Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55341586
Caption:

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair speaks during the opening of a forum to discuss emerging trends in hydrocarbon production and use in the region, in Kuwait City, on January 21, 2015. (AFP Photo/Yasser Al-Zayyat)

Oil prices rise above $60 for first time this year

by Wael Mahdi | Feb 18, 2015 | Business

Kuwait City, Asharq Al-Awsat—Global oil prices rose above 60 US dollars a barrel for the first time this year on Monday, on news of a sharp drop in US oil drilling activity and falling output from Libya, though they slipped slightly again during trading on Tuesday....

Media ID: 55335922
Caption:

A gas flame is seen in the desert near the Khurais oilfield, about 99 miles (160 kilometers) from Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, on June 23, 2008. (Reuters/Ali Jarekji)

Oil prices to reach over 70 dollars by 2019: IMF

by Fatah Al-Rahman Youssef | Feb 2, 2015 | Business

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Oil prices will rise gradually over the next five years to reach just over 70 US dollars a barrel in 2019, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on Sunday. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Raja Al-Marzouqi, the IMF’s...

Media ID: 55340365
Caption:

Baiji oil refinery, north of Baghdad, on December 8, 2014. (Reuters/Ahmed Saad)

Iraq offers Saudi-style February discounts to oil customers in Europe

by Wael Mahdi | Jan 13, 2015 | Business

Al-Khobar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq has offered discounts to European purchasers of its oil in February, similar to those offered by Saudi Arabia, amid signs of intense competition between OPEC’s two largest producers. In a statement released on Sunday, Iraq’s state-owned...

Media ID: 55340085
Caption:

File photo of Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian speaking during a news conference in Moscow on December 18, 2012. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov/Files)

Opinion: Saudi Arabia will not save Iran’s economy

by Salman Al-dossary | Jan 5, 2015 | Opinion

Who would have believed it? Iran needs a savior, but seeks help not from its main strategic ally Russia, nor from its friend and partner Iraq, nor from Venezuela, Turkey, or even Oman or Qatar; no, from its old rival, Saudi Arabia. Speaking to Reuters last week,...

Media ID: 55338962
Caption:

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Ibrahim Naimi speaks to journalists prior to the start of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Thursday Nov. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

Saudi’s Naimi says prices will stimulate demand, confident market will recover

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Dec 21, 2014 | Business

Abu Dhabi, Reuters—Saudi Arabia’s oil minister on Sunday defended OPEC’s decision to keep output steady despite the biggest market slump in years, saying current prices would help global economic growth and petroleum demand, while Arab states would escape...