 | | | Matein Khalid | | | Posted:22/2/12 | | It is ironic that Brent crude has risen to as high as $120 even though the supply-demand fundamentals in the wet barrel (physical crude) trading markets continue to erode. This disconnect in the world’s most valuable, liquid commodity market is a testament to Iran geopolitical risk that has created a supply shock premium on the markets, particularly after 100 VLCC’s (supertankers) have now refused to load Iranian crude at Kharg Island in deference to draconian US/EU sanctions. This supply risk also explains |
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 | | | Gulf Intelligence | | | Posted:19/2/12 | | (Reuters) China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, gathered with U.S. agricultural officials in America's grainbelt on Thursday and stressed their shared interests in fostering increased trade in farm goods. Extending his visit to the top U.S. soybean- and corn-growing state of Iowa, Xi and Chinese Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu met with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Des Moines to kick off what was billed as the first-ever U.S.-China Agricultural Symposium. Xi, China's vice president, then |
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| | | Matein Khalid | | | Posted:14/2/12 | | Saudi Arabia will increasingly define the economic and security architecture of the Middle East as the US withdraws its combat troops from Iraq and the Israel-Palestine peace process degenerates into diplomatic deep freeze. The fall of Hosni Mubarak and the resurgent threat from Iran has convinced Saudi Arabia to adopt bolder policies to preserve the geopolitical status quo. This was the reason Saudi Arabia intervened in Bahrain, upgraded its energy infrastructure links with China, negotiated a $60 billion |
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 | | | Pascal Lamy | | | Posted:13/2/12 | | Back in 2007, the Economist placed a very provocative title on its cover: Is it the “End of Cheap Food,” it asked. I would argue that we need to start by reframing the question if our goal is to achieve long-term food security. Food prices, their ups and downs, or “volatility” as many now like to say, are but a manifestation of the underlying fundamentals of the food market. It is to those fundamentals that we must turn our attention. To explain. Back in 2008, the world faced what it called a “food pr |
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| | | Matein Khalid | | | Posted:30/1/12 | | The geopolitical wild card in crude oil is the West’s confrontation with Iran as US/EU sanctions gut its economy, banking system, foreign trade and oil exports. The Irani riyal has lost 50% of its value against the dollar and hyperinflation has devastated the Teheran bazaar merchants, whose money bankrolled the clerical elite of Qom’s revolt against the Pahlavi shahs that culminated in revolution in 1979. Iran’s threat to disrupt the oil tanker shipping sea lanes in the Straits of Hormuz will mean war even |
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 | | | World Economic Forum | | | Posted:26/1/12 | | Technologies exist to increase output from farms, but other issues such as logistics and corruption create challenges. One-third of the world’s population lives on small farms. For food production to meet rising demand, best practices and technologies must be made available to these smallholder farmers. |
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| | | Gulf Intelligence | | | Posted:24/1/12 | | His Excellency Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, Qatar speaks at The Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, January 2012 |
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| | | Gulf Intelligence | | | Posted:24/1/12 | | The Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum Feature Interview with His Excellency Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, Qatar. |
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 | | | Sean Evers | | | Posted:24/1/12 | | Big Spenders: The outlook for the oil and gas industry in 2012, is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s second annual industry barometer. Oil and gas industry leaders have forecast improved performance and higher levels of capital expenditure this year, despite concerns over global economic instability, according to a new report on the future of the sector. Increased investment across the industry will focus on exploration activity, with North America emerging as the area with the greatest opportunities in |
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| | | Gulf Intelligence | | | Posted:23/1/12 | | Overview from The Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum 2012 Jan 9th 2012 |
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| | | Matein Khalid | | | Posted:23/1/12 | | The American role in the GCC’s security architecture long predates the Desert Storm coalition that ousted Saddam Hussein’s armies from Kuwait in 1991. In fact, America’s oil-security-pact with Saudi Arabia alliance dates back to the historic summit between King Abdel Aziz, the founder of the kingdom and President Roosvelt in 1945, just a year after Aramco began oil exports to the US. This strategic calculus anchors the GCC’s currency pegs to the US dollar, the currency of the global oil and gas trade. The G |
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| | | Sean Evers | | | Posted:23/1/12 | | The 3rd Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum Forum Panel: The Next Generation of Oil and Gas Development: Technology and Knowledge Transfer? |
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 | | | Tim Fox | | | Posted:22/1/12 | | Positioning finally got the better of the FX markets last week, with sharp reversals in EUR/USD and in GBP/USD reflecting a major squeeze on short EUR and GBP positions, something we had warned about. An improvement in risk appetite was the underlying motive behind these rallies, helped by increased liquidity in the Eurozone system, stronger economic data, successful Eurozone bond auctions, and optimism about renewed IMF funding. Somewhat surprisingly as well, negotiations over private sector debt write dow |
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| | | Sean Evers | | | Posted:22/1/12 | | His Excellency Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, President of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, Qatar, engages in a feature interview with Sean Evers, Managing Partner, Gulf Intelligence. |
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| | | Gulf Intelligence | | | Posted:19/1/12 | | Qatar's Former Energy Minister Compliments Maersk Oil on their successful development of the Al Shaheen Oil Field, Qatar. |
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