Markets Qatar sets up $200m fund to drive trade in Doha stocks Qatar Investment Authority has launched a $200 million fund for Doha-listed stocks as part of plans to reinvigorate trading on the country’s bourse. Trading turnover on the Qatar Stock Exchange has dropped from QAR160.4 billion ($44.1 billion) in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine boosted the prices of Gulf hydrocarbon exports, spurring local, regional and […] February 8, 2024
Oil & Gas QatarEnergy to sell cheaper LNG to India’s Petronet QatarEnergy has renewed its contract to supply 7.5 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas to Indian importer Petronet LNG. The 20-year contract, which will begin in May 2028, is reportedly valued at $78 billion – significantly less than the agreement it will replace. Petronet could save around $6 billion over the contract term, […] February 7, 2024
Opinion Energy Hey Joe, your LNG plan could be downright dangerous Joe Biden's 'pause' on LNG exports seems to be about the election, not energy policy February 5, 2024
Oil & Gas Qatar awards contracts for oilfield expansion QatarEnergy has awarded contracts worth $6 billion for the third development phase at its largest oilfield, Al Shaheen. The deals are part of the Ru’ya project, designed to increase Al Shaheen’s production capacity by about 100,000 barrels per day. The third phase is intended to produce 550 million barrels of oil over five years, with […] February 1, 2024
Analysis Health Gulf embraces a personalised approach to healthcare The Gulf is shifting towards a more personalised approach to healthcare, but the growth of the sector faces challenges in terms of talent and data management according to experts. Traditional medicine tends to address only the initial health issues without tailoring solutions to the unique requirements of each patient, says Vadim Fedotov, CEO of Bioniq, […] February 1, 2024
Opinion Health How tech is reinventing regional healthcare Local governments are leveraging AI to shape the future of medicine January 29, 2024
Oil & Gas Italy forced to wait as Qatar reroutes LNG vessels The conflict in the Red Sea has forced QatarEnergy to delay shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe, with Italy the first country to be directly affected. Italian energy company Edison said this week that a cargo scheduled to arrive at Italy’s Adriatic LNG terminal in Rovigo had been cancelled. According to a message […] January 26, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Finance UK steps up hunt for Mena projects with £50bn budget The UK’s export credit agency is stepping up its search for “transformational” projects to finance across the Middle East and North Africa and has a potential war chest of about £50 billion ($63 billion). Since 2018, UK Export Finance has completed £11 billion worth of business and delivered thousands of jobs for UK businesses related […] January 25, 2024
Finance Qatar National Bank raises $1bn from 5-year eurobonds Qatar National Bank, the Gulf region’s biggest bank by assets, has raised $1 billion through its eurobond medium-term note programme. The bond was issued on January 23 2024 and matures on January 30 2029, with a coupon rate of 4.875 percent a year, the state-owned Qatar News Agency reported, quoting a statement by the bank. […] January 25, 2024
Energy Qatar to sign ‘cheaper’ LNG deal with India shortly State-run Qatar Energy is expected to sign a long-term deal within weeks to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Indian buyers on cheaper and more flexible terms than existing contracts, according to a news report. The Indian companies and QatarEnergy have agreed on terms and a contract could be signed by the end of this […] January 21, 2024
Finance Qatar to launch its first bond issuance in four years Qatar will sell its first green bond soon and the first external debt issuance in four years, the country’s finance minister has said. “We’re ready to do it very soon,” Ali Al-Kuwari told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We are not hungry for money but it will be mainly to send […] January 18, 2024
Finance QIA will support London’s Canary Wharf says CEO Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will continue to support London’s Canary Wharf Group (CWG) project as a long-term shareholder, CEO Mansoor Al Mahmoud has confirmed. The sector contains “a little bit of risk” because of the “leverage and cost of funding,” he told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos. However, the fund has […] January 17, 2024
Oil & Gas Low LNG demand cushions Europe from Red Sea issues Low demand and healthy natural gas inventory levels have offset concerns over the Red Sea crisis, leaving markets cool-headed, energy experts said. Europe’s benchmark natural gas price, Dutch TTF, traded at €29.99 ($32.65) per megawatt-hour on Tuesday as industrial demand weakens and stockpiles grow, despite the cold spell. “Demand has so far disappointed, as households […] January 16, 2024
Banking & Finance Qatar National Bank’s profit rises 8% to $4.14bn in 2023 Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest Gulf bank by assets, said 2023 net profit rose eight percent to QR15.5 billion ($4.14 billion), driven by loan growth and higher operating income. Operating income jumped 11 percent year on year to QR39.1 billion, the bank said in a statement. Total assets stood at QR1.23 trillion by the […] January 12, 2024
Tourism Qatar’s visitor arrivals reach a five-year high in 2023 Qatar received more than four million visitors in 2023, surpassing the annual visitor numbers of the previous five years. The positive momentum follows the success of the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 and the government’s efforts to bolster tourism, state-run Qatar Tourism said in a statement. Qatar last year introduced the Hayya platform to streamline […] January 2, 2024
Energy QatarEnergy signs 5-year crude supply deal with Shell State-owned QatarEnergy has signed a five-year crude supply agreement with Shell in Singapore. The company will supply up to 18 million barrels of Qatar Land and Qatar Marine crude oils each year to Shell International Eastern Trading Company starting in January. “We are delighted to sign our first-ever five-year crude sales agreement. This agreement further […] December 29, 2023
Opinion Aviation Middle East aviation prepares for take-off in 2024 2023 has just been a starter. The really impressive stuff is yet to come December 26, 2023
Sustainability Doha-based carbon credit group signs West Africa deal The Qatar-backed international carbon credit programme Global Carbon Council (GCC) has signed a deal to develop decarbonisation projects in West Africa. The Doha-based GCC signed the agreement at the UN climate conference Cop28 in Dubai last week with the West African Alliance for Carbon Markets and Climate Finance (WAA), a group of 16 West African […] December 18, 2023
Finance UAE and Qatar keep rates steady in line with US Fed The central banks of the UAE and Qatar have followed the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. The Central Bank of the UAE maintained its base rate on overnight deposit facility at 5.4 percent, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The central bank also decided to maintain the interest rate on […] December 14, 2023
Business of Sport Qatari owners of PSG sell minority stake in French club The Qatari owners of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will sell a minority stake in the French football club to US investment group Arctos Partners. No details were disclosed in the official statement. However, the Financial Times reported that the talks started a year ago and Arctos will buy up to 12.5 percent, citing two informed sources. […] December 8, 2023
Finance Turkey and Qatar aim to double trade to $5bn Turkey and Qatar have set a $5 billion bilateral trade target, more than double the level reported last year, a Turkish minister has confirmed. The figure is expected to be reached once the trade and economic partnership agreement between the two countries comes into force, Turkish trade minister Ömer Bolat said on the social messaging […] December 6, 2023
Saudi schools ‘doing better at maths but still lagging behind’ Saudi Arabia’s schools have improved in the past few years, but are still below the international average and a long way behind the best performers, according to the OECD. Teenagers from 81 countries were tested for the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which published its 2022 report on Tuesday. The tests measured the […] December 5, 2023
