Saudi Arabia, Opec’s largest producer, is on track to increase oil production to more than 13 million barrels per day by the end of 2026 or the start of 2027, its energy minister has said.
The current production capacity of Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest economy, is 12 million bpd.
“We are going to go to 13.2 to 13.3 [million bpd] subject to what we will do in the divided zone but most likely it will be 13.3 and 13.4 and that will be attended to the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told an energy conference in Bahrain on Monday.
“Can we or should we continue maintaining it? Yes, when we get there, if the market allows for maintaining it, we will maintain it.”
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait resumed oil production from shared oil fields along their Neutral Zone in 2020 after operations in the territory were halted in 2015.
About 300,000 bpd of crude was pumped from the zone by the two countries before production was stopped.
"We are ... improving [capacity] with our friends Kuwait. We are trying to first go back to old capacities."
Prince Abdulaziz also reiterated earlier calls for increased investments in the oil and gas sector globally and said the world was “running out of capacities at all levels”. Supply chain issues are further exacerbating the effects, he said, and “the energy sector is a global issue for the world to attend to”.
“At a time like this, we need more excess capacity to give people the comfort that they have the ability to say that we have contingency,” Prince Abdulaziz said.
The total investment in the upstream part of the oil and gas sector fell 23 per cent below pre-coronavirus levels to $341 billion in 2021, the International Energy Forum and IHS Markit said.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc, has also highlighted the importance of increasing investment in oil and gas to overcome supply shortages.
The sector needs $600bn of investment until 2030 to keep pace with rising demand, Dr Al Jaber said last year.
“Who is doing a better job, Opec+ or unregulated markets?” Prince Abdulaziz said at the energy conference in reference to market volatility.
Prices of other commodities have surged by more than 200 per cent or more over the past year, while oil has increased more than 60 per cent.
Opec+, which achieved a historic reduction of 9.7 million barrels per day between May 2020 and July last year, is unwinding cuts due to improving demand. It was adding about 400,000 bpd to the market every month and increased that to 432,000 bpd for May and June.
Brent, the global benchmark for two thirds of the world's oil, was trading 1.6 per cent lower at $109.76 a barrel at 12.53pm UAE time on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, was down 1.34 per cent to $109.01 a barrel.
On the Durra natural gasfield, located in an energy-rich area shared with Kuwait, Prince Abdulaziz said both countries were proceeding with its development.
In April, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait invited Iran to hold negotiations to determine the eastern limit of the joint offshore area and reaffirmed their right to develop the gasfield located within it.
“We are proceeding with that field, we made a public statement encouraging Iran to come to the negotiating table," Prince Abdulaziz said.
"We want to discuss with them … Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as one team because the resources there are of common interest to both countries, this is what we’ve agreed to over the last two to three years and we and Kuwait, as one group, we are proceeding," he said.
Prince Abdulaziz said the country's power-generation switch to gas and renewables will free 1 million bpd of oil for export. The kingdom aims to become carbon neutral by 2060 and is increasing investment in the renewable energy sector.
Meanwhile, Iraq, Opec’s second largest producer, aims to increase oil production to 6 million bpd by the end of 2027, its oil minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar said at the same event.
The country’s oil production touched 4.4 million bpd in April, according to Opec’s monthly report.
Iraq is “accelerating all the investment programme in oil and gas and also adding a new environment for solar energy”, Mr Abdul-Jabbar said.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
'Ashkal'
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Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Dunki
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
