Saudi authorities estimate they may be able to recover between $50 billion and $100 billion from settlement agreements with suspects detained in an anti-corruption crackdown that has implicated prominent princes, officials and billionaires, a senior official said. Suspects are being offered settlements to avoid trial, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. If they accept, talks are held with a special committee to work out the details. Payments are based on the amounts authorities believe suspects have amassed illegally, not their entire wealth, the official said. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Photographer: Mohammad Obaidi/Bloomberg The purge, which saw royals and billionaires such as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal detained, shook the kingdom and reverberated abroad as diplomats, bankers and analysts sought to figure out its impact on wealthy clients as well as the struggle for power in the world’s biggest oil exporter. Prince Miteb
Rising from the desert like a metallic oasis, the Sadara chemicals plant in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province is a labyrinth of pipes, tanks and furnaces covering an area three times the size of Monaco and made with enough steel to build the Golden Gate bridge twice. The $20bn project, completed in September, is the largest chemicals facility constructed in a single phase anywhere in the world. It stands as a powerful statement of intent by Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, to adapt to a changing energy environment and as a symbol of what a reformed Saudi economy could look like. Increasing investment in chemicals aligns the company with the ambitious economic overhaul being pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to wean the kingdom off what he has called its “dangerous addiction to oil”. At the centre of his
Saudi Arabia plans to raise domestic gasoline and jet fuel prices in January, part of a program to gradually eliminate energy subsidies as the kingdom seeks to overhaul its economy and balance the budget, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Gasoline prices are set to increase by about 80 percent, while jet fuel prices will be raised to international levels in one go, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Gasoline and other fuels such as diesel, kerosene and heavy fuel oil, will see incremental price increases over several years, the person said. Excluding jet fuel, prices won’t reach international levels until 2023 at the earliest, and potentially by 2025. Electricity tariffs won’t be increased directly, but will rise gradually with other energy prices, the person said. The Finance Ministry, which oversees the
Saudi Arabia will begin cash transfers to low- and middle-income citizens this month, part of efforts to cushion the blow for families as the kingdom overhauls its oil-dependent economy. Monthly cash payments will start on Dec. 21 to compensate Saudis affected by measures including subsidy cuts and new taxes, officials said Tuesday. The cabinet approved the so-called Citizen’s Account program, which will be reviewed quarterly, at the same time it ratified changes to the prices of fuel and electricity, planned for the first quarter next year. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is leading the push to reduce Saudi Arabia’s addiction to oil, but many of the reforms he’s implemented have hit the wallets of Saudis. The Citizen’s Account is designed to offset those measures with extra cash for those who need it most. A smooth roll-out is key in a country where
Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
A MISSILE fired at Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh was shot down moments before it hit a royal palace today. Saudi air defences intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the city, Saudi-owned channel al-Arabiya reported in a news flash quoting a Saudi-led military coalition official. twitter 7 The aftermath of the blast seen in the skies over Riyadh 7 The coalition is battling the armed Houthi movement in neighbouring Yemen. A ballistic missile was launched at the Saudi capital, a Houthi spokesman said. Mohammed Abdussalam said on Twitter that a Volcano 2-H ballistic missile was fired towards al-Yamama royal palace. Bloomberg reporter Vivian Nereim tweeted: "Loud boom heard in central Riyadh - big enough that we felt it shake our tower." The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information tweeted: "Coalition forces confirm intercepting an Iranian-Houthi missile targeting south of Riyadh. "There are no reported casualties at this time. Last month missiles were fired at
Cog wrote:Supplied by Iran. Guess we know where those pallets of cash delivered to the Iranians ended up.
pstarr wrote:Cog wrote:Supplied by Iran. Guess we know where those pallets of cash delivered to the Iranians ended up.
What pallets of cash?
Saudi Aramco has held early talks to buy a stake in a U.S. company and has inquired about potentially acquiring assets in the two biggest U.S. oil and gas shale basins, the Permian and the Eagle Ford, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. While the Saudi state-held oil giant owns refineries throughout the world—including the biggest U.S. refinery, the 600,000-bpd Port Arthur via its now 100-percent held unit Motiva—Aramco is not producing oil or gas outside of Saudi Arabia. A possible deal to buy oil and gas assets in the U.S. would be a huge moment for Saudi Arabia, and for the U.S. According to WSJ’s sources, Aramco has held initial talks to either buy a stake in Houston-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) developer Tellurian, or to buy some of its gas in the future. The
Saudi Arabia in 2017 laid the groundwork for momentous change next year, defying its conservative reputation for slow, cautious reforms by announcing plans to let women drive, allow movie theaters to return and to issue tourist visas. The kingdom could even get a new king. King Salman and his ambitious 32-year-old son and heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have upended decades of royal family protocol, social norms and traditional ways of doing business. They bet instead on a young generation of Saudis hungry for change and a Saudi public fed up with corruption and government bureaucracy. Here’ a look at the major pivots of the past year and the reforms to come in 2018: ___ WOMEN START DRIVING In a surprise late-night announcement, Saudi Arabia announced in September that it would finally lift a ban on women driving , becoming the last country in
Saudi authorities have detained 11 princes after they gathered at a royal palace in Riyadh in a rare protest against austerity measures that included suspending payment of their utility bills, Saudi media reported on Saturday. Saudi officials did not respond immediately to a request for a comment on the report.
AdamB wrote:
Saudi authorities have detained 11 princes after they gathered at a royal palace in Riyadh in a rare protest against austerity measures that included suspending payment of their utility bills, Saudi media reported on Saturday. Saudi officials did not respond immediately to a request for a comment on the report.
Eleven Saudi princes detained following protest
Saudi Arabia reported falling oil reserves last year and agreed as part of OPEC to extend production cuts into 2018. LONDON — Satellite imagery of two of Saudi Arabia's largest oil refineries suggests the kingdom may have underreported its oil stores in the first half of 2017. Satellite images gathered by the tech startup Bird.i suggest the level of crude oil held in two major Saudi refineries, Ras Tanura and Yanbu, increased last year from January to June. The kingdom's official figures show supplies as having declined amid a commitment to reduce supply in the face of low prices. Bird.i collects and analyzes satellite, drone, and airborne images from numerous sources, some of which are captured in monochrome and some in full color. The technology allows the fullness of oil tanks to be estimated according to the shadows cast by tanks' floating
Two weeks after we reported that Saudi Arabia's billionaire prince Alwaleed Bin Talal was reportedly carted off from the Riyadh Ritz Carlton to Saudi Arabia's highest security prison after refusing to pay a $6 billion "freedom fee" to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to secure his freedom, the flamboyant billionaire and Twitter investor appears to have finally cracked, and according to the WSJ, Saudi authorities on Saturday finally released Alwaleed, more than two months after he was detained in what was described to be a "widespread crackdown on corruption" in the kingdom but was really just a shakedown of some of the country's richest royals as well as arrests of MbS' political opponents. The FT quoted a colleague of bin Talal who said that He sounded very happy, well and the same"... if maybe a little bit poorer. "Prince al-Waleed is already
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