Skip to main content

Author: LS

Latest on the spread of coronavirus around the world

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Latest on the spread of coronavirus around the world

The number of people infected with the coronavirus topped 119,000 across the world as the outbreak spread to more countries, causing greater economic damage.

DEATHS/INFECTIONS

More than 117,100 people have been infected globally and over 4,000 have died.

Mainland China had 24 new cases by Tuesday, up from 19 cases a day earlier, bringing the total to 80,778. The death toll reached 3,158, up by 22 from the previous day.

The death toll in Italy jumped by 168 to 631, the largest rise in absolute numbers since the contagion came to light on Feb. 21. The total number of cases in Italy rose to 10,149 from a previous 9,172.

British junior health minister Nadine Dorries has tested positive and is self-isolating.

Italians arriving in Britain are being advised to self-isolate, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.

Spain, with over 1,200 cases and 30 deaths, decided to close schools and universities in Madrid and the Basque capital Vitoria.

Two passengers on a cruise ship being held outside Marseille are being tested for suspected infection.

The Catholic Church in Poland wants to increase the number of Masses on Sundays to meet crowd limits. With 17 cases so far, the country has canceled all large-scale events.

Russia recommended on Tuesday that people avoid public transport, shopping malls and other public places at rush hour.

Bosnia on Tuesday barred entry to travelers from countries most affected by the coronavirus outbreak, while its Serb region shut all schools and universities and banned public events from March 11 to March 30.

Serbia closed its borders for people from coronavirus-affected countries, Moldova banned foreigners from entering by plane from any country affected, and Denmark suspended all air traffic from virus hotspots.

Austria will deny entry to people arriving from Italy and has banned indoor events of more than 100 people.

The Czech Republic, which has reported 40 cases, will suspend schools other than universities from Wednesday, and ban events hosting more than 100 people.

The European Union will suspend a rule requiring airlines to run most of their scheduled services or forfeit landing slots, as the crisis deepens.

AMERICAS

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with the heads of some of the largest U.S. banks on Wednesday to discuss the financial industry’s response to the coronavirus epidemic, according to the White House press office.

Canada recorded its first death and Panama confirmed its first case on Monday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters to firms selling products that claim to prevent, treat or cure COVID-19.

The U.S. Defense Secretary is postponing his upcoming trip to India, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.

Jamaica confirmed on Tuesday its first imported case of the coronavirus, in its capital city of Kingston.

Bolivia has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

Panama said on Tuesday it has confirmed the country’s first death from the coronavirus and seven new people have been infected.

ASIA

Total infections in Japan rose to 1,278, including 696 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 14 returnees on charter flights from China. One new infection was reported early on Wednesday, in the western prefecture of Hyogo. The death toll stood at 19 deaths, including seven from the cruise ship.

South Korea reported 242 new cases, compared with only 35 a day earlier, bringing the total to 7,755. The death toll rose by one to 60.

A Turkish citizen was diagnosed with the virus, making him the country’s first confirmed case.

Brunei said six people had tested positive a day after it reported its first case.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, where all temporary coronavirus hospitals have now been closed, on Tuesday for the first time since the epidemic began, indicating a possible turning point as the virus spread slows in China.

China’s Hubei province said on Tuesday it will implement a “health code” mobile phone-based monitoring system to start allowing people to travel within the province.

Mongolia reported its first case.

Hong Kong will quarantine all visitors from Italy and parts of France, Germany and Japan for two weeks from March 13.

Singapore started charging visitors for coronavirus treatment after it reported new imported cases from neighboring Indonesia.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Iran’s death toll jumped on Tuesday to 291 and infections rose to more than 8,000.

The U.N. called on Iran to free all prisoners temporarily, a day after Iran’s judiciary chief said it had temporarily freed about 70,000.

Democratic Republic of Congo confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa hit by the epidemic to seven.

Algeria suspended economic, cultural and political gatherings to slow the spread of the virus

Tunisia will suspend all flights and shipping to Italy except to Rome and bring forward a scheduled school holiday to Thursday from next Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s health ministry said on Monday it has detected five new cases, bringing the total to 20.

Israel, with 42 cases, will require anyone arriving from overseas to self-quarantine for 14 days

Lebanon reported its first death on Tuesday and Congo its first case, bringing the number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa hit by the epidemic to seven.

AUSTRALIA

Australia announced a A$2.4 billion ($1.56 billion) health package that proposes setting up fever clinics and offering cost-free facilities for people to consult doctors over video calls.

NOC supporting young entrepreneurs

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on NOC supporting young entrepreneurs

In a statement , the National Oil Corporation announced that it has given 52 young people the skills and equipment they need to set up new businesses.

National Oil Corporation (NOC)’s Department of Sustainable Development, in cooperation with the Arab Centre for Training, organized several training sessions in the Wahat region for 52 trainees.

The training courses covered several specialities such as: diagnosing and repairing car electronic systems, repairing electronic tablets and mobile phone programming.

The trainees were all local young people from the Wahat region. The closing ceremony was on Saturday March 7, 2020, at the Higher Institute of Jalu.

During the ceremony, the trainees received certificates and were provided with the equipment they need to start work immediately. The attendees commended NOC’s efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises, which encourages new job opportunities for young people in the Wahat region.

The closing ceremony was attended by Mr Abu Baker Amorah, Jalu mayor, and Mr Faraj Aguila, head of Jalu Steering Council, alongside a member of Awjila Steering Committee and specialists from NOC’s Department of Sustainable Development.

Oil expert: “oil price development challenges price war intentions”

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Oil expert: “oil price development challenges price war intentions”

The oil expert Muhamed Ahmed wrote:

Why does oil market move against all odds?

Who focuses only on the spot price, he expects it to keep on decreasing; at $32 a barrel, Russians declared a barrel would hit $30. Meanwhile, the price rose to $35 a barrel.

On the other hand, the Saudis claimed they would reach a production level of 12 million barrels per day. As a result, the price jumped to 38 dollars a barrel.

It’s either these states lie, or speculators are in a state disbelief

After the Saudi announcement, the expected price reaches $25 per barrel

Well, first see the forward rate curve

Look at the yellow line, which represents today’s price movement; speculators are bounding rates at the end of the curve, still above $50, yet moving up compared to yesterday’s gray line.

This is where mystery could be solved

Look at the Contango, represented by the triangles

The difference between May 2020 (the closest month) and March 2021 (The furthest month) is growing, showing pressure for higher prices.

If the difference remains the same, speculators will sell their oil at that price, buy from the spot market and pay a storage cost that does not exceed $2 a barrel for a whole year.

The difference now is $5.47 a barrel, which means that they will achieve $3.47 per barrel.

The market is moving toward adjustment, and there is a lot of money being won by speculators, and a lot of money being lost by producers.

Until this moment, the structure of the market does not recognize the decline of the future price of $50 per barrel, and that is why the price moves up to an equilibrium position regardless of all Saudi and Russian decisions.

This is the best solution for the market and for the continuation of oil shale producers. In case there is a change in the structure, and if oil shale producers exit, there would be a supply crisis in a period not exceeding two years, and prices might rise to more than $100 per barrel, but -for sure- they will not last, as this will bring back high cost producers. That is balance.

For first time in years: Saudi announces plan to boost oil production capacity

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on For first time in years: Saudi announces plan to boost oil production capacity

Today, Saudi Arabia claimed that it plans to boost oil production capacity for the first time in more than a decade, a day after it announced a record high hike in crude supply in a battle for market share that has hammered global prices this week.

“Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry has directed oil producer Saudi Aramco to raise its output capacity to 13 million from 12 million barrels per day,” CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement today.

“The company is exerting its maximum efforts to implement this directive as soon as possible,” Nasser added. No timeframe was given for the plans, which would entail investing billions of dollars to increase the ability to pump more oil.

 Yesterday, Saudi Arabia said it would boost its oil supplies to a record high in April, raising the stakes in a standoff with Russia, with Riyadh effectively rebuffing Moscow’s suggestion for new talks to limit output and boost prices.

Brent crude was trading at $36.77 per barrel, down 1.2%, at 07:33 GMT yesterday.

Today’s announcement could be seen as another step in an escalating price war with Moscow after the collapse of an oil supply cut pact between OPEC and Russia last week.

State-backed Saudi Aramco said it would increase crude oil supply in April to 12.3 million bpd, or 300,000 bpd above its maximum production capacity.

A clash of oil titans Saudi Arabia and Russia sparked a 25% slump in crude prices on Monday, triggering panic selling on Wall Street and other stock markets already badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

Saudi Arabia has been pumping around 9.7 million bpd in the past few months, but has extra production capacity it can turn on. It also has hundreds of millions of barrels in store.

Moscow said Russian oil companies might boost output by up to 300,000 bpd and could increase it by as much as 500,000 bpd, sending the Russian rouble and stocks plunging.

Talks collapsed last week between members of the OPEC+ alliance of OPEC states, Russia and other producers, which has propped up prices since 2016. Russia rejected OPEC’s call to deepen supply cuts, prompting OPEC to scrap all production limits and Russia to say it would also boost output.

Shares in Aramco rebounded on Tuesday after they fell by as much as 10% on Monday, dropping below their price in December, when the world’s biggest oil company was first listed on the Riyadh stock exchange. On Wednesday they were trading at nearly 31 riyals per share, still below the IPO price of 32 riyals.

“Policies to reform the Libyan economy”

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on “Policies to reform the Libyan economy”

In cooperation with a number of research centres in universities, economic institutions and Libyan banks, Benghazi Planning Office organized a workshop entitled “Policies to reform the Libyan economy.”

According to a report published by Libya’s Channel, Benghazi Chamber of Commerce reported that the workshop was held yesterday in the meeting room of the University of Qaryounis, and it was attended by economics professors from several Libyan universities and Libyan government officials.

Benghazi Chamber of Commerce added that the workshop sought to ensure a fair distribution of the country’s wealth based on criteria including geographical scope in relation to population and environmental standards .

In order to draft a bill to be put before Libya’s parliament along with the House of Representatives, four main themes on the fair distribution of wealth were discussed during the workshop covering the political, economic, legal and social aspects of the proposal.

Libya: Financial Facilities Fund will launch the Employment and Investment Centre

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Libya: Financial Facilities Fund will launch the Employment and Investment Centre

The Ministry of Labor and Rehabilitation announced the willingness of the Financial Facilities Fund to launch the “Employment and Investment Centre.”

The platform will include a unified and comprehensive database. Nevertheless, it will enable employers, job seekers, training companies in the private sector, and all the institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Labor to benefit from direct service delivery.

Zliten Municipality asking for assigning its budgetary allocation

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Zliten Municipality asking for assigning its budgetary allocation

The mayor of Zliten Municipality, Mustafa Ben Aisha, asked the Minister of Local Government to submit the appropriation of the second section to the third and fourth quarters of 2019, valued at 1.704 million dinars, as a result of the difficulties facing the municipality, its financial obligations and the provision of business requirements.

Al Zawia Municipality: a meeting to discuss the staffing establishment

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Al Zawia Municipality: a meeting to discuss the staffing establishment

The Minister of Labor and Rehabilitation, Mahdi Al Wardhami, held a meeting with the Mayor of Al Zawia Municipality, Jamal Bahr, to discuss the staffing establishment within the Municipality’s respective sectors.

The meeting highlighted the issues of staffing that were not approved. Moreover, participants agreed on a number of measures that will contribute to dealing with some matters according to the standards of the Libyan labor law.

Dollar rebounds today

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Dollar rebounds today

Today, a currency trader in the parallel market confirmed in a statement to “Sada” economic newspaper that the dollar reached 4.95 LYD, while the euro was at 5.68 LYD.

It should be reminded that yesterday evening, the dollar was at 5.01 LYD.

“The suspension of the 10,000 system, in addition to traders’ fear that the tax rate on foreign exchange sales will be raised are the main reasons for the dollar’s rise.