Search results

Opposition supporters remain passionate about the rightness of their cause, but as Basij and other militia stalked the streets of Tehran, the regime appeared to be regaining the initiative in realpolitik terms as this special issue of GSN went to press.

Genel Enerji’s Heritage Oil deal represents an important first step in the consolidation of Kurdistan’s oil sector. GSN’s soundings suggest the deal isn’t politically motivated, but it will still serve to reinforce the trend of growing Turkish commercial influence in the region, which could be the precursor to warmer political relations.

Al-Ghanim & Sons has signed a MoU with Russian state-owned power trader Inter Rao and VTB Bank to invest up to

Mubadala Development Corporation (MDC) lost Dh11.8bn ($3.23bn) in 2008, which its first ever annual report puts down to some very substantial impairment charges related to investments made during the boom years prior to the collapse in oil prices and the realisation that Abu Dhabi was not immune to the global economic downturn.

Rahbar (Supreme Leader) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Friday prayers speech at Tehran University on 19 June was awaited with great anticipation; Khamenei normally only makes public appearances to mark Ramadan and the anniversary of the 1979 revolution. Iranian state television promoted his appearance as a major event.

Ever since five UK citizens were snatched from the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in May 2007 – they continue to be held by Iranian-backed groups – it has been passé to consider a ministry building as secure or Iraqi forces as entirely trustworthy. Nor are Iraqi security forces yet sufficiently polished to meet the rigorous security standards of western executives.

Public demand for a constructive and non-ideological politics seems to explain the severe election setback suffered by the Salafists and Islamic Constitutional Movement (Hadas), whose parliamentary contingent - five or six strong just a few years ago - has been slashed from three seats to one.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said there had been positive progress on negotiations about the possible purchase of Rafale fighter planes, following talks between the visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

An easing in UAE market liquidity could represent an early turnaround signal for GCC trade finance markets that have experienced unwelcome contractions linked to the wider global crisis. GSN canvassed market opinion to see if talk about a speedy upturn were warranted.

Sharjah Ruler Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi’s prominent daughter Sheikha Budoor has been appointed chair of the UAE Publishers Association’s first board of directors.

Kuwait’s largest telecoms operator has gained a majority stake in the Palestine Telecommunication Company (Paltel) as part of an expansion plan. Showing the depressed mood in the Gulf, even large family businesses are looking away from their traditional home markets. International law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on the development and financing of a large scale specialist healthcare project in Muharraq.

Having seen voters punish the protagonists of confrontation, new MPs – women in the vanguard – could hold the key to co-operation in government. Prominent new MP Rola Dashti told GSN that Kuwaitis were seeking solutions rather than apportioning blame. Reappointed PM Sheikh Nasser Mohammed will hope she’s right.

Bid award ceremonies lasting two days will begin early on 29 June, drawing unprecedented numbers of IOCs to Baghdad to participate in a series of eight sequential bids for oil and gas fields. The round’s timing means that IOCs’ engagement in Iraq must get very real, very quickly, with this round of bidding expected to be followed by months of horse-trading over terms and farm-ins.

AL-MAKTOUM: Milan rumours, Manal Bint Mohammed Nin Rashid: Award

Kurdistan oil was set to start flowing through Iraq’s northern export pipeline as GSN went to press, a range of sources said, including to one of the international companies whose field is covered by a recent compromise deal between the federal Ministry of Oil (MOO) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Natural Resources Ministry. And yet, thanks to a determination on both sides not to compromise on fundamental issues of principle, it is still unclear how the exporting IOCs will be paid.