01/07/2022 08:23:19
Oil prices rose by about two percent, today, Friday, to continue their rise in the new year, due to the increasing unrest in oil-producing Kazakhstan and a member of the OPEC + bloc, in addition to the interruption of supplies from Libya.
Brent crude futures rose $1.19, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $82.62 a barrel, after hitting their highest level since late November. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.6, or 2.1 percent, upon settlement to $79.46. The contract touched a session high of $80.24.
Russia sent troops to Kazakhstan on Thursday to help put down an uprising, after deadly violence spread across the country. Kazakhstan currently produces 1.6 million barrels of oil per day. There are no indications that crude production has been affected so far.
On the same day, the Libyan National Oil Corporation said that Libyan oil production amounted to 729,000 barrels per day, down from more than 1.3 million barrels per day last year, which was its highest level, due to maintenance work and field closures.
Prices have increased since the beginning of the year, despite the commitment of the OPEC + alliance to increase the agreed production targets and the increase in US fuel stocks last week. JPMorgan has forecast that the average price of Brent crude will average $88 a barrel in 2022, up from $70 last year.
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Samson: A government directive to establish an industrial city in each governorate
7th January, 2022
Today, Friday, the Ministry of Industry confirmed the signing of a development contract to establish an industrial city in the holy Karbala, which would provide 5,000 job opportunities, as part of a government direction to establish similar cities in each governorate.
The Director-General of the Industrial Cities Authority, affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, Hamed Awad Muhammad, said in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency and followed by “Economy News”, after activating the Industrial Cities Authority, the authority was able, during a record period, to establish an industrial city for each governorate, and among these governorates is the holy Karbala, where it was signing a contract to develop a model industrial city specialized in the petrochemical, engineering and mechanical industries, with an area of 5,300 dunums, and stating that “this city will hopefully provide about five thousand job opportunities.”
Muhammad added that “the city will be attractive to investment and includes a large number of industries and industrialists, as it is served by infrastructure and is close to the Holy Karbala refinery,” noting that “it will provide many industries that were imported from abroad, as the contract was signed and is currently in the process of laying the foundation stone during the next week.”
He added, “Industrial cities have been established in the remaining provinces,” noting that “we announced today an opportunity to develop Wasit, a smart city with an area of five thousand acres, and we sent invitations to all Iraqi and foreign developers to engage in the development of this industrial city.”
And he indicated that “in the remaining stage, the procedures will be completed with the sectoral departments, the State Real Estate Department and the General Secretariat, and then opportunities will be announced in all governorates of Iraq, such as Babil, Muthanna, Diwaniyah, Nineveh and Salah al-Din, and the next stage will be the stage of industrial cities.” LINK
