After Harvey, Aramco Shuts Down Biggest Refinery in US

Harvey, Aramco
Harvey, Aramco
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After Harvey, Aramco Shuts Down Biggest Refinery in US

Harvey, Aramco
Harvey, Aramco

Damages resulting from Harvey storm on the US refining sector mounted as Motiva Enterprises – owned by Aramco – announced that it would completely halt operating in Port Arthur refinery because of the flood.

“At 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Motiva began a controlled shutdown of the Port Arthur refinery in response to increasing local flood conditions,” the company said – it added that restarting the refinery would depend on flood waters receding.

Barclays clarified in a research memorandum that the US stocks data this week and the next one won’t be accurate, which means that the data won’t be clear for a period of time. This would affect oil prices that are influenced by stocks’ data.

Goldman Sachs estimated in its statement issued on Monday that the storm would increase domestic crude oil availability by about 1.4 million barrels a day if the case remained the same. The bank added that until August 27, refineries of 3 million barrels per day capacity were shut down, knowing that they represent 16.5 percent of the overall refining capacity in the US.

Bloomberg revealed on Tuesday that the capacity of refineries that shut down is 2.35 million barrels a day. Some refineries haven’t been shut down yet (by the time Bloomberg published its report) but some units were and refining was curbed. Among them is the 605,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, plant, Motiva Enterprises.

Goldman Sachs stated that 4.4 million barrels of US refining capacity has been shut by Harvey on Tuesday, that represents nearly 23 percent of US refining production. Restarting plants under even the best conditions can take a week or more.

The Energy Information Administration in US issued a report on Wednesday, revealing a sharp drop in crude stocks in the US last week despite the increase of refineries’ product.



Non-Profit Sector Revenue in Saudi Arabia Reaches $14.5 Billion in 2023

The total revenue of non-profit sector organizations in Saudi Arabia marked a 33% increase. SPA
The total revenue of non-profit sector organizations in Saudi Arabia marked a 33% increase. SPA
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Non-Profit Sector Revenue in Saudi Arabia Reaches $14.5 Billion in 2023

The total revenue of non-profit sector organizations in Saudi Arabia marked a 33% increase. SPA
The total revenue of non-profit sector organizations in Saudi Arabia marked a 33% increase. SPA

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) has said that the total revenue of non-profit sector organizations in the Kingdom amounted to SAR54.4 billion ($14.5 Billion) in 2023, marking a 33% increase compared to 2022.

The results, shown in the Non-Profit Sector Bulletin for 2023, indicated that health-related activities recorded the highest growth rate compared to the previous year, contributing 70% of the total revenue of the non-profit sector organizations, followed by education and research activities with a 53% increase, and volunteer brokerage and promotion activities with a 36% rise. These activities were the main contributors to the total revenue of non-profit organizations.

The bulletin also revealed that total expenditures of the non-profit sector reached SAR47 billion in 2023. Health-related activities represented the highest expenditure category, showing a 74% increase, followed by education and research activities with a 55% rise, and environmental activities with a 34% increase compared to 2022. These activities were the leading contributors to the total expenditures of non-profit organizations.

The figures also underscored the relative contribution of employed individuals to key activities within the non-profit sector in 2023. Cultural and entertainment activities led with a 27.6%, followed by social services activities at 27.2%, development and housing activities at 12.4%, health activities at 11.5%, and education and research activities at 7.5%. The remaining non-profit sector activities accounted for the remaining 13.8%.