GCC to discuss single fuel price

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Oil ministers in GCC countries will discuss steps that have been taken toward finalizing a study on a single price of petroleum products in GCC countries next Tuesday during the 32nd Petroleum Cooperation Committee meeting. The meeting will be held in Riyadh at the headquarters of the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Oil analyst Rashid Abanami expects the process to contribute to saving 30 percent of the total consumption of fuel in Saudi Arabia, which is smuggled to neighboring countries to be sold at higher prices. “A unified market for petroleum products could exist within the next six years,” said Abanami.

…

Continue reading »

UAE’s nuclear programme follows highest safety standards

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

The UAE has affirmed that it has taken significant steps to develop its nuclear power programme following the highest safety standards in accordance with international best practices and guidelines laid down by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “My delegation would like to reiterate the UAE’s commitment to working with the IAEA towards the strengthening of nuclear safety, security and safeguards worldwide, while promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” said Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA, in the UAE statement at the 57th session of the IAEA’s general conference in Vienna on Wednesday.

…

Continue reading »

UAE to announce bank exposure rules

Source: The Peninsula (Read full story)

The United Arab Emirates central bank is expected to announce within one or two months rules restricting the amount of exposure which banks can have to the debt of government-related entities (GREs), a top commercial banker said yesterday. Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, head of the national banking industry association and chief executive of Mashreq Bank, told reporters that each bank would then discuss the time frame for its compliance with the central bank on a case-by-case basis. “It is already finalised by the central bank. Now the central bank just has to announce it – I think in the next month, two months max. It’s already passed the board,” he said.

…

Continue reading »

GCC security pact endorsed

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

 Saudi Arabia ratified a GCC security agreement on Monday, which was passed by the Supreme Council at the Gulf Cooperation Council during its 33rd session held in Bahrain last December. “The agreement focuses on cooperation among member countries in law enforcement and information exchange,” said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja. Member countries will cooperate with one another in tracking down criminals and law violators irrespective of their nationalities. The agreement also allows GCC countries to take action against citizens and foreigners who try to interfere in their internal affairs. They will also exchange information related to wanted citizens and foreigners.

…

Continue reading »

UAE stocks rally on Syria deal

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Dubai shares recorded a strong rally on Sunday as the threat of an imminent attack on Syria eased following an agreement between the US and Russia to destroy the strife-torn country’s chemical weapons. The benchmark DFM General Index, which had been on a consistent slide over the past several weeks since reaching a five-year high on August 2, jumped 4.8 per cent to 2,659.93 points, the highest in almost three weeks as shares in Union Properties hit their highest level in more than three years.

…

Continue reading »

Republic of Yemen could soon be no more

Source: The National (Read full story)

Delegates at reconciliation talks in Yemen have agreed in principle to move the country from a republic to a federal system. Yemen’s foreign minister, Abu Bakr Al Qirbi, this week said the delegates had agreed to the idea of adopting a federal system in his country of 25 million people. Yemen has been a republic since 1990, when it was created out of the merger of independent states in the north and south. But under the new system, political power would devolve to regions, governorates and states, with the central government keeping control over vital portfolios such as defence and the country’s currency. Key details for the move remain to be ironed out as the talks near their scheduled end next week.

…

Continue reading »

U.S. ties in Persian Gulf at risk as Obama allows space for Russian-Syrian plan

Source: The Washington Post (Read full story)

…

“The gulf feels misled,” said Mustafa Alani, a Geneva-based security analyst with the Gulf Research Center, referring to the U.S. shift. “Certainly, there’s a fear that this means Iran will be much stronger. Strategically speaking, the Iranian position is going to be enhanced in the region.” One of the main worries for the Gulf Cooperation Council, he added, is “that Syria and its allies have gained the upper hand.” At a summit of the council’s six member countries in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Tuesday night, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmad al-Khalifa called for “deterrent measures” against Syria, telling reporters that the Russian proposal is “all about chemical weapons but does not stop the bloodshed.”

…

Continue reading »