Saudi Oil Exports Hit 30-Month High in October

 General view of Aramco tanks and oil pipe at the Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. May 21, 2018. (Reuters Archive)
General view of Aramco tanks and oil pipe at the Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. May 21, 2018. (Reuters Archive)
TT
20

Saudi Oil Exports Hit 30-Month High in October

 General view of Aramco tanks and oil pipe at the Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. May 21, 2018. (Reuters Archive)
General view of Aramco tanks and oil pipe at the Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. May 21, 2018. (Reuters Archive)

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports rose for a fifth straight month in October to the highest in 30 months, the International Energy Forum (IEF) said on Monday, citing data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI).

Crude exports rose about 0.7% to 7.773 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, the highest since April 2020, from 7.721 million bpd in September.

The world’s largest oil exporter’s crude production, however, fell to 10.957 million bpd in October from 11.041 million bpd in the previous month.

Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to JODI, which publishes them on its website.

The data provided for October represents more than 70% of global oil demand and crude production.

The IEF indicated that Russian oil production fell by 107,000 bpd to 9.88 million bpd in October.

The Kremlin said on Monday it was still considering what measures it would adopt in response to the West's imposition of a $60-a-barrel price cap on Russia's oil exports, the state-run TASS news agency reported.

Moscow had originally planned to publish a presidential decree outlining its response - including a possible ban on selling oil to countries that comply with the cap - last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had told reporters.

“We still have the task of working out what measures will best suit our interests. The work is ongoing, but it is close to completion.”

Russia's Urals crude blend has been trading at a steep discount to the global benchmark Brent since Russia invaded Ukraine, and most recently below $60 cap, according to Russian government data.

Global crude production declined by 228 kb/d in October, led by losses in Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US, IEF said.

According to the report, global demand was at 99 percent of pre-COVID levels in October, while crude production was at 96 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose on Monday, as optimism around China relaxing its COVID-19 restrictions outweighed fears of a global recession that would weigh on energy demand.

China, the world's top crude oil importer, is experiencing its first of three expected waves of COVID-19 cases after Beijing relaxed mobility restrictions but said it plans to step up support for the economy in 2023.

Brent crude increased by 1.7% to settle at $80.41 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.9% to $75.77 a barrel.

Oil surged toward its record high of $147 a barrel earlier in the year after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. It has since unwound most of this year's gains as supply concerns were edged out by recession fears.

Oil was supported by the US Energy Department saying on Friday that it will begin repurchasing crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - the first purchases since releasing a record 180 million barrels from the reserve this year.



Saudi Arabia Enacts Reforms to Boost Business Climate, Investment Appeal

Riyadh (SPA)
Riyadh (SPA)
TT
20

Saudi Arabia Enacts Reforms to Boost Business Climate, Investment Appeal

Riyadh (SPA)
Riyadh (SPA)

Saudi Arabia will enforce two major regulatory frameworks, the Law of Commercial Register and Law of Trade Names, starting Thursday, marking a significant overhaul of its business registration process.

The reforms are part of the kingdom’s ongoing efforts to modernize its regulatory environment, create a more business-friendly ecosystem, and strengthen its position as a global investment hub in line with Vision 2030.

Approved by the Saudi government on Sept. 17, the new laws represent a major regulatory shift aimed at empowering investors, facilitating business growth, and unlocking investment opportunities nationwide.

They form part of a broader, ongoing regulatory transformation designed to enhance transparency, improve the business climate, and align with the kingdom’s economic and technological advancements.

Commerce Minister Majid Al-Kassabi said the Cabinet’s approval of the laws aims to streamline business operations and ease the burden on enterprises by consolidating their registration into a single nationwide record.

The new framework also standardizes the reservation and registration of trade names to protect and enhance their value, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s economic and technological advancements under Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia ranks 62nd out of 190 economies in the World Bank's latest annual Ease of Doing Business index.

Ministry of Commerce official spokesperson Abdulrahman Al-Hussein noted that the new commercial register law introduces major changes.

Among the key changes are the elimination of subsidiary registers, with a single commercial register now being sufficient. Additionally, the law removes the requirement to specify the city of registration, allowing one commercial registration to apply across all regions of the Kingdom.

The new law also obligated commercial establishments in Saudi Arabia to open bank accounts linked to the establishment in order to enhance its reliability and ensure the integrity of its transactions.

In addition, the law cancels the expiration date for the commercial register, requiring only an annual confirmation of the data, the spokesman stated.

Under the law, the commercial registration number will serve as the establishment’s unified number, starting with (7).

The ministry will grant existing subsidiary registers a five-year grace period to rectify their status in accordance with the new regulations.

Meanwhile, the new Law of Trade Names in Saudi Arabia, which consists of 23 articles, aims to regulate the procedures for reserving and recording names in the commercial register, maximizing their value, and protecting them and their rights.

The law allows a trade name to be reserved before it is recorded for a specific period that can be extended. It also sets the requirements that must be met by trade names to be registered or reserved, and the criteria for prohibited names.

Al-Hussein explained that the new regulations also allow for the reservation and registration of trade names in English, including letters or numbers.

This marks a departure from the previous law, which permitted only Arabic names without foreign characters or numbers.

The new law will enable the management of trade names independently from the establishment, allowing for the transfer of their ownership while prohibiting the registration of identical or similar names for different establishments in Saudi Arabia, even if their activities differ.

Al-Hussein noted that the law also includes regulations for reserving family names as trade names and establishes criteria for prohibited or misleading names.