Economics and Policy
Lebanon has officially launched the first oil and gas licensing round as officials warned that any delay in issuing the decrees by any new Cabinet could postpone the offshore drilling and exploration in the east Mediterranean.
Egypt’s economy is poised to grow by 3 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2014, a poll has suggested.
Libya is aiming to carry out sensitive fuel market reforms and end all subsidies within three years, the country’s oil minister has said.
Abu Dhabi is set to sign a deal to invest a reported $1.5bn in the UK alternative energy market, the UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change has confirmed.
The head of Lebanon’s National Audiovisual Media Council has urged Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to help radio and TV stations obtain soft loans from commercial banks to survive.
Companies and Business
Royal Dutch Shell has beaten France’s Total to a multi-billion-dollar project to develop a tricky gas field in Abu Dhabi.
Emirates Aluminium has completed a significant portion of the $4 billion dollar fundraising to expand its smelter development, with the remaining debt to be finalized in the coming weeks.
Qatar telecoms group Ooredoo reported a 13.6 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit, as increased revenue from Qatar, Iraq and Indonesia offset a sustained profit slump at its Kuwait and Oman units.
Mashreq, Dubai’s third-biggest lender by market value, on Tuesday reported a 57 per cent jump in first-quarter net profit as a result of higher operating income.
