Opec and regional economic institutions: Oil market ‘in balance’ as crude tops $70/bbl

Big rise in Mena syndications: Bloomberg’s annual Europe, Middle East and Africa capital markets league tables showed a sharp rise in syndications in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, where syndicated loans increased by 52.8% to $127.2bn in 2018, surpassing the previous record set in 2007. First Abu Dhabi Bank ranked as the top Mena bookrunner with 8.85% of credited market share, followed by HSBC and Standard Chartered. Saudi-based borrowers took 35.54% market share, followed by UAE- and Oman-based borrowers with 27.61% and 9.9% respectively.