Saudi Aramco is in early talks about further staggering payments for a controlling stake in local petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. as the collapse in oil prices puts pressure on its finances. State-owned Aramco is weighing pushing out payments for the 70% holding in the petrochemicals maker and reducing …
Read More »Trump, Saudi King Reaffirm Ties amid Tensions over Saudi’s Oil Output
U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman spoke by phone on May 8 and “reaffirmed the strong United States-Saudi defense partnership,” the White House said, amid tensions over Saudi’s oil output. The conversation came a day after a variety of reports said the U.S. plans to withdraw two …
Read More »Saudi Arabia Appears to Be Winning the Fight for Crude Sales
State oil producer Saudi Aramco slashed its official selling prices for April crude sales to some of the lowest levels in decades, undercutting rivals. The uneasy truce that settled over oil markets this month as some of the world’s largest producers began cutting output belies the raging competition among exporters …
Read More »Saudi Shift from Price War Has Asia Oil Buyers Stewing over Rise
Saudi Arabia’s boost to prices of most of its oil is signaling an end to a destructive price war, but it’s left Asian buyers less than impressed. The increase was a surprise to Asian customers, which were expecting another cut to prices, according to ten traders surveyed by Bloomberg, just …
Read More »Saudi Arabia Could Emerge As Victor from Oil Price Wars
Saudi Arabia will emerge as the victor of the oil price war that sent global crude markets into a spin last month, according to two experts in the energy industry. Jason Bordoff, professor and founding director of the Center for Global Energy policy at New York’s Columbia University, said: “While …
Read More »Will Aramco Cut Its Dividend?
It is becoming increasingly clear that the ongoing oil demand destruction, COVID-19 lockdowns and financial crisis are going to significantly impact Saudi Arabia. In a dramatic appearance, Saudi Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al Jadaan, stated that the Kingdom is going to take any measures necessary to counter the effects of …
Read More »Saudi, Russia, US Share Fight Intensifies in Oil Market
The world’s three biggest oil-producing countries, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US have intensified their fight for a greater share of the global oil market as sluggish oil demand worldwide continues with low crude prices. Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), oil consumption around the world has weakened over the …
Read More »Saudi Arabia Warns of Extreme Measures to Combat COVID-19, Oil Price Crash
Saudi Arabia’s finance minister has warned the kingdom needs to make “extreme” spending cuts to manage the economy during the COVID-19 crisis and oil price crash. “It is very important to take strict and extreme measures, which may be painful, but are necessary for public financial stability,” finance minister Mohammed …
Read More »Saudi Arabia Needs to Take Painful Measures to Address Economic Crisis
Finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that government spending would need to be “cut deeply”. Saudi Arabia will need to take “painful” measures and look for deep spending cuts as the kingdom faces a double crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the meltdown in global oil markets, its finance minister …
Read More »Saudi Arabia’s Outlook Cut to Negative by Moody’s
Saudi Arabia’s outlook was cut to negative from stable by Moody’s Investors Service after the crash in oil prices exposed the vulnerability of the kingdom’s finances amid the global pandemic and its reserves plunged to the lowest level in almost a decade. The rating company kept the sovereign at A1, …
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