Saudi Arabia Steps up ‘Climate Battle’ Efforts

Part of the audience in the Saudi pavilion at the COP27 conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the audience in the Saudi pavilion at the COP27 conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Steps up ‘Climate Battle’ Efforts

Part of the audience in the Saudi pavilion at the COP27 conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the audience in the Saudi pavilion at the COP27 conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi pavilion at COP27 was one of the most crowded places during the days of the conference in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Visitors did not only attend seminars and discussion sessions, they also met researchers who have introduced programs directed to combating climate change to light.

While Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was active in leading the Saudi delegation during the days of his presence, which witnessed the launch of many Saudi-sponsored initiatives to confront climate change, researchers enriched the sessions with a lot of technical information on the nature and details of the initiatives.

During the summit, Prince Abdulaziz referred to many initiatives and concepts.

Those initiatives included the establishment of a regional center for the development of reducing emissions, and the launching of the Circular Carbon Economy Knowledge Hub at the beginning of 2023.

He also stressed the need to consolidate the circular carbon economy.

For his part, the Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Chairman of Saudi Aramco, Yasir Al Rumayyan, said that Saudi Arabia’s Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) is a turning point in environmental efforts aiming to transition national ambitions into practical steps that affect the entire world.

Al Rumayyan underlined the great efforts being made by the Kingdom to build a green future, as part of its ambitions for carbon neutrality by 2060.

The Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) Initiative was the first of its kind in the MENA region, Al Rumayyan said during the Saudi Green Initiative Forum.

The world’s largest-ever carbon credit auction took place last month, when 1.4 million tons of carbon credits were sold to 15 Saudi and regional entities. The PIF was also the first sovereign wealth fund to issue a 100-year tranche green bond, Al Rumayyan added.



Oil Trades in Tight Range Ahead of US Election

FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas US August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas US August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
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Oil Trades in Tight Range Ahead of US Election

FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas US August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas US August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo

Oil prices traded in a narrow range on Tuesday ahead of what is expected to be an exceptionally close US presidential election, after rising more than 2% in the previous session as OPEC+ delayed plans to hike production in December.
Brent crude futures ticked down 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $75.05 a barrel by 0600 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.43 a barrel, down 4 cents, or 0.06%.
"We are now in the calm before the storm," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
Oil prices were supported by Sunday's announcement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, to push back a production hike by a month from December as weak demand and rising non-OPEC supply depress markets, Reuters said.
Still, risk-taking remains limited with a busy week - including the US election, the Federal Reserve's policy meeting, and China's National People's Congress (NPC) meeting - keeping many traders on the sidelines, said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
For now, polls suggest the US presidential race will be closely contested, and any delay in election results or even disputes could pose near-term risks for broader markets or drag on them for longer, added Yeap.
"Eyes are also on China's NPC meeting for any clarity on fiscal stimulus to uplift the country's demand outlook, but we are unlikely to see any strong commitment before the US presidential results, and that will continue to keep oil prices in a near-term waiting game," Yeap said.
Meanwhile, OPEC oil output rebounded in October as Libya resumed output, a Reuters survey found, although a further Iraqi effort to meet its cuts pledged to the wider OPEC+ alliance limited the gain.
More oil could come from OPEC producer Iran as Tehran has approved a plan to increase output by 250,000 barrels per day, the oil ministry's news website Shana reported on Monday.
In the US, a late season tropical storm predicted to intensify into a category 2 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico this week could reduce oil production by about 4 million barrels, researchers said.
"Technically, crude oil needs to rebound above resistance at $71.50/72.50 to negate the downside risks," IG's Sycamore said, referring to WTI prices.
"All of which suggests there won't be a scramble to chase it higher in the short term."
Ahead of US weekly oil data on Wednesday, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday that US crude stockpiles likely rose last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories fell.