OPEC cuts Jan oil output sharply

OPEC oil supply, excluding Iraq, is expected to fall by 1.55 million barrels per day (bpd) in January as members implement their latest deal to cut output, consultant Petrologistics said on Friday.

The reduction follows a December agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower output by 2.2 million bpd as of Jan. 1 in a bid to prop up falling prices.

OPEC's 11 members bound by oil output targets, all except Iraq, are expected to pump 26.1 million bpd in January, down from a revised 27.65 million bpd in December, Conrad Gerber of Petrologistics told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's top producer, cut supply to 8.05 million bpd, down 550,000 bpd from December, Gerber said. Nigeria lowered supply to 1.76 million bpd and Venezuela curbed output to 1.97 million bpd.

OPEC has agreed at meetings since September to cut its oil output by 4.2 million bpd, equal to 5 percent of daily world demand as the economic crisis erodes oil demand. – Reuters

Dubai's Jumeirah delays first China hotel

Dubai-based Jumeirah has delayed plans to open a first hotel in China due to the tough financial climate and slowdown in business travelers to the world's fastest growing major economy, hotel industry sources said on Friday.

Jumeirah, one of the world's top luxury hotel operators, missed its original target to open the planned 338-room Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandi Hotel in downtown Shanghai in late 2008.

Jumeirah manages 11 hotels for investors — eight in Dubai, including the sail-shaped Burj Al-Arab hotel.

The company has now re-scheduled the launch of its Shanghai hotel to late this year, Aslada Gu from Upstream Asia, which handles media relations for Jumeirah in China, said in an email in response to inquiries from Reuters. – Reuters 

Paris Europlace, Dubai in financial cooperation deal

Paris Europlace said Thursday that it has signed a cooperation agreement, its first in the Gulf region, with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"This is an agreement that is really important," Arnaud de Bresson, managing director of Paris Europlace — an organization tasked with promoting Paris as a financial market — told AFP.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the DIFC aims at "developing joint actions in ... financial markets, asset management, Islamic finance, payment systems, research and education, and regulation," Europlace said.

Europlace aims through cooperation in the field of asset management to "deepen the exchange" with Gulf investment funds, mainly sovereign funds, de Bresson said.

The Gulf region is home to a number of heavyweight sovereign funds, especially the fund owned by the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

"The market of Paris is open to the investments of sovereign funds," de Bresson said.

The agreement was signed at the conclusion of a Gulf regional tour by Christian Noyer, the governor of the Banque de France, who was accompanied by a number of high-ranking finance officials from Paris.

In a statement issued in Dubai, Paris Europlace said the delegation held talks in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which focused mainly on the consequences of the global financial crisis and the "new strategies of international financial centers".

Paris Europlace has 150 members representing the major players in the financial market. – AFP

Iran resumes gas supply to Turkey

Iran resumed natural gas exports to Turkey on Thursday after repair works that caused deliveries to be halted for two days finished on border facilities, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iran's gas exports to Turkey re-started today (Thursday)," the National Iranian Gas Company's director for gas transportation, Mahmoud Loghmani, was quoted as saying.

Loghmani said the supply was restarted at a low pressure and that it will reach normal volume gradually.

Iran shut its natural gas pipeline to Turkey on Tuesday for maintenance work following a technical hitch.

Turkey receives between 15 and 18 million cubic meters of gas daily through the conduit, which runs from the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz to Ankara.

Turkey, which also buys gas from Russia, weathered relatively smoothly the recent crisis between Moscow and Kiev, which left millions in Europe without heating, thanks to the Iranian conduit and a second pipeline with Russia running under the Black Sea. – AFP

Global awarded for Islamic fund management

Kuwaiti-based Global Investment House (Global) was named “Best Islamic Fund Manager” at the Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2008 hosted by Dubai’s CPI Financial.

Talal Samhouri, head of MENA asset management at Global, attributed the award to the asset management team, adding that “Islamic finance will continue to grow during the current international financial crisis.”

Islamic Finance is considered to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the world estimated at $638.3 billion according to the latest statistics.

Global invests in Sharia-compliant companies listed on GCC stock exchanges. The team also manages Islamic discretionary managed portfolios and funds for clients as well as Islamic private equity, real estate and money market funds.

The company’s current assets under management reached KD 2.7 billion ($10.2 billion) as of September 2008.