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Saudi Arabia Leads Efforts to Boost Mining Industry in Middle East

A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Leads Efforts to Boost Mining Industry in Middle East

A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has been working to boost and develop the mining industry to attract foreign investments.

It will host the Future Minerals Summit (FMS) in Riyadh from January 11 to 13, 2022.

This is the first-ever event to offer a “one-stop-shop” for investors, miners and other industry stakeholders interested in learning more about the mining potential of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North and East Africa.

The summit is expected to serve as a global platform to attract foreign direct investment to the local market and the region by forging partnerships, exchanging technical knowledge and advanced technologies in the field of mining.

The event seeks to present the region as a global mining hub and raise the level of awareness of the importance of the mining industry in the Kingdom and the region.

Its organizers aim for the summit to be the pivotal starting point for charting the future of mining and its contribution to the development of societies.

Director of Communications at FMS Tariq al-Qwaifel told Asharq Al-Awsat that the mining field includes experts and investors who look for their investment opportunities through experts specializing in this industry.

They usually meet in various forums held in several world countries that bring together investors and experts in the sector and industry leaders to identify the opportunities that investors are looking for, he explained.

Qwaifel said January's summit is a precedent in the Middle East, Central Asia, and North and East Africa region.

Therefore, the idea to hold the summit under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the support of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, arose to allow the Kingdom to become a pioneer in this industry.

“By announcing the event, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources aimed at turning the event into an international forum for investors in these regions to explore all the opportunities available in this sector.”

Saudi Arabia also is convening a Ministerial Roundtable in Riyadh a day before the summit kicks off to define the future of mining across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Ministerial representatives of 25 governments will meet to address key questions and highlight the greatest opportunities across these regions.

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Business

CEO: Exxon Evacuated Non-essential Middle East Staff

An Exxon gas station sign in Dallas, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
An Exxon gas station sign in Dallas, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
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CEO: Exxon Evacuated Non-essential Middle East Staff

An Exxon gas station sign in Dallas, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
An Exxon gas station sign in Dallas, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Exxon Mobil has evacuated non-essential employees from its operations in the Middle East, CEO Darren Woods said in an interview on Tuesday, as the US-Israel war on Iran continues.

Some operations have been scaled back to manage oil inventory levels as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been challenged, he said. ⁠Exxon is a ⁠minority partner in oil and gas projects in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

"Our first and highest priority is making sure our people remain safe, and we evacuated folks who weren't critical or essential to the operations that we were providing support for," Reuters quoted Woods as saying.

Traffic ⁠through the Strait of Hormuz, an important waterway between Iran and Oman that sees one-fifth of the world's oil supply pass through it, has effectively halted after Iran threatened to attack tankers that attempt to pass.

US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to escalate the war with Iran if it blocked oil shipments from the Middle East, even as he predicted a quick end to the conflict.

With exports strained, oil producers have ⁠cut output ⁠at some oilfields as storage capacity runs out.

"The ability to manage ... inventory becomes very challenged, and many of the operations are pulling back simply to manage inventory levels as the logistics in the supply chain and the flow through the Strait get worked (through) with time," Woods said.

About 20% of Exxon's oil and gas production is in the Middle East, according to analysts from Jefferies. Nearly 60% of the US oil major's liquefied natural gas business is concentrated in the region, according to TD Cowen.

Business

EU Opposes Removing Oil Sanctions on Russia to Cool Energy Prices

Pumpjacks operated by Aera Energy work the wells at the Midway-Sunset field near Taft in Kern County, California, on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
Pumpjacks operated by Aera Energy work the wells at the Midway-Sunset field near Taft in Kern County, California, on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
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EU Opposes Removing Oil Sanctions on Russia to Cool Energy Prices

Pumpjacks operated by Aera Energy work the wells at the Midway-Sunset field near Taft in Kern County, California, on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)
Pumpjacks operated by Aera Energy work the wells at the Midway-Sunset field near Taft in Kern County, California, on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

EU economy chief Valdis Dombrovskis said Tuesday the European Union did not support removing sanctions on Russian oil despite soaring energy prices, AFP reported.

"We must continue to exert maximum pressure on Russia," he said when asked about US President Donald Trump's announcement he will waive some sanctions on oil, warning easing restrictions would "reinforce Russia's capacity to wage war, undermining Ukraine".

Business

Airlines Hike Ticket Prices as Iran War Propels Fuel Costs

A Qantas logo is visible on the tail of an airplane at an airport in Sydney, Australia, September 18, 2025. (Reuters)
A Qantas logo is visible on the tail of an airplane at an airport in Sydney, Australia, September 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Airlines Hike Ticket Prices as Iran War Propels Fuel Costs

A Qantas logo is visible on the tail of an airplane at an airport in Sydney, Australia, September 18, 2025. (Reuters)
A Qantas logo is visible on the tail of an airplane at an airport in Sydney, Australia, September 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Australia's Qantas Airways , Scandinavia's SAS and Air New Zealand announced airfare hikes on Tuesday, blaming an abrupt spike in the cost of fuel caused by the Middle East conflict.

Jet fuel prices, which were around $85 to $90 per barrel before US-Israeli strikes on Iran, have soared to between $150 and $200 per barrel in recent days, New Zealand's flag carrier said as it suspended its financial outlook for 2026 due to uncertainty over the conflict.

The war, which disrupted shipping via the world's most vital oil export route, has sent oil prices surging, upending global travel, pushing airline tickets on some routes sky-high, and sparking fears of a deep travel slump that could lead to widespread grounding of planes.

"Increases of this magnitude make it necessary to react in order to maintain stable and reliable operations," an SAS spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters, adding it had implemented a "temporary price adjustment".

The largest Scandinavian airline said last ‌year it had temporarily ‌adjusted its fuel hedging policy due to uncertain market conditions and that it had no ‌fuel ⁠consumption hedged for the ⁠following 12 months.

While several Asian and European airlines, including Lufthansa and Ryanair, have oil hedging in place, securing a part of their fuel supplies at fixed prices, Finnair warned that even the availability of fuel could be at risk if the conflict dragged on.

"A prolonged crisis could affect not only the price of fuel but also its availability, at least temporarily," a Finnair spokesperson said, adding that it had not seen this happening yet. It had hedged over 80% of its first-quarter fuel purchases.

AIRSPACE CHAOS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Highlighting the airspace chaos in the Middle East, planes arriving in Dubai were briefly placed in a ⁠holding pattern on Tuesday due to a potential missile attack, flight tracking service Flightradar24 said on X. ‌The planes eventually landed.

Qantas said in addition to increasing international fares, it was exploring ‌options to redeploy capacity to Europe as airlines and passengers seek to evade disruptions in the Middle East, where drone and missile fire have ‌curtailed flights.

Airfares have soared on Asia-Europe routes due to airspace closures and capacity constraints, and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on ‌Tuesday it was adding extra flights to London and Zurich in March.

Air New Zealand said it had raised one-way economy fares by NZ$10 ($6) on domestic routes, NZ$20 on short-haul international services and NZ$90 on long-haul, with more adjustments to prices and schedules possible if jet fuel costs remain elevated.

Hong Kong Airlines said on its website it would raise its fuel surcharges by up to 35.2% from Thursday, with the sharpest increase on flights between ‌Hong Kong and the Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal.

AIRLINE SHARES STABILISE AFTER SELLOFF

Some airline stocks rose and oil prices fell to around $90 a barrel on Tuesday from a high of $119 on Monday ⁠after US President Donald Trump said ⁠on Monday the war could be over soon. When markets opened in Europe, airline shares were up between 4% and 7%.

In Asia, airline shares showed signs of stabilising, with Qantas closing up 0.5%, Korean Air Lines rising 3% and Cathay Pacific up 3.6%. All had recorded sharp declines on Monday.

Fuel is the second-largest expense for air carriers after labor, typically accounting for a fifth to a quarter of operating expenses.

CONFLICTS SHRINKING AVAILABLE AIRSPACE

In addition to high fuel costs, tightening airspace also threatens to derail the global travel industry, as pilots reroute to avoid the Middle East conflict and capacity on popular routes fills up.

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad typically jointly account for about one-third of the passenger traffic between Europe and Asia and fly more than half of all passengers from Europe to Australia, New Zealand and nearby Pacific Islands, according to Cirium.

European airlines have already struggled with the shortage of available airspace created by the war in Ukraine, with many avoiding Russian airspace and flying longer international routes. Now, with even less available airspace, they say their business has become even more challenging.