World Cup Fever Spreads From Qatar in Tourism Boom – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– Match-day flights from major Middle Eastern cities will shuttle spectators to games, benefiting airlines, hotels and hospitality venues across nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
– The already popular tourism hub of Dubai stands to benefit the most. Of the more than 90 new flights that will land each day in the host city, Doha, about 40 will leave from the UAE.
– Dubai will be “the major gateway” to the World Cup, with probably more people coming through the city than Qatar, said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.
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Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund Considers $3 Billion Pakistan Investment – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– The South Asian nation will also get $1 billion in oil financing from Saudi Arabia and a similar amount in investments from the United Arab Emirates.
– Prime Minister Sharif has been visiting Qatar ahead of an IMF board meeting next week that could lead to the release of $1.2 billion in financing.
– The decision came during a meeting between ruler Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
– The fund may end up investing more or less than $3 billion depending on the asset valuations and opportunities.
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Saudi Arabia’s EV Battery Bets Are a Warning to Those Going Slow on Clean Energy – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– So far, besides China and its behemoth battery makers, few others have been able to achieve manufacturing scale.
– The kingdom has started assessing and issuing mining licenses quickly to tap into its mineral resources, with an estimated potential value of $1.3 trillion
– It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, if firms and nations soon end up swapping their dependence on Saudi Arabian oil for critical battery materials, much like they’ve had to do with China.
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Saudi Prince Says Oil Futures Disconnect May Force OPEC+ Action – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– Prince Abdulaziz said futures prices don’t reflect the underlying fundamentals of supply and demand, which may require the group to tighten production when it meets next month to consider output targets.
– Benchmark crude oil futures have fallen more than 20% since early June on concern about the outlook for the global economy and the possibility of more Iranian oil coming onto the market.
– Still, open interest and trading volumes remain well below historical levels as the price swings caused by the war in Ukraine scare investors away.
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Iran May Drain Offshore Crude Oil Cache If Nuclear Deal Reached – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– About 93 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate are currently stored on vessels in the Persian Gulf, off Singapore and near China, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, while Vortexa Ltd. estimates the holdings at 60 to 70 million barrels
– The current volume of crude and condensate in onshore storages within Iran is estimated at about 48 million barrels, Kpler data showed, adding that the producer could be holding even more oil in some land storages around China.
– While Iran may aim to fill the void left by Russia in Europe, namely in Spain, Italy, Greece and even Turkey, Tehran would also attempt to reclaim share in the prized Asian market.
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Default Jitters Stalk Egypt, Sending Traders on Wild Ride – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
– The north African nation has become the latest symbol of the distress gripping poorer nations on the back of surging inflation, rising yields and a grinding down of global growth.
– The probability its government will fail to repay debt in the one year has surged to the highest since 2013, and to the region’s worst, based on a Bloomberg model
– said Callee Davis, an economist at Oxford Economics Africa. “If Egypt is unable to secure further external financing, the risk of a debt default will increase substantially.”
– Egypt has $83.3 billion of foreign-currency debt outstanding, including more than $5 billion of dollar- and euro-denominated securities coming due in the fourth quarter.
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