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Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan
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Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

Saudi Arabia Fully Acquires Awal Telecom in Pakistan

TAWAL, the leading Saudi ICT infrastructure company and one of stc Group subsidiaries, its full acquisition of Awal Telecom in Pakistan.

The move, which is TAWAL’s first of its kind, is an initial step in the company’s international expansion outside Saudi Arabia.

The deal is to see AWAL rebranded as TAWAL Pakistan and form the launchpad of TAWAL’s operations in the country following the regulatory approval from the Pakistani authorities.

AWAL, a fully licensed operation by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, currently builds and operates in the country’s northwest region primarily.

Chief Executive officer of stc Group Olayan Alwetaid said: “We are very pleased of TAWAL’s entry into Pakistan market as one of stc Group subsidiaries. TAWAL is looking forward to fruitful partnerships with the country’s mobile network operators and meeting the demand for robust telecommunications infrastructure there."

“We believe that TAWAL is in a strong position to extend its footprint outside Saudi Arabia and are exploring opportunities in key markets regionally and globally.”

For his part, Cchief executive officer of TAWAL Mohammed Alhakbani said: “Pakistan is an exciting market with high growth potential, and TAWAL is looking forward to extending our digital transformation and ICT infrastructure development capabilities to the country."

With four major mobile network operators servicing 238 million people, Pakistan is the 5th most populous country after China, India, the United States and Indonesia (excluding the European Union).

The country currently has over 189 million cellular subscribers and 108 million-plus 3G/4G subscribers, with mobile voice and mobile broadband subscriptions having seen double-digit growth in recent years.

TAWAL owns over 15,500 telecom towers in Saudi Arabia. It operates in the Kingdom under a license to provide wholesale services for infrastructure that was issued by the Communications and Information Technology Commission in 2019.

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China Slams US Sanctions on Oil Refinery in Shandong

A view of the logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) outside their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2023. Reuters
A view of the logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) outside their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2023. Reuters
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China Slams US Sanctions on Oil Refinery in Shandong

A view of the logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) outside their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2023. Reuters
A view of the logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) outside their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2023. Reuters

Oil prices settled higher on Friday and recorded a second consecutive weekly gain as fresh US sanctions on Iran and the latest output plan from the OPEC+ producer group raised expectations of tighter supply.
Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $72.16 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.28.
On Thursday, the US Treasury announced new Iran-related sanctions, which for the first time targeted an independent Chinese refiner among other entities and vessels involved in supplying Iranian crude oil to China.
For its part, China on Friday slammed US sanctions on Chinese companies imposed over imports of Iranian oil.
Beijing has always opposed the use of “illegal unilateral sanctions” and “long-arm jurisdiction” and called on the US to “stop interfering with and undermining the normal trade and economic cooperation between China and Iran,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news conference in Beijing.
“China will take all measures necessary to firmly safeguard the lawful rights and interests of our companies,” she added.
RBC Capital Markets LLC analysts including Brian Leisen said in a note on Friday, “We see this as a clear risk escalation for physical flows for the region, though today’s moves stopped short of a full physical impediment to the illicit Iranian oil trade into China.”
They added, “We think it reasonable that the risk premium here is taken more seriously.”
It was the fourth round of sanctions on Iran's oil sales since President Donald Trump's February call for “maximum pressure” on Tehran, including efforts to drive its crude exports to zero.
Analysts at ANZ Bank said they expect a 1 million barrels per day (bpd) reduction in Iranian crude oil exports because of tighter sanctions. Vessel tracking service Kpler estimated Iranian crude oil exports above 1.8 million bpd in February.
Oil prices were also supported by the new OPEC+ plan for seven members to cut output further to compensate for producing more than agreed levels. The plan would represent monthly cuts of between 189,000 bpd and 435,000 bpd until June 2026.
OPEC+ this month confirmed that eight of its members would proceed with a monthly increase of 138,000 bpd from April, reversing some of the 5.85 million bpd of output cuts agreed in a series of steps since 2022 to support the market.
“While the group shares a plan for compensation cuts, it certainly doesn’t mean members will follow it. A handful of members have consistently produced above their target production levels,” ING analysts said in a note on Friday.
Separately, a new explosion rocked an oil depot in Russia's southern Krasnodar region on Friday where firefighters had been trying to extinguish a blaze that had broken out on Tuesday after a Ukrainian drone attack hours after Putin spoke to Trump.
“During the extinguishing process, due to depressurisation of the burning tank, there was an explosion of oil products and release of burning oil,” Russian regional authorities said on the Telegram messaging app
The depot, near the village of Kavkazskaya, is a rail terminal for Russian oil supplies to a pipeline linking Kazakhstan to the Black Sea. Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Ukraine had already violated a proposed ceasefire on energy sites by attacking the depot.