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Saudi Aramco will seek to manage rapid industry change

Location:

SAUDI ARABIA

Yet this follows a government directive that the company cancel increases in its maximum sustainable capacity (MSC) of crude oil production from 12 million barrels per day (b/d…

Eased travel to China will have limited success

Location:

CHINA

Measures include relaxed visa requirements and improved payment options. Visitors from some European and South-east Asian countries have joined a group of 17 other countries that…

Gulf states: Western investment drive will accelerate

Location:

GULF STATES

This trend was sustained in 2023 with USD23bn worth of investments in US markets alone. However, Gulf investments are subject increasingly to greater Western scrutiny because of…

Turkish foreign policy will seek a power balance

Location:

TURKEY

Turkey’s confrontation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a key driver of regional and to some extent international policy. Erdogan’s comfortable victory in the May 2023…

Trade will tighten Gulf-South Korea relations

Location:

GULF STATES/SOUTH KOREA

Previously, in December 2023, South Korea signed a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), only the bloc’s second with a major…

Doha will hedge against LNG dependence

Location:

QATAR

Earlier in January, it awarded contracts to increase and sustain output at its main oilfield. Doha wants to dilute its overdependence on a single commodity and to extract value…

China will continue neutrality on Gaza war

Location:

CHINA

China has not sought to rival US efforts to manage the Israel-Gaza crisis. It has concentrated on deepening economic ties with the Gulf region while Washington faces growing…

Mining will stoke tensions in Ecuador

Location:

ECUADOR

The move raises risks for Noboa, who presented himself during his presidential campaign as environmentally aware. An ongoing dispute in Cotopaxi between indigenous communities and…

Fast Ecuador security wins stoke longer-term issues

Location:

ECUADOR

He declared a state of emergency on January 9, giving the military a central role in tackling the crisis. The militarisation of security policy has reduced crime and increased…

Bahrain's energy transition will be slow

Location:

BAHRAIN

Its sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, announced on November 30 that it was establishing a USD750mn fund to invest in climate-related projects. On the same day, the Bahraini…