GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed
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GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

The GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is 30 percent completed, announced CEO of the Gulf Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) Ahmed al-Ebrahim.

Ebrahim indicated that the project is taking place according to the specific timetable ending by 2024.

He said during the celebration organized by the Authority in Dammam celebrating the occasion of World Quality Week that the GCCIA was keen to apply the highest quality standards in the electrical interconnection project with Iraq.

The Authority developed an integrated program to monitor the quality of the electrical interconnection project with Iraq, said Ebrahim.

He stressed that the Authority is keen to connect with external systems to benefit from surplus energy during the winter, pointing out that the countries targeted for energy export are Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt through cooperation with the Saudi Electricity Company and the rest of the Gulf networks.

The winter season is an opportunity for regular maintenance to ensure quality performance, said Ebrahim.

The World Quality Week aims to spread the culture of good quality worldwide and encourage individuals and establishments to apply its concepts, benefiting individuals, societies, and the world, according to the official.

He indicated that Quality Week is an opportunity for those interested in quality to celebrate their achievements and increase awareness to benefit from it.

The World Quality Week 2023 represents an opportunity to shed light on individuals, work teams, and establishments that invest in creating and improving customer value.

The CEO stressed that establishments that focus on customers and promote a culture of achieving customer value through innovation and product improvement, explaining that enhancing a culture of quality helps to recognize that the customer, not the establishment, better defines the quality of the product.

It promotes customer participation in improving the quality of products and services and cooperates with customers to enhance the quality of the product and service and solve any problems.

The success of the global economy depends on quality, creativity, and sustainability, said Ebrahim, noting that World Quality Week was an opportunity to reinforce these foundations.



Oil Falls as Market Eyes US-China Trade Talks, Storage Report Mixed

The Phillips 66 Carson refinery is shown after the company said it will shut its large Los Angeles-area oil refinery late next year, delivering a blow to California's fuel supply, in Carson, California, US, October 17, 2024. (Reuters)
The Phillips 66 Carson refinery is shown after the company said it will shut its large Los Angeles-area oil refinery late next year, delivering a blow to California's fuel supply, in Carson, California, US, October 17, 2024. (Reuters)
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Oil Falls as Market Eyes US-China Trade Talks, Storage Report Mixed

The Phillips 66 Carson refinery is shown after the company said it will shut its large Los Angeles-area oil refinery late next year, delivering a blow to California's fuel supply, in Carson, California, US, October 17, 2024. (Reuters)
The Phillips 66 Carson refinery is shown after the company said it will shut its large Los Angeles-area oil refinery late next year, delivering a blow to California's fuel supply, in Carson, California, US, October 17, 2024. (Reuters)

Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday, after bouncing back from a sharp sell-off earlier in the week, as investors turned their focus to US-China trade talks this weekend.

Brent crude futures were down 71 cents a barrel, or around 1.14%, at $61.44 a barrel by 12:00 p.m. ET (1600 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 66 cents, or 1.12%, lower at $58.43 a barrel.

The US and China are due to meet in Switzerland, which could be the first step toward resolving a trade war disrupting the global economy.

The US-China trade talks come after weeks of escalating tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world's two largest economies soar well beyond 100%.

"While the meeting may signal a thaw, expectations for a breakthrough remain low," said Thiago Duarte, market analyst at Axi. "Unless the US receives major trade concessions, further de-escalation seems unlikely," he said.

Investors also awaited the upcoming Fed update on Wednesday. They expect the policy rate to remain in the 4.25%-4.50% range until the Fed's July 29-30 meeting.

Meanwhile, US crude inventories fell by 2 million barrels to 438.4 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 833,000-barrel draw.

However, gasoline inventories rose, raising concerns among analysts of weak demand ahead of a major driving holiday in the US later this month.

"This is the first bad report for gasoline in a couple of weeks. The refiner had been cranking up the utilization rate. But today in this report it went backwards," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

Limiting the losses, some US producers have signaled that they would cut spending, cautioning that the country's oil output may have peaked.

Additionally, conflict in the Middle East between Israel and the Houthis increases the geopolitical risk premium, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM.