production. Brent is expected to average $71.50 a barrel this year, it added, in a rarely published take on oil prices. The average annual oil price last broke above $80 in 2014.”
[Reuters]
“In Arabic, there is a wide chasm between oral and written forms of the language. While in certain formal settings, such as lectures or news reports, people speak in a manner similar to that in which they write, the spoken version of the language that dominates daily life is almost a distinct language to written Arabic: the syntax and vocabulary are very different.”
–Omar Al-Ubaydli worries that, “…many young elites in the Gulf are proficient in the English language, but are alarmingly weak in Arabic, especially in written form.” [Al-Arabiya]
“If the success of an international agreement can be measured in its ability to disappoint everyone equally, the Glasgow accord could be seen as a triumph. From a scientific point of view, we are back in the position where the science is ever clearer but the politics is still worryingly murky.”
–Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading. [CNN]
“If the text that is currently on the table withstands the battering that it may get – yes, we are holding on by our fingernails.”
–Simon Stiell, Grenada’s climate minister, when asked if the latest proposal kept the 1.5C target within reach. The latest COP26 draft statement attempts to ensure the world will tackle global warming fast enough to stop it becoming catastrophic, is a balancing act – trying to take in the demands of climate-vulnerable nations, the world’s biggest polluters, and nations whose economies rely on fossil fuels. [Reuters]
“If you had asked me even a year ago, at COP26 will we see India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Russia, walking out with commitment to get to net zero emissions? I would have said that that’d be very optimistic. It’s really evidence of a tipping point dynamic where something seems impossible and becomes possible.”
-Thomas Hale, associate professor in global public policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, part of the Oxford Net Zero research project, set up to study the world’s progress on cutting emissions. [Time]
“The language of the press is almost the language of war… I’m not saying it’s a non-story; I’m not suggesting that. I’m just saying, I think all this will be doing is reflecting a sizeable market awakening to some extent, or at least creating the ability for companies to invest capital, human and otherwise. I don’t understand the words of threat in reference to other regional centres… I would have thought this is fantastic news for all parts of the region.”
–Sachin Kerur, head of the Middle East region for Reed Smith in Dubai, commenting on Saudi Arabia’s plan to expand the number of corporations with ‘regional headquarters’ in the kingdom. [Law.com]
“We had the studios come down to visit us here in Saudi Arabia the week before last. We have a couple of studio films in the lineup. I expect that in the next one or two years we’ll have all studios with a presence here in one way or another. The Saudi market is growing and has huge promise. There is a population of more than 33 million people, and more than 2,400 screens are planned in the next few years alone.”
–Shivani Pandya Malhotra, managing director of the Red Sea International Film Festival, Saudi Arabia’s first ever film festival. Malhotra added that while the Festival is “sensitive to the environment” with respect to content “but we don’t have any restrictions. We’ll be showing films in their entirety.” [Deadline]
“As it stands, the only global hub city between Cairo and Mumbai is Dubai, so it would be in the region’s interest to see another complimentary hub, be it Riyadh or another city in Saudi Arabia. History shows us that regional hub cities often compliment and support one another’s growth, rather than ‘rival’ each other. The trifectas of Paris, London and Frankfurt, or indeed Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur give us a glimpse of what the region’s economic landscape may look like in the future.”
-Faisal Durrani, head of research for Middle East, Knight Frank. [Arab News]
“Al Baik is one of the few with a roped-off queuing system, with security staff at the restaurant door. In recent weeks, patrons have lined up for up to an hour in temperatures of 100 degrees.”
-Rory Jones, The Wall Street Journal. Among the hundreds of national pavilions at the World’s Fair in Dubai the 47-year-old Saudi fast-food chicken restaurant, Al-Baik, is drawing some of the longest lines. [WSJ]
“Overall U.S. crude production rose last week to 11.5 million barrels per day, according to latest U.S. Energy Department figures, inching closer to its peak of about 13 million bpd before the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. More than 70% of U.S. output comes from shale production.”
-Liz Hampton and Sabrina Valle, reporters for Reuters. U.S. shale oil production is anticipated to increase as prices rise. [Reuters]
