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PIF Governor: Saudi Arabia Seeks to Become Global Hub for AI

Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the FII focuses on several key sectors, primarily sustainability, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. SPA
Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the FII focuses on several key sectors, primarily sustainability, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. SPA
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PIF Governor: Saudi Arabia Seeks to Become Global Hub for AI

Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the FII focuses on several key sectors, primarily sustainability, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. SPA
Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the FII focuses on several key sectors, primarily sustainability, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. SPA

Public Investment Fund (PIF) Governor, Chairman of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, and Chairman of Saudi Aramco’s Board of Directors Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that the FII focuses on several key sectors, primarily sustainability, education, healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics.

He said it has invested in several companies operating in these sectors and established partnerships with research, academic and consulting institutions to support these goals.

Delivering a speech at the FII PRIORITY summit in Miami, Al-Rumayyan explained that the initiative will expand its global presence in the coming period by organizing events in Brazil and Kenya to enhance links and investment opportunities with markets in Latin America and Africa and discuss issues such as environmental protection and the transition towards renewable energy.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, he also addressed the PIF’s strategy, saying that more than 70% of its investments are local and directed towards the Kingdom's economy, while the public share of international investments has declined to less than 25%.

Al-Rumayyan also explained that PIF investments mainly target new sectors under its goal to make a long-term impact by being the economic driver of the transformation journey within the Saudi Vision 2030, which is distinguished from other international strategic plans by its success in achieving many of its goals before their set timelines.

“The fund invests between $40 billion to $50 billion annually and this will continue until 2025, and we look at our investments in the Kingdom with regard to their impact on the gross domestic product, job creation, and local content increase, and we are looking forward to increase local revenues generated from investments as per the framework to create sustainable impact on the Saudi economy and realize the targets of the Saudi Vision 2030,” he said.

On the fund's international investments, Al-Rumyyan said that their value continues to rise in terms of volume despite a decline in their percentage compared to local investments, pointing out that investments in the US market amount to 40% of the fund's total international investments in the form of investments or purchases, which amounted to more than $100 billion between 2017 and the end of 2023.

The PIF governor stressed that Saudi Arabia is well positioned to be a major global hub for AI and related industries, explaining that it has many competitive advantages to achieve this goal, including its leadership in clean energy resources, political will, funding capabilities, and human competencies.

The Aramco chairman also discussed the priority that the company gives to sustainability issues, saying that it is the most sustainable of all oil producers in the world, with the amount of carbon produced per barrel of oil not exceeding 25% of what other companies produce. He also said that Aramco has 12 research-and-development centers around the world to work on clean energy technology.

Aramco and the PIF are interested in blue hydrogen, SPA quoted him as saying.

He added that the Kingdom aims to provide 15% of blue hydrogen production globally and it pays special attention to green hydrogen while having clean energy resources that contribute to hydrogen production.

“The price per kilowatt-hour of solar energy in the Kingdom does not exceed 2 cents, making it the lowest in the world and giving the Kingdom a key competitive advantage,” he said.

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Lukoil Declares Force Majeure at Iraqi Oilfield Following Western Sanctions  

A Lukoil company sign at the Filanovskogo oil platform in the Caspian Sea, Russia, October 16, 2018. (Reuters) 
A Lukoil company sign at the Filanovskogo oil platform in the Caspian Sea, Russia, October 16, 2018. (Reuters) 
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Lukoil Declares Force Majeure at Iraqi Oilfield Following Western Sanctions  

A Lukoil company sign at the Filanovskogo oil platform in the Caspian Sea, Russia, October 16, 2018. (Reuters) 
A Lukoil company sign at the Filanovskogo oil platform in the Caspian Sea, Russia, October 16, 2018. (Reuters) 

Russian oil major Lukoil has declared force majeure at Iraq’s giant West Qurna-2 oilfield, four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday, after Western sanctions on the Russian oil major hampered its operations.

The United States and Britain imposed sanctions on Lukoil - Russia’s second-largest oil company - last month and Iraq has since halted all cash and crude payments to the company, three of the sources said.

Lukoil sent an official letter to Iraq’s oil ministry last Tuesday saying there are force majeure conditions preventing it from continuing normal operations at the West Qurna-2 field, the four sources said.

If the reasons behind the force majeure are not resolved within six months, Lukoil will shut production and exit the project entirely, a senior Iraqi oil industry official said.

Reuters reported last week that Iraq’s state oil firm SOMO canceled loadings of three crude oil cargoes from Lukoil’s equity production at the West Qurna-2 field over the sanctions.

Business

Senate Approves Bill to End the Shutdown, Sending it to the House

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: The US Capitol is seen on the 40th day of a government shutdown on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: The US Capitol is seen on the 40th day of a government shutdown on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images/AFP
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Senate Approves Bill to End the Shutdown, Sending it to the House

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: The US Capitol is seen on the 40th day of a government shutdown on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 09: The US Capitol is seen on the 40th day of a government shutdown on November 9, 2025 in Washington, DC. Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images/AFP

The Senate passed legislation Monday to reopen the government, bringing the longest shutdown in history closer to an end as a small group of Democrats ratified a deal with Republicans despite searing criticism from within their party.

The 41-day shutdown could last a few more days as members of the House, which has been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation. President Donald Trump has signaled support for the bill, saying Monday that “we’re going to be opening up our country very quickly.”

The final Senate vote, 60-40, broke a grueling stalemate that lasted more than six weeks as Democrats demanded that Republicans negotiate with them to extend health care tax credits that expire Jan. 1. The Republicans never did, and five moderate Democrats eventually switched their votes as federal food aid was delayed, airport delays worsened and hundreds of thousands of federal workers continued to go unpaid.

House Speaker Mike Johnson urged lawmakers to start returning to Washington “right now" given shutdown-related travel delays, but an official notice issued after the Senate vote said the earliest the House will vote is Wednesday afternoon, reported The Associated Press said.

“It appears our long national nightmare is finally coming to an end," said Johnson, who has kept the House out of session since mid-September, when the House passed a bill to continue government funding.

How the stalemate ended

After weeks of negotiations, a group of three former governors — New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine — agreed to vote to advance three bipartisan annual spending bills and extend the rest of government funding until late January. Republicans promised to hold a vote to extend the health care subsidies by mid-December, but there was no guarantee of success.

Shaheen said Monday that “this was the option on the table” after Republicans had refused to budge.

“We had reached a point where I think a number of us believed that the shutdown had been very effective in raising the concern about health care," she said, and the promise for a future vote “gives us an opportunity to continue to address that going forward."

The legislation includes a reversal of the mass firings of federal workers by the Trump administration since the shutdown began on Oct. 1. It also protects federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees they are paid once the shutdown is over.

In addition to Shaheen, King and Hassan, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, home to tens of thousands of federal workers, also voted Sunday in favor of moving forward on the agreement. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and Nevada Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen also voted yes. All other Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, voted against it.

The moderates had expected a larger number of Democrats to vote with them as 10 to 12 Democratic senators had been part of the negotiations. But in the end, only five switched their votes — the exact number that Republicans needed. King, Cortez Masto and Fetterman had already been voting to open the government since Oct. 1.

Many Democrats call the vote a “mistake” Schumer, who received blowback from his party in March when he voted to keep the government open, said he could not “in good faith” support it after meeting with his caucus for more than two hours on Sunday.

“We will not give up the fight,” Schumer said, adding that Democrats have now “sounded the alarm” on health care.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Democrats, said giving up the fight was a “horrific mistake.” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., agreed, saying that voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in last week's elections were urging them to "hold firm.”

House Democrats swiftly criticized the Senate.

Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said a deal that doesn’t reduce health care costs is a “betrayal” of millions of Americans who are counting on Democrats to fight.

Others gave Schumer a nod of support. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had criticized Schumer in March after his vote to keep the government open. But he praised the Senate Democratic leader on Monday and expressed support for his leadership throughout the shutdown.

“The American people know we are on the right side of this fight,” Jeffries said Monday, pointing to Tuesday's election results.

Health care debate ahead

It’s unclear whether the two parties would be able to find any common ground on the health care subsidies before a promised December vote in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he will not commit to bringing it up in his chamber.

On Monday, Johnson said House Republicans have always been open to voting to reform what he called the “unaffordable care act” but again did not say if they would vote on the subsidies.

Some Republicans have said they are open to extending the COVID-19-era tax credits as premiums could skyrocket for millions of people, but they also want new limits on who can receive the subsidies. Some argue that the tax dollars for the plans should be routed through individuals.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins said Monday that she's supportive of extending the tax credits with changes, like new income caps. Some Democrats have signaled they could be open to that idea.

“We do need to act by the end of the year, and that is exactly what the majority leader has promised,” Collins said.

Other Republicans, including Trump, have used the debate to renew their yearslong criticism of the law and called for it to be scrapped or overhauled.

In a possible preview, the Senate voted 47-53 along party lines Monday not to extend the subsidies for a year. Majority Republicans allowed the vote as part of a separate deal with Democrats to speed up votes and send the legislation to the House.

Business

Shell Exits Two Wind Projects off Scotland Coast  

The logo of oil and gas company Shell is seen at a charging station in Brussels, Belgium November 13, 2024. (Reuters) 
The logo of oil and gas company Shell is seen at a charging station in Brussels, Belgium November 13, 2024. (Reuters) 
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Shell Exits Two Wind Projects off Scotland Coast  

The logo of oil and gas company Shell is seen at a charging station in Brussels, Belgium November 13, 2024. (Reuters) 
The logo of oil and gas company Shell is seen at a charging station in Brussels, Belgium November 13, 2024. (Reuters) 

Shell has exited the MarramWind and CampionWind projects off the coast of Scotland following a strategic review, the company said on Monday, a move that aligns with its current pivot away from renewables.

Shell sold its 50% interest in MarramWind to ScottishPower Renewables and returned the CampionWind lease to Crown Estate Scotland, it said.

While ScottishPower Renewables said it would continue the development of MarramWind, it was not immediately clear whether CampionWind would move forward as proposed under Crown Estate Scotland.

Under CEO Wael Sawan, Shell has pivoted away from renewables and doubled down on oil and gas to boost investor confidence.

“After a comprehensive review and in line with Shell’s previously announced refocusing of its power strategy on leveraging Shell’s strengths in trading and retailing, the conclusion was to not take the CampionWind project forward,” a Shell spokesperson said.

As proposed, CampionWind, 100 km from the east coast of Scotland, could deliver up to 2 gigawatts of power.

Crown Estate Scotland said in a statement it will assess options for the CampionWind site in line with market demand.

MarramWind, located 75 km off the north-east coast of Aberdeenshire, has a potential capacity of up to 3 gigawatts. If successfully developed, it could power the equivalent of more than 3.5 million homes.

“With sole responsibility for MarramWind – alongside our MachairWind project – we will now continue the development of these wind farms and maintain our positive engagement with local people and businesses,” a ScottishPower Renewables spokesperson said.

ScottishPower Renewables is owned by Spanish utility Iberdrola.