“Why should we work with Saudi Arabia and her leaders, even knowing that their track record on human rights is challenging? These are serious issues, and should not be dismissed, but when someone moves forward in a positive direction, we should affirm those steps. The changes in Saudi Arabia are real; both those from the West who visit see it, as do citizens of the Saudi kingdom.”
–Bob Roberts, Evangelical pastor, writes that engagement with people of other faiths will lead to friendships – and that has to power to change the world [All Arab]
“We are witnessing a transformation of Muslim-Jewish relations across the globe. It is encouraging and exciting to see the Muslim World League and Saudi Arabia exercise leadership to promote cooperation among the faith communities of the world. The work of forging a multifaith alliance against extremism and hatred of all kinds, including antisemitism, must include traditional religious voices along with more liberal expressions. Every country and faith community has a role to play.”
-Rabbi David Rosen, American Jewish Committee’s Director of International Interreligious Relations attending the “Promoting Common Values Among the Followers of Religions” conference hosted by the World Muslim League in Riyadh. [Yahoo]
“Aramco established the trading unit in 2011 and now trades everything from crude oil to LNG, according to its website. National oil companies in the world’s biggest crude-producing region have added trading arms in a bid to squeeze more revenue from each barrel and expand from simply exporting the raw commodity.”
-Bloomberg: ‘Saudi Aramco Weighs IPO of Trading Unit Amid Oil Boom’ [Bloomberg]
“Nothing about the current environment is promoting investments in fossil fuels. It’s a 15 to 20 year payback on most of these investments.”
-Fernando Valle, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, in his latest piece: The US Can’t Make Enough Fuel and There’s No Fix in Sight [Bloomberg]
“Despite mounting international pressure and falling oil production, Russian exports have so far held up by and large. But now major trading houses are winding down deals ahead of a 15 May deadline to halt all transactions with state-controlled Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Transneft. Following a supply decline of nearly 1 mb/d in April, losses could expand to around 3 mb/d during the second half of the year.”
Oil Market Report – May 2022 [International Energy Agency]
“Our partnership with Aramco and Golf Saudi has definitely been key in the development of the Tour over the last few years. I mean, through COVID in 2020, these players only had 19 tournaments and were playing for EUR11 million ($11.4 million). Now, in 2022, we have 34 tournaments and (are) playing for EUR27 million ($28 million). I think Aramco and the Aramco Team Series has been a key player in our success in the last few years, despite COVID.”
Alexandra Armas, CEO of the Ladies European Tour. [Arab News]
“AlUla will never be a mass tourism destination, it will have between one and two million annual visitors by 2030. That helps us to offer individualised experiences. That doesn’t mean everyone will have personalized service, but it does mean you’ll be in a quiet place where people can have individual, private experiences.”
–Phillip Jones, Chief Destination Marketing and Management Officer, Al-Ula Development. [Hotelier]
“Our partnership with Aramco and Golf Saudi has definitely been key in the development of the Tour over the last few years. I mean, through COVID in 2020, these players only had 19 tournaments and were playing for EUR11 million ($11.4 million). Now, in 2022, we have 34 tournaments and (are) playing for EUR27 million ($28 million). I think Aramco and the Aramco Team Series has been a key player in our success in the last few years, despite COVID.”
-Alexandra Armas, CEO of the Ladies European Tour.
“Look at the differentials for diesel, for gasoline. Look at the margins now — $40bl, $50/bl, $60/bl. I am a dinosaur, but I have never seen such things, ever… This is an industry which is all about signals. If the signals are not conducive, people will not invest. And if they don’t invest, there are consequences: a lack of available supply, which becomes inflationary.”
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. [Argus Media]
“The world needs to wake up. The world is running out of energy capacity at all levels. It is a reality. The world needs to work collectively, comprehensively in salvaging the world economy from supply chain issues, including energy.”
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman speaking at the World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi. [S&P Global]
