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Workers building a secondary school in Baghdad. Construction is one of the sectors driving an increase in Iraq's non-oil revenues

Iraq targets 20% non-oil revenue to close fiscal gap

Iraq has set a target to raise non-oil revenues to 20 percent of national income to tackle the country’s persistent budget deficit, a senior official has said. Non-oil revenues – which include tax and customs as well as earnings outside the hydrocarbon sector – rose to nearly 12 percent in the first nine months of […]

As costs of importing Middle Eastern oil rose, Europe added 162,000 bpd from Guyana and 60,000 bpd from the US

Middle East oil supplies to Europe drop, replaced by US

Middle East oil exports to Europe fell by nearly a quarter in 2024, replaced by US and South American supplies, as geopolitics in the Middle East reshaped transport routes. European oil refineries cut imports from the Middle East as a result of increased shipping prices, triggered by attacks on vessels along the Red Sea route […]

Saudi gap 2025: Construction in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme is contributing to its budget deficit

Saudi 2025 fiscal gap forecast could widen further

Saudi Arabia has assumed a deficit of nearly $27 billion in its 2025 budget but the actual gap is likely to widen by the end of the year, experts predict. When the world’s largest oil exporter announced the draft budget in September and then endorsed it in late November, it was expecting more oil earnings […]

Opec's oil quota for Iraq is lower than its production capacity, and it has granted new contracts such as with BP for development of Kirkuk

Iraq has a tough job to balance Opec quotas with its capacity goals

Iraq is facing some tough choices and conflicts when it comes to its national oil policy. While its oil production is expected to rise by only around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the next two years, in line with a new supply restraint accord by Opec+, it already has plans to boost output capacity […]

African man engineer use radio communication working at oil industrial

Nigeria targets Abu Dhabi for oil-backed loan

Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), is looking to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) as a potential source of financing as the African state strives to increase its crude oil production capacity. NNPC seeks to raise $2 billion through a syndicated crude oil-backed loan in an operation called Project Leopard. […]

Donald Trump during a tour of an oil facility in Texas in 2020. Opec+ plans to raise output in April 2025

Opec+ wary of rise in US oil output under Trump

Opec+ members are contemplating a renewed rise in US oil output when Donald Trump returns to the White House, delegates from the group said. More US oil would further erode Opec+ market share and hamper the producer group’s efforts to support prices. Opec+ pumps about half of the world’s oil and earlier this month delayed […]

UAE oil cut tanker

Oil shipments from UAE to Asia to be cut next year

The UAE is reducing its oil shipments early next year as Opec+ pushes for compliance with production cuts in order to try to stop prices falling. However it is unclear if this means that the country – Opec’s fifth largest producer – is cutting its output, analysts have told AGBI. Adnoc, the UAE’s state-owned oil […]

Egypt wind farm opec Zafarana Suez

Loan for Egypt wind farms passed by Opec Fund

A $40 million loan to Egypt to support the construction of two wind farms in the Gulf of Suez and Jabal Al-Zeit regions has been approved by the Opec Fund for International Development. The two wind farms, with a total capacity of 1.1GW, will provide energy to more than 1.3 million households and contribute to Egypt’s […]

Opec on Wednesday also cut its global oil demand growth forecast for the fifth consecutive month

IEA and Opec agree on one thing: 2024 demand was down

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) traditionally diverge strongly in their forecasts for the oil markets.  While this is still the case – the IEA’s 2024 forecast for oil demand growth is about half that of its oil producing rival – the duo’s latest monthly reports […]

An oil refinery in Wuhan, China. The sluggishness of the country's economy is a major factor in stagnating oil demand

Fear of oil-price collapse lurks behind Opec+ cuts decision

An Opec+ decision to delay raising oil output for another three months and extend the gradual phase-out of production cuts to the end of 2026 could crimp Saudi hopes for a major GDP boost – but shows how fearful oil states are of a price collapse.  Cuts were scheduled to begin unwinding from October 2024 […]

The oil market could now shift focus to the actions of US President-elect Donald Trump

Opec+ delays oil output hike until April

Opec+ on Thursday pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026 due to weak demand and booming production outside the group. Cuts had been scheduled to begin unwinding from October 2024 but a slowdown in […]

Muhammad Al Jasser of the Islamic Development Bank, second from left, at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Riyadh

Arab funds pledge $10bn to fight desertification

The Arab Coordination Group, an alliance of 10 development funds, is to provide $10 billion by 2030 to combat land degradation, desertification and drought, it was announced on the second day of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification event in Riyadh.  The commitment brings the total pledged to these interrelated causes at the two-week […]

Workers on an oil rig in New Mexico, US. The incoming Trump administration is giving Opec+ plenty to think about

Opec+ likely to adopt a wait-and-see strategy for 2025

Opec+ leaders have much to consider ahead of their meeting next week – little of it positive for flagging oil prices.  First, there is the prospect of a second presidential term for Donald Trump as leader of the world’s largest oil producer and exporter; second, an economic downturn in China that shows no sign of […]

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO director-general, said the potential escalation of conflicts in the Middle East could lead to further increases in transport and energy costs

WTO predicts Middle East trade slowdown in 2025

Lower oil prices, the potential for conflicts to escalate and the impact of a Trump presidency are factors supporting the World Trade Organization’s prediction that trade in the Middle East will slow down in 2025, experts have said.  In its latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, the WTO said Middle East exports will grow 5 […]

Chris Wright

Trump’s prospective energy team is a mixed blessing for Gulf

The nomination of a fossil fuels veteran and climate sceptic as US energy secretary is likely to chime with Gulf expectations that the second Trump administration will aggressively promote oil and gas as integral parts of the energy mix, according to industry observers. On Saturday President-elect Donald Trump named Chris Wright, the boss of fracking […]

Trump Iran oil

IEF head sees Gulf at the top of Trump’s agenda 

The head of the International Energy Forum has told AGBI he believes the Gulf states will benefit from Donald Trump’s election victory strategically and politically, as well as in terms of investment and trade. The IEF is headquartered in Riyadh and counts the energy ministers of 72 states as members. It describes itself as a […]

Trump Iran oil

Top of Trump’s to-do list: sanctions against Iran

Donald Trump’s second term as US president, which is due to start in January, is likely to bring a significant strengthening of sanctions against Iran and a resumption of the “maximum pressure policy”, industry experts believe. In his first term as president, Trump withdrew from the Joint Collective Plan of Action, a 2015 accord which […]

Saudi Arabia's finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan on stage at the FII conference. The country's revenue has risen 12%

Saudi Arabia’s deficit rises again as oil output cuts bite

Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit was SAR58 billion ($15.5 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, rising by SAR30 billion in the third quarter alone and confirming predictions of a funding crunch for the country’s giga-projects.  The finance ministry said in October that it expects to post an overall deficit of SAR118 billion this year […]

A worker at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, Iraq. Brent and WTI posted weekly declines of about 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively, last week

Oil gains 3% after Opec+ delays output hike

Oil prices rose about 3% on Monday on a decision by Opec+ to delay by a month plans to increase output, while the market braced for a crucial week that includes the US presidential election. US Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump remain virtually tied in opinion polls ahead of Tuesday’s election day, […]