“A survey of 35 economists and analysts forecast Brent crude would average $73.57 a barrel in 2022, about 2% lower than $75.33 consensus in November. It is the first reduction in the 2022 price forecast since the August poll.”
[Reuters]
“In the last few years, the pipeline of green hydrogen projects has grown five-fold: 350 projects are now slated through 2030 expected to receive $500 billion in financing and subsidies. Japan, Canada, and the EU all have formal roadmaps for a hydrogen economy. The US Department of Energy has a “Hydrogen Shot” initiative to achieve $1/kg by 2030. And China’s state-owned industries, mindful of the country’s 2060 net-zero target, have already announced massive green H₂ projects boasting 300 MW electrolyzers, dwarfing any of those in Europe.”
[Quartz]
“The oil and gas industry is on track to discover just 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) by the end of 2021, its worst performance in 75 years, according to the research firm Rystad Energy. The ratio of proven reserves to production, a measure of how much extractable oil remains in the ground relative to annual production, is now at its lowest level since 2011.”
[Quartz]
“After introducing subscription leasing in the UAE in early 2021, the company is now poised to bring this service to Saudi Arabia where the car rental and leasing market is expected to grow to $2.5 billion by 2026, India-based consultancy Mordor Intelligence said.”
The UAE’s car-sharing platform ekar is offering a car subscription leasing service across Saudi Arabia in partnership with some of the biggest vehicle rental companies in the kingdom. [The National]
“We grew up dying to go to the cinema and now it’s two blocks from my house.”
–Mohammad Makki with Telfaz11 recalled dodging the police, guerrilla style, to film the first season of his show “Takki,” about a group of Saudi friends navigating Saudi social constraints, a decade ago. Then, it was a low-budget YouTube series. Now, it is a Netflix hit. [New York Times]
“I will never forget the opportunity I had to witness this investment of music and progress in the Middle East… Saudi, you left a mark on my heart, I cannot wait to see what you are capable of contributing to the global dance music scene in the future.” Christina Hayek, recounting her experience at the MDL Beast Soundstorm Festival in Riyadh. [Your EDM]
“Artificial fir trees have sold out at LuLu Hypermarket here in the capital of a kingdom that until recently enforced a ban on public expressions of any religion besides Islam. Now, families can be found sifting through colored ornaments and decorative lights at LuLu beside a pyramid of Italian panettone fruitcakes and Cadbury chocolate yule logs.”
“[Sandstorm] attendance on the final day, Dec. 19, reached 152,000…bringing the total for all days to 732,000, as one of the largest music festivals in the world.”
-Turki Al-Shaikh, Saudi entertainment authority director, via Twitter. [Amwaj]
“Iran and Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), better known as the Houthi movement, have conducted a campaign of high-profile attacks against civilian Saudi Arabian and coalition targets in the Gulf…The Houthis are orchestrating an increasingly intense irregular warfare campaign against Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf using sophisticated cruise and ballistic missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones), and other stand-off weapons.”
–The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in a new report, The Iranian and Houthi War against Saudi Arabia, documenting the known attempted and successful Houthi attacks across Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen. [CSIS]
“The pop-up event, which runs until the end of January 2022, is located inside the high-end Kingdom Tower Mall in the nation’s capital city. Lucid’s Studio showrooms allow customers to learn about and interact with the company’s vehicles through a mix of virtual reality and real-world samples.”
–Torque News. Lucid plans to open a $3 billion Saudi manufacturing facility akin to its AMP-1 factory in Casa Grande, Arizona by the year 2024. Lucid’s flagship model Lucid Air which has a price of just over $70,000, is due to launch early next year. [Torque News]
