Saudi Arabia

OPEC supply easing is more reset than U-turn

25 May 2018

Saudi Arabia and Russia may lift oil output by 1 million barrels per day. Though that could knock prices, production of the black stuff will be more in line with the cartel’s previously agreed curbs. It’s a more far-sighted plan than allowing the value of crude to keep rising.

OPEC high point is an Indian summer

16 May 2018

The cartel’s biggest member, Saudi Arabia, wants oil to reach $100 per barrel. West Texas bottlenecks offer hope prices could get close. But cyclical forces are at work. Fresh pipeline capacity will unleash a tidal wave of supply. With prices high, demand will fall, too.

Saudi bank merger hedges against homegrown risks

16 May 2018

SABB and Alawwal Bank’s all-share merger creates a $77 billion lender by assets, the kingdom’s third-largest. For major investors HSBC and RBS, synergies offset anaemic domestic loan growth. And if Saudi’s economic revival goes awry, it gives them a more valuable entity to sell.

Saudi risks squandering looming oil boon

14 May 2018

The scope to plug gaps left by sanctioned Iranian oil will help Riyadh’s budget. The surplus would be best spent on education and measures to grow the private sector. The danger is that the money will be used for flashy Vision 2030 state projects that look good but change little.

Saudi gets new license to be selfish over oil

9 May 2018

Since 2016 the kingdom has championed output cuts that have drained a supply glut and helped spur prices. Now that the U.S. President has amped up sanctions on Iran, Saudi can fill any gap left by lower Iranian exports. What it loses on price, it gains in volume and U.S. gratitude.

Qatar’s Rosneft stake is pricey insurance policy

5 May 2018

The Gulf state will take back 14 pct of the Russian state oil group after a $9 bln sale to China’s CEFC collapsed. That helps Qatar-backed Glencore keep a supply agreement with Rosneft. Firmer links with Moscow also give Saudi Arabia another reason to ease up on Doha.

Trump’s OPEC smackdown more relevant than it looks

20 Apr 2018

The president slammed the oil cartel for production cuts that spurred the highest oil prices since 2014. Whatever his intent, members meeting in Jeddah should be wary of leaving the field open for rivals. A U.S. shale-drilling frenzy would hurt prices more than a tweet.

Hadas: Even Trump can’t make graft great again

11 Apr 2018

Resistance to corruption is evident in cases against ex-leaders of South Korea, Brazil and South Africa. Old royal privileges make no sense in modern economies. U.S. officials and the corporate elite have strayed, but rising middle classes will keep straightening out the crooked.

Index inclusion promises Saudi a pre-Aramco bump

29 Mar 2018

FTSE Russell will add the kingdom to global and emerging-markets indexes. MSCI is likely to follow suit, which could steer billions in index funds to the Riyadh exchange. That will make the Saudi market more international even if Aramco’s privatization stays local – or on hold.

Cox: Aramco and Amazon encourage bad behavior

15 Mar 2018

Global financial capitals are prostituting themselves to accommodate the Saudi oil giant's IPO. Amazon's competition for a second HQ is provoking U.S. municipalities to similarly ingratiate themselves. This "Aramazon" effect exemplifies how races to the bottom get started.

Anglo-Saudi trade love-in starts from low base

8 Mar 2018

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Theresa May are aiming for 65 bln pounds of new trade and investment. The kingdom’s liberalisation push could help post-Brexit Britain. But bilateral trade is just 8 bln pounds a year. And both leaders face challenges at home.

OPEC’s widened tent would still be built on sand

16 Feb 2018

Oil-exporting countries are working to expand their alliance with Russia and others longer term, the UAE oil minister says. That’s just as production numbers show U.S. drillers are set to pump more oil this year. OPEC’s tent can widen, but it will still face a production gale.

Google offers Aramco unlikely route to IPO heaven

1 Feb 2018

The Saudi oil producer is in talks with the search engine’s owner to create a tech hub in the kingdom, says the WSJ. There could be a secondary benefit. If investors valued Aramco the way they do Alphabet, the $2 trln valuation Riyadh wants from a future IPO would be a shoo-in.

MbS gains either way from Saudi anti-graft endgame

29 Jan 2018

Prince Alwaleed is free after months of detention. If the billionaire and fellow freed royals have paid up to leave the Ritz-Carlton/jail, it will help Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman repair his Kingdom’s finances. Even if he has paid nothing, the power play has served a purpose.

Aramco IPO beggars needn’t feel like losers

19 Jan 2018

BAML, UBS and Barclays have missed the cut to be global coordinators on the Saudi oil giant’s mega-listing, Reuters reports. Forgoing big fees from a $100 billion IPO will be cause for garment rending. Then again Saudi is a risky client and the process is replete with uncertainty.

Our 2018 predictions on Reuters TV

31 Dec 2017

From the CEOs who should run for U.S. president, to the banks that ought to be sizing up mergers, our writers give their take on the coming year in a series of Reuters video reports.

Apple and Saudi test out their comfort zones

28 Dec 2017

Saudi Arabia’s large population and income make it logical that the smartphone giant is in talks to open a shop. Enticing a cutting-edge global tech firm would also gloss the crown prince’s rule and modernizing campaign. There are risks for both; Saudi’s gamble may be bigger.

Viewsroom: Saudi Aramco’s path may lead to China

21 Dec 2017

That the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will join Riyadh in hosting the world’s largest IPO is one of Breakingviews’ 2018 predictions. We also explain the method to our fortune-telling and lay out why China will win the 5G standards race and why Wall Street will learn to love bitcoin.

Saudi Aramco’s backup IPO plan runs through China

19 Dec 2017

Venue shopping is proving difficult for Saudi's national oil giant. London's listing rules - and Qatar’s investment in the LSE - will be hard to overcome. Legal risks make New York iffy. A Hong Kong float, supported by a pipeline of cash from China, may be the least-bad option.

Leonardo is a masterpiece of Saudi contradictions

7 Dec 2017

Crown Prince Mohammed bought the $450 mln “Salvator Mundi,” a report says. The heir to an absolute monarchy professes to be a reformer and corruption fighter, yet is spending with unseen extravagance. That may not go down well at home, or with potential investors in Aramco.