OPEC Expects its Market Share to Rise 40% in 2040

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais (Reuters)
OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais (Reuters)
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OPEC Expects its Market Share to Rise 40% in 2040

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais (Reuters)
OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais (Reuters)

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais said he expected the organization’s market share to increase from 30% to more than 40% by 2040.

The increase will come from production decreases from non-OPEC+ countries, Al-Arabiya quoted Al-Ghais as saying.

“This will happen after production decreases from countries outside OPEC+ or outside OPEC. The US production is expected to decrease by 2029-2030, as well as other countries,” he told the agency.

For his part, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saad Al-Barrak told the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Thursday that his country would invest more than $300 billion in the energy sector by 2040.

The OPEC energy ministers held a meeting on Wednesday to attend the eighth international OPEC conference in Vienna.

Participants in the meeting reviewed the market conditions and agreed to continue consultations with their non-OPEC counterparts, through the approved mechanisms, including the Meetings of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, and the ministerial meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, in continuation of their efforts to support the stability and balance of oil markets.

During the meeting, the ministers expressed their appreciation to Saudi Arabia for extending its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, to the month of August.

They also thanked Russia for the additional voluntary cut of 500,000 barrels per day in exports, and Algeria for the additional voluntary cut of 20,000 barrels per day in August.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, on the sidelines of the OPEC conference.

The two officials underlined the importance of joint coordination between the member states of the OPEC and OPEC Plus to achieve stability in global oil markets.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.